Sunday Aftermath: Drake Maye's star-making turn, Omarion Hampton's injury and more

If you were grading Drake Maye's Sunday evening on a fantasy football scale, it was a bank examiner special. The QB4 on the year entering the proceedings, and the QB1over the previous three weeks, Maye produced only" 285 scoreless yards as he finished as the QB23 on the week. Tough stuff.

If you were just allowing yourself to enjoy the game of football, however, you saw the official arrival of a star, maybe even a superstar. Playing in the biggest game of his young career, Maye stuck one huge throw after another as the Pats beat the last undefeated team in the league 23-20 on the road.

He made more big plays than Josh Allen, as well as fewer mistakes. Allen's former castoff WR1? Maye hit Stefon Diggs 10 times for 146 yards. This was a one-game sample size. This is, after all, the same QB who lost to the Raiders in Week 1. Young quarterbacks develop in fits and starts. But this was also the kind of game we had yet to see from last year's No. 3 overall pick.

Even if we allow that there will still be the occasional tough week ahead, we now know Maye has become an any given Sunday" quarterback, a la Jayden Daniels a season ago. In addition to being the best possible news for the Patriots, it's a major development for fantasy managers. Maye is no longer going to have his hand held through difficult matchups. The Patriots can cut him loose. They can put the game on his shoulders.

There will be great Sundays that don't equal big fantasy efforts as long as we play the game, or vice versa. With Maye, we are getting to the point where that will be a rare exception. This is a big time player who makes big time throws, and most importantly for us, posts big time fantasy point totals.

Five Week 5 Storylines

Omarion Hampton (ankle) booted up after loss. Oh this fickle game we play. On the ropes until Najee Harris suffered a torn achilles' tendon, Hampton had found new life following his teammate's injury. Sunday was a reminder nothing is free. Hampton now has an injury of his own, one that will require further testing on Monday. It's possible, perhaps even probable, Hampton has avoided major injury. We also know it isn't minor because of the presence of the boot and MRI. We are probably stuck in between, with a multi-week absence on the table. That would leave Hassan Hasks and Kimani Vidal to form the league's most mediocre committee in the interim, with Haskins the preferred add since he, you know, actually made the team out of training camp. Our next Hampton update could come Wednesday, when the Chargers issue their first Week 6 injury report ahead of their Sunday date with the Dolphins.

Eagles' offensive identity crisis deepens. A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith had been reduced to publicly pleading for the ball. Well, they got it on Sunday. It came along with Philly's first loss, which featured a blown 17-3 second half lead. Opening up the offense for a season-high 38 pass attempts wasn't why the Eagles lost. It was just, as you can see, not a reason they won. Still struggling on the ground, this is not a dynamic overall attack right now. With this identity crisis worsening instead of improving, expect the Eagles to attempt what they believe they do best on Thursday evening against the Giants: Run it down the throat of a defense that is far more vulnerable on the ground than through the air.

Emeka Egbuka performs like a genuine superstar. Now fourth in receiving on the year with 445 yards, Egbuka has crossed the century mark in both games without Mike Evans, and has five touchdowns in five NFL appearances. His 163 yards against the Seahawks were the fourth most by any player all season. The only wideouts with bigger efforts so far this season have been proven superstars: Puka Nacua, Malik Nabers, and Ja'Marr Chase. Beyond those fantastic four, no one else has even had a 150-yard outing. With Evans likely to miss at least one more game against the 49ers on Sunday, Egbuka can be trotted out as one of the 4-5 best receivers in our fake football game. When Evans comes back? We'll worry about that later, not that we will be quibbling over Egbuka's rank. We'll simply be starting him.

Kendre Miller out-produces Alvin Kamara. WIth his snap percentage skyrocketing, Miller out-carried Kamara for the first time on Sunday. Whereas you might assume this happened in garbage time of a loss, it was actually closeout mode in a win. Kamara simply hasn't been effective on the ground, and the Saints are finally trying new things after driving their most recent era into a ditch. Catching zero passes and, at best, option 1A on the ground, Miller is struggling to carve out legitimate RB3 fantasy value, but he is killing Kamara's RB2 status. He is, perhaps, even making Kamara expendable ahead of the trade deadline, but that is the kind of shocking act it would probably take to make Miller a true every-week starter.

Cardinals fail to look like a professional football team in stupefying loss. In many ways, the Kyler Murray era never really got going. It now certainly appears to be ending. Kyler was not the culprit on either of the mind-numbing mistakes that had the Birds turn a should-have-been 28-6 lead into a 22-21 loss, but these kinds of things can only happen to a team that doesn't have a real franchise quarterback. Or coach. Jonathan Gannon isn't necessarily overmatched, but he is the classic coach who would prefer not to lose rather than win. That's how you get things like a 22-21 home loss to the worst team in the league. Expect big changes in the desert this offseason.

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Five More Week 5 Storylines

Jacory Croskey-Merrit takes two steps forward - and hopefully not one step back. Bill," improbably, was one of the summer's biggest fantasy storylines. He inspired Washington media poetry and got Brian Robinson Jr. traded to the 49ers. Then he came into the regular season and averaged 5.9 yards per rush through his first four games. So why had he gotten the ball just 32 total times? That mystery wasn't solved against the Chargers on Sunday, but it was rendered irrelevant. JCM took a season-high 16 handles and turned them into a superlative 150 yards and two touchdowns. The Commanders stopped fighting city hall. That includes even after JCM's lost fumble on the first drive of the fourth quarter. Bill' was back to help close things out on the next series. Fumbles have a way of having outsized influence in even the smartest coaches' minds, but hopefully we are to the point where Bill's good isn't just outweighing the bad, but making it an afterthought.

