Who is the best quarterback in fantasy football? We’re officially through the first month of the 2024 NFL season, with teams each having played four games. That provides us with plenty of data to help shape our Week 5 fantasy QB rankings as we evalute the best quarterbacks for fantasy football this week. Let’s immediately dive into our Week 5 fantasy QB rankings, working from 15 to 1.
15. Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams –
The Los Angeles Rams will still be without Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp for the next few weeks, so Matthew Stafford’s fantasy ceiling is fairly limited. However, he’s thrown for 215-plus passing yards this season and he’s completing 68.5 percent of his passes. He’ll probably throw an interception in this one against the Green Bay Packers, but it should also come with 250-plus passing yards and a score.
14. Sam Darnold, Minnesota Vikings – vs New York Jets
The only reason Sam Darnold doesn’t make it higher in our Week 5 fantasy QB rankings is the difficult matchup. Heading into October, Darnold leads the NFL in touchdown passes (11), ranks third in ESPN QBR (73.6) and has the seventh-most passing yards (932). The New York Jets defense – 128 pass ypg and 2-1 TD-INT ratio allowed – is going to be a challenge. With that said, we’ll still side with the offense with Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison with Kevin O’Connell calling plays.
13. Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers – @ Atlanta Falcons
We didn’t have Baker Mayfield scoring 2 rushing touchdowns in September on our fantasy football bingo card, but here we are. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback had his second game with a rushing touchdown in September, tacking on 2 scores and 347 yards through the air. With the Atlanta Falcons having issues getting pressure, Mayfield should have a good day with Mike Evans and Chris Godwin in a competitive Thursday Night Football matchup.
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12. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs – vs New Orleans Saints
Putting Patrick Mahones this low in our Week 5 fantasy QB rankings certainly feels wrong, but let’s look at the facts. Mahomes is 14th in yards per attempt (7.5), 17th in ESPN QBR (53.1) and sits ninth in passing yards per game (226). Why? Because Travis Kelce finally lost the battle to Father Time and this Chiefs offense is now missing Isiah Pacheco, Rashee Rice and Hollywood Brown. Mahomes is one of the best players in football history, but there’s only so much he can do with Skyy Moore and Co.
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11. Geno Smith, Seattle Seahawks – vs New York Giants
The Seattle Seahawks finally have a good defense, which means more opportunities for Geno Smith and shorter fields to work with. He’s been excellent this season, even with running back Kenneth Walker sidelined. Now that Seattle’s running back is back and play-caller Ryan Grubb can call the offense he wants, Smith should get plenty of great looks against a New York Giants defense that has allowed a 106.5 QB rating this season with a 72.6% completion rate and a 6-1 TD-INT line.
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10. Anthony Richardson, Indianapolis Colts – @ Jacksonville Jaguars
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson exited in Week 4 with a hip pointer injury, but the tentative expectation is he’ll suit up in Week 5. The second-year starter is still completing just 48.4 percent of his pass attempts this season with a 3-6 TD-INT ratio. So there’s massive risk-reward here. With that acknowledged, this injury-ravaged Jacksonville Jaguars defense has allowed a 6-0 TD-INT line with a 71.8% completion rate and 126.0 QB rating in the last two games. There’s the massive upside for Richardson’s fantasy managers.
9. Justin Fields, Pittsburgh Steelers – vs Dallas Cowboys
Justin Fields is really putting it together as the season progresses. After totaling just 273 passing yards across his first two games, the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback has now averaged 278.5 passing yards per game in the last two weeks. He’s now throwing any touchdowns, but that doesn’t matter when you have 3 rushing touchdowns and are averaging 36 rushing yards per contest. With this Dallas Cowboys defense missing Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence, Fields should have a strong performance on Sunday Night Football that will win some matchups.
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8. Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals – @ San Francisco 49ers
The volatility is becoming frustrating with Kyler Murray, hence his drop in our Week 5 fantasy QB rankings. We know this Arizona Cardinals offense can be explosive with Marvin Harrison Jr. and perhaps that letdown game in Week 4 was a result of Trey McBride (concussion) being inactive. McBride should play in Week 5 and this San Francisco 49ers defense has allowed 6 passing touchdowns this season with a 92.8 QB rating, so there are vulnerabilities. Murray is just a bit of a boom-bust starter right now, especially if he that 1 rushing attempt this past Sunday was a sign of things to come. For now, we’re still riding with him as a top-10 play.
7. Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders – @ Cleveland Browns
The only knock on Jayden Daniels at this point is the lack of passing touchdowns (3, 22nd in NFL). Otherwise, the rookie quarterback looks like an NFL star. During this three-game winning streak for the Washington Commanders, Daniels has completed 85.4 percent of his pass attempts with a 110 QB rating and he’s averaged almost 240 yards per game. Naturally, the rookie is also doing work on the ground with 130 yards and 2 scores over that stretch. While this Cleveland Browns was once vaunted and atop the league in 2023, it’s now just a middle-of-the-pack unit. Daniels is going to be near the top of our fantasy QB rankings for the rest of the season.
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6. Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers – vs Arizona Cardinals
Brock Purdy is underrated as a fantasy football quarterback right now. He leads the NFL in passing yards (1,130) with his season-low in a game (231) coming all the way back in Week 1. Purdy had his worst game of the season in Week 4 – 1-1 TD-INT ratio and 55.6% completion rate – but he still put up 288 yards through the air with 11 on the ground. With Deebo Samuel and George Kittle now entering their second week back, Purdy should put up phenomenal numbers against an Arizona Cardinals secondary that is allowing the highest completion rate (78.6 percent), the second-highest yards per attempt (8.5) and the third-highest average QB rating (110.4). Purdy is an elite fantasy option.
5. C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans – vs Buffalo Bills
Four of our top players in the Week 5 fantasy QB rankings are playing head-to-head, setting up a game script that should be music to the ears of fantasy managers. After a rough performance against the Minnesota Vikings, C.J. Stroud rebounded with 345 yards and 2 scores against the Jacksonville Jaguars. In a projected high-scoring game against the Buffalo Bills, Stroud should have ample opportunities to pepper Stefon Diggs, Nico Collins and Tank Dell with targets against a Bills defense that just saw Lamar Jackson complete 13-of-18 passes for 156 yards and 2 touchdowns.
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4. Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals – vs Baltimore Ravens
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow has 7 touchdowns in the last three games, averaging 271.3 passing yards per game. The team is 2-1 during that stretch because Cincinnati is saddled with an awful defense. A bad defense is fantastic news for Burrow’s fantasy managers as he’ll need to throw it 35-plus times for this club to stay in games. A high volume of attempts is precisely what we want against a Baltimore Ravens secondary that is allowing the third-most passing yards per game (257.5) with the ninth-highest yards per attempt (7.6) allowed. Touchdowns will be harder to come by though.
3. Jordan Love, QB, Green Bay Packers – @ Los Angeles Rams
We’ll start with the bad news for Jordan Love’s fantasy football managers. In his first game back, he underthrew numerous passes because he’s playing on that MCL sprain and can’t plant his foot like normal. That’s going to linger for weeks if not months. Yet, he still threw for nearly 400 yards with 4 touchdowns against one of the best defenses in football. Now, he takes on a Los Angeles Rams defense that has allowed its first four opponents to throw 8 touchdown passes (third-most) with just 1 interception while averaging a 122.7 QB rating (second-highest in the NFL). This matchup is fantasy gold and we’d start Love with confidence.
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2. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills – @ Houston Texans
The early theme for Josh Allen this season seems to be an explosive performance followed by a dud. He scored 4 total touchdowns in Week 1 then was held to 1 touchdown and 139 total yards in Week 2. Following his four-touchdown performance against Jacksonville, he then failed to find the end zone against the Baltimore Ravens. This should be his rebound spot. A matchup against a Houston Texans defense that is allowing the fourth-highest passing touchdown rate (6.8 percent), in a potential shootout with C.J. Stroud, keeps Allen near the top of our fantasy QB rankings for Week 5.
1. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens – @ Cincinnati Bengals
The Baltimore Ravens have dominated their last two opponents, resulting in Lamar Jackson going consecutive starts with under 19 pass attempts and fewer than 185 passing yards. He’s also rushed for 54-plus yards and a rushing touchdown in both of those contests and has 7 total touchdowns with 308 rushing yards on the season. On Sunday, Jackson faces a Cincinnati Bengals defense that is bottom 10 against the run (145.5 rush ypg, 4.4 ypc, 5 TDs) and pass (5.3% TD rate, 94.5 QB rating allowed), per Pro Football Reference. This is a blow-up fantasy spot and it likely won’t be a blowout, which would take the ball out of Jackson’s hands, with Joe Burrow also taking the field.
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