Fantasy Football: Bill Croskey-Merritt finally gains trust of coaching staff and 9 other overlooked stats from Week 5
Each Monday, fantasy football analyst Joel Smyth will go over 10 important stats that you may have overlooked from this week. After an unpredictable Week 5, what keys to fantasy success do you need to know that your leaguemates may have missed?
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13/14
Of the Commanders' initial running back carries went to Jacory "Bill" Croskey-Merritt. On his 11th carry of the day, the rookie lost a fumble in a crucial part of the game. What is usually a red flag turned into a positive sign, as offensive playcaller Kliff Kingsbury showed trust in his young running back. On the very next drive, Croskey-Merritt started it off with two more (great) runs rather than being replaced. For what it's worth, after those two, Chris Rodriguez Jr. had five of the remaining six rush attempts in the late fourth quarter, with one more Croskey-Merritt carry in between, going for 15 yards.
Through his first five career games, the Commanders' rookie RB leads the NFL in rushing success rate at a tremendous 65% score. He's got the QB, offensive line and efficiency; all he needs is the usage. Although the receiving isn't quite there, Croskey-Merritt showed in Week 5 that he can be a fantasy force purely from his rushing production. A Brian Robinson 2.0 if you will.
5
De'Von Achane targets when lined up as a WR. As a running back, the production on the ground continues to be limited, with Tyreek Hill's absence only making things worse. But without Hill lined up at WR, Achane was utilized as a pure wideout on 37% of his routes Sunday. On such plays, Achane had five targets, four receptions, 25 yards and a TD. The screens are nowhere near his 2024 mark, but he is making up for it with checkdowns and WR usage.
Darren Waller is in the same boat. Miami entered with the second-lowest target share to TEs, so it's a good thing that Waller is virtually a WR. We also saw 73% of Waller's routes either out wide or in the slot. It won't be consistent, but tight ends rarely are. Waller can bring some valuable weekly TD upside in an offense that is using him well, as his routes increased from 10 in Week 4 to 27 on Sunday.
51.4%
Targets per route for Stefon Diggs the last two weeks. The second-best is 33% between Puka Nacua and Khalil Shakir. Diggs has been incredible on low passing volume as he gets healthy and takes over as the No. 1 weapon in New England. A Patriots team that has proven to an extreme level they are willing to throw the ball has only had 47 attempts the last two weeks, but it hasn't stopped Diggs from posting back-to-back 100-yard games.
With a big thanks to Drake Maye being a beast to start his sophomore season, Diggs has risen all the way up to WR6 in fantasy points per route in a limited start to his 2025 (with no TDs). The only five above him: Nacua, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Rome Odunze and Emeka Egbuka. Those five happen to also be the top-five WRs in fantasy PPG this season. Diggs is down at WR30 for now, but with increased usage, that won't last long.
37%
Of the RB touches for Woody Marks. Rough. Marks is a player who, because of his situation, needs RB1-level volume in order to be consistent in fantasy. The combo of a bad offensive line and average offense at best lowers his potential, despite his talent. So when Nick Chubb takes the majority of carries, and the receiving isn't prioritized, we get floor weeks against incredible matchups. Houston scoring 70 points over the last two weeks has to lead to more than 28.3 total fantasy points (25.9 of that coming in Week 4) for Marks' managers to trust him.
To make matters worse, the most valuable touches for RBs come at the goal line or through the air. Of the three goal-line attempts for Houston, Chubb took two of the three, with none of the three hitting pay dirt. Receiving wasn't much better, as his route share dipped under 50% following a productive Week 4, resulting in zero receptions.
7
Second-half receptions for Mason Taylor. The Jets have been as consistent in garbage time scoring as they have been in losing. With Jake Ferguson on the opposite side, the rookie Taylor did his best impersonation with week-highs of 12 targets and 45 routes at TE. This makes back-to-back TE1 weeks for Taylor as the Jets continue to go pass-heavy when down big.
