Fantasy Football: Week 5 Flex Plays at RB

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It’s Week 5 and the fantasy football season is in full swing. By this point in the season, managers are thinking about dropping players that they drafted and thought were can’t-miss players. Other managers are thanking their lucky stars for the players that they have and hope nothing goes wrong the rest of the season.

In Week 5, huge fantasy players such as Adrian Peterson, Doug Martin and Pittsburgh Steelers rookie Le’Veon Bell are all on byes. Alfred Morris is on a bye as well, as nursing an injury. If you own any of these players or are trying to beat the teams that do, here are three running backs that you should play at your flex position or RB2 this week.

LeGarrett Blount – In every fantasy football season, there are always a few players that show a glimpse of the player they were in previous seasons. This is exactly the case with New England Patriots running back LeGarrett Blount.

The Patriots came into this season with Stevan Ridley as their starting running back to have in fantasy football and Shane Vereen as the handcuff to own. Injuries to Vereen and inconsistency with Ridley (and an injury going into Week 5) have given a huge opportunity to Blount.

Blount is averaging 5.85 yards per carry in the two last games. He also scored a touchdown last game against the Atlanta Falcons. If you are in bye week trouble and you really need a running back for just one week, or if you would like to add depth to your team, I think Blount is good enough to take a chance on.

David Wilson – I never thought coming into this season that I would be mentioning New York Giants running back David Wilson as a good flex play. The Giants’ offensive line has struggled to give him any room to run, and his fumbles in Week 1 did not help things either.

This week, Wilson has two things going for him. First, Da’Rel Scott was released by the Giants. That gives almost all of the running attention to Wilson. Second, the Giants are facing a very shaky (at best) Philadelphia Eagles run defense. Running backs are averaging 151.8 total yards against this defense. If there was ever a week to go with Wilson, this Sunday is it.

Danny Woodhead – If you are looking for a Darren Sproles-type player to fill in as a flex or running back option this week, look no further than San Diego Chargers running back Danny Woodhead. Woodhead is not the feature back in San Diego, as that title is reserved for “the great” Ryan Matthews. Woodhead, like Sproles, has been a huge weapon in the passing game of late for the Chargers.

He has a great chance to get over 100 total yards and a touchdown in this game. If Woodhead keeps playing like this, he’s going to go from nice flex play option to RB2 in any PPR league.

Dom DeCarlo is a Fantasy blogger for www.RantSports.com. Follow him @DomDecarlo1, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.