Steve And Zack’s Panic Attack Week 5

Welcome to Week 5 of Steve & Zack’s Panic Attack, where we decide who to panic on, and who we need to show some patience with. As we cross the quarter season threshold, we have started to distinguish one week fluke performances from repeat offenses. Moving forward on this segment, we will try to limit the article to players we have legitimate concerns about, or at a minimum small fears, and we will avoid discussing players who clearly just had a one-week mishap.

Additionally, this is the week where we are officially establishing The Panic Room!!! The Panic Room has been mentioned and teased the last few weeks, but from now on, the Panic Room is where we house our most loyal offenders and provide updates on their rehabilitation (and maybe provide some coping mechanisms for fantasy owners) throughout the season.

Titans @ Texans

Cam Ward

• 23/36, 170 yds, 0 TD, 1 INT, 1 car, 2 yds
• Cam Ward’s poor performances are starting to become concerning,  and I have legitimate concerns as to whether he is up to the task of being the Titans’ starting QB. The OL isn't great, but Cam isn't making good throws even when they give him time to throw. Maybe he just needs more time (as we say every week).  
• Panic Meter: 7/10. It's not a full blown panic yet. Some QBs just take extra time to figure it out (Bryce Young, Sam Darnold, etc). For now though, keep Cam out of your lineups moving forward, at least until we see some improvement.

Carnell Tate

• 5 tgt, 1 rec, 6 yds
• Coming off a big week with a plus matchup, we expected more. However, Carnell Tate has looked great all year and mostly has been a product of his QB’s play (see above). 
• Panic Meter: 1/10. There is no need to panic on Carnell Tate. Rookies take time to fully adjust and gel in the league. Tate’s advanced metrics have looked great through five weeks, so at some point it will all come together.

Eagles @ Jaguars

Brian Thomas Jr. (🪿🥚)

• 3 tgt, 0 rec, 0 yds
• It might just be over. BTJ has done basically nothing through five weeks of football, he is losing snaps and targets to Josh Cameron, and he had less receptions than Travis Hunter this week. BTJ might need a trade like Marvin Harrison to find fantasy relevance again.
• Panic Meter: 10/10. The Panic Room is open… and BTJ is in it (more at the end of this article). This season just feels like a wash for him.  There’s nothing going for him, and moving forward he deserves to be on benches. In dynasty leagues, I'd see if you can sell him and get a usable player, or shoot for a 2027 2nd.

Browns @ Jets

Harold Fannin

• 4 tgt, 1 rec, 4 yds
• Harold Fannin is a very talented TE. Unfortunately, he plays for the Browns, and their offense is just wildly inadequate (except for Denzel Boston’s weekly big plays). Deshaun Watson seems unwilling to make the intermediate throws to Fannin, but Fannin had a couple good weeks prior to this. For now, we will give him a pass (pun intended).
• Panic Meter: 2/10. It looks worse than it actually is. Fannin has looked good individually, but it's the Browns, so reliability is not a possibility. Don't panic. 

Quinshon Judkins

• 14 car, 44 yds, 4 tgt, 3 rec, 6 yds
• Another product of the Browns’ offensive confusion and struggles. Judkins operates as a bell cow running back every week. While the upside should be there, he is seemingly a touchdown dependent option on a weekly basis. It hurts because Judkins is a talented back, but the Browns’ OL is not good and gives Judkins very little space to work with.
• Panic Meter: 6/10. We love the volume, but we hate the Browns. Judkins should be better, but he’s not. Hope for some more scoring chances moving forward, but he’s a weekly flex prayer and not much more for now.

Colts @ Steelers

Josh Downs

• 6 tgt, 3 rec, 47 yds
• This inclusion is more of a personal sadness for me. Josh Downs has some of the best separation numbers in the entire league, yet he can't seem to get enough targets to be fantasy relevant on a weekly basis. He isn't struggling necessarily, but it's frustrating to see such a talented player get overlooked week in, week out.
• Panic Meter: 2/10. It’s not his fault. I blame Daniel Jones, but even that feels like searching for someone to blame. The Colts’ offense just runs through Jonathan Taylor and sometimes Tyler Warren. Downs is awesome and underutilized.

