Week 5 Revenge Games: 4 Players Out to Torch Their Ex-Teams
This week, my revenge thoughts have turned to music, and there are plenty of songs to choose from. As far as actual revenge goes, Stevie Nicks writing a song about her former love, Lindsey Buckingham, is the ultimate long game. Not only did Buckingham have to record the track as a member of the band Fleetwood Mac, but he had to perform it over and over ad nauseam with Nicks on the same stage. The best revenge lyrics from “Silver Springs”:
I'll follow you down
'Til the sound of my voice will haunt you
Oh, give me just a chance
You'll never get away from the sound
Of the woman that loved you
Revenge is always on the minds of those done dirty, and not all NFL players who changed teams were necessarily wronged, but we have to assume some sort of vengeance lies within.
I outlined what I found from 10 years of data in the article Revenge Games: 10 Years of Data on Fantasy Breakouts vs. Former Teams, and this weekly article dives into who’s seeking retribution each week.
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Before I get into this week's revengers, let’s look at how Week 4 shook out:
Neither Mac Jones nor Noah Fant played, so that eliminated almost half of our revenge seekers.
- Marcus Mariota - QB16, 26.2
- Hollywood Brown - WR24, 11.3
- Samaje Perine, RB73, 0.4
This week is very slim in the revenge game department as we only have less than a handful of players going up against their former employers.
Stefon Diggs @ Bills
Coming off his best output of the season so far (6-101-0), Stefon Diggs heads back to Buffalo, where he spent the 2020-2023 seasons. Diggs led the offense last week in targets and receiving yards, which is hopefully the start of solid usage moving forward.
Last year, as a Texan, Diggs had six catches for 82 yards on eight targets in a vengeance scenario against the Bills, so a division matchup plus revenge could spell WR2 production.
Mack Hollins @ Bills
It’s rare to get two revenge narratives in the same game on the same side of the ball, but here we are. Mack Hollins is also returning to Buffalo, where he was employed just last season. Aside from his interesting pregame outfits, Hollins did contribute to the Bills season via a 31-378-5 line on the year.
His 2025 output so far is mild, but Hollins has scored twice in four contests and could see an uptick in volume and red-zone work due to that retribution factor.
DeAndre Hopkins vs. Texans
He began his career in Houston in 2013, and DeAndre Hopkins remained a Texan for seven seasons, amassing 8,602 receiving yards and 54 touchdowns. Hopkins will face the team that drafted him 27th overall on Sunday at home in Baltimore.
Sadly, Nuk is not the player he once was and is not getting near the looks he needs for fantasy relevance. He saw two targets per game for the first three weeks, then just one in Week 4. I have to assume you have better options than Hopkins heading into this weekend, but he could see a small bump due to the vengeance factor as a flex play in very deep formats.
Nick Folk vs. Cowboys
Ok, so I know kickers can’t really have revenge games, but this is a very light week, so I’m including Nick Folk. He’s actually the K12 on the season and should have a decent showing at home against Dallas, a franchise he kicked for from 2007 to 2009. He’s startable in larger formats.
