Fantasy Football Week 5 Fades & Busts: Jalen Hurts is officially out of the top 12

Welcome to the fifth of 17 weekly articles spotlighting the fantasy fades of the week! I am your host, Matt Okada, and I'll be bringing you half a dozen potential busts each and every Friday, from now until fantasy championships.

As a note, just because a player earns a "fade" or "bust" designation doesn't automatically mean they should be benched — it depends on the rest of your roster or the options on your waiver wire. But you can expect them to fall short of expectations (when I get them right). I include a "What to Do" section for every player to help with that.

Without further ado, here is my list for Week 5 of the 2026 season.

Jalen Hurts' name and Jalen Hurts' recent production simply do not occupy the same tier anymore. He's scored progressively fewer fantasy points each week this season, from 24.72 in Week 1 down to 13.62 and 13.52, respectively, the last two weeks.

A variety of reasons, but probably the biggest one is the decline in his rushing production. From 2021 through 2024, Jalen Hurts averaged 9.5 fantasy points per game as a rusher, comfortably the most by any quarterback. But since the start of last season, that average has dropped by 44%, as Hurts has rushed for just 26 yards per game over that span and has scored just once on the ground over his last nine starts . And unfortunately, he's not compensating as a passer in 2026, with just 178.3 passing yards per game.

After dicing up the Commanders in Week 1 — which doesn't carry all that much weight given how their defense has played — Hurts has thrown four touchdowns and three interceptions in the three games since. Now he enters a matchup with the Jaguars, who held Drake Maye, Bo Nix and Deshaun Watson outside the top-18 fantasy quarterbacks in each of their respective matchups. The Jags have allowed just three touchdown passes and snagged six interceptions through the first month, the best TD-INT ratio by any defense so far. While Hurts might still feel like a top-end QB1, the data does not support that feeling this season or this week.

What to do ❓ As crazy as it might seem, Hurts is outside the top-12 quarterbacks for Week 5 and can absolutely be benched for streamers like Jacoby Brissett, Jameis Winston, C.J. Stroud and others.

Speaking of players whose elite fantasy history and current fantasy output don't match up ... David Montgomery has been awful. He unfortunately fooled fantasy managers with a 28.9-point, three-touchdown performance in Week 1, but has since been a major disappointment. Over the last three contests, he's averaged just 4.5 fantasy points and 22.3 rushing yards per game. He hasn't had more than 60 rushing yards in a game all year (even including Week 1). Since Week 2, he sports the position's second-fewest yards per carry (2.7), lowest success rate (23.4%) and lowest explosive run rate (2.1%). He's losing snaps and drives to Woody Marks and appears to be entirely touchdown-dependent for fantasy.

If Houston doesn't find its way into the red zone several times in a game, there appears to be absolutely no ceiling (or floor, frankly) for Montgomery. The Titans aren't exactly a standout matchup one way or another, though they've allowed the seventh-fewest yards per carry to running backs, so this is more of a PSA for fantasy managers still riding the high of opening weekend. Montgomery is borderline unplayable right now, and we need to adjust accordingly.

What to do ❓ I know running back looks incredibly shallow right now, but the fact that Montgomery is still outside RB2 range in that context should tell you everything you need to know. You're better off starting a replacement back like Braelon Allen or Emanuel Wilson, or a committee back like Kyle Monangai (or RJ Harvey in any form of PPR).

Jacory Croskey-Merritt, RB, Commanders vs. Giants

Jacory Croskey-Merritt is sort of a lesser version of Montgomery. He had a decent Week 1 — 63 rushing yards and a touchdown — but has averaged just 5.4 fantasy points per game since, with fewer than 45 rushing yards in all contests and zero touchdowns since Week 1. He's also been horribly inefficient, ranking bottom 10 among qualified running backs in success rate, EPA per carry, missed tackle rate and explosive run rate. Possibly as a result or due to Rachaad White's injury, the Commanders signed Austin Ekeler before Week 4. It's bad news for JCM either way.

The veteran immediately outproduced Croskey-Merritt in the ground game — on far fewer carries and snaps — and seems like a major threat to the younger back's role and upside in the offense. As with the Titans against Montgomery, the Giants aren't a difficult matchup, but it doesn't particularly matter in this case. Neither the volume nor the efficiency for Croskey-Merritt offers any confidence in his floor or ceiling.

What to do ❓ Unfortunately for those who drafted "Bill" in the middle rounds hoping for a value RB2, he simply cannot be played except in the most dire of circumstances. Consider him a low-end FLEX at best.

