Welcome to the Week 5 waiver wire watch!
Best fantasy football QB waiver wire pickups for Week 5
Matthew Stafford, Sam Darnold highlight the top waiver wire quarterback targets entering Week 5.
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Another weekend of action is in the books as we’re officially through the first month of the 2025 NFL season. Whether you won your fantasy league matchup or got absolutely smoked, you’re probably looking for ways to fortify your rosters ahead of next week. That’s where we come in.
We’ll go over some Week 4 QB performers that you should consider scooping off the waiver wire ahead of Week 5. We’ll classify a waiver add as someone who is rostered in roughly 60% of leagues at maximum. Keep in mind that byes officially start this week, so you’ll have to put a little bit of extra thought into your lineup strategies in the coming weeks.
Week 5 byes: Atlanta Falcons, Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, Pittsburgh Steelers
Matthew Stafford, QB, Los Angeles Rams (40.9%)
Stafford was excellent in Sunday’s 27-20 victory over the Indianapolis Colts, completing 29 of 41 passes for 375 yards and three touchdowns in the win. We once again saw how dangerous this passing attack can be when the veteran Pro Bowler is airing it out to Puka Nacua and Davante Adams and his 88-yard strike to Tuuu Atwell put the team over the top late in the fourth quarter. His performance garnered 27.4 fantasy points, which was the second-highest total among QB’s at the end of Sunday’s slate.
Despite preseason concerns over his back, Stafford has himself a productive first month of the season and is currently second in the NFL in passing yards while chilling in the top 10 in passing EPA. As long as he’s slinging it like this, he’ll remain a viable fantasy football option and should be available in most leagues ahead of their Thursday night showdown against the Niners.
Week 5 matchup: vs. San Francisco 49ers, 8:15 p.m. ET (Thursday night)
Sam Darnold, QB, Seattle Seahawks (18%)
The Sam Darnold experiment in Seattle is going well so far and he has the team sitting pretty at 3-1 following its 23-20 victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday night. The veteran had himself a solid evening where he went 18-26 for 242 yards and a touchdown in the NFC West showdown, earning 16.1 fantasy points for managers over the weekend.
Darnold’s numbers with the Seahawks haven’t been eye-popping through four games, but he’s been perfectly solid and he’s been in the upper half of the league in metrics like passing EPA and success rate. He’s been a reliable hand and with bye weeks beginning to fire up, a QB-needy manager could turn to him as a viable substitute in place of their resting starter.
Week 5 matchup: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 4:05 p.m. ET
Trevor Lawrence, QB, Jacksonville Jaguars (35.3%)
Don’t look now, but Jacksonville is 3-1 after scoring a 26-21 road victory over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday and Trevor Lawrence contributed a line of 21-31 for 174 yards and a touchdown on the afternoon. Those stats aren’t necessarily blowing anyone away, but he was efficient with a 67.7% completion percentage and committed zero turnovers. That’s a step into the right direction after looking shaky for three weeks and the former No. 1 overall pick could continue to gain confidence as the Jags continue to stack wins.
Something that could also help T-Law is his own defense as the Jags currently lead the NFL in takeaways with 13. That ability to create turnovers could lead to easy scoring opportunities for the QB and he could really start piling up numbers as he gets even more comfortable in Liam Coen/Grant Udinski’s scheme. This could be a good time to buy low on Lawrence off the waiver wire and reap the benefits later.
Week 5 matchup: vs. Kansas City Chiefs, 8:15 p.m. ET (Monday night)
Aaron Rodgers, QB, Pittsburgh Steelers (24.3%)
Rodgers keeps getting the job done for Pittsburgh and he went overseas to Ireland and helped the team secure a 24-21 victory over the Minnesota Vikings. The win arguably had more to do with the ineptitude of Vikings QB Carson Wentz than anything else, but the four-time MVP still did his part with 200 yards and a touchdown for the day. DK Metcalf notably exploded with a 126-yard receiving day, so his rapport with the QB is something to keep tabs on in the coming weeks.
Rodgers is off on a bye this week, so he won’t be in action if you decide to scoop him off the waiver wire. If you need QB help on your roster later on however, the 41-year-old is sitting right there.
Week 5 matchup: Bye week