Garrett Wilson is another benefactor, with eight of his 12 targets coming in the second half, resulting in 14 fantasy points in the final two quarters. So far this season, Wilson is third to only Nacua and Egbuka in second-half fantasy points. It won't be pretty, but as long as the Jets keep on the same path, their own failure will eventually lead to fantasy success, and consistently.
168
Calvin Ridley's air yards in Week 5. The bounce-back has some validity to it based on the fact that everything was against Ridley early. The Titans' wideout had a tough draw in his first month, playing against elite corners such as Patrick Surtain II and Derek Stingley, all while being injured. In a middle-of-the-road matchup versus the Cardinals, it all came together for Ridley.
The season started with Ridley only averaging 66 air yards per game, a missing piece to Ridley's game as a downfield threat with an aggressive quarterback. I still believe in Cam Ward being a good stylistic fit with Ridley. On throws of 15+ air yards last season, Ridley was a top-five fantasy WR, who also excelled on throws out of structure in recent years. The offense and playcalling aren't always ideal, but if Ridley finds himself in more pass-heavy games in Tennessee, Ward has the chance to support a fantasy WR2.
>80%
Rachaad White and Rico Dowdle's RB carry percentage, both ranking inside the top five on the week. White and Dowdle are both proven starters, not just on their teams to play a one-dimensional role, but to sub-in 1-for-1 when necessary as the team's bellcow running back. That was proven in Week 5 and paid off big in fantasy with both scoring over 20 fantasy points.
Dowdle's goal-line role continued in Week 5, leading to his touchdown, with White being one of the few players to have multiple goal-line attempts Sunday. Add in the receiving, and it's much easier to trust week-to-week in their current roles. The Panthers get another great matchup in the Cowboys next week, while White's volume should be plenty to confidently start him against the 49ers.
206
Unrealized air yards to New York Giants WRs. Only 68 receiving yards on the day for Giants receivers, as 206 air yards fell incomplete, the second-most by a quarterback to WRs this season (Jordan Love in Week 2). Rookie QB Jaxson Dart at least tried. All of the production was close to the line of scrimmage, mainly to the TEs and RBs who accounted for 65% of the receptions on the day.
New York was forced into a pass-first offense versus the 0-4 Saints, leading me to believe this may be a trend going forward. In the two games with Dart at QB, the usage isn't encouraging for most. Darius Slayton and Wan'Dale Robinson's roles have been extreme, with Slayton's average depth of target sitting at 17 while Robinson's is down at 3. Both led to sub-20% targets per route. When the Giants do make it down to the red zone, not only are they run-heavy, but 60% of the targets have gone to TEs under Dart so far. It's wheels up for Cam Skattebo, but a pass on the wideouts until major changes are made.
18
Snaps for Broncos RB Tyler Badie. This is not a start Tyler Badie paragraph, but a lower expectations for RJ Harvey paragraph. Talent has not been the issue for the young running back, but rather everything else. And it continues here. J.K. Dobbins' lead in carries grows as he got 20 attempts to Harvey's four. After a stellar Week 4, Harvey's receiving potential was beginning to grow. That potential was obliterated this week by Sean Payton.
Harvey only ran nine routes on Sunday to Badie's 16. It wasn't that Badie was trusted as the pass blocker; he was chosen as the receiving back. With Dobbins also running nine routes, this leaves next to no role for Harvey, who ranks as a fantasy RB1 in fantasy points per touch this season.
14%
Of the Chargers' deep or red-zone targets have gone to Ladd McConkey this season. I went searching for good news after the first solid outing for McConkey and sadly, found less than desired. He did have his first two end-zone targets of the season, a good start that led to touchdown No. 1 of 2025. Other than that, the most valuable targets in this offense are going elsewhere.
The hardest thing with McConkey's issues is that he's the most difficult of the struggling wide receivers to understand. He's third among WRs in routes run, getting open often, and yet fails to get valuable volume as he's been demoted to the WR3 in L.A. Keenan Allen and Quentin Johnston only have six and 10 more targets overall, but with either great red zone or downfield production, those targets mean more. Through five games this season, McConkey ranks 52nd among WRs in targets per route. Although Week 5 was good, there isn't enough yet to make him a confident start in this offense until there is a major change.