2013 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Pickups: Week 5 Quarterbacks (QB)

In this space, we will highlight recommended fantasy football waiver wire pickups to consider as candidates for Week Five of the 2013 fantasy football season, and your fantasy football rosters.  

Alex Smith (QB, KC):  Smith continued his renaissance in Week Four with a 288-yard, three-TD game against the 0-4 Giants.  Week Five should represent a more challenging matchup against the Titans, who manhandled Jets' rookie QB Geno Smith last week and have the ninth-ranked defense in the NFL.  Smith is a conservative choice who supplements his passing game with a decent running attack, going for at least 32 rushing yards in each of his last three starts. Consider him is a middle-of-the-road option who is careful with the ball and will make the checkdown pass rather than taking a potentially unnecessary risk downfield. He could be a very nice bye-week fill-in or injury replacement in the short term, with the potential to put up near-QB1 numbers as the season progresses.

Sam Bradford (QB, StL):  Let's throw out last week’s game against SF and look forward to this week’s matchup against the Jaguars.  Bradford's Week Five value rises exponentially on the strength of this layup of a matchup that should see him throw for several TDs and a few hundred yards.  The only caveat is that if the game gets out hand too early, the Rams may opt to run the clock down, thereby depriving Bradford of fantasy passing yards.  Bradford matches up against Jacksonville and Houston over the next two weeks, and both look fairly favorable for him.  Consider him this week over Andrew Luck, who must face the stingy Seattle D.

Brian Hoyer (QB, CLE): Hoyer’s season continues with a winnable matchup in Week Five against Buffalo, who are near dead last in team defense, giving up close to 400 yards per game.  If Hoyer starts his career with three wins, Cleveland fans may just start to begin to forget about LeBron. He's still a candidate to watch and wonder about.  He isn't necessarily a long threat, throwing fewer than 10 of his 92 attempts for more than 20 yards, and he has one of the lower completion rates in the game.  Nevertheless, he has averaged 46 attempts in his two starts and it looks like the Browns will give him a chance to throw and prove himself.