Rico Dowdle explodes for most stunning 200-yard rushing performance in NFL history. Not even Rico saw this coming - he thought he would go for only 180. Getting an opportunity against one of the league's worst defenses, Dowdle didn't so much pass the test as rip it up and run outside for recess. Continually posting chunk gains, Dowdle had eightseparate runs of 10-plus yards, including a pair of 40-yard rumbles. It was a good matchup, yes, but Chuba Hubbard has only two 10-yard runs all season. This is where things get complicated. Highly-paid and usually productive, Hubbard isn't about to become a backup. He willbecome a committee member, but probably not in Week 6, as he's expected to miss another game with his calf issue. With Hubbard out and another A+ matchup in - this one a "revenge game" against the Cowboys - Dowdle will push for RB1 status.

Kevin O'Connell declines to commit to J.J. McCarthy as starter. You could argue O'Connell said a whole bunch of nothing when asked about his quarterback situation following a narrow overseas victory over the Browns. But then again, that's the entire point. O'Connell was asked if McCarthy would remain the starter when healthy. Although he didn't say no, he certainly did not say yes. And that's the entire ballgame. If someone is your starter, you say so. Coaches know their every word is being parsed. You don't play games when you're certain of something. O'Connell isn't, and therefore we would assume it won't be McCarthy when the Vikes come off bye in Week 7. That O'Connell couldn't commit even after two extremely shaky Carson Wentz performances says concerning things about the state of McCarthy's current development.

Darren Waller goes back home again. Waller entered 2025 having appeared in just 32 games since 2020. He had six touchdowns in that timespan. He is already halfway to that total through two appearances as a Dolphin, somehow getting right back on the bike he appeared to fall off of so long ago. He's provided a desperately needed infusion of size and red-zone prowess to this undermanned attack, but the Dolphins' offensive environment is bad enough at this point that it is difficult to trust Waller on a weekly basis. Drives could be short, and game flow too all over the map. Waller is a big name becoming a good story, but even in an awful year for the tight end position, he might struggle for top-12 numbers as the Mike McDaniel era further ends. You still have to run the experiment in your starting lineup, as Waller can't be left outside the top 12 for the time being.

Mason Taylor posts massive volume as Jets' No. 2 weapon. Where else might you look for a tight end? How about Taylor, whose 28 targets are suddenly tied for sixth at the position. The winner of the Jets' well, someone has to be the No. 2 option behind Garrett Wilson" competition, Taylor has caught five-plus passes in back-to-back weeks, and four plus in three straight. Big yardage and touchdown totals have yet to come, though he's up to 132 yards over the past two weeks. Considering the Jets' overall lack of passing volume and touchdown opportunities, Taylor is unlikely to reach every-week TE1 status, but he is throwing his hat into the priority streamer ring. He's a needed new name at a position struggling to provide either high-end quality or low-end depth.

Questions

1. Can Rhamondre Stevenson share his lessons on how to win friends and influence people?

2. On the other hand, can someone teach A.J. Brown how to make his desperate social media pleas more effective?

3. All Shane Steichen needed was ... Daniel Jones?

Early Waivers Look (Players rostered in less than 50 percent of Yahoo leagues)

QB: Trevor Lawrence (vs. SEA), Sam Darnold (@JAX), Michael Penix Jr. (vs. BUF), Tua Tagovailoa (vs. LAC), Bryce Young (vs. DAL)
RB: Michael Carter, Kendre Miller, Brashard Smith, Kenneth Gainwell, Tyler Allgeier, Kareem Hunt, Isaiah Davis, Hassan Haskins, Kimani Vidal
WR: Romeo Doubs, Kendrick Bourne, Tre Tucker, Isaiah Bond, Brandon Aiyuk, Malik Washington, Ryan Flournoy
TE: Brenton Strange, Evan Engram, Harold Fannin, Mason Taylor, Theo Johnson, Colston Loveland, AJ Barner
DEF: Packers (vs. CIN), Colts (vs. AZ), Patriots (@NO), Cowboys (@CAR), Commanders (vs. CHI), Raiders (vs. TEN)

Stats of the Week

By now, you have probably seen the stat that Spencer Rattler was the first quarterback drafted by the Saints to win a game since 1998. If you hadn't, well ... now you have.

The Ravens' stunning offensive futility, via Mike Clay: 40 offensive snaps for the Ravens today. That's tied for the fifth fewest in a game since 2019."

J.J. Zachariason breaks down just how grim it has been for Derrick Henry since the opener: "Derrick Henry in Week 1: 29.2 PPR points. Derrick Henry since: 30.1 PPR points."

Theo Johnson is leading the Giants in target share since Malik Nabers' injury. Johnson has yet to surpass 34 yards receiving this season, but he's finally put himself on the TE2 map.

Were it to somehow hold, Geno Smith's 5.5 interception percentage would be the 10th worst by any quarterback since 2000.

Awards Section

Week 5 Fantasy All-Pro Team:QB C.J. Stroud, RB Rico Dowdle, RB Jonathan Taylor, WR Emeka Egbuka, WR Ja'Marr Chase, WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba, TE Jake Ferguson

Week 5 All Bank Examiner Squad:QB Kyler Murray, RB Derrick Henry, RB Woody Marks, WR A.J. Brown, WR Jameson Williams, WR Quentin Johnston, TE Mark Andrews

Kyler Murray Stat of the Week, via Michael F. Florio:Ready for a sad stat? Trey McBride is the first player in NFL history to record 250 catches and have fewer than eight career receiving touchdowns."

The, Remember, The Mentality Should Always Be You're Aiming For 50 Points Award:The Eagles and Bills. The goal is to never stop scoring, not get one lead then sit on the ball for three-plus quarters.

The Just Six More Games Until They're Allowed To Return From Europe Award:The Minnesota Vikings.