Fantasy Football: 3 Bold Predictions for NFL Week 5

Fantasy Football Week 5 Bold Predictions at a Glance

• Drake London Finishes as a Top Three WR
• Trey McBride Scores Two Touchdowns
• Josh Allen Finishes Outside the Top 10 QBs

Every NFL week produces a few fantasy football outcomes that nobody sees coming. Breakout performances, unexpected workload changes and favorable matchups can quickly turn overlooked players into difference-makers.

With Week 5 on tap, we're taking a swing on a few outcomes that go beyond the typical fantasy football projections.

Here are three bold fantasy football predictions to keep an eye on this week.

All NFL odds come from FanDuel Sportsbook and may change after this article is published.

NFL Bold Predictions for Week 5

Drake London Finishes as a Top Three WR

The Baltimore Ravens‘ secondary is struggling, and Drake London can take advantage.

For the year, the Ravens have surrendered the third-most catches and sixth-most yards to wide receivers. They’ve given up big games to CeeDee Lamb (7-112), Carnell Tate (9-145) and Chris Olave (8-86-1) over the last three weeks.

London has played at least 93% of the snaps in three of the Atlanta Falcons‘ four games. Since Michael Penix Jr. took over, London has hauled in 14 of 16 targets and posted yardage totals of 194 and 96.

Atlanta’s offense is cooking right now, and London can put up a big stat line versus a slumping Baltimore secondary.

Trey McBride Scores Two Touchdowns

Pretty much every box that needs to be checked for a shootout is checked for the Detroit Lions-Arizona Cardinals game. It’s indoors, both defenses are meh, both offenses have playmakers, the total is high (54.5) and the spread is fairly close (5.5).

The Lions’ defense has really struggled all the way around, including versus tight ends. Detroit is conceding the second-most yards per game to the position (101.8) as well as the most catches per game (9.2) and six overall touchdowns. Yes, please.

Trey McBride has seen at least 10 targets in all four games thus far, and his gaudy role can lead to a huge fantasy day in this dream matchup against Detroit.

McBride to get to the end zone twice is one of my favorite bold predictions for Week 5.

Josh Allen Finishes Outside the Top 10 QBs

Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills take on the Los Angeles Rams in a Monday showdown this week.

While Allen clearly has sky-high upside in any matchup, this is a tough spot for him.

Through four weeks, no team is allowing fewer passing yards per game to quarterbacks than the Rams are (153.8). They’re also allowing just 13.8 rushing yards per game to QBs. On top of that, there’s a chance Allen is without D.J. Moore, his top pass-catcher.

Allen’s seven rushing touchdowns are incredible, and he’s obviously a proven goal-line commodity. But he’s gone over 253 passing yards just once this season, so when the rushing scores slow a bit — which is inevitable at some point — Allen might not have the passing production to generate an elite fantasy output. I can see that happening this week in a difficult Monday matchup.

Fantasy Football Bold Predictions FAQ

What is a bold prediction in fantasy football?

A bold prediction is an outcome that goes beyond the week's consensus expectations but still has a realistic path to happening. That could include a player significantly outperforming his ranking, an unexpected breakout game, or a highly ranked player struggling.

What factors go into weekly fantasy football bold predictions?

Matchups, injuries, projected workload, target volume, snap rate, recent performance, and changes to a player's role can all factor into weekly bold predictions.

Should bold predictions influence start/sit decisions?

They can provide another perspective, but they shouldn't be the only factor in a lineup decision. Fantasy managers should also consider player rankings, projected usage, matchup quality, and their available alternatives.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.