The Indianapolis Colts welcomed Jonathan Taylor back to practice this week and he was a full participant in Wednesday's practice. On Thursday he talked to the media and sounded very much like someone who intends to play for the Colts very soon. We don't know 100% for sure that Taylor will suit up for Week 5, but we do know that he's a very risky start if he does.
When Taylor is 100% healthy, he should dominate touches, but in his very first game back there is significant risk that Zack Moss sees more touches than we like. And we still don't have a great read on exactly how many running back touches will be available in the average Anthony Richardson start. Last week we saw a significant decrease in both carries and targets for Moss.
The bigger issue is the matchup. The Titans haven't given up more than 71 yards rushing in a game all season. Only one team has scored a rushing touchdown against them. They're surrendering just 3.1 yards per carry and 12.5 PPR FPPG to the position in 2023. If those points get split up even a little, neither Taylor or Moss will be startable.
There are four teams on a bye and you've been waiting a month to use Taylor. I understand if he is your best option this week. But there's a low floor and low ceiling against the Titans.
Now let's get to the rest of the Week 5 RB Preview:
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While McLaughlin is more exciting and has more rest-of-season upside, Perine has played more snaps every week including last week. The Jets have had troubles with pass-catching running backs, and Perine has seen 13 targets to just four for McLaughlin. It should not surprise anyone if Perine is the better option in Week 5.
Miles Sanders is bothered by his groin again and Carolina has a terrible matchup in Week 5. Hubbard could get a quarter or more of garbage time and Carolina is throwing to its backs a lot. You could do a lot worse as a desperation flex.
The Saints didn't hold back at all on 28-year-old Alvin Kamara in his first game back. With Jamaal Williams on IR, Miller is the next man up if Kamara struggles with this workload or suffers an injury.
I was the low guy on Kamara last week because I was worried about his fitness and how much the Saints would use him. Those concerns were put to bed early and now we can view Kamara like a top-12 running back for as long as he holds up. With the state of Derek Carr's shoulder, this could be another big target game for Kamara, and he is priced as the ninth most expensive running back on the slate on FanDuel.
Conner has been legitimately great, but the combination of his age and his team situation mean he won't often be one of the most popular backs each week. This matchup with the Bengals should be a close game and Conner has averaged 19 touches in the three games the Cardinals won or stayed within one score.
RB Preview
Heath's Projections
My full set of Week 5 Fantasy Football projections for every position are now available on SportsLine. Find out which of my favorite plays are projected to score higher than consensus rankings and which don't live up to their draft hype, at least in Week 5. Projected stats for all starting running backs are available, so be sure to check out the full set of projections over at SportsLine.
