Week 5 standard running back fantasy football rankings

Week 5 of the NFL season will get underway on Thursday, October 6. The Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos will play in this week’s edition of Thursday Night Football. Each of these teams suffered an injury to their starting running back last week and could see significant workload shifts. With that in mind, here are some tips for approaching running backs in Week 5 of standard fantasy football leagues.

Injury news to monitor

Jonathan Taylor has an ankle injury, but it wasn't significant enough to already rule him out for Thursday’s game. Even if he plays, you may want to look at the practice reps for Nyheim Hines and Phillip Lindsay to see which backup is the better play. Javonte Willaims is done for the season, so Melvin Gordon gets his first shot at being the starting running back for the Broncos. He has fumble problems and needs to have a statement game not to see this backfield go to a committee.

Alvin Kamara was a late scratch on Sunday morning, to the dismay of all fantasy managers that tried sleeping in. He was expected to play, so if he aggravated the injury, that will certainly be something to watch this week. Cordarrelle Patterson was added to IR for the Atlanta Falcons, so Tyler Allgeier will be a top waiver add even against a tough Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense.

Streaming options for Week 5

Despite a solid workload in Week 4, I don't think you should look at starting Allgeier this week against the Bucs. Instead, my favorite streaming option this week will be Hines if Taylor is out. Mark Ingram is also a solid weekly streamer when he has good matchups. Even if Kamara returns from his injury, Ingram has still been getting looks in the redzone and on the goal line. Darrell Henderson, Raheem Mostert and Rhamondre Stevenson are other guys you should play this week.

Week 5 fantasy football standard running back rankings