Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Which quarterbacks will shine in Week 5 for your fantasy football teams? We’ll take a look at all of them in our rankings.
Week 5 is here! But, Week 4 still lingers. How it lingers probably correlates with how well you did in fantasy. Hopefully you started Justin Fields, Jordan Love, Baker Mayfield, Jared Goff and Jayden Daniels, as all five topped 25 fantasy points, while Fields led the way with 32.
We knew Fields could get us more fantasy points due to his rushing ability, but the Steelers defense had kept opponents down, which kept the Steelers offense conservative. It was good to see Fields score twice on the ground, but his passing is what has me excited about his ability to be consistent in fantasy from week-to-week. He ended up completing 22-of-34 passes for 312 yards and a touchdown. He also continued to hook up with George Pickens deep, hitting him on two deep passes, helping Fields to a 9.2 yards per attempt rate. Yes, the Colts defense isn’t exactly the best in the league, but no matter how you look at it, Fields had a promising start in Week 4 that could build into a consistent fantasy option.
We also aren’t getting away from Baker Mayfield, Geno Smith and Sam Darnold being consistent fantasy quarterbacks. They’re playing well and have play making receivers to help them reach their fantasy upside consistently. Matchups will still matter, but throwing these guys out there in not-great matchups still has a good shot at keeping your fantasy teams competitive.
Week 5 quarterback bye weeks
Jared Goff, Justin Herbert, Jalen Hurts, Will Levis/Mason Rudolph,
Week 5 quarterback injuries
Tua Tagovailoa, Dolphins
You don’t know what you have until it’s gone and that has been very true for Tagovailoa, who is on I.R. due to a brain injury. Reports have him symptom free and likely to return after his four game I.R. stint. That is great news for Miami, as they have had no functioning offense without him.
Aaron Rodgers, Jets
Rodgers says that his knee is banged up and swollen, but it doesn’t sound like he is in much danger of missing Week 5.
Anthony Richardson, Colts
Richardson suffered an abdominal strain in Week 4, but does have a realistic shot at playing in Week 5, per Tom Pelissero. Joe Flacco may be the QB that gives them the best chance to win today, but they’re committed to Richardson and he will remain the starter as long as he’s able.
Will Levis, Titans
Levis has an A-C joint injury, but will get the Week 5 bye to heal up. Head coach Brian Callahan told reporters that Levis is the starting quarterback as long as he’s healthy.
Russell Wilson, Steelers
Wilson appears ready to ramp up his practice regiment this week, but the team is still preparing for Justin Fields to start. Wilson could end up being the backup quarterback this week instead of the emergency quarterback, but we’ll see.
Week 5 quarterback sleepers
Brock Purdy, 49ers at Cardinals
Purdy is QB13 in fantasy for the season, but he’s been playing better than that and he has a full complement of healthy receivers at his disposal this week. Besides Deebo Samuel and George Kittle returning last week, Brandon Aiyuk caught his first touchdown and Jauan Jennings continued showing that he’s not just a WR3 on the team.
Purdy has completed a nice 69% of his passes for 1,130 yards, the second-most in the league. He also, once again, leads the league in yards per attempt with 9.3. This week he’ll get a weak Cardinals defense that has allowed a league-worst 78.6% completion rate along with the third-worst passing EPA and fourth-worst fantasy points to quarterbacks.
Justin Fields, Steelers vs. Cowboys
The Steelers host the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football this week, and Dallas will be without Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence, which should help Fields a lot, especially with his o-line banged up. We know Fields is always a threat to rush for a touchdown, as he has three over the last two games. But, the good news here is that the Cowboys are still a good offense, as Dan Prescott and CeeDee Lamb show us most weeks. Much like Week 4, Fields will likely be forced to throw the ball and scramble more to keep up with the Cowboys. These are the kinds of games he can put up his biggest numbers in this offense.