Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
As you finalize your fantasy football lineups for Week 5, these 10 D/ST sleepers should be on your radar.
Moving to Week 5 on the NFL and fantasy football schedule, for some managers it may come down to just finding a team defense/special teams that won’t put up a negative score. But there are opportunities to unearth gold via the waiver wire, via options that are widely available or at least under-owned.
One team defense to check on this week, though the opportunity may have already passed as you’re reading this, is the New England Patriots. The unit was dropped in a lot of leagues ahead of Week 4 against some guy named Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but Week 5 against the Houston Texans is a great matchup.
Moving on to the rest of the Sunday/Monday slate, here are 10 D/ST sleepers that belong on the radar for Week 5.
Fantasy Football: 10 D/ST sleepers for Week 5
10. Carolina Panthers vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The Panthers had by far their worst defensive showing in Week 4 (36 points allowed, zero sacks or takeways), but the Dallas Cowboys’ offense will to a lot of opponents. Week 5 can only be better, and this unit is still toward the top of the league in any sack or pressure-related metrics.
The Philadelphia Eagles have scored 30 or more points twice this season, albeit against the bad defenses of the Atlanta Falcons and Kansas City Chiefs. In their other two games, against the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys, they’ve averaged 13 offensive points per game. Over their last three sacks, Jalen Hurts has been sacked seven times.
It comes down to how you feel about the Panthers’ defense this week, on a Falcons/Chiefs-49ers/Cowboys scale. I’m leaning toward the good defense side, even with the prospect of ceding some points.
9. Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings
The Lions are going to be without their best pass rusher, Romeo Okwara, for the rest of the season due to a torn Achilles. That thins a defense that has actually played fairly well for the better part of the season, with early in Week 1 and late in Week 2 as particular blackmarks the other direction.
The Minnesota Vikings have to protect Kirk Cousins well, and they will have trouble with any talented defensive line (see the Browns in Week 4). Detroit’s front is not nearly on the level of Cleveland’s, but their blitz (28.3 percent) and hurry (10 percent) rates are both in the top half of the league through Week 4. Getting home has been the problem, and Minnesota may not offer substantial resistance.