Fantasy football - NFL Week 5 start sit: Players to upgrade, tough matchups - ESPN

Throughout the NFL regular season, we'll meet here on Thursdays to break down the film from a fantasy football perspective. I'm looking for trends and tendencies on both side of the ball to give fantasy managers a jump when they set their weekly lineups. Schemes matter. So does offensive deployment in weekly matchups. And remember, the game tape always tells us a story.

Looking at the Week 5 slate, we'll start with a running back who looks pretty sharp on the tape and has a premium matchup. We'll also highlight an ascending wide receiver with big potential before finishing with a few question marks and players to monitor when you're watching the games this weekend.

All references to fantasy scoring are for PPR leagues unless otherwise noted.

Breece Hall, RB, New York Jets

You can play Hall as a lower-tier RB2 this week against a subpar Broncos defense. Through four weeks, the Broncos are giving up an average of 44 fantasy points per game to running backs. That's a big number. And Hall looks really fluid on the tape right now. He's a glider, with the ball carrier vision to find daylight. In Week 4, Hall saw just nine touches, which he turned into 9.9 points. But I have to believe the Jets will prioritize the run game here, while also deploying Hall underneath as a receiving option for quarterback Zach Wilson, who played good football in the Week 4 loss to the Chiefs.

Nico Collins, WR, Houston Texans

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We are now seeing the receiving traits — and explosive play ability — of Collins because of the high-level quarterback play in Houston. Rookie QB C.J. Stroud is dialed in, the Texans are rolling with a savvy passing-game