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Week 5 is nearly in the books and NFL offenses continue to struggle. Josh Allen paced all quarterbacks in passing yards (424) and passing touchdowns (four) in a rout of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Outside of that, the quarterback position was disappointing.
Only three other quarterbacks (Carson Wentz, Tom Brady, and Kenny Pickett) threw for over 300 passing yards. Five quarterbacks (Allen, Geno Smith, Wentz, Jimmy Garoppolo, and Aaron Rodgers) had multiple passing touchdowns. It’s been a rough start to the season and now we will have to factor in byes starting in Week 6.
In this article, I will look at the fantasy football waiver wire for quarterback pickups and streamers, focusing on players under 65% rostered in fantasy leagues while adding a couple of deep sleepers for two-quarterback leagues (less than 25% rostered).
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Single-QB League Waiver Wire Options
Geno Smith, Seattle Seahawks
Yahoo: 34% rostered
It's time to give credit where credit is due: Geno Smith is a fantasy quarterback that needs to be rostered in all leagues. Through five games, Smith is completing 75% of his passes for 1,305 yards and nine touchdowns with two interceptions. Smith is taking advantage of D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett down the field and is routinely putting up big numbers.
More importantly, Geno now has back-to-back games with at least 28.0 fantasy points. Smith has at least two passing touchdowns in four of five games this season. He’s had at least 25 passing attempts in every game and two 300-yard passing performances.
Geno Smith is poised for another big fantasy week against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 6. Arizona is allowing 19.5 fantasy points per game to quarterbacks this season.
Carson Wentz, Washington Commanders
Yahoo: 46% rostered
Carson Wentz started the season hot in Weeks 1 and 2 (29.25 fantasy PPG) before absolutely tanking in Weeks 3 and 4 (7.9 fantasy PPG). Fantasy managers that stuck with him in a good matchup in Week 5 were rewarded.
Wentz completed 25 of 38 passes for 359 yards and two touchdowns and one brutal interception on a game-winning drive. We have seen a good version of Wentz against bad secondaries (Jacksonville, Detroit, and Tennessee) and a bad version of Wentz against strong defenses (Philadelphia and Dallas).
Thankfully for fantasy managers, we should have every opportunity to get a stretch of good Wentz against bad defenses. Washington heads to Chicago next week before playing the Packers, Colts (revenge game!), and Vikings.
Three straight weeks of games against bad defenses make Wentz a priority add at quarterback this week.
Daniel Jones, New York Giants
Yahoo: 22% rostered
It isn’t always pretty, but the Giants are finding their groove on offense. That has meant that Daniel Jones has been able to produce a consistent floor in fantasy football. Jones has scored at least 12.0 fantasy points in every game this season.
Jones isn’t doing much in the passing game (in his defense, they are decimated by injury), but he is still getting there with his feet. Jones has just one game (Week 5) with more than 200 passing yards this season. However, he has at least 21 rushing yards in every game this year. In his last three games, Jones has 25 carries for 184 yards and two touchdowns.
Jones will hope to get some of his receiving weapons back next week against a Baltimore secondary that came into Week 5 giving up the fourth-most points per game to fantasy quarterbacks (23.2 points per game). Jones follows that up with good matchups against the Jaguars and Seahawks.
Two-QB Waiver Wire Options and Stashes
Justin Fields, Chicago Bears
Yahoo: 38% rostered
The Bears' passing attack has seen an uptick in the past two weeks, throwing the ball at least 20 times. That’s helped Fields finish the past two weeks with double-digit fantasy points. That’s not great, but it is progress.
Fields had a solid enough game against Minnesota, completing 15 of 21 passes for 208 yards and a passing touchdown. He also added eight carries for 47 yards but had a 52-yard touchdown run called back due to a penalty. Fields’ passing numbers may not be great, but he is showing consistent rushing production as well.
Fields has at least eight carries in every single game this season. He’s had at least 47 rushing yards and 5.9 yards per carry in each of his last three games. Fields also has a great matchup next week against a Commanders secondary that has allowed 19.24 fantasy points per game to quarterbacks this season.
Fields has a trio of bad matchups after next week (New England, Dallas, and Miami) before having plus matchups against the Lions, Falcons, and Jets. If you can afford to stash him from Weeks 7-9, it could pay off in a big way as your team gears up for the fantasy playoffs.
Kenny Pickett, Pittsburgh Steelers
Yahoo: 17% rostered
If the Steelers would have had their way, I’m sure Kenny Pickett would have been on the bench throughout this murderer's row of defenses (Buffalo, Tampa Bay, Miami, and Philadelphia) heading into the bye week. However, Pickett has shown flashes throughout his 1.5 games played in the last two weeks.
Pickett has scored at least 12.0 fantasy points in both games this season. The Steelers also showed absolute faith in the rookie during his first start against a stellar defense, airing the ball out 52 times (obviously the negative game script played a huge part here). Pickett has four interceptions in his first six quarters, but he is completing 71% of his passes to start his career.
As I mentioned before, the Steelers have a rough stretch of games coming up and it’ll be hard to trust the rookie quarterback until he shows he can get the ball in the end zone. But if he’s still on your waiver wire, he’s at least worth a stash to get through the bye weeks.
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