Week 5 Quarterbacks: Waiver Wire Pickups & Adds

Hello once again my friends, and welcome to week five quarterback prep for fantasy football. I hope everyone had a solid week last week. Let’s take a look at some of the best matchups for week five if you’re streaming a QB this week.

In addition to a few streamers that I'll dig into, I’ll also drop some other names that I like for the week. These are names that I like or could be ones to watch, but am not 100% sold on starting. In addition, I’m going to feature one QB a week that has standout potential for the rest of the season, as well as one QB that should be avoided for the near future. The aim is to give you a broader QB outlook each week whether you're streaming or not. With all that stuff out of the way, let’s jump right into the good stuff.

Fantasy Football Quarterbacks (QB) - Week 5

Strong Week Five Streamers

Mike Glennon – Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Owned in 9% of FleaFlicker leagues)

Week 5 Matchup: at New Orleans Saints

BALLER MOVE: Glennon looked good in the comeback victory in Pittsburgh in week four. He’s got value as a streamer in 14+ team leagues against in a matchup that should feature a ton of passing from Glennon.

ANALYSIS: The Saints defense is one of the worst in the NFL, and they proved that again vs. the Dallas Cowboys in week four. They handed Romo and the ‘Boys 24 first downs and 445 total yards, 255 of which were through the air. While the Saints are historically better at home, the issues their defense is having are big and won't be solved simply by returning home. Even if the offense puts up big points, that will favor Glennon's fantasy appeal.

In Pittsburgh, Glennon threw for 302 yards and two touchdowns with just one interception. He was able to secure a dramatic comeback win over a hot team. One small issue I do have with Glennon this week is that rookie WR Mike Evans is out with a groin injury. I still expect him to pound out a solid performance here, with 17-25 points in standard scoring.

Blake Bortles – Jacksonville Jaguars (Owned in 23% of FleaFlicker leagues)

Week 5 Matchup: Pittsburgh Steelers

BALLER MOVE: Bortles is an obvious QB2 start in 2 QB leagues, and he has some low end QB1 value if you’re desperate.

ANALYSIS: Though I find Bortles a bit over-hyped, he has a decent matchup this week and has legitimate value vs. the secondary that blew a big second half lead to Mike Glennon. Bortles looked good in week four vs. the San Diego Chargers. He threw for 253 yards on 29 completions with one touchdown and two picks. The numbers are not flattering, but I was impressed by what I saw out of Bortles and the somewhat mediocre Jags receiving core. It’s an dicey call playing Bortles this week, but I think the Jags have the potential to pick up their first win of the season, and I could see Bortles showing some big time throws in this matchup.

Eli Manning - New York Giants (Owned in 51% of Fleaflicker leagues)

Week 5 Matchup: Atlanta Falcons

BALLER MOVE: Eli is more widely owned than the two QBs above him, and he's startable in all 12+ team leagues with a nice matchup vs. the Atlanta Falcons sub-par pass defense.

ANALYSIS: Anyone who picked up Eli vs. the Redskins in week 4 knows they might have gotten a career fantasy performance. His 4 passing TDs and 1 rushing TD were a thing to behold.  While we don't expect him to put up another 41 points, the Giants are looking infinitely better on offense than they were in the preseason and in week 1.  Eli is throwing high % pass attempts and he has a new favorite tight end safety blanket TD scoring machine in Larry Donnell. Matching up vs. the Falcons' poor passing defense, Eli should be good for 250-300 yards passing, along with a couple TDs at least. He's a strong streamer for week 5.

More Week 5 Streamers and QBs to Watch 

Ryan Fitzpatrick – Houston Texans – STREAM in 2 QB Leagues: We’ll get to see if Dallas’ defense will hold like they did against the Saints in week four. Fitzpatrick is a solid streamer in 10-12 team 2 QB leagues but should be left alone in 1 QB leagues that have less than 18 teams.

Tom Brady – New England Patriots – WATCH: Brady looked terrible vs. the Chiefs, and has generally looked terrible all year. His next matchup is no walk in the park, as he gets to face a strong Bengals defense. Brady is no longer a locked in QB 1 starter, and you should very likely look for streamers going forward if you own him.

Brandon Hoyer – Cleveland Browns – STREAM in 2 QB LEAGUES: This is an interesting game to watch as the Browns come off a bye and the Tennessee defense is solid against the pass. Like Fitzpatrick, Hoyer is a fine streamer in 10-12 team 2 QB leagues, but you should go nowhere near him in 1 QB leagues.

Teddy Bridgewater – Minnesota Vikings – WATCH: Bridgewater looked good against the Falcons in week four, and could play well against Green Bay on Thursday night. This is an interesting matchup due to the ankle sprain that he took late in the fourth quarter. If he plays, we will see his pocket ability. Don't expect much due to his ankle.

Rest of Season Quarterback Pick

Aaron Rodgers – Green Bay Packers

While he got off to a slow start, I have no doubts that Aaron Rodgers will pick up the pace and produce a lot of similar performances to the one he put up in Chicago in week four. The 302 yard, four touchdown performance signaled a recovery from the slow start to the season for Rodgers, and he should continue this trend.

Looking at the Packers schedule, after a divisional matchup this Thursday vs. the Vikes, they have three favorable matchups facing the struggling/mediocre defenses of the Miami Dolphins, Carolina Panthers, and New Orleans Saints. These games should be very solid contests for Rodgers, and in fact so should most of the rest of the seasons. If you can still buy a tiny bit low low on Rodgers based on his underwhelming first three weeks, he’s an elite quarterback who will have an elite season, and he will be putting up elite numbers from here on in.

Rest of Season Quarterback to Avoid

Cam Newton – Carolina Panthers

The Carolina Panthers are not the same team they were last season, and that is at least partially the fault of Cam Newton. While his passing numbers are decent (at least 190 yards passing in all three games he’s played this season), he’s only connected for three touchdowns on the year through the air. The most notable issue, however, is the lack of his running game. Newton has only rushed for 33 yards on the year.

It’s quite apparent that Newton is not healthy, and it is also apparent that he is not his former self after his offseason surgery. The lack of weapons in his offense certainly doesn’t help his cause, but most of the issue offensively falls on the shoulders of Superman Cam. While he could turn it around later in the season, at this point there are different options I would explore in 1 QB leagues.

You can always shoot me a message or tweet me (shameless plug) @fantasycalderon if you wanna chat about some of my picks or ask any other fantasy football questions.