DK Metcalf

• 4 tgt, 3 rec, 12 yds, 1 car, 11 yds
• Even with Roman Wilson getting hurt and Michael Pittman on IR, Metcalf couldn't find any space to get going this week against the Colts. Part of that is the fact that the Colts have been strong against outside WRs and have STRUGGLED against slot WRs and TEs so far this year (as evidenced by Germie Bernard and Pat Friermuth having pretty good statlines this week).
• Panic Meter: 5/10. DK isn't worth panicking on, but he's more of a weekly desperation play than a lineup staple at this point. There is upside and hope, but the floor is too low to feel safe.

Raiders @ Patriots

Romeo Doubs

• 3 tgt, 1 rec, 16 yds
• “O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?" Romeo Doubs signed a nice contract with the Patriots this offseason, but other than one week of solid production, he has basically been an afterthought. This week, Drake Maye threw for 374 yards and 4 TDs, and Romeo Doubs did NOTHING!. 
• Panic Meter: 8/10. He just doesn’t seem to be much of a factor in this Patriots’ offense. He is basically unsafe to put in your fantasy lineups every week at this point. I am panicking, and you should be too.

Vikings @ Saints

Saints Offense

• 142 total yards (96 passing, 46 rushing), 1 TD (Kendre Miller)
• I will keep this one short. The Saints’ offense struggled the whole game; it was terrible. The Vikings’ Defense is incredible. Kudos to Brian Flores.
• Panic Meter: 1/10. Not too worried about the Saints moving forward, but the Vikings D continues to stifle any and all fantasy players week in, week out. If you have a player playing against the Vikings, be weary. 

Bears @ Packers

Bears Pass Catchers

• Colston Loveland: 5 tgt, 2 rec, 19 yds
• Rome Odunze: 9 tgt, 3 rec, 40 yds
• Luther Burden: 6 tgt, 4 rec, 47 yds.
• This week was just another week where it was nearly impossible to trust any Bears’ pass catchers. Let’s give these guys a chance to play with Caleb Williams again before we panic.
• Panic Meter: 4/10. This team has mostly just run the ball almost every play without Caleb Williams, and I wonder how much that continues with Caleb healthy. However, last season the Bears ran the ball more than any team, so maybe this is just the norm for them. The only guy I am truly concerned about is Colston Loveland. Odunze and Burden at least have very clear roles in the passing attack.

Packers RBs

• MarShawn Lloyd: 10 car, 31 yds, 2 TD; 1 rec, 6 yds
• Pierre Strong Jr.: 5 car, 7 yds; 3 rec, 11 yds
• Kaleb Johnson: 7 car, 26 yds (garbage time)
• The Packers have had a great passing attack this season, but they might be the worst rushing team in the league. It is just bad every week. If Lloyd didn't get those 2 TDs, he would have finished with 4.7 fantasy points. 
• Panic Meter: 9/10. The Packers RBs belong on benches, not in lineups. It isn't Panic Room material, but only because we don't really have any expectations for these guys.

Broncos @ Chargers

Justin Herbert

• 14/24, 121 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT, 6 car, 54 yds
• Justin Herbert has fewer fantasy points than Cam Ward so far this year. Justin Herbert has only 7 more fantasy points than Caleb Williams this year (who hasn't even played 2 full games). How much more of this terror do we have to witness? IF Man strikes again every week. I don’t even know if I should blame him, his coaching staff, or his unhealthy WR room. IF he had a healthy WR room, maybe he would be better, but I just don’t think its reasonable to keep giving this guy excuses
• Panic Meter: 9/10. One more week. That's all he gets. If Herbert isn't better next week he is going to the Panic Room.

Omarion Hampton

• 14 carries, 33 yds; 1 rec, 6 yds
• Hampton, for the second consecutive week, had the third most snaps among Chargers’ RBs. Mike McDaniel is a domestic terrorist (can I say that legally?). We all had super high hopes for Omarion Hampton this year, but the Chargers continue to commit crimes against football every week..
• Panic Meter: 10/10. Our second Week 5 Panic Room invitation recipient. I am just perplexed as to how the Chargers can find new ways to mismanage a very talented RB every week.

