The Sideline Sage W/ Frank Ober: 2025-2026 Season Week 5
- Sideline Sage with Frank Ober
The Sideline Sage is back with the ultimate Fantasy Football edge! Every week, get the unfiltered truth with picks, pans, trades, and bold predictions that could swing your season. From injury red flags to sleeper steals, the Sage calls it like it is—so you can dominate your league, crush the waiver wire, and make championship-caliber moves before anyone else.
Injuries continue to be a main story this season as two more premier players were lost for the season. To complicate matters, team byes will start in week 5, shrinking the available player pool even further.
Losing Malik Nabers to a torn ACL is a major blow to the Giants offense and doesn’t help the development and performance of rookie QB Jaxson Dart. Although the Giants upset the Los Angeles Chargers in week 4, he only threw for 111 yards. Hopefully, he’ll improve on this. The main benefactors of Nabers’ injury are WRs Darius Slayton and Wan’Dale Robinson, and TE Theo Johnson. Robinson is a possession receiver, although his average yards per reception this season is higher than years past. Slayton is a deep ball threat while Johnson is a safety valve. Of the three, Robinson has the safest floor.
Tyreek Hill will also miss the rest of the season due to torn knee ligaments. This should benefit WR Jaylen Waddle but without Hill, opposing teams will be focused on stopping him. WR Malik Washington moves up on the depth chart, but he needs to show that he’s worthy of a roster spot. TE Darren Waller played in his first game in 631 days in week 4 and scored 2 TDs. Waller was a big-time producer when he played for the then Oakland Raiders. The Dolphins will get him more involved in the passing game. The Dolphins signed WR Cedric Wilson Jr. off of the New Orleans Saints practice squad. He previously played for the Fins and is worth monitoring.
The status of Jackson’s hamstring injury needs to be monitored to see if he’ll miss any time. Cooper Rush, formerly of the Dallas Cowboys, would be his replacement. Rush had some very good games for the Cowboys filling in for Dak Prescott. Based on how the Ravens’ defense is performing, Rush may see plenty of opportunities to throw the football. If you don’t have a viable backup QB, he is worth a flyer.
If Purdy misses time, we have already seen very good production from Mac Jones, his backup. Both Purdy and Jones started two games. Each has thrown 4 TD passes with similar passing yardage while Purdy has thrown 4 interceptions to Jones’ 2. Therefore, Jones is a viable option. Be cautious, however, due to injuries to the 49ers’ WR corps.
The Cleveland Browns have decided to bench QB Joe Flacco in favor of rookie QB Dillon Gabriel. Gabriel should not be started in week 5 against the Brian Flores led Minnesota Vikings defense but he is worth stashing as a backup QB.
QB: Jordan Love (Green Bay Packers): 365 total yards, 3 TDs, 0 Int
Geno Smith (Las Vegas Raiders): 148 total yards, 2 TDs, 3 Int
RB: Omarion Hampton (Los Angeles Chargers): 5 receptions, 165 total yards, 1 TD
J.K. Dobbins (Denver Broncos): 1 reception, 105 total yards, 0 TDs
WR: Ladd McConkey (Los Angeles Chargers): 1 reception, 11 total yards, 0 TDs
Garrett Wilson (New York Jets): 6 receptions, 82 total yards, 1 TD
TE: Sam LaPorta (Detroit Lions): 3 receptions, 39 total yards, 0 TDs
Jake Ferguson (Dallas Cowboys): 7 receptions, 40 total yards, 1 TD
PK: Spencer Shrader (Indianapolis Colts): 8 points, 2 PATs, 2 FGs
Jake Elliott (Philadelphia Eagles): 7 points, 4 PATs, 1 FG
DF: Houston Texans: 0 points against, 175 total yards allowed, 2 sacks, 1 takeaway
New England Patriots: 13 pts. against, 326 total yards allowed, 1 sack, 0 takeaways, 1 TD
QB: Daniel Jones (Indianapolis Colts vs. Las Vegas Raiders)
Justin Fields (New York Jets vs. Dallas Cowboys)
RB: Quinshon Judkins (Cleveland Browns vs. Minnesota Vikings)
Cam Skattebo (New York Giants at New Orleans Saints)
WR: Jameson Williams (Detroit Lions at Cincinnati Bengals)
Deep Sleeper – Kendrick Bourne (San Francisco 49ers at Los Angeles Rams)
TE: Juwan Johnson (New Orleans Saints vs. New York Giants)
Dalton Kincaid (Buffalo Bills vs. New England Patriots)
PK: Chad Ryland (Arizona Cardinals vs. Tennessee Titans)
Chase McLaughlin (Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Seattle Seahawks)
DF: Cleveland Browns (vs. Minnesota Vikings)
Los Angeles Rams (vs. San Francisco 49ers)
Seattle Seahawks (+1.0) at Arizona Cardinals Final Score: Sea. 23 Ariz. 20
Green Bay Packers (-6.0) at Dallas Cowboys Final Score: GB 40 Dal. 40 (OT)
Denver Broncos (-7.5) vs. Cincinnati Bengals Final Score: Den. 28 Cin. 3
Week 4 Record: 2 – 1 Season Record: 7 – 5
Week 5 Selections vs. the Point Spread
San Francisco 49ers (+7.0) at Los Angeles Rams
Until recently, the 49ers have owned the Rams but every game is hard fought and usually decided by one score. The 49ers offense has multiple injuries, which means opposing defenses can focus on stopping RB Christian McCaffery. The Rams defense has played extremely well, and the offense has done a good job running the ball. WR Puka Nacua has been outstanding. Despite this, take the visitors with the points. This is a rivalry game that will be a slugfest.
New England Patriots (+7.5) at Buffalo Bills
Another rivalry game. The Patriots dominated this series when Tom Brady was the QB. Things have changed with QB Josh Allen now running the Bills. However, the Patriots continue to play the Bills tough. Last week, the Bills weren’t overly impressive against the lowly New Orleans Saints. I’ll take the visiting underdogs and the points.
Kansas City Chiefs (-3.5) at Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jaguars are one of the surprise teams in the NFL this season. Their defense has been outstanding, especially in the turnover department. They lead the NFL in takeaways and already exceeded the number of takeaways they had all of last season. In week 4, QB Patrick Mahomes got WR Xavier Worthy back from injury and the offense was clicking. The Chiefs are also very good at not turning the ball over. Take the visiting team and give the points.
