What a week for injuries! Week four of the NFL had serious implications for the league’s playoff race, but most importantly, your fantasy football team. That being said, here are the NFL week five picks from the Mike Calta Show and some unsolicited fantasy football advice from me!
Let’s just disregard that Green Bay at Dallas Sunday night game. Tie’s shouldn’t be a thing in the NFL. College gets it right. Last week, the group successfully predicted nine winners (Seahawks, Steelers, Texans, Patriots, Bills, Lions, Rams, Dolphins, and Broncos). They got five wrong (Commanders, Buccaneers, 49ers, Ravens, and Chargers). I broke a tie between the Bears and Raiders, successfully picking the Bears. And then we had the Packers and Cowboys tie that doesn’t count. We won’t mention that I also tried to flip their Steelers pick to the Vikings. Not a bad week.
However, injuries played a roll. Two games that could’ve turned out differently had it not been for injuries were the Ravens at Chiefs and Eagles at Bucs. The Ravens lost Lamar Jackson to a hamstring injury. The Bucs lost Bucky Irving who’s dealing with a foot sprain.
Other notable injuries are Tyreek Hill, out for the season after dislocating his knee. It’s not supposed to bend that way... Also, the Giants lost Malik Nabers with a torn ACL. Both of those teams earned their first wins of the season and both lost their #1 wide receiver. From a fantasy perspective, you should pick up another Malik. Second-year player, Malik Washington has shown some bright spots this season for Miami. Jalen Waddle will take over the #1 spot, but Washington is almost guaranteed to take over the #2 wide receiver position. In New York, Darius Slayton will take the #1 wide receiver spot. Last season, while Nabers missed time, Slayton averaged 11 targets per game and 89.5 yards per game.
Last year when Malik Nabers was out
— Derek Brown (@DBro_FFB) September 29, 2025
(Weeks 5-6)
Darius Slayton (per @FantasyPtsData)
29.3% tg % (11 targets/game)
56.9% air-yard %
2.49 YPRR (89.5 rec yds/game)
36.5% first-read share pic.twitter.com/iGj6qAgXbT
Back to the Mike Calta Show NFL week five picks. There’s only one game where there wasn’t consensus, Houston Texans at Baltimore Ravens. The show’s got five for Baltimore and four for Houston. I believe CJ Stroud will be the difference maker should Lamar not suit up Sunday. Lamar missed his second-straight practice this week, so all signs point to Cooper Rush getting the nod at QB. Houston gets the W. It’ll be a run-heavy offense for the Ravens in-case Justice Hill happens to be available.
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