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Matt's quarterback (QB) fantasy football start 'em, sit 'em picks for Week 5 of 2025. His QB lineups advice for Week 5 fantasy football start/sit decisions.
By now, fantasy managers should know what they are dealing with when it comes to their rosters; however, even if you are 0-4 or 1-3, there is still time for you to turn things around, but now more than ever, in-season roster management is imperative.
Star and sit decisions begin to magnify every week, while the margin for error reduces with every dropback. In Week 4, Matthew Stafford and Dak Prescott faced difficult matchups and shocked the fantasy world by posting top 5 fantasy finishes and rewarding those who believed in them last week.
Which quarterbacks should fantasy managers trust as we enter Week 5 of the NFL season? Here are your Week 5 starts and sits for the quarterback position.
Be sure to check all of our fantasy football rankings for 2025:- 2025 fantasy football rankings
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- Wide receiver (WR) fantasy football rankings
- Tight end (TE) fantasy football rankings
- Quarterback (QB) fantasy football rankings
- FLEX fantasy football rankings
- Defense (D/ST) fantasy football rankings
- Kicker (K) fantasy football rankings
- Dynasty fantasy football rankings
Week 5 - Fantasy Football Booms
Justin Fields - QB, New York Jets vs. Dallas Cowboys
Justin Fields returned to action in Week 4 after missing the previous week with a concussion. With a week of game action under his belt, fantasy managers should feel more comfortable starting Fields this week instead of starting him last week, on Monday Night Football.
If, for whatever reason, you missed the Packers and Cowboys 40-40 overtime contest, here are the Blues Clues notes of the game. Jordan Love finished the game with 26.3 fantasy points thanks to completing 31 of 43 passing attempts for 337 yards and three touchdowns. The 31 passing attempts against Dallas were 12 more than his previous high this season.
Love also added 28 yards rushing on three carries, and his fantasy stat line would likely have been a little higher if not for the one fumble he lost.
The Cowboys' defense is averaging 0.5 fantasy points per game this season, and the most fantasy production fantasy managers have received from a DST standpoint has been just a single point in any contest. The five sacks through four contests, and the two turnovers forced this season, are tied for the fourth fewest.
This season, Dallas is surrendering 27.42 fantasy points per game to the quarterback position, allowing league-highs in passing yards (1,237) and passing touchdowns (10). There are more reasons to be excited about Fields's prospects this week. Not only does Dallas allow quarterbacks to succeed through the air, but the 122 rushing yards conceded are the fifth most, and the two rushing touchdowns opposing quarterbacks have scored are tied for the second-most.
C.J. Stroud - QB, Houston Texans at Baltimore Ravens
It may have only been the Titans, but C.J. Stroud started to show signs of life last week, completing 22 of 28 passing for 233 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The 18.4 fantasy points Stroud recorded last week were the most since he posted 19.4 back in Week 6 of the 2024 season, and it is just his fifth contest in which he has surpassed 18 fantasy points in his last 21 games.
This connection 🤩
📺 | @nfloncbs / @paramountplus pic.twitter.com/oH3bPNf2Tu
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) September 28, 2025
Part of Stroud's stunted development was attributed to being sacked repeatedly. In 2024, Stroud was sacked 52 times, or roughly three times per game. So far this season, the Texans' rebuilt offensive line has allowed 10 sacks in four contests, reducing the average to 2.5 per game. This week, they face a Ravens defense with the second-fewest sacks, having recorded just four in four games.
It's not only sacks in which the Ravens have made life easy for quarterbacks, but even after adding decorated veterans to their secondary, the Ravens defense has forced just a pair of turnovers. Baltimore enters the contest having surrendered 1,084 passing yards (third-most), nine passing touchdowns (third-most), and an average of 22.99 fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks per game for, you guessed it, the third-most.
Justin Herbert - QB, Los Angeles Chargers vs. Washington Commanders
Fantasy managers have some reason for concern, having seen Justin Herbert's weekly fantasy production dip in each of the previous four weeks, going from 27.9 fantasy points in the opening week to 14.5 fantasy points last week against the Giants. In that Giants game, Herbert was locked down by the Giants' defense, limiting him to 23 of 41 passing for 203 yards and a touchdown.
