Fantasy Football Week 5 RB Preview: Alex Collins is a must-start running back if Chris Carson is out

Week 5 is beginning to look like the week of the backup running back. We currently don't expect Christian McCaffrey, Joe Mixon, or David Montgomery to suit up. And as of Thursday morning, Chris Carson is questionable at best. 

Carson is dealing with a neck injury that held him out of practice for the week. He is currently viewed as a game-time decision, and if he's able to go we'll view him as a high-end flex who would share with Alex Collins. But if Carson is out, we'd like Collins even more.

Collins picked up 80 yards and. a touchdown on 12 touches in Week 4 against the 49ers and could be even better in Week 5. While the Rams defense is more talented than the 49ers, they were just gashed by Chase Edmonds and James Conner to the tune of 205 yards and two scores. And they figure to be far more concerned about Russell Wilson, DK Metcalf, and Tyler Lockett than Collins.

In the projections below you'll see Collins as a mid-range No. 2 running back because we're ranking and projecting as if Carson will not play. That makes Collins a better option than the other fill-in options Damien Williams, Chuba Hubbard, and Samaje Perine. It also makes him a priority on the waiver wire, because he's still rostered in less than two-thirds of leagues.

For those of you not impacted by these injuries, let's get to the rest of the Week 5 RB Preview:

Week 5 RB Preview

Who's Out

Numbers to Know

Matchups That Matter

Waiver Wire Targets

DFS Plays

Projections

RB Preview

Who's Out

The following players are not being projected to play Week 5 at this time. Here's what it means:

Who's Out

Joe Mixon RB

HOU Houston • #28
Age: 27 • Experience: 8 yrs.

Samaje Perine would be a high end flex without Mixon

David Montgomery RB

DET Detroit • #5
Age: 27 • Experience: 6 yrs.

Damien Williams would be a high-end flex without Montgomery.

Tony Jones RB

ARI Arizona • #37
Age: 26 • Experience: 4 yrs.

Alvin Kamara could get a bigger share of the load without Jones.

Chris Carson RB

SEA Seattle • #32
Age: 29 • Experience: 6 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs LAR LAR -2.5 O/U 54

OPP VS RB 21st

PROJ PTS 6.4

RB RNK NR

Alex Collins is close to a must-start if Carson is out.

RB Preview

Numbers to know

• 4,077 -- Rushing yards for Derrick Henry since the start of 2019. No other running back has more than 3,000 yards rushing in that stretch.
• 78 -- Rush attempts for Alvin Kamara without a touchdown this season, the most in the NFL.
• 26 -- Receptions for Najee Harris, which is tops amongst running backs in 2021.
• 72% -- Josh Jacobs handled 72% of the rush attempts in his Week 4 return. Even with his inefficiency, that makes him a start in Week 5.
• 19 -- Jonathan Taylor leads the NFL with 19 red zone rush attempts. He still has not scored a rushing touchdown in the red zone.
• 56.7% -- The Dallas Cowboys have a 56.7% rush rate the past three weeks. Both Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard may be starters this week against the Giants.
• 3.7 -- Miles Sanders has broken a tackle once every 3.7 rush attempts. The Eagles should probably give him the ball more.

RB Preview

Matchups that matter

Matchups that Matter

Myles Gaskin RB

MIN Minnesota • #37
Age: 27 • Experience: 6 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

@ TB TB -10.5 O/U 47.5

OPP VS RB 9th

PROJ PTS 11.2

RB RNK 40th

YTD Stats
RUYDS 142	REC 12	REYDS 57	TD 0	FPTS/G 8

Kareem Hunt RB

CLE Cleveland • #27
Age: 28 • Experience: 7 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

@ LAC LAC -1 O/U 49.5

OPP VS RB 8th

PROJ PTS 12.1

RB RNK 15th

YTD Stats
RUYDS 234	REC 12	REYDS 121	TD 3	FPTS/G 16.9

Trey Sermon RB

IND Indianapolis • #27
Age: 25 • Experience: 4 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

@ ARI ARI -5.5 O/U 50.5

OPP VS RB 13th

PROJ PTS 11.1

RB RNK 28th

YTD Stats
RUYDS 128	REC 2	REYDS 3	TD 1	FPTS/G 7

Antonio Gibson RB

NE New England • #21
Age: 26 • Experience: 5 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs NO NO -1.5 O/U 44.5

OPP VS RB 10th

PROJ PTS 11.5

RB RNK 18th

RB Preview

Waiver Wire Targets

Week 5 Adds

Alex Collins RB

SEA Seattle • #41
Age: 29 • Experience: 5 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs LAR LAR -2.5 O/U 54

OPP VS RB 21st

RB RNK 20th

ROSTERED 46%

YTD Stats
RUYDS 77	REC 2	REYDS 34	TD 1	FPTS/G 6.4

Collins has a pretty high floor without Carson and the Cardinals showed us how high his ceiling could be.

Samaje Perine RB

DEN Denver • #25
Age: 28 • Experience: 8 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs GB GB -3 O/U 51.5

OPP VS RB 15th

RB RNK 27th

ROSTERED 40%

YTD Stats
RUYDS 28	REC 3	REYDS 30	TD 0	FPTS/G 2.2

Perine's situation is more dicey than Williams because Mixon still hasn't been ruled out for Week 5. Still, that's our expectation, which makes Perine with 10-15% of your FAB. I would anticipate Perine being better in non-PPR than PPR as Evans takes on a larger role in the passing game.

Stash

Jeff Wilson RB

MIA Miami • #23
Age: 28 • Experience: 7 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

@ ARI ARI -5.5 O/U 50

OPP VS RB 11th

RB RNK NR

ROSTERED 15%

Khalil Herbert RB

CHI Chicago • #24
Age: 26 • Experience: 4 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

@ LV LV -5.5 O/U 45.5

OPP VS RB 26th

RB RNK NR

ROSTERED

Chris Evans RB

CIN Cincinnati • #25
Age: 26 • Experience: 4 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs GB GB -3 O/U 50

OPP VS RB 15th

RB RNK NR

ROSTERED 2%

RB Preview

DFS Plays

Top Play

Trey Sermon RB

IND Indianapolis • #27
Age: 25 • Experience: 4 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

@ ARI ARI -5.5 O/U 50

OPP VS RB 11th

PROJ PTS 10.9

RB RNK 23rd

YTD Stats
RUYDS 128	REC 2	REYDS 3	TD 1	FPTS/G 7

Sermon saw a huge workload in Week 4 and will continue to as long as Eli Mitchell remains out. But I would expect even more production from Sermon in that situation, thanks to the Cardinals' poor run defense. Sermon is the same price as injury replacements like Damien Williams and Samaje Perine and I think they'll have a higher roster rate.

Contrarian Play

Leonard Fournette RB

BUF Buffalo • #5
Age: 29 • Experience: 7 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs MIA TB -10.5 O/U 48

OPP VS RB 30th

PROJ PTS 13.4

RB RNK 17th

YTD Stats
RUYDS 183	REC 15	REYDS 124	TD 0	FPTS/G 11.4

Fournette should be locked into a workhorse role as long as Giovani Bernard remains out. I'd expect 15-plus rushes and around five catches against the Dolphins in Week 5. I bet he scores his first touchdown as well.

RB Preview

Heath's Projections