Remember Weeks 1 and 2 of this season when much of the quarterback play across the NFL was largely underwhelming? Nah, me neither. Week 5 of the NFL season has seen 11 quarterbacks (as of Sunday night) score 20+ fantasy points, with three of them exceeding 30 points. In comparison, Week 2 gave the fantasy world just three quarterbacks with 20 or more points. Gross. Let’s not look at the past, though. Ryan Heath of fantasypoints.com noted that the three highest weekly fantasy scores for quarterbacks have all come from this week (Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, Kirk Cousins). Quarterback play looks like it’s heating up around the league, and now is the time to pounce on a few of them before it’s too late. Similar to last week, the signal-callers at the top of the fantasy leaderboard in Week 5 are a mixed bag of those who were drafted relatively high this past summer, along with some passers who you may be able to snag off the waiver wire this week, which is exactly why we’re here. For those of you who may be new to the weekly QB streaming article, only players who are rostered in under 70% of Yahoo leagues will be mentioned.
Kirk Cousins, Atlanta Falcons (51% rostered):
You may think I’ve lost my mind for including a guy who just threw for over 500 yards in a streaming article, but good old Kirk is available in almost half of Yahoo leagues. Of course, it’s not the ideal time to have to put a bid in for Cousins after putting up such an insane stat line (no discounts this week), but we now know the ceiling the Falcons offense can reach with Kirk at the helm. The 36-year-old’s pass-catching weapons run five deep when you include Kyle Pitts and Bijan Robinson (who we know can take it to the house at any time). Darnell Mooney, who the Falcons acquired in free agency, has emerged as a solid #2 receiver in this offense that can have huge spike weeks. That’s before we even get to Ray-Ray McCloud and KhaDarel Hodge, who apparently can run by an entire defense on his way to pay dirt and a Falcons win. One of the main attractions of taking a chance on an older quarterback in Cousins coming off a serious injury during your draft was the weaponry around him, and we saw that on full display in Week 5. Obviously, 500 yards likely will never happen again, but there’s no reason to think Kirk and the rest of the Falcons offense can’t continue to look like one of the NFL’s upper-echelon attacks. More reps together, mixed with the talent they’re already bringing to the table, is an encouraging combination. Now, Atlanta gets the reeling Panthers defense in Week 6, who give up the 6th-most fantasy points to quarterbacks, according to NFL.com. Carolina’s D made Caleb Williams look like a seasoned veteran against them this past week, meaning Kirk has field day potential in Charlotte on Sunday.
Kirk Cousins TRUSTS Darnell Mooney.
He's the #Falcons Adam Thielen
This is a great example of a jump -up-and-through technique by Mooney on good placement in a thicket of the Buccaneers' coverage. pic.twitter.com/EjVnQDyY0a
— Matt Waldman (@MattWaldman) October 6, 2024
Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears (60% rostered):
Speaking of the Bears’ signal-caller, I can’t lie and say I haven’t been waiting to find a way to add the #1 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft onto the list of streamable quarterbacks. It felt inevitable that he would end up looking like a viable fantasy option, and here we are. Yes, Williams threw for 363 yards in Week 3 against the Colts, but that came on 52 passing attempts while trailing much of that game. Week 5 against the Panthers was Williams’ true coming out party, exceeding 300 yards on just 29 passing attempts and completing almost 70% of his passes. He looked the part, too, finally showing some significant signs of the generational prospect that he’s been touted as. Just check out the link below. PFF noted that Caleb is 17/19 for 200 yards and two touchdowns with zero turnover-worthy plays against the blitz over the past two weeks, emphasizing how good he can be when the play gets off script. He doesn’t need things to be perfect for him to make plays. Also, remember in the off-season when we all said Caleb has the best weapons around him that a #1 pick has ever had? Well, they’re still all there. Even D’Andre Swift, who looked droppable after their loss to the Colts, has shown over the past few weeks that he’s still a guy who can take a check-down and turn it into an explosive play, meaning easy fantasy points for Caleb. Now the Bears face the Jaguars (who Joe Flacco put 359 on) and the Commanders over their next two games, who give up the most and seventh-most fantasy points to quarterbacks, respectively, according to NFL.com. It took a few weeks for Caleb Williams to get his feet wet, but if he’s available in your league, now is the time to add the rookie just in time for him to his stride.
What makes this Caleb Williams TD even better is that he progresses on it.
this is a screen block & go concept at the top of the screen meant to pop Keenan Allen open.
when the deep safety flies over, Williams just calmly works over to Moore. pic.twitter.com/1Jbkx3Lbp4
— Nate Tice (@Nate_Tice) October 6, 2024
Joe Flacco, Indianapolis Colts (he’s probably available in your league):
Speaking of Joe Flacco, it would be irresponsible of me not to mention the 39-year-old after his huge day in Jacksonville (33/44, 359 yards, three TDs). Of course, Flacco’s fantasy viability is dependent on Anthony Richardson‘s status, but you could do much worse than Joe Flacco in your starting lineup if you need a bye-week fill-in or your starter is underperforming. The New Jersey native has started seven games over the past two years for the Colts and Browns, and he’s thrown for 300 yards in six of them, along with 17 touchdowns, according to Adam Levitan of Establish The Run. All Flacco does is sling the rock around the yard and get the ball in the end zone, which is exactly what you want from any fantasy quarterback, let alone a streaming option. The matchup in Week 6 isn’t the most appealing, as the Colts travel to Nashville to face the Titans. Tennessee has, on average, given up less than 15 points per game to the quarterback position this season, but you could argue that number is slightly skewed by facing Caleb Williams in his first-ever game and Tyler Huntley in two of their four matchups (on bye Week 5). Flacco also has no shortage of great weapons to throw to and looks to be developing a strong connection with WR Josh Downs, who does his best work in the short and intermediate areas of the field, giving Flacco cheap fantasy points. Alec Pierce is a big play waiting to happen, and we all know about Michael Pitman Jr. And don’t forget about the rushing upside the father of five brings to the table, as the clip below shows.
Joe Flacco forever. pic.twitter.com/ILw8h8eMHq
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) October 6, 2024
Feature image by Michael Packard (@CollectingPack on Twitter) / Photography by David J. Griffin / Icon Sportswire