The Week 5 fantasy football rankings could be shaken up quite a bit by recent injuries to some high-profile players at the WR position.
Let’s take a closer look at injury updates for Tee Higgins, Amon-Ra St. Brown, and Zay Jones heading into Week 5.
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Injury Updates for Top Fantasy Football WRs
Tee Higgins, Cincinnati Bengals
The Cincinnati Bengals’ passing offense has looked completely out of sorts through the first four games of the 2023 season.
While Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase have been fantasy disappointments in their own right, one could argue that Higgins has been the biggest fantasy bust of the 2023 campaign.
Need proof? Higgins has failed to score five fantasy points in PPR formats in three of the first four games of the 2023 season.
Now, some will point to his one big game in Week 2, where he posted eight catches for 89 and two scores as a case for him not being the biggest fantasy bust of the young season, which is fair. But he is still the WR51 through the first four games.
Unfortunately, he picked up a rib injury against the Titans in Week 4, which now has his status up in the air for Sunday’s contest against the Arizona Cardinals.
Zac on Tee: we’ll see tomorrow. Have another night to sleep on it.
Feels good about Cam. Said they’ll see about Chido.
— Jay Morrison (@ByJayMorrison) October 6, 2023
Higgins’ injury certainly makes him a risky fantasy play in Week 5.
It would be one thing to roll the dice on Higgins in your fantasy lineup if the Bengals’ offense was firing on all cylinders and Burrow was playing at an MVP-type level.
But with Burrow struggling and the offense completely out of sorts, Higgins feels way too risky to trust as your WR2 if you have other quality options available.
He is currently ranked outside of my top 50 at the WR position this week.
Amon-Ra St. Brown, Detroit Lions
Another player who is likely to sit outside of my top 50 at the WR position until we get a better indication he will take the field on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers is St. Brown.
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According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, St. Brown is officially doubtful for Sunday.
Lions are listing WR Amon-Ra St. Brown as doubtful for Sunday and RB Jahmyr Gibbs as questionable.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 6, 2023
Now, St. Brown has not been officially ruled out as of this moment. However, assuming he is unavailable, this is likely to have a big impact on the Lions’ passing game in Week 5.
The Panthers have actually been one of the stingiest units against opposing quarterbacks, giving up an average of just 11 fantasy points per game.
If Jared Goff doesn’t have St. Brown available, I am inclined to drop Goff out of my top 12 at the QB position this week.
Fortunately, the Lions will be getting WR Jameson Williams back from suspension, which could actually bump him or Josh Reynolds into the top-40 conversation at the WR position this week.
One more player that should see plenty of work in the passing game without St. Brown in the lineup would be rookie tight end Sam LaPorta, who is currently second on the team for targets, receptions, and receiving yards behind St. Brown through the first month of the season.
Zay Jones, Jacksonville Jaguars
Oddly enough, the Jacksonville Jaguar’s passing offense hasn’t looked quite right since Jones has been out of the lineup over the last two weeks.
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Jones has missed the last two games while dealing with a knee injury. He’s listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against the Buffalo Bills after logging limited practices throughout the week.
Jaguars-Bills injury report: Greg Rousseau out; Zay Jones, Von Miller officially questionablehttps://t.co/pLTBrhM94z pic.twitter.com/yyk25EaZik
— Around The NFL (@AroundTheNFL) October 6, 2023
Many fantasy managers expected Calvin Ridley to potentially see an expanded role with Jones unavailable the last two weeks. However, it has actually been Christian Kirk who has been the biggest fantasy beneficiary with Jones out of the lineup.
If Jones is able to return to the lineup in Week 5, he will likely be outside of the top 40 at the WR position, given the Jags’ recent struggles and tough matchup against a very stingy Bills defense.