Previous Tiers: Tier 1 – Tier 2 - Tier 3 - Tier 4

Tier 5 Quarterbacks make great backups – you should be able to use them for a short time if your QB1 goes down or during a bye week.  If you rely on them every week, you’re going to get burned.  In alphabetical order:

Marc Bulger, StL – I don’t understand why Bulger gets rated as highly as he does.  Yes, the Rams have taken concrete steps to improve their offensive line, but with the loss of Orlando Pace it still has more holes than the plot of I Am Legend.  Yes, rookie WR Donnie Avery has incredible potential, but he’s not going to fill the shoes of Isaac Bruce this season, if at all. Oh yeah, and Steven Jackson is holding out.  And the Rams are having to learn a new offense.  Bulger will only be usable in certain matchups, because in other matchups he’s going to kill you.

Jay Cutler, Den – Wow, I don’t like Jay Cutler this year.  Brandon Marshall is suspended for 2-3 games and the next best WRs are Brandon Stokely and Darrell Jackson.  The running game is made up of Selvin Young and Andre Hall, with rookie Ryan Torrain injured to start the season.  Well, at least their projected starting offensive line all started sixteen games last season.  No, wait, that’s a TOTAL of sixteen starts between the five of them. Crap.  Cutler is probably a big second-half sleeper, but unless you can keep 3 QBs on your fantasy roster, that won’t help you for the first half.

Jake Delhomme, Car – As they used to say on this old TV show: I Want To Believe.  Steve Smith (even with the suspension), Muhsin Muhammad and DJ Hackett make up a very nice WR corps.  The power (Jonathan Stewart) and speed (DeAngelo Williams) running game will be solid.  Delhomme was injured after only three games last season, but people don’t realize that in those three games he finished with eight passing touchdowns, only one interception and a QB rating of 111.8 – and this season he has better personnel.  He’s coming off Tommy John surgery, which is obviously a concern, but…the truth is out there.

Matt Leinart, Arz – Larry Fitzgerald.  Anquan Boldin. A 1200+ yard rusher in Edgerrin James.  Speedster rookie WR Early Doucet………Injuries.  Hot tub parties. Beer bongs. Kurt Warner.  Which side of Matt Leinart will prevail this season?  The risks are high but so are the rewards.  Do you feel lucky, punk?

Philip Rivers, SD – When you have LaDanian Tomlinson running the ball, you don’t need to throw it much. His offensive line is great, his receivers are terrible.  Chris Chambers and Vincent Jackson aren’t that good, though second-year man Craig Davis could establish himself.  Antonio Gates is…well…awesome, but the rest of these guys just aren’t getting it done.  Still, Rivers seems to be improving every year and while he isn’t going to be a breakout QB, there’s something to be said for reliability.