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Fantasy Football: Which QBs To Start and Sit in Week 5

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 12:46 p.m. ET

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It’s week 5 of the fantasy football season, which sadly means we are a quarter of the way through the NFL season. The good news is that certain trends are starting to take shape, which will help set your fantasy football roster. So which QBs should you start and which ones should you sit this week?

Oct 2, 2016; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (7) looks to pass against the Kansas City Chiefs during the first half at Heinz Field. Mandatory Credit: Jason Bridge-USA TODAY Sports

START THESE QBS…

Ben Roethlisberger, PIT (vs. NYJ)

Big Ben is at home this week where he usually puts up big fantasy numbers and this week the Jets come to town who simply don’t have a pass defense. The Jets currently have the 7th-worst pass defense in the league, and while stats don’t tell the whole story, there is no reason why Big Ben won’t abuse this secondary. The Jets are allowing a 71.4 percent completion rate, and Darelle Revis is hurt. The Steelers should be marching up and down the field with plays to just about everybody, not just Antonio Brown.

Philip Rivers, SD (@ OAK)

The Chargers aren’t a very good team and have been playing in a lot of shootouts so far this season, which has been fantasy gold for Philip Rivers owners. This week Rivers faces the worst pass defense in the league in Oakland, and even if his receivers are difficult to predict right now, we know that he’ll be passing it up to 40 times in what will likely become a shootout (just like the Saints/Giants this year and other guaranteed shootouts). Rivers is a must play until noted otherwise (those weeks are coming, the Chargers have Denver in Week 6 and 8).

Derek Carr, OAK (vs. SD)

With each week that passes, you can tell Carr is coming into his own. Even if the Oakland running game offers no real threat it doesn’t really matter — Carr’s currently the third-highest scoring QB. He’s been on fire to start the season, scoring 23-plus fantasy points in three of his first four starts. Even if you drafted Carr as your QB2, you should continue to lean on him against the Chargers this week, who have surrendered the fifth-most passing yards (1,230) and an average of 18 fantasy points per game to quarterbacks.

Eli Manning, NYG (@ GB)

In standard scoring leagues, Manning has finished as the QB13, QB24, QB15 and QB28. Combine that with his brutal showing on national television Monday night, and a lot of owners will be ready to bench him. But give him one more chance. Thus far this season, the Packers have been elite against the run (1.8 yards per carry allowed, best in the league) and shaky against the pass (8.7 yards per attempt allowed, 31st in the league), forcing teams to attack them through the air with both volume and success. Opposing signal-callers are averaging 37.0 pass attempts, 330.3 yards and 2.0 touchdowns per game against the Pack, making this an ideal spot for Manning to get back on track.

SIT THESE QBs…

Oct 2, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan (2) throws a touchdown pass to tight end Jacob Tamme (83) in the first quarter of their game against the Carolina Panthers at the Georgia Dome. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

Matt Ryan, ATL (@ DEN)

Ryan has been absolutely lights out through the first four weeks, leading the NFL in yards (1,473), touchdowns (11), touchdown percentage (7.9) and yards per attempt (10.5). That’s usually the recipe for a must-start player, but this Broncos defense is no joke. Through four weeks, they’ve held Cam Newton, Andrew Luck, Andy Dalton and Jameis Winston to an average of 194.0 passing yards and a 2:5 TD:INT ratio. Newton’s ability to run helped him finish as the QB9 in Week 1, but the other three all finished as the QB23 or worse. It’d be hard to recommend starting anyone against this defense right now.

Brock Osweiler, HOU (@ MIN)

You might not be starting him unless you’re in a deep league, but with four teams on their bye week, it needs to be said that you cannot start Osweiler. The Texans are traveling to Minnesota to play against a Vikings defense that hasn’t allowed a single passing TD since Week 2. Anything can happen when you have the talent of Will Fuller and DeAndre Hopkins on your team, but playing Osweiler will most likely end up in disaster.

Tyrod Taylor, BUF (@ LA)

Taylor has scored a serviceable 33 combined fantasy points in his last two starts, but he’s not lighting the world on fire with Robert Woods, Marquise Goodwin and Justin Hunter as his top three WRs. With a limited ceiling moving forward, the versatile quarterback is a tough sell for fantasy fans in what is a difficult matchup versus the Rams, who have allowed just 19 points per game. Keep Taylor on the fantasy sidelines.

Matthew Stafford, DET (vs. PHI)

Stafford had been excellent to start the season, throwing for 985 yards, seven touchdowns and only two interceptions until last week’s debacle against the Bears. Stafford couldn’t get anything going against a poor Bears defense that was missing multiple starters and he managed to score only 10.22 fantasy points. If Stafford can be that bad against the Bears, imagine what is going to happen this week against an Eagles defense that has yet to give up a single passing touchdown on the year and is only surrendering 203 passing yards per game.

Best of luck in your Week 5 Fantasy Football match-up!