Yet, as we enter Week 5, Herbert's 19.2 fantasy points per game still have him as a QB1.
Look for Herbert to bounce back in a big way this week as the Chargers welcome the Washington Commanders. This team just surrendered 19.7 fantasy points to Michael Penix Jr. last week after many were already writing the second-year pro off for the season and preparing to slap the bust label on his forehead.
Penix, against Washington last week, completed 76.9% of his passes for 313 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Penix also threw an interception, which is on record as the only turnover forced this season by the Commanders' defense. So far this season, the Commanders are allowing 19.20 fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks, the seventh-most. However, over the last two weeks, that number has risen to 23.47 fantasy points, having yielded 581 passing yards and five passing touchdowns against the Falcons and the Raiders, not exactly offensive powerhouses before they met with the Commanders.
Week 5 - Fantasy Football Busts
Jalen Hurts - QB, Philadelphia Eagles vs. Denver Broncos
Jalen Hurts's inclusion on this list seems preposterous. The Eagles quarterback has scored over 19 fantasy points in three of four contests and is currently averaging 21.2 fantasy points per game. No one can deny Hurt's position among the greats, having now won 18 consecutive contests, a feat only Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers have achieved over the last 30 seasons.
Hurts is a great quarterback; he's been more focused on wins than on fantasy numbers throughout his entire career, although his fantasy production has been impressive nonetheless. However, while the fantasy production looks great this season, fantasy managers could have the rug pulled out from under them any given week.
In four contests, Hurts has only thrown for 609 yards. Russell Wilson, Cam Ward, Joe Flacco, and Spencer Rattler rank statistically ahead of Hurts. Hurts's five touchdown passes rank 16th. Hurts has nearly as many rushing touchdowns (four) as passing touchdowns, which has propped up those fantasy numbers through he first four weeks of the NFL season.
Before the Broncos met Jake Browning to conclude Week 4, they entered that Monday night contest with 12 sacks and four forced turnovers, allowing 13.31 fantasy points per game to the position, and allowing just one rushing touchdown courtesy of the opposing quarterback.
Baker Mayfield - QB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Seattle Seahawks
Mayfield enters Week 5 as the QB8 in fantasy, averaging an impressive 20 fantasy points per game, with his worst outing coming in Week 3 when he finished with 17.7 fantasy points. Considering the early-season success following back-to-back top 10 fantasy finishes in 2023 and 2024, it is hard to sit out Mayfield.
Still, as much as we need to respect Mayfield and all he has accomplished, the Seattle defense also deserves some respect.
Through four weeks, Seattle sits at the top of the DST rankings, averaging 12.3 fantasy points per game. Seattle sits in the top five in both sacks (12) and takeaways (seven). The 13.88 fantasy points per game they are allowing to the position thus far are the seventh-fewest, and only the Seahawks and the Jaguars have forced more interceptions than passing touchdowns allowed this season.
Mayfield looked good last week against the Eagles, but Quinyon Mitchell, as good as he is, needs someone to step up opposite him for offenses to be afraid of the Eagles' secondary. Meanwhile, Riq Woolen and Devon Witherspoon are making a case as the top cornerback duo in the league today. With Mike Evans (hamstring) expected to be inactive for this one, there are better quarterback options with less risk than Mayfield this week.
Matthew Stafford - QB, Los Angeles Rams vs. San Francisco 49ers
Okay, Matthew Stafford made me look like a fool last week, carving up a good Colts defense with 375 passing yards, three touchdowns, and 27.4 fantasy points. As good as the Colts' defense has been this season, the 49ers' defense is at a different level.
Through four weeks, San Francisco has a league-best 13.23 fantasy points against the quarterback position. While they haven't exactly faced a who's who of quarterbacks, they have gotten the job done and limited opposing signal callers to 172.5 passing yards per game and five touchdown passes.
The last time Stafford faced the 49ers, he completed 19 of 32 passing attempts for 230 yards while tossing both a touchdown and an interception, with 50 of those passing yards coming on one play.
With Penix, Rodgers, Love, and Caleb Williams on byes this week, plenty of options remain available to fantasy managers with a much safer floor than the one Stafford is currently standing on this week. Could Stafford exceed expectations once again this week? Sure. Is it probable? I wouldn't bet my fantasy season on it.
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