The question of is Tyreek Hill playing in Week 5 popped up on Thursday when the speedy Miami Dolphins WR was added to the injury report. That news sparked immediate concern for fantasy football managers, with Hill currently sitting as a top-five player at the position in terms of fantasy points per game. Let’s take a look at the latest injury news for Hill and the fantasy impact for Week 5.
Update: Hill is active for the Dolphins’ Week 5 game.
Is Tyreek Hill Playing Today?
There appears to be optimism that Hill will play today, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. This is somewhat of a relief after Hill was listed as limited with a quad injury after practice on Thursday. We saw a similar situation with Michael Pittman a couple of weeks ago, where he hurt his quad during practice and missed the game.
However, the difference here is that Hill was at least able to get back out on the field in a limited fashion to finish Week 5. With the Dolphins entering the game without their starting QB in Tua Tagovailoa, they will be keen to get Hill out on the field this week to support Teddy Bridgewater.
How Should Fantasy Managers Approach Hill in Week 5?
This injury does raise concerns for fantasy because it could limit Hill’s top-end speed. For a player who relies on his speed to get open, that is a concern.
The problem is that if Hill is active, his ability to break a game open makes him virtually impossible to bench. In terms of average fantasy points per game, Hill sits fourth at 18.93 points per game in half-PPR.
Across the first four weeks, Hill has scored double-digit fantasy points on three occasions, with games of 20.9 and 36.5 points. However, in Week 3, he struggled against the Bills, scoring just 4.3 fantasy points.
Unfortunately, that is often the nature of receivers. Five of the top seven receivers in points per game have had at least one single-digit performance in half-PPR, with three of them having one performance below five fantasy points.
MORE: Week 5 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet
Outside of that Week 3 game, Hill’s targets have been very consistent. In those other three games, he has seen between 12 and 14 targets, twice going over 100 receiving yards.
Additionally, we still Bridgewater targeting him deep last Thursday after coming in for Tua at QB. That willingness for Bridgewater to look deep for Hill should be encouraging, even if the quad injury could limit his top-end speed output.
The matchup with the Jets appears to be a solid one. They have allowed an average of 28.45 fantasy points to opposing WRs, which ranks as the 13th-easiest for opponents.
However, we did just see them shut down the Steelers’ WRs with inconsistent play from Mitch Trubisky and Kenny Pickett. The Jets allowed just 16.4 fantasy points to the Steelers WRs, but they did allow more than 20 fantasy points to the position in the first three weeks of the season.
If Hill was to be absent, then Jaylen Waddle is the main beneficiary, assuming he is active. Unfortunately, outside of Waddle, the fantasy value is hard to judge. While Waddle and Hill both have 35-plus targets this year, the next most-targeted options in the offense are Trent Sherfield and Chase Edmonds at 11 targets apiece.