2013 Fantasy Football Week 5 Rankings: Top 25 Quarterbacks

Can you believe that the season is already 25 percent of the way finished?  As always, things are flying by, and fantasy owners need to simply try to keep up.  Whom should we be focusing on in Week 5?  Whom should we be ignoring?  Let’s take a look at our rankings.

1. Peyton Manning, Denver Broncos, at Dallas
2. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints, at Chicago
3. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers, vs. Detroit
4. Matthew Stafford, Detroit Lions, at Green Bay
5. Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons, vs. New York Jets
6. Tom Brady, New England Patriots, at Cincinnati
7. Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers, at Oakland
8. Michael Vick, Philadelphia Eagles, at New York Giants
9. Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers, at Arizona
10. Tony Romo, Dallas Cowboys, vs. Denver
11. Terrelle Pryor, Oakland Raiders, vs. San Diego
12. Sam Bradford, St. Louis Rams, vs. Jacksonville
13. Colin Kaepernick, San Francisco 49ers, vs. Houston
14. Brian Hoyer, Cleveland Browns, vs. Buffalo
15. Eli Manning, New York Giants, vs. Philadelphia
16. Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks, at Indianapolis
17. Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts, vs. Seattle
18. Andy Dalton, Cincinnati Bengals, vs. New England
19. Jay Cutler, Chicago Bears, vs. New Orleans
20. Ryan Tannehill, Miami Dolphins, vs. Baltimore
21. Alex Smith, Kansas City Chiefs, at Tennessee
22. Matt Schaub, Houston Texans, at San Francisco
23. Carson Palmer, Arizona Cardinals, vs. Carolina
24. E.J. Manuel, Buffalo Bills, at Cleveland
25. Joe Flacco, Baltimore Ravens, at Miami

Thoughts:

• He’s baaaaaack…  Tom Brady posted a big game on Sunday night, throwing for 316 yards and two touchdowns.  He suddenly appears to have a rapport with his young receivers, completing 45 of 67 passes over the past two weeks.  With Danny Amendola and Rob Gronkowski also closing in on returns, there is nothing not to like.  It is a tough matchup against the Bengals, but he’s well worth using in all formats.
• Prior to getting injured, the Jets watched Jake Locker throw for 149 yards and three touchdowns on just 24 attempts.  While their offense has looked good, they aren’t the Falcons.  It may not be an ideal matchup, but there’s no reason to think that Matt Ryan won’t be a productive option or one of the best in the league.
• Despite remaining skeptical on Philip Rivers, he just continues to produce.  He has thrown for three touchdowns in three out of four games and now draws a Raiders defense that has allowed seven touchdowns and no interceptions this season.  It’s hard to consider him anything but a viable QB1.
• After a monster Week 1, Russell Wilson has thrown for 202 yards or fewer in each of the past three weeks.  Sure he rushed for 77 yards in Week 4, but he’s also fumbled in each of the four games this season (losing two), while having an INT in each of the past three.  The Colts defense has allowed just two touchdowns versus six interceptions this season, so you have to consider him more of a QB2 at this point.
• Will Terrelle Pryor receive clearance to play in Week 5?  Fantasy owners had better hope so, since the matchup against the Chargers is a good one.  For now, we are going to rank him as if he’s playing, but we’ll have to monitor the news all week before settling on him.
• Michael Vick is a threat on the ground and faces a Giants defense that has yielded 10 passing touchdowns on the season (and a team that’s been embarrassed continually this season).  He’s well worth using this week.
• Sam Bradford has had his issues, but they throw the ball a lot, and he faces the Jaguars.  What’s not to like?  He’s a borderline QB1 for the coming week.
• Eli Manning has a good matchup against an Eagles defense that has been beaten up in the passing game (325.0 yards per game, nine touchdowns, two interceptions).  Then again, the Giants have looked pathetic all season long.  Can they finally come together?  You would have to think that, eventually, they will find some sort of footing and start to produce.  This could be the perfect week for them to do so, considering they still have the weapons.  The risk keeps him as a QB2, but don’t completely ignore him.
• How can you not like Brian Hoyer at this point?  In two starts, he’s thrown for 590 yards, five touchdowns and three interceptions, and you know the Browns are going to continue throwing the football early and often this week against the Bills.  He’s a viable option in all two-QB formats.

Make sure to check out all of our Week 5 rankings:

• Running Backs (Top 40)
• Wide Receivers (Top 50)
• Tight Ends (Top 20)
• Defenses (Top 15)