Monday Night Fantasy Football Start Decisions and Rankings: Travis Hunter, Marquise Brown and More

Week 5 of the NFL season wraps up with the Kansas City Chiefs and Jacksonville Jaguars meeting on Monday night.

Let's break down the top fantasy options at each position, then rank them all.

Use the FantasySP start/sit tool for help with any last-minute lineup decisions.

Quarterbacks

Patrick Mahomes guides the Chiefs, while Trevor Lawrence leads the Jaguars.

Mahomes has completed 61.3% of his passes for 939 yards, seven touchdowns and just one interception through four games. He has 130 rushing yards and two scores on 22 carries.

Lawrence has 845 passing yards, five touchdowns and four picks, while completing just 58.3% of his passes. He has 32 rushing yards and no scores on 15 attempts.

Both quarterbacks have below-average matchups for this one tonight. Mahomes has the better matchup of the two, but it's not much better. 

Mahomes is projected for 20 fantasy points, while Lawrence is at just 14. In my weekly quarterback fantasy rankings, I had Mahomes at No. 4 overall this week, while Lawrence was way down at No. 21.

Running Backs

The Kansas City backfield is led by Kareem Hunt and Isiah Pacheco, while rookie Brashard Smith has worked in more of late. Travis Etienne leads the Jacksonville backfield, while Bhayshul Tuten and LeQuint Allen are backup options.

Hunt and Pacheco have had similar fantasy seasons. Hunt has 116 rushing yards and a score on 36 rushing attempts, while adding 36 receiving yards on five receptions and six targets. Pacheco has 126 rushing yards on 32 attempts, while adding 26 yards and a score on six receptions and nine targets.

Hunt has played 111 snaps, while Pacheco is at 133. Last game, Hunt had 14 touches to just nine for Pacheco. Smith had seven touches in the last contest.

Smith has 10 touches overall this season, rushing for 24 yards on seven attempts and adding 27 receiving yards on three catches and six targets.

I expect all three of the team's backs to be involved at least a bit tonight. I see Hunt as the best fantasy asset, but none of them being great fantasy assets.

Etienne is the clear leader in Jacksonville, while Tuten is the top backup. Etienne has 394 rushing yards and two scores on 65 attempts, while catching six of his 10 targets for an additional 32 yards and a score. Tuten has 88 rushing yards and a score on 21 attempts, while adding 40 receiving yards and a score on three catches and four targets.

Etienne has played 166 snaps, while Tuten is at 50. Allen has played 53 snaps, but has just six touches (three rushes for 20 yards and 20 receiving yards on three catches and targets).

Etienne is the Jacksonville back you want, and he's a pretty good fantasy option in all leagues. Tuten could eventually take over the backfield, but is only a starting option in the right matchups now.

This could be one of those matchups, as Kansas City struggles to slow opposing fantasy backs. This is a stiffer test for the KC backs.

Etienne is projected for 14 PPR points tonight, while Tuten is at just six. Pacheco is projected for nine points, while Hunt is at seven and Smith three. 

Etienne is the only back from this game to crack my top-30 PPR fantasy backs for week 5. He ranked 20th. 

Everyone else is a better deep-league starter, in my eyes. I'd go with Hunt next, then Pacheco, Tuten, Smith and Allen.

Wide Receivers

Xavier Worthy returned last week for KC and immediately looked like the top wideout. He's questionable, but is expected to play. JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquise Brown, Tyquan Thornton, Jalen Royals and Nikko Remigio also played for the Chiefs last week. 

Brian Thomas is the top Jacksonville wideout, and hopes to get rolling tonight. Travis Hunter, Parker Washington, Dyami Brown and Tim Patrick are other wideouts who have played this season.

With Worthy back last week, here's how the Chiefs' wideouts looked. Worthy played 43 snaps and had 83 yards on five catches and a team-leading eight targets.

Smith-Schuster played a team-high 57 snaps, and had 36 yards and a score on four grabs and six targets. Brown went for 38 yards and a score on three grabs and five targets over 38 snaps. Thornton had an 11-yard TD across two targets, while Royals and Remigio weren't targeted over 14 and four snaps, respectively.

I'd expect Worthy to keep leading the Chiefs until Rashee Rice is back. Outside him, I see Smith-Schuster, Brown and Thornton as deep-league options, while Royals and Remigio can be avoided completely.

