Detroit Lions Week Five Starts And Sits For Fantasy Football
The Detroit Lions will be taking on the New England Patriots on Sunday, which poses a very interesting game. The Patriots will be without Mac Jones this week, so that will make it easier on the Lions’ weak defense. Some of Detroit’s biggest playmakers will be missing this game, however, so the offense could take a bit of a step back against this strong Patriots defense. What Lions players are going to put up the most points this week in replace of some of Detroit’s stars?
Starts- Jamaal Williams, Lions Running Back
TJ Hockenson, Lions Tight End
Williams put on a show last week against the Seattle Seahawks in Swift’s absence, putting up 108 rushing yards and two touchdowns. So why would the Lions stop running him? Detroit has one of the best offensive lines in football and might be getting back one of it’s biggest pieces this week, plus the Patriots run defense has been the weakest part defense so far this year. If Williams can stay consistent like he has been recently, then he can put up top 10 running back fantasy numbers again this week.
Hockenson is also coming off a stellar game against the Seahawks with most of the receiving room missing, putting up eight catches for 179 yards and two touchdowns. The biggest factor in Hockenson’s success was that the Lions were forced to involve him in the receiving game, which proved to be a plus in the end. When the entire receiving core was healthy, Dan Campbell had Hockenson as a blocker for the most part which is not his strong suit. After his performance, the Lions will likely up his workload in the receiving game for the rest of the year.
The Patriots have struggled against tight ends this year, and Hockenson is among the elite of all tight ends in the league. On top of that, DJ Chark and Quintez Cephus are out, and Amon-Ra St. Brown is questionable. This should greatly improve Hockenson’s workload like last week, so he can produce similar fantasy points as he did last week. Plus the Lions will be running the ball a lot, which will open up the Play-action game which is where Goff and Hockenson thrive. With all that, these guys are both must starts in your fantasy leagues.
Sits- Josh Reynolds, Lions Wide Receiver
Despite his stellar performance this past week, this week does not favor Reynolds. Last week Reynolds was the only starting receiver left on the Lions’ roster against a weak Seahawks secondary, this week Amon-Ra St. Brown will likely play and Reynolds has an extremely tough matchup. Whether he is being guarded by Jonathan Jones or Jack Jones, they are the two top corners in the league in single coverage according to PFF. So he will likely be less involved in the passing game this week.
Along with all of that, if Amon-Ra is playing, he will be getting a good percentage of the targets due to him being the best player on this roster right now. Also, he will be guarded by Myles Bryant, who has been one of the worst cornerbacks in all of football this year, especially in the slot. Josh Reynolds, however, is one of Goff’s favorite targets, due to the time they spent in Los Angeles together, so there is always a chance that he gets a good target share and put up some decent points. So take it with a grain of salt, but it’s unlikely he performs at the level he did last week with the depleted receiver room.