NFL DFS Expert Survey: Week 5

by Robert Brown (Epignosis)

Created Oct 10, 2026

Last Updated 2026-10-10 02:53:11 Premium Content Part of the product NFL DFS

Our panel of experts is here to give you their insights on NFL DFS today for the Week 5 main slate on DraftKings and FanDuel. They’re ready to answer key questions that will assist you in making those crucial lineup-building decisions. Curious about Noto’s favorite correlation? Or perhaps you’re wondering about Davis Mattek’s favorite contrarian play? Read their thoughts below!

NFL DFS DraftKings & FanDuel Expert Survey: Week 5 Picks

Rank your three favorite players for cash games, in order:

What is your favorite correlation and why?

Notorious: DET/ARI is going to be chalky, but there are ways to get different with it. There are a few games each season that I feel 100% confident in stacking, and DET/ARI is the second one so far this season (the first was the NYJ/DET). This season, Lions games are 1st in scoring and 2nd in plays. The Lions’ defense is dead last in EPA allowed per play and success rate, while the Cardinals’ defense is dead last in EPA allowed per dropback. Both teams are well over the league average in pass rate above expectation. It’s hard to narrow down a specific stack that I love, because I’m a big fan of all stacks in this game. I like the idea of a quarterback with at least one pass catcher and then two bring-backs from the other side. With the potential cheap value on the Commanders and Bengals, it makes this game even easier to stack.

stevietpfl: Jameis Winston + Isaiah Likely – I will use some of these Washington pass catchers as run-back options; it’s just going to depend on who is in or out at wide receiver. I want to make my DET/ARI lineups different, and I’m hoping the Winston/Likely stack is lower owned. Washington is one of the worst defenses against tight ends, and it’s a trend we took advantage of a lot last season. Likely leads tight ends with a 30.4% target share and is 5th in catches with 22. With this matchup, I think he has a massive ceiling, and he’s coming off a 12-target game against Arizona. With Jayden Daniels playing, I think this is a sneaky shootout game with a lot of potential for big plays.

Krayton: Jared Goff + Jahmyr Gibbs + Michael Wilson – This is the game I have been targeting all week long, as it’s too good to pass up. Gibbs is going to be one of the most popular plays on the slate, but I like pairing him with Goff and then including either Jameson Williams or Sam LaPorta to get a little different (while most are likely making sure Amon-Ra St. Brown is paired with Goff). Williams has largely disappointed this season, but this seems like the perfect game script for his elite ability to make big, explosive plays. Goff is set up to have a huge game. Arizona continues to give up multiple TDs to QBs, as they’ve given up 2+ TDs to each QB they have faced so far. Wilson is a play I will be especially focused on over on FD, as he’s just $6,400 and coming off of 2 games where he had 13 and 17 targets. I also will be looking for a mini-stack of the CHI/GB game to get different, including one of my favorite correlations: Luther Burden III and Tucker Kraft.

ebeimfohr: Jameis Winston + Isaiah Likely – The entire world is going to be stacking the DET/ARI game, and while I’m not proposing a fade of the game, I think it’s going to be incredibly difficult to win the slate with the same stacks everyone else is playing. So I’m opting to lean into the Jameis experience with Likely, who leads the team in route participation and target share both for the season and with Winston at the helm. Likely leads all NFL TEs in targets per route and percentage of team targets, and he’s fresh off a game with 12 targets on 29 Winston pass attempts. The Commanders are a pass-funnel defense that has blitzed at the 2nd-highest rate in the league, and they play almost entirely zone behind it. Likely’s fantasy points per route take a jump against zone coverage (in particular against two-high, which Washington predominantly runs). With their pressure, they’re susceptible to big plays but also set up to bleed fantasy points to TEs. They have already been cooked by Dallas Goedert, Jake Ferguson, and even the Seattle TEs this season, and this sets up perfectly for Winston to give us a ceiling game feeding Likely over the middle.

ncorfield8k: Tyson Bagent + D’Andre Swift + Luther Burden III + Matthew Golden – I like playing this as a game stack. The Packers defense has been atrocious, so I particularly like loading up on the Bears side. However, I also think the Bears defense has overperformed since giving up 39 points in Week 1. This could be a shootout.

Davis Mattek: Tyson Bagent + Luther Burden III – Everyone is so mad about Burden only being 29th in the NFL in receiving yards, but this is a clear explosion spot. The Packers have the worst ground game in the NFL and will have to throw regardless of score. We have not seen the Bears trail yet, but when they do, there is an absolutely massive game waiting there for Burden and Colston Loveland. I am trying to save as much salary as possible due to wanting to get Jahmyr Gibbs, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Michael Wilson, and Trey McBride into lineups, so getting ~19 fantasy points from Bagent is a good angle.

Jordan Vanek: Bo Nix + Jaylen Waddle – The main reason Sean Payton is taking over play-calling duties is that the Broncos’ offense hasn’t been doing what he wants, particularly when it comes to attacking downfield and utilizing Nix’s legs. Nix has been part of the problem with his reluctance to target receivers deep, but I expect Payton to make a concerted effort to change that against the Chargers. Waddle is the catalyst for this offense to explode, and I think we’ll see plenty of deep targets thrown his way in this matchup.

Who’s your favorite contrarian play (below 10% pOWN%) and why?

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