Week 5 fantasy football studs and busts

It seems that New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady can still be a serviceable fantasy football quarterback.

Days after just about everybody out there,  myself included, recommended that fantasy football owners should bench Brady in favor of other options, the future Hall-of-Famer posted the sixth-most points among quarterbacks in routing the Cincinnati Bengals. Brady played with fire and with passion, and he will be a fantasy football must-start when the Pats are at the Buffalo Bills next Sunday.

Elsewhere around the league, running backs Arian Foster and Eddie Lacy rewarded fantasy football owners who kept the faith. Wide receiver Demaryius Thomas of the Denver Broncos made team history with his performance. Meanwhile, New York Giants tight end Larry Donnell was an invisible man on Sunday.

Here is hoping he didn’t start himself in fantasy football for Week 5.

Week 5 fantasy football studs and duds

Stud: QB Austin Davis, St. Louis Rams

Only one quarterback — Peyton Manning — posted more fantasy football points than did Davis when away to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. Davis threw for 375 yards and 3 touchdowns in the defeat. While he did not toss an interception against Philly, Davis did lose two fumbles.

Davis is cementing himself as a legitimate starter for the Rams, and he is an interesting fantasy football option depending on the week-by-week match-ups. St. Louis will host the San Francisco 49ers next Monday.

Bust: QB Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers

All signs pointed to Big Ben having a big fantasy football day on Sunday. Roethlisberger was facing a lousy Jacksonville Jaguars defense. The secondary of the Jags was theoretically unable to deal with Pittsburgh wide receiver Antonio Brown. Starting Roethlisberger was an easy decision.

While Pittsburgh won the game, Roethlisberger did fantasy football owners little favors. He had just a single touchdown, and Roethlisberger posted only 12.72 fantasy football points. He will again be a must-start for Week 6 when he and the Steelers will be away to the Cleveland Browns, a team Roethlisberger has owned throughout his NFL career.