Fantasy Football Stars Who Will Struggle in Week 5: Jalen Hurts, Jordan Mason, and More

Last week's attempt to find fantasy football stars who would struggle was a mostly successful endeavor, with one notable exception from one of the best players in fantasy football:

• Baker Mayfield persevered in a tough matchup with the Eagles, throwing for 289 yards (on a very average 7.2 yards per attempt) with two touchdowns and an interception. He was QB10.
• Jahmyr Gibbs was a bold pick given his status among the best fantasy backs, and he starred, picking up 91 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries against the Browns.
• Malik Nabers had two catches for 20 yards. He also left the game with what was later determined to be a torn ACL, a bummer all around.
• Juwan Johnson caught just three passes for 28 yards against a tough Bills defense.

So, we had two wins and a player on the fringe in Mayfield; that's not a bad week! Let's do it again and identify one weekly starter at each offensive fantasy position who will struggle to excel in Week 5. Most stats are from NFL.com.

Check out FantasySP's defensive rankings to help find the players with the toughest matchups each week.

Quarterback

Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles vs. Denver Broncos

This came down to either Hurts or Lamar Jackson against the Texans; good luck picking against those two. Jackson is at risk of missing the game with injury, and this is supposed to be about performance, not injuries.

While both Houston and Denver have done well shutting down the QB run, the Broncos have been best at it despite facing a group of mobile quarterbacks:

• Week 1 vs. Cameron Ward: 0 attempts for 0 yards
• Week 2 @ Daniel Jones: 6 attempts for 2 yards (and a touchdown)
• Week 3 @ Justin Herbert: 2 attempts for 6 yards
• Week 4 vs. Jake Browning: 3 attempts for 4 yards

The first three players all have acumen with their feet and/or productive rushing in the past, so that's an impressive feat for the Broncos to hold down each of those players, even if Jones scored on a QB sneak. With Hurts doing much of his fantasy damage with his legs, this puts him at a possible disadvantage.

Denver also does well stopping the pass, allowing the 11th-fewest yards per pass attempt and the fewest fantasy points to quarterbacks. That per-attempt number is just 6.4, below the usual league average around 7.0.

Hurts is a great fantasy player because of his running. He's good throwing the ball, but Hurts had at least 600 rushing yards and at least 10 rushing touchdowns in each of the past four seasons, the biggest reason he was a top-10 fantasy QB each of those years.

Most owners aren't benching Hurts, but if you have another quarterback option, this is one of the few times where it might be a good idea.

Running Back

Jordan Mason, Minnesota Vikings @ Cleveland Browns (in London)

You might say Mason isn't a star, and I would generally agree, but there aren't many good options for this spot this week, and I'm not looking to go after another top guy in James Cook; let's be a little more realistic.

Mason moved into weekly starter status after a hot start to the season and an injury to Aaron Jones Sr. that left the former 49ers' back in the clear starting role. He has carried the ball at least 15 times in three of four games, including both since Jones went down. Mason's best game was in Week 3, when he had 116 rushing yards and two touchdowns against the Bengals.

The matchup is tougher this time around. The Browns were in this spot last week, but I made the disclaimer that no one was going to bench Gibbs, and David Montgomery was actually the guy affected by the bad matchup. Montgomery gained just 12 yards on nine carries, and the two backs combined for two receptions for six yards (all from Gibbs).

Cleveland has allowed the fewest yards per rush attempt and the third-fewest fantasy points to running backs. In three of their four games, the Browns allowed fewer than 20 receiving yards to running backs. They don't offer a reprieve anywhere.

With a tough matchup, Mason might be looking at a quiet week. While you'd never bench a guy like Gibbs, Mason is worth considering depending on what your roster looks like. He still will get the ball plenty, a main component of scoring fantasy points, but production might be tougher to come by against Cleveland.

Wide Receiver and Tight End

Zay Flowers, Baltimore Ravens vs. Houston Texans

Mark Andrews, Baltimore Ravens vs. Houston Texans

I mentioned Jackson and Houston's tough defense above, but instead of going after the star quarterback, let's instead look at his top pass catchers. I almost never pick two players from the same team, but it works so well here: the Texans have allowed the sixth-fewest yards per pass attempt, the 10th-fewest fantasy points to wide receivers, and the seventh-fewest fantasy points to tight ends.

It's tough to expect Jackson to have a bad fantasy day because his running is always there to carry him on rough throwing days. Even when they focus on the run, the QB is a big part of that and can still have a good day when they throw at a lower volume.

That's not the case for the pass catchers, though, and part of the reason we've seen Andrews start slowly, as the team has mostly run more than they've thrown. Andrews caught just two passes for seven combined yards in the first two weeks, barely even part of the offense.

He had a very strong Week 3, catching six passes for 91 yards and two touchdowns. Andrews was somewhere in the middle last week, catching seven of his eight targets but gaining only 30 yards. That's a big PPR week, but it doesn't do much in standard and leans more toward his lack of production.

Flowers has performed well, catching seven passes in three of the four games with more than 70 yards in each of those contests. The other was a two-catch, 13-yard performance against the Lions in Week 3. Flowers is a productive player in a good offense, but this is a tough matchup.

Flowers and Andrews are both right on the fringe of being weekly starters, making it tough to bench them. With the matchup against them and their quarterback dealing with an injury, though, it might be best to consider your options with both players.