NFL Fantasy 2026 Start 'Em, Sit 'Em: Quarterbacks for Week 5
As always, Start 'Em, Sit 'Em is geared toward helping fantasy managers make difficult roster decisions. You won’t see “start Jahmyr Gibbs” here. Instead, I'm exploring the players closer to the perceived fringe and aiming to optimize your lineup for a win each week. Importantly, the new “Start of the Week” and “Sit of the Week” are the calls I have deemed the most notable in each category, not necessarily the most essential players to start or sit.
Also, you’ll see quite a few references in this year’s column to NFL Pro, spotlighting insights provided through Next Gen Stats data dashboards, matchup evaluations, All-22 film and the uniquely trained Fantasy AI Assistant. You can get access to all of those tools yourself with an NFL+ Premium subscription!
P.S. Feel free to follow me on X (@MattOkada) or Instagram (@mattokadaNFL) and hit me with your questions, congratulations or complaints throughout the year.
Start 'Em
Start of the Week
The top fantasy quarterback this season is Josh Allen with 28.12 points per game. The next-best QB? Whoever plays the Lions. Those four QBs have all topped 21 fantasy points, and they averaged 27.88 fantasy PPG against Detroit. This defense has allowed league-highs in both pass yards (1,308) and pass TDs (11), and it's a bottom-four unit in passer rating, completion rate over expected, pass success rate and EPA/dropback. Conclusion: Even a typically low-end QB2 like Brissett is a top-tier streamer against the Lions. Brissett scored 25.60 points on 52 attempts against the 49ers in Week 3 -- expect an encore Sunday.
Notable starts
Stafford has averaged 344.7 passing yards over his last three games and threw six touchdowns in Weeks 2 and 3 (before a hiccup in Philly on Sunday). Expect a bounce-back performance against the Bills, who’ve allowed the fourth-most fantasy points to quarterbacks.
This Week 5 waiver wire candidate has been simply excellent this season, averaging 256.5 passing yards per game and tossing multiple TDs each week. He’s a top-10 fantasy quarterback, even in a tough matchup against the Patriots.
The Commanders are allowing 22.52 fantasy PPG to quarterbacks, while Winston is building chemistry with Malik Nabers and Isaiah Likely, who he hit for a combined 178 yards and a TD in Week 4's victory.
Goff is top five in passer rating (108.6) and success rate (51.1%) through the first month of the season. Since Week 2, he’s scored the third-most fantasy points among QBs, and the Cardinals have allowed the second-most points to the position.
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Sit 'Em
Sit of the Week
From 2021 through 2024, Hurts averaged 9.5 fantasy points per game as a rusher, purely accounting for rush yards and TDs. Since the start of last season, that average has dropped to 5.3 per game, and his passing production has not increased to compensate -- he’s currently 18th in passing fantasy points in 2026. As a result, Hurts is no longer the top-five fantasy QB he was in years past. Now more of a fringe QB1, he’s a serious sit candidate in Week 5 against the Jaguars, who are allowing just 14.25 fantasy PPG to the position.
Notable sits
Murray has logged one touchdown, two interceptions, just 42 rushing yards and fewer than 12 fantasy points in every outing as Kevin O’Connell’s newest QB project. The Saints are a middling matchup, but Murray is bench material until he shows some upside.
A week after torching the hapless Commanders defense, Darnold completed just 13 passes for 168 yards against the Chargers. Meanwhile, the Niners have held three of four QBs under 14 fantasy points and are allowing just 5.9 yards per attempt, third-fewest in the NFL.
Through the first month of the season, Nix has posted the league’s third-lowest completion rate over expected (-5.3%) and finished a top-12 fantasy quarterback just once (in Week 3). The Chargers also have allowed a top-12 fantasy QB once in four games. Stream elsewhere.
While Love has thrown a pair of touchdowns in every game, he ranks dead last in completion rate over expected (-6.9%) and is just 17th in fantasy points per game at the position. He’s a subpar play against a Bears defense that’s tightened up considerably since Week 1.