How to Prioritize Quarterbacks in Your Week 5 Waiver Wire: C.J. Stroud, Joshua Dobbs, Sam Howell
The week 5 waiver wire is probably the weakest one of the NFL season so far. There’s some decent names available, but there’s just not the multitude of names we’ve had the first four weeks.
For that reason, it’s important to have your waiver priorities lined up right, and I’m here to help. For this discussion, we’ll take a look at three of the popular quarterback adds (which can be found under the FantasySP Fantasy Assistant tool and predictive adds tab) for week 5, Houston Texans’ C.J. Stroud, Arizona Cardinals’ Joshua Dobbs and Washington Commanders’ Sam Howell.
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C.J. Stroud Fantasy Outlook
Stroud has simply been sensational for the Texans to begin his NFL career. He’s completed 94-of-151 passes for 1,212 yards and six touchdowns. He’s thrown six touchdowns while not throwing a pick.
His 1,212 passing yards ranks fourth in the NFL so far, behind Miami Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa, Los Angeles Rams’ Matthew Stafford and Minnesota Vikings’ Kirk Cousins. Stroud, Dobbs and San Francisco 49ers' Brock Purdy are the only QBs with over 100 attempts and no interceptions.
Stroud has been pretty consistent in the first month of the season, something not many rookies can do right away. He’s passed for at least 240 yards in each contest. He has two touchdowns passes in each of the past three weeks.
A promising thing is that after being sacked 11 times in weeks 1 and 2, Stroud hasn’t been sacked once in the past two weeks. If the offensive line can keep him upright, more big games are in store for the rookie.
Stroud has a matchup with the Atlanta Falcons in week 5. Atlanta is in the top half of the league when it comes to slowing opposing quarterbacks.
Houston plays the New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers to round out the month. Both teams are in the top half of the league in slowing quarterbacks, with Carolina being the sixth best so far.
Joshua Dobbs Fantasy Outlook
Many expected the Cardinals to be a pushover team in 2023. Arizona has been anything but, with week 4 being their first game that wasn’t a loss within five points or a win.
Dobbs has been a big part of the reason why the team’s been so competitive. He’s completed 87-of-123 passes so far. Dobbs also has 814 yards and four touchdowns to his name, along with no interceptions.
He’s shown the ability to scramble over the past three weeks, with 21 attempts for 144 yards and a touchdown over that span. He has lost two fumbles.
With it being reported that Kyler Murray is still weeks away from returning from his injury, Dobbs has the chance to start for a few extra weeks than many originally expected.
Dobb’s next start will come against the Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals’ defense ranks near the middle of the league when it comes to slowing opposing quarterbacks.
Games against the Rams, Seattle Seahawks and Baltimore Ravens remain on Arizona’s October schedule. The Rams and Ravens are in the top half of the league when it comes to slowing opposing quarterbacks, while the Seahawks are in the bottom half.
Sam Howell Fantasy Outlook
Howell has not been as consistent as Stroud or Dobbs, but he’s been solid in three of the four games so far.
Overall, Howell has completed 94-of-140 passes for 961 yards and four touchdowns. He’s been intercepted five times, but four of those came in week 3 against the Buffalo Bills. Howell has also rushed for 82 yards and a touchdown on 11 attempts.
Howell has been sacked a league-leading 24 times already, which has contributed to some of the turnover issues. Overall though, I think Washington has to be pretty pleased with how the young quarterback has fared so far.
He’ll take on the Chicago Bears in week 5. It’s a defense that’s struggled mightily to slow opposing quarterbacks, as we wrote more about in this article.
The Falcons, New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles remain on the October schedule. The Falcons and Giants rank near the middle of the league when it comes to slowing quarterbacks, while the Eagles have struggled to this point.
How to Prioritize Quarterbacks on the Waiver Wire
We’ll break this down into two segments: fantasy owners that are looking for the best streaming option in week 5 and owners who are looking for a potential long-term quarterback.
For the streamers, Howell has the best matchup ahead of him. He’s performed the worst overall of the three QBs we’re discussing, but I’d trust the matchup here and take Howell over the other two. The matchups for Stroud and Dobbs are pretty similar, so I’d go with the best-performing guy to this point, which is Stroud.
For those looking for a long-term solution at quarterback, I’d go with Stroud. He’s been fantastic to this point and has better job security than the other two. I’d lean Howell over Dobbs, simply because we don’t know how many more weeks Dobbs might start.
