Week 5 QB Waivers: Kirk Cousins, C.J. Stroud, and More

Teams start going on bye this week, beginning with the Carolina Panthers and Kansas City Chiefs. Quarterback is already a position at which I like to play matchups and look for lesser guys rather than focusing on the top dogs, and that becomes even more important once bye absences and injuries start adding up.

Let's look at five of the top quarterback names on the waiver wire heading into Week 5. Most stats are from NFL.com, and fantasy points and rankings are from FantasyPros.

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Kirk Cousins, Las Vegas Raiders

It was a fun first three weeks for the Raiders, but they were going to crash back down to Earth when facing the mighty Chiefs, right? Vegas surprised many by hanging with Kansas City all game, driving with a chance to tie the game with less than two minutes left before coming up short.

Most impressively, the Raiders' offense was able to move the ball against KC's defense, which was one of the best in the league prior to Week 4. Cousins racked up 365 yards and two touchdowns, though his efficiency was just average, as it took him 52 pass attempts to get there. Cousins now averaging over 250 passing yards per game and has multiple touchdowns in all four weeks.

He doesn't run the ball, so Cousins will have slower weeks when the passing game isn't quite so hot, but he has shown that he can put up numbers in this offense, making him worthy of consideration for your roster, especially with byes beginning this week.

Jalon Daniels, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Daniels is the type of guy who draws my attention because he runs the ball and is essentially unowned in fantasy football. With Baker Mayfield out for several more weeks, Daniels is in line to get his opportunities, and there could be a few decent fantasy games.

While he didn't do well throwing the ball on Sunday, Daniels ran for 55 yards, and that type of production will likely continue as long as he plays. I don't want to count on Daniels many weeks, but there are worse low-level streamers if you find yourself without a good option late in the week; he could always find the end zone with his legs.

Don't grab Daniels thinking that he could be your savior, but he is OK as a low-level streamer while Mayfield is out. This week against the Cowboys is a great matchup, making Daniels a guy who could be right back here on this list next week.

Aaron Rodgers, Pittsburgh Steelers

After two slow games to start the season, Rodgers has topped 290 yards in each of the past two weeks, throwing three touchdowns in both. Like Cousins, Rodgers isn't going to run the ball, so his points have to come from volume passing.

We have seen already this season that Rodgers is dependent on his matchup for fantasy value. He struggled against Atlanta and New England, two teams who have done well against the pass, and he excelled against the Bengals and Browns, two teams with lesser defenses, though neither has bottomed out this season. Rodgers is only a guy to consider when the matchup is in his favor.

This week against Indianapolis is a good matchup, so Rodgers could realistically be on your radar if you are missing Bryce Young or Patrick Mahomes on their bye. I'm not expecting huge things out of Rodgers often, but he has a chance to put up another good week here against the Colts.

C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans

Stroud had by far his best game of the season on Sunday against the Cowboys, racking up 347 yards on 11.2 per attempt with two touchdowns and no interceptions. His other big yardage games came with average-or-worse efficiency, but Stroud has thrown a ton with his defense unexpectedly struggling, averaging nearly 38 attempts per game.

After a very good rookie season, Stroud has been very average for most of the time since. There's nothing wrong with that, but it means that he's not a priority fantasy player and is mostly dependent on the matchup. He faced one of the softest defenses he will see all season on Sunday against Dallas, the team that has allowed the second-most yards per pass attempt through four weeks.

The next two weeks bring positive matchups on paper, as the Texans visit Tennessee before hosting Jacksonville. Both the Titans and Jaguars are among the 10 worst in yards per pass attempt allowed, so Stroud has a decent outlook coming up if you're short are quarterback or dealing with a bye for one of the aforementioned players.

I'm not looking to count on Stroud often in fantasy. He was missing Nico Collins the past two games, and Collins had a big Week 4, but we've seen Stroud look less than stellar over the past few seasons, and he's likely to keep putting up uneven performances that depend on the matchup as much as anything else.

Deshaun Watson, Cleveland Browns

After a half-decade in obscurity, Watson has emerged as a productive player for the 3-1 Browns. He's doing decent throwing the ball, and Watson has found some of the ground game that helped him become a top fantasy player early in his career, averaging around 32 rushing yards per game while topping 20 yards in each contest.

None of this adds up to a must-start player, but Watson ranks in the top half of the league among quarterbacks in fantasy points, and he keeps a decent floor due to his running. Waston is another player who has to be played with the matchups; at this point, pretty much every free agent falls into that category.

The next two weeks against the Jets and Ravens aren't very friendly, so I probably won't be looking to Watson during that time. It gets better after that, including games against the Titans and Texans, so we will be talking about Watson more in a couple weeks, making him a guy you can probably skip on the waiver wire for now unless you're in a deep league and hurting for an option.