Three Up, Three Down: Week 5

Everything looks so clear in hindsight. We wonder why everyone didn't tail our good calls. And we start to realize where we went wrong on our bad calls. But with each passing week in season, we can start to identify trends to get ahead of the curve. Skate to where the puck will be, if you will.

Three Up

QB Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears

Juxtaposed aside Jayden Daniels, Caleb Williams hasn't looked great to start his career. However, Williams has displayed an upward trajectory in his four starts, a promising sign for his continued development. He took his lumps in Weeks 1 and 2. And then a pass-heavy onslaught in Week 3 looked good in the box score. Williams racked up 363 passing yards and two touchdowns, generating a respectable 19.3 fantasy points. Week 4's gameplan was a bit more conservative. The Bears kept the ball on the ground, and Williams' 11.5 fantasy points were nothing to get excited about. But Williams played his best game as a pro. And that's something we've been able to say about Williams every week since the start of the season. In his first four matchups, he's improved his completion percentage and thrown for more adjusted net yards per attempt. He's seen his PFF grades rise in each matchup. After failing to score a touchdown in his first two games, he's scored three in the last two. He logged his second consecutive game with a positive completion percentage over expectation. And Week 4's outing was his first with a positive EPA. The arrow is pointing up for Williams, who seems to learn quickly from his mistakes. It'll take a dramatic change for him to become more than a weekly steamer in fantasy. But he's playing well enough that we shouldn't have concerns about putting the ancillary pieces of Chicago's offense in our fantasy lineups.

WR Dontayvion Wicks, Green Bay Packers

Last year, Dontayvion Wicks' posted elite efficiency metrics as a rookie. This made him a tantalizing sleeper in 2024 drafts. He was 11th in yards per target and 24th in yards per route run. He averaged up a whopping 2.06 fantasy points per target, 18th most among all wide receivers. The issue was that he'd struggle to find significant playing time in a wide receiver room with Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, and Jayden Reed. And through the first few weeks, Wicks was held between 46-51% of the team's offensive snaps. But Watson exited Week 4's game early with what was deemed a high ankle sprain, and Wicks immediately took over as the team's WR1. He pulled 13 targets. He scored two touchdowns. The craziest thing, though, is that he left a ton of meat on the bone. There were multiple passing plays where he was wide open, streaking down the field, unable to pull a target from Jordan Love. He drew a deep end-zone look that was short-armed and ended up incomplete. If Week 4's usage is a sign of things to come, Wicks will be very valuable while Watson is out. It may just be for a few weeks, but after seeing what Wicks is capable of, he falls into the rare “must-roster wide receiver handcuff” tier.

WR Jordan Whittington, Los Angeles Rams

Far from a well-known name, Jordan Whittington could quickly find himself in the weekly streamer discussion at an injury-riddled wide receiver position. Whittington is a sixth-round rookie who drew some preseason buzz. But he hardly saw the field early this year, seeing just 3%, 50%, and 38% of the team's snaps through the first three weeks. But in the wake of injuries to Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua, he's being pushed into a more significant role. In Week 4, Whittington was on the field for 97% of the team's offensive snaps, the highest rate among all Rams' pass catchers. He led the team with 31 routes run and eight targets. He operated as the team's primary pass catcher, ahead of Tutu Atwell, Demarcus Robinson, and Colby Parkinson. We've seen Matthew Stafford provide elite volume to wide receivers over the years: Puka Nacua, Cooper Kupp, Kenny Golladay, Calvin Johnson, Golden Tate, and more. Whittington is more than just a guy gobbling up volume, too. He's a quick and sure-handed receiver who can make plays after the catch, something we've seen Sean McVay prefer. Whittington's stint as Stafford's WR1 could be short-lived. But as the recent team leader in snaps, routes, targets, and receptions, there's enough volume to consider plugging Whittington into your Week 5 lineups.