As Week 5 of the NFL season descends upon us, it also marks the first bye week for a handful of teams. Among them are the Cleveland Browns and Los Angeles Chargers, who boast two of the most rostered fantasy quarterbacks in Deshaun Watson and Justin Herbert. That means fantasy managers will need to pivot, for at least a week, until their starting QB1s are back in the fold.
We have a handful of names that you should consider plugging into your lineups this week.
Week 5 byes: Cleveland Browns, Los Angeles Chargers, Seattle Seahawks, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
C.J. Stroud vs. Atlanta Falcons
Stroud continues to justify the Texans selecting him with the No. 2 overall pick, as he’s now logged three straight games of 20 fantasy points or more. Perhaps even more encouraging is Stroud’s 6:0 touchdown to interception ratio through four games, with the latter coming against a tough Pittsburgh Steelers defense.
Atlanta is allowing just 15.3 fantasy points per game to quarterbacks, but given Stroud’s hot streak, he’s more than a viable starter in Week 5 with his confidence at a peak.
Jordan Love vs. Las Vegas Raiders
Love is coming off a rough outing against the Detroit Lions in Week 4, having completed 63.9 percent of his passes for 246 yards, one passing touchdown, and one interception. Still, he managed to log a respectable 17.64 fantasy points and now welcomes a much softer matchup against the Raiders‘ defense. For an apt comparison, Kenny Pickett had a respectable 18.5 fantasy points against this defense back in Week 3.
Las Vegas is allowing 19.1 PPG to quarterbacks, which ranks just outside the top 10, while their pass defense has allowed 220.3 yards per game through the air, ranking an average 16th in the league.
Sam Howell vs. Chicago Bears
Howell bounced back with a 19.6 fantasy performance in Week 4, with that number coming on the road against the reigning NFC Champion Philadelphia Eagles. The Commanders’ second-year man couldn’t ask for a softer matchup than the Bears at home in Week 5. Chicago is allowing 21.4 fantasy points per game to quarterbacks, which is the fifth-most in the NFL.
Their pass defense also ranks a pedestrian 30th in the league, having allowed 285.7 yards per game through the air to start the season.