Bo Nix

• 16/27, 123 yds, 1 TD, 0 INT, 4 car, 10 yds
• Bo Nix has been ok this year, but not great. I don’t know whether to blame him, the playcalling, or some other unknown factor, but he has been just ok. Even with Sean Payton taking over the playcalling this week, Nix didn’t improve whatsoever.. 
• Panic Meter: 6/10. It's not terrible, but we need to see more from Nix. Part of the issue seems to be a lack of connection with his pass catchers, so hopefully that improves.

RJ Harvey

• 3 car, 7 yds, 1 tgt, 0 rec
• EW GROSS. RJ Harvey was uninvolved in the offense this week. JK Dobbins even stayed on the field for a good number of passing downs. It seems like the Broncos just didn’t want to use Harvey this week. Given his very limited rushing role, it may be worth a slight panic on this one.
• Panic Meter: 6/10. This is the floor for Harvey. Unless he has a big passing role, he can do basically nothing at any time. 

Jaylen Waddle

• 5 tgt, 2 rec, 19 yds, 1 car, 9 yds
• Waddle is incredibly frustrating. The Broncos paid a first round pick to acquire him and so far, he has barely been used at the level we expected. Hopefully that improves soon, but so far it has looked bad.
• Panic Meter: 5/10. It is not a full panic, but we have to at least panic a little bit. The hope is he eventually gets more targets and opportunities. At the moment, his outlook doesn't look good, and neither does this offense.

Lions @ Cardinals

Jeremiyah Love

• 12 carries, 22 yds, 1 tgt, 0 rec
• Jeez! Surely there will be better days ahead for Jeremiyah Love. He is a very talented runner, but this Cardinals’ offense is truly confusing. For now, let's temper year one expectations on Love. This game felt like a floor game and not the norm.
• Panic Meter: 3/10. I will say it again: Rookies Take Time! It is still too early to panic on any rookies. However, the Cardinals organization needs to be better about deploying him moving forward.

Michael Wilson

• 7 tgt, 4 rec, 30 yds
• The first week of 2026 without Marvin Harrison Jr. and Michael Wilson came crashing down to earth. Surprisingly, the Cardinals decided to use Wilson in a more vertical route role (similar to MHJ’s usage previously), instead of his normal Z role with short and intermediate targets. Hopefully that doesn't continue since Wilson’s previous usage was great for fantasy.
• Panic Meter: 5/10. I am a bit more worried about this sudden role change, especially after a dud against the Lions terrible defense. Not immediately panicking, but this is something to keep an eye out for moving forward.

The Panic Room

Welcome to the Panic Room. Ironically, I made this segment to track Kyle Pitts, but he decided to be good again this week so he avoided a stay in the Panic Room (for now). 

Our guests this week include three official members: Brian Thomas Jr., Omarion Hampton, and Marvin Harrison Jr. Let’s briefly recap each of their seasons so far. 

• Brian Thomas Jr. - 5 GP, 18 tgt, 9 rec, 105 yds, 1 TD - 5.1 PPR pts per week
• Omarion Hampton - 5 GP, 73 car, 271 yds, 3 TDs, 6 tgt, 5 rec, 35 yds - 9.9 PPR pts per week
• Marvin Harrison Jr. - 4 GP, 13 tgt, 5 rec, 85 yds, 1 TD - 4.9 PPR pts per week

These three guys have wildly underperformed their expectations so far, especially compared to ADP. BTJ is seemingly the WR3 or WR4 on his own team, and the fourth or fifth option in the passing game. 

Omarion Hampton is stuck in a truly terrible and ridiculous hot-handed approach timeshare. His team is 0-5 with IF Man at QB and a coaching staff full of confused criminals who forgot to commit actual crimes and who prefer to burn my eyes with poor football every week. 

Marvin Harrison did basically nothing with the Cardinals so they traded him to the Houston Texans (thank god) and reunited him with his former college QB CJ Stroud. Lets all hope for the best with these guys, but until further notice, they are locked in the Panic Room.

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