The Indianapolis Colts look to continue their successful start to the 2025 season against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 5. The Colts play at home and are favored to win by many pundits, so they are on track to move to 4-1.
With that, Indianapolis has plenty of fantasy football intrigue, as the team has been successful both throwing and running the ball. From a rejuvenated quarterback to a star running back and an early Rookie of the Year candidate at tight end, the Colts are loaded with players who make a difference in the fantasy world.
Let’s look at each of the Colts’ offensive fantasy players and who owners can count on in Week 5 against the Raiders.
Which Indianapolis Colts to play and which to sit in fantasy football Week 5
Quarterback Daniel Jones
Jones has been one of the most pleasant surprises of the second half. He is completing nearly 72% of his passes on the way to 269.5 passing yards per game on 8.9 yards per attempt, a sterling number.
He has thrown four touchdowns and two interceptions, and Jones has also added three scores on the ground. His rushing production has been a little hit-or-miss, twice going over 20 yards but combining for just one total yard in the other two games.
Overall, Jones ranked as fantasy QB7 entering Week 5, finishing among the top 11 in three of the four weeks. He has done it against both weaker and tougher defenses, looking as good against the Broncos as he did against the Dolphins.
The matchup this week against the Raiders is a positive one. Las Vegas has allowed the 11th-most yards per pass attempt and 15th-most fantasy points to quarterbacks. That doesn’t mean a top-line matchup, but the Raiders have been worse than average against QBs.
Continually playing at a high level and with a better-than-average matchup, Jones is a good fantasy play this week. He is likely to be back among the fantasy starters.
Running back Jonathan Taylor
Taylor is one of the best players in fantasy, ranking as RB2 in standard scoring and RB3 in PPR. He is a true matchup-proof player, a guy you can start every week regardless of matchup.
He is a true bellcow, handling 77 of 93 running back carries for the team; 12 of the 16 that Taylor hasn’t carried went to DJ Giddens in the Week 1 blowout of Miami. It’s the same story with pass catching, as Taylor has only 13 receptions among Indianapolis backs.
There’s not much else to say about Taylor: if you are lucky enough to have him on your fantasy team, then he’s in your lineup every week as a dual-threat contributor.
Wide receivers Michael Pittman Jr., Josh Downs and Adonai Mitchell
Pittman leads the wide receivers in targets (29), receptions (21), receiving yards (234), and touchdowns (three). He has also been on the field more than any other Colts receiver, sharing starting duties with Alec Pierce.
Based on his status as the team’s top receiver, Pittman immediately is under consideration every week, though he’s not an automatic weekly fantasy starter. He has been very good to start the season, averaging 5.3 receptions and 58.5 receiving yards per game while scoring three touchdowns.
That has Pittman among the top 15 fantasy receivers in both standard and PPR scoring. I mentioned above that the matchup against the Raiders was good for Jones, and it’s even better for the receivers, as Las Vegas has given up the third-most fantasy points to WRs.
Pittman is a good option to start this week as the team’s top wide receiver with a positive matchup against the Raiders.
Downs has been playing between 50% and 60% of the snaps each game, and though he is third on the team in both targets and catches, Downs is averaging just 8.6 yards per reception. That’s lower than any other player on the team who has caught a pass.
With that lack of explosion, a player needs big-time volume, and that hasn’t been the case. That leaves Downs below the level of a fantasy player.
Mitchell has numbers closer to Pierce, which means a lower reception total and a high yards-per-catch average (19.6 in Mitchell’s case); essentially, it’s the opposite of Downs. Those explosive plays are great, but they need to come often enough to make it worth counting on a player in fantasy.
Mitchell saw a big boost in snaps last week with Pierce out, filling that deep role. He had three catches for 96 yards, but Mitchell lost out on a touchdown because he lost control of the ball on the one-yard line and fumbled out of the back of the end zone.
Tight end Tyler Warren
Warren has worked his way into must-start fantasy territory early in his career, ranking as TE4, according to Fantasy Pros, in both standard and PPR. There was thought in the draft that Warren could enter the league as an immediate contributor catching the ball from multiple spots, like Brock Bowers, and that has proved true through the first month.
Warren is another matchup-proof player who should be in lineups every week. The Raiders are weaker against the pass, but they have been very good against tight ends, allowing the fifth-fewest fantasy points to the position. Don’t let that deter you, though; get Warren in your lineup and don’t touch him until the bye week.