Thomas has played 235 snaps so far for Jacksonville, catching 12 of his 32 targets for 164 yards and no scores. His numbers should increase as the season progresses, but he's been a fantasy disappointment so far.

Hunter has 118 yards on 13 catches and 21 targets over 159 snaps. Washington has logged 142 snaps, catching nine of his 18 targets for 110 yards and no scores.

Brown has 116 yards and a score on 10 grabs and 14 targets. Patrick is at 15 yards on two catches and three targets.

Thomas is still the top fantasy wideout, and he's the only one worth considering in standard leagues. Hunter, Washington and Brown are deep-league options, while Patrick should be avoided for now.

The Chiefs' wideouts have a pretty favorable matchup tonight, while the Jaguars' wide receivers have a tougher test ahead. 

In the weekly FSP projections, Worthy and Thomas are each set for 11 PPR points. Brown is at nine, while Hunter and Smith-Schuster are each at seven points. Thornton also appears, sitting at five PPR points.

After his strong first game, I have Worthy up at No. 10 in my top-30 PPR wideouts for week 5. Thomas was the only other one to appear from this game, sitting at No. 24. 

After those two, I'd take: Smith-Schuster, Hunter, Marquise Brown, Dyami Brown, Washington, Thornton, Royals, Patrick and Remigio.

Tight Ends

Travis Kelce still leads the Kansas City tight end room, despite a so-so start to the season. Noah Gray plays enough to mention as well. 

Brenton Strange is the top tight end for Jacksonville. Hunter Long and Johnny Mundt are the team's backup TEs.

Kelce leads the KC pass catchers in snaps (198). He has 182 yards and a touchdown on 15 catches and 22 targets. He only had five targets last week.

Gray had only one target last week, so the return of Worthy and other receivers might make him irrelevant. He has 22 yards on six grabs and 13 targets this season.

Strange has logged 224 snaps, catching 19 of his 23 targets for 182 yards and no scores.

Mundt has played 95 snaps, but only has a seven-yard catch across three targets. Long has played 43 snaps, but has 41 yards and two scores on six receptions and seven targets.

Both team's tight ends have below-average matchups tonight, although the KC tight end's matchup is closer to average. The Jacksonville tight ends have the truly tough test.

Kelce is the top-projected tight end from this game, sitting at 11 PPR points. Strange is the only TE from tonight's game on the projection page, sitting with a respectable eight points. 

I had Kelce at No. 8 among my top-25 PPR tight ends for week 5. Strange was at No. 13, and was the last tight end mentioned from this game. 

Kelce and Strange are standard league options for tonight, with Kelce notably higher than Strange. The others are just lottery tickets in deeper setups, and I'd take them in this order: Long, Gray, Mundt.

Kickers

Harrison Butker kicks for KC, while Cam Little is the Jacksonville kicker. Both are projected for eight fantasy points tonight. 

Butker is 10-for-13 on his field goal attempts already, while going 7-of-9 on his extra points. Little is 9-for-11 on field goals and has made all nine of his extra points.

This game is projected for 45.5 points, and KC is favored by 3.5 points. I too like KC to win a fairly low-scoring game, but I think both kickers are solid options.

I like Butker over Little if you have the chance to choose either guy.

Defenses/Special Teams

These defenses have performed pretty similarly so far. KC's D/ST is projected for six points, while the Jacksonville D/ST is set for five points. 

KC's defense has allowed 1,251 total yards and 19 points per game, while Jacksonville's unit has allowed 1,265 yards and 18 points per contest.

Jacksonville has seven sacks and a whopping 13 takeaways. Kansas City has eight sacks and only four takeaways.

This is pretty easily the best offense the Jaguars have faced, but they are a better D/ST than you might think. KC takes care of the ball though, so I see the Chiefs' D/ST as the better fantasy option tonight, but both are OK options.

Offensive Overall Rankings (OP or Flex Spots)

1. Patrick Mahomes

2. Travis Etienne

3. Xavier Worthy

4. Brian Thomas

5. Trevor Lawrence

6. Travis Kelce

7. Kareem Hunt

8. Brenton Strange

9. Isiah Pacheco

10. JuJu Smith-Schuster

11. Travis Hunter

12. Marquise Brown

13. Dyami Brown

14. Bhayshul Tuten

15. Parker Washington

16. Tyquan Thornton

17. Brashard Smith

18. Jalen Royals

19. LeQuint Allen 

20. Tim Patrick

21. Nikko Remigio