Fantasy football Week 5 QB preview: Matthew Stafford in a great spot against the Bills

The quarterback position is supposed to be one of the more stable and predictable positions in Fantasy Football. Through four weeks, it hardly looks like that is the case with Brock Purdy, Bryce Young, Jared Goff, and Tyler Shough filling out the top five behind Josh Allen. Part of that is because Allen is the only quarterback drafted as a top-five option to have met or exceeded expectations. Part of it is that Shough, Young, and Goff are throwing 40-plus times a game, something no one expected. There is one other quarterback throwing 40 times per game, but he's not a top-12 QB. His name is Matthew Stafford, and I expect that to change in Week 5.

Stafford plays the Bills in Los Angeles on Monday night, and in the early run of my Week 5 projections, he comes out as QB1. Honestly, a lot of this has to do with the Bills defense. Through four weeks, they are giving up an average of 274 passing yards and 2.5 passing TDs to QBs. And Goff is the only quarterback they have faced who currently ranks as a top-15 QB in Fantasy points per game. Drake Maye ended his nightmare start to the season with 31 Fantasy points against them last week.

A bigger part of it is that Stafford has Puka Nacua back. While he still wasn't good against Philadelphia, he did throw for 317 yards and the return of Nacua gives him two receivers the Bills have little chance of covering. There is something not quite right with Stafford, as evidenced by his six interceptions on the season, but the return of Nacua and the weakness of the Bills defense make him a must-start option this week.

Let's get to the rest of the preview:

QB Preview

Numbers to know

765 -- Tyler Shough is on pace for 765 pass attempts. Tom Brady holds the NFL record with 733 attempts in a season.

31 -- Deshaun Watson's 31 rush attempts rank second behind only Josh Allen amongst quarterbacks this season.

2.9% -- Sam Darnold's 2.9% off target rate is the lowest mark in the league. He's a top 12 QB this week.

5.4 -- Bo Nix is averaging 5.4 air yards per attempt, the lowest average in the NFL. Daniel Jones is the only other QB below six.

2.42 -- Jordan Love's average time to pressure is 2.42 seconds. No QB is getting pressured faster.

33 -- Jared Goff has already thrown 33 passes in the red zone through four weeks. No other QB has thrown more than 28.

7 -- Josh Allen's seven rushing touchdowns are tied for the NFL lead, including running backs.

8.8 -- Brock Purdy's career adjusted yards per pass attempt is now 8.8, the highest mark in the history of the NFL.

QB Preview

Waiver Wire Targets

QB Preview

DFS Plays

QB Preview

Heath's projections