Jonathan Taylor, Cooper Kupp return in Week 5 to help fantasy football teams

Welcome back, Jonathan Taylor and Cooper Kupp. Fantasy football managers have been waiting to insert the two stars in their starting lineups like kids waiting to open holiday gifts.

After both players — who in July and early August were going in the first rounds of fantasy drafts — were put on IR at the end of the preseason to dramatically drop their respective ADPs, it was doom and gloom in the fantasy community. In the case of Taylor, the drop was like a stone falling from a tall building. Personally, I picked Taylor in the eighth round of a late August draft.

When both were announced to be active for Week 5, it was going to be hard to predict how they would fare, regardless of how palpable the excitement to get them into fantasy lineups was.

In the end, the results were mixed.

Cooper Kupp makes a successful return to fantasy action

Kupp looked like he hardly missed a beat, drawing 12 targets and catching eight of them for 118 yards. In the Rams’ opening 14-play drive, Kupp was targeted on six plays, even three plays in a row. So Matthew Stafford and the Rams were tossing Kupp into the deep end from the start, with the wide receiver swimming like an Olympian:

For those who were worried that Kupp’s return would eat into the production of early-season waiver wire discoveries Puka Nacua and Tutu Atwell, it was business as usual — in one case. As predicted by my colleague Matt Harmon, Nacua is filling the Robert Woods outside role as a complement to Kupp’s work in the slot:

Nacua drew 11 targets, catching seven for 71 yards and a score. While Atwell caught Matthew Stafford’s other touchdown, he was targeted just five times, catching two for nine yards. Atwell may become more of a boom-bust bye-week play, while Nacua is very much a top-20 wide receiver and every-week starter for fantasy.

Kupp? Lock him in your starting lineup, though keep in mind that Kupp has now had two hamstring injuries since the start of training camp, and Dr. Edwin Porras consistently points out that a player’s injury history is very important to consider for future health.

Jonathan Taylor managers might have to wait a little longer

Taylor entered the Week 5 contest up against a solid Tennessee run defense having been a full participant in practice leading up to the game. Those were the first full practices he’s had since he played on Dec. 17, 2022, when he suffered the ankle injury that would require surgery and end his season.

Without having drawn any contact in a game or practice since he got hurt, it was hard to expect Taylor to carry a full workload against the Titans. A certain Yahoo writer even mentioned that the Colts would continue to have a muddy backfield, and that Zack Moss would remain a factor in this offense.

Taylor, almost predictably, ran the ball six times for 18 yards, getting eased back into the Indianapolis offense. That had to be a letdown for fantasy managers hoping for a big game from Taylor. What was beyond expectations was how Moss would cut through the Titans for 165 rushing yards and two touchdowns, adding two catches for 30 yards. With 32.50 fantasy points, Moss was RB2 on the week going into Sunday night:

How will this backfield shake out in the coming weeks? Well, the Colts just gave Taylor a three-year contract extension, and surely that was with the end game of him seeing more than six carries a week. Fantasy managers can expect to see his workload increase, and that of Moss to decrease accordingly. Likely that will be a gradual process, so both will remain factors in the coming weeks.

What will need monitoring is the status of rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson, who suffered an AC joint sprain in his shoulder when he landed awkwardly after getting tackled on a running play. Richardson was undergoing an MRI Sunday night, with the results to determine how much time he’s going to miss, if any. When he’s healthy, the Colts will have an unparalleled rushing attack that could be complementary in nature.

Richardson will help Taylor, in that there will be one less defender in the box because defenses will often have spies on Richardson, the outstanding dual threat. Taylor will help Richardson in the play-action game, as defenses will have to be kept honest with the threat of the 2021 rushing champion’s breakaway ability whenever he touches the ball. When Richardson is back to health and gets some reps with Taylor, the Colts' offense is going to be fun for fantasy managers.

Yes, many happy returns for Jonathan Taylor and Cooper Kupp.