Courtland Sutton, WR, Broncos at Chargers

I'll admit off the rip, Courtland Sutton has been so ineffective for fantasy that this "Fade" should be unnecessary, and some of you will probably question his inclusion at all. However, with Sutton still rostered in 70% of Yahoo leagues and Pat Bryant likely to miss Sunday's game against the Chargers, there will be a surprising number of fantasy managers tempted to slot Sutton into their lineup for one last shot at redemption.

Through four games, Sutton has already had a 17.6% target share, second on the team to Jaylen Waddle's 20.8%, well ahead of Bryant's 9.6%. Bryant has stood out for fantasy because he's averaged 11.1 yards per target, with a 75.0% catch rate and a touchdown, but he's only seen 12 targets in total. Meanwhile, Sutton has been abysmal with his volume, averaging 3.9 yards per target with a 40.9% catch rate, both the worst marks by any player with 20+ targets in the entire league. Even if you gifted Bryant's three targets per game entirely to Sutton, at his rate of 0.6 half-PPR fantasy points per target, that would equate to a boost of just 1.8 fantasy points. As with the running backs above, the Chargers are actually a soft matchup for wide receivers, but it just doesn't matter with the way Sutton is playing this season. Frankly, if he doesn't prove me wrong with a vintage game this week, he's probably going to be droppable come the Week 6 waiver run.

What to do ❓ Do not start Sutton under basically any circumstance. Even in deeper leagues or on rosters with extra WR slots, I'd rather play guys like Kalif Raymond, Wan'Dale Robinson, Tre' Harris in the same game or even waiver wire adds Keon Coleman and Dohnte Meyers.

Disclaimer: I believe in Josh Downs as a talent. He's an excellent route-runner and a separation specialist, and in an offense with a capable, accurate quarterback and a smart, high-volume offensive scheme, he might be a fantasy WR1. Unfortunately, as we saw in London last Sunday, the Colts' passing game is a mess. Daniel Jones has the league's sixth-lowest passer rating and third-lowest EPA per dropback (ahead of only Baker Mayfield and Jameis Winston) and has been pressured 60 times through four games, sixth-most for any quarterback. He's thrown for fewer than 170 yards twice and does not have multiple touchdown passes in a single game this season ... but does have an interception in every game.

In ideal circumstances with Keenan Allen inactive (and Alec Pierce still on IR) against the Commanders defense, Downs had just three catches on four targets for 16 yards last Sunday. The leading receiver on the team was Laquon Treadwell, with just 42 yards, and Jones finished with just 143 passing yards and no TDs against a team that had previously allowed 291.7 yards per game and 11 touchdowns in three games . Allen is likely to return this week and the Steelers' pass defense has been far more effective than Washington's. Until proven otherwise, there's simply no ceiling for Downs in this offense and the floor is fewer than five fantasy points (which has happened twice).

What to do ❓ Considering how good he looked in Weeks 2 and 3, Downs isn't a must-sit like Sutton, as he could have another okay day purely on volume — think six catches for 70 yards and exactly 10 fantasy points. But if that's as good as you're going to get, there are a number of better WR3 or FLEX plays.

Joe Brady and the Bills have some explaining to do with regard to Dalton Kincaid, and we actually saw him try after the Patriots game. What do I mean? Well, over the first two weeks, Kincaid had a 25% target share and 30% air yards share in Buffalo and was averaging a position-high 4.7 yards per route run. He looked legitimately elite and was featured in my Week 2 Stock Report here at Yahoo. In the two weeks since? Kincaid's dropped to a 9% target share, 11% air yards share and just 1.2 yards per route run.

This has always seemed to happen with Kincaid over the years in Buffalo — his production is excellent, even elite, but his usage and offensive role never seem to consistently reflect that. And unfortunately, it's hard to see him bouncing back in a matchup with the Rams. Los Angeles has allowed a league-low 85 receiving yards to tight ends through one month.

Not 85 yards per game ... 85 yards total .

They're No. 1 against the position in yards per target (2.9) and have not allowed a single explosive catch to tight ends all year. For fantasy, they're allowing just 5.13 points per game to the position and held both Isaiah Likely and George Kittle (albeit in Week 1) to fewer than eight fantasy points. I really like Kincaid as a fantasy asset and sincerely hope Brady and Co. utilize him correctly rest-of-season ... but I'm fading him for one more week with this defense on the docket.

What to do ❓ Tight end is a shallow position, and Kincaid really is that good, so even with everything I've said above, he's a fringe TE1. But he's certainly not the top-five play he was after the first couple of weeks, and you should absolutely play Likely, Colston Loveland, Juwan Johnson and Tucker Kraft over him and could consider streamers like Mike Gesicki and T.J. Hockenson as well.