Fantasy Football Week 5 RB Report: Chase Brown, Cam Skattebo keep falling short despite lead role

We’re back for another edition of the running back report, this time breaking down Week 5’s action. While most backfield splits are pretty clear, we still have plenty of frustrating situations that have fantasy football managers worried as we approach heavy bye week slates. As always, we’re going to break down some of the top committees from Sunday and what to make of it all going forward.

The fact that the Bengals let the Dolphins hang in this game is an entirely different issue. But in a spot where we all believed Chase Brown would smash, he somehow got outtouched and outscored by his backup, Samaje Perine. As fantasy managers, we may need to set lower expectations for Brown moving forward.

Perine was the better rusher most of the game, and maybe it had something to do with the Bengals being efficient in the passing game. Miami turned the ball over three times and Burrow had four TDs despite throwing for under 200 yards. It was just a very wonky game script throughout. But again, this was a Dolphins defense that was giving out rushing TDs like candy up to this point.

After Week 5, Brown has only reached double-digit fantasy points in two of five games, and hasn’t had more than 16.3 in a game. His ceiling has been capped severely as Cincy’s run game struggles. Brown is still an RB2 but he’s starting to sneak down into RB3/flex range, especially if he doesn’t post a big game soon.

Perine is an interesting deep-league add if you have Brown or you have the bench spot to spare. He won’t be playable unless something happens to Brown but he was good enough in Week 5 to get on some fantasy radars.

Cam Skattebo nearly cost the Giants this game before a massive screw-up by the Commanders that ended the game in a 27-27 tie. Skattebo was trending toward another down week before coming alive a bit in overtime. He was able to get up to a somewhat respectable 59 rushing yards before coughing the ball up when the G-Men had a chance to seal the win.

Skattebo, like Brown, is another back who we believed would be a rock-solid RB2/3 going into 2026. Instead, he hasn’t had much of a ceiling; his high score for the season was 14.1 fantasy points back in Week 1. Same as Brown, Skatman only has double-digit points in two of five games despite seeing plenty of touches in each contest.

It can’t be Jameis Winston; he had the offense moving plenty despite bad weather in D.C. on Sunday. Coming off the major injury, Skattebo still looks explosive enough but isn’t hitting those home runs like we saw a bit when he was a rookie. The Giants also aren’t playing in the red area that often. Skattebo is also getting opportunities but isn’t converting.

It’s tough because, based on the usage, you need to keep playing Skattebo. Maybe we see some positive regression with the touchdowns and the floor is still decent; had it not been for the late fumble in Week 5, Skattebo would have had at least 7.1 fantasy points in every game this season. Echoing the Brown sentiments, Skattebo is still an RB2/3 but without a ceiling at the moment. He’s trending toward being more of an RB3/flex play unless we see some spike weeks.

This was a gross showing from the Saints offense. Granted, it was against one of the better defenses in the league, but still. Kellen Moore was completely outcoached by Brian Flores and Kevin O’Connell in this one. And look at that table up there — not what you wanted to see from Alvin Kamara in this spot.

The Vikings got to Tyler Shough twice, had six tackles for a loss and four other QB hits in the game. New Orleans couldn’t get anything going on the ground or through the air. To make matters worse, Moore was cool rotating three backs and Kamara wasn’t able to PPR-scam or use TDs to get there for fantasy.

This may just be a week we chalk it up to the matchup. Minnesota was always going to be tough and when you’re rotating three players in the backfield, it’s going to be difficult for any of them to find value if the offense isn’t scoring. This shows you the volatile nature of this offense, especially for Kamara.

The bright side is the Saints get the Giants next week, a team that just got torched on the ground for 202 yards and three TDs thanks to Jayden Daniels and Jacory Croskey-Merritt. Kamara will be a risky RB3/flex play in Week 6. Miller is a TD-dependent flex while Donaldson should remain on waiver wires.

Personally, I thought this would be another strong Judkins week. The Jets defense entered Week 5 surrendering over 120 rushing yards per game. I was wrong.

Judkins busted again, the fourth time in five games he’s failed to reach double-digit fantasy points despite receiving 14+ touches. Maybe we factor in the weather, which was very bad in New Jersey all afternoon. But this felt like a spot the Browns could pick up another win and Judkins would, at least, find the end zone. But it didn’t come together.

I’d say we’re running out of time on Judkins, but like Brown and Skattebo, the second-year back’s role is defined, and Dylan Sampson remains out. Raheim Sanders isn’t going to take too many touches away from Judkins and we didn’t see any touches for Jaleel McLaughlin this week. QB Deshaun Watson was also sacked eight times against New York, fumbled three times (lost one) and was hit nine times. That isn’t going to help any offense.

The volume is still there, which is great for Judkins. But everything else points toward the bench for fantasy purposes. If you’re in a shallow format and have depth at RB, you’ve got to consider benching Judkins right now. Perhaps we see more explosive and better matchups ahead, but we also could see Watson and the offense start to tank a bit. KC Concepcion left with a concussion, which means fewer options at receiver.

Judkins continues this trend of backs we thought would be startable as an RB2/3 but is slowly morphing into a less reliable option. Maybe it’s time to explore a trade if you’re a Judkins manager? We’ll see if Judkins can get back on track next week against the Ravens.