Fantasy Football 2011: Week 5 Quarterback Rankings

How quickly the bye weeks have come upon us. For some of us that might mean the need for bye week replacements. Let's quickly look at some quarterbacks that might be worth a shot as a fill in over the next few weeks. Kansas City finally got in the win column by beating a similarly down on their luck Minnesota team. Matt Cassel threw for over 200 yards for the first time this season and a touchdown. Kansas City is going to find themselves behind a lot and their running game has been dealt a heavy blow with the loss of Jamaal Charles, so Cassel is going to have to throw the ball more. Maybe Todd Haley can get more out of him the rest of the season.

Tennessee lost their best receiver in Kenny Britt in Week 3 but Matt Hasselbeck still passed for three touchdowns in Week 4. His yardage dropped down to 220 yards against Cleveland but at the same time Chris Johnson also went over 100 yards for the first time this season. As long as Hasselbeck can stay healthy, he should be a nice bye week replacement.

Tarvaris Jackson surprisingly threw for over 300 yards and 3 touchdowns on Sunday. In the previous 3 weeks, he hadn't even thrown for 200. If he continues to play within himself and build connections with his receivers, Jackson could surprise us a few more times with matchups against the Giants, Cleveland and Cincinnati coming up.

Full rankings follow the jump.

Quarterbacks to start (no real sleepers): Cam Newton (Carolina) - Newton is a beast and keeps putting up huge passing yardage. He faces New Orleans at home in Week 5 and should be able to bully them like he has Green Bay and Chicago. If he can add some passing touchdowns to his passing yardage and rushing touchdowns, he would become part of the elite.

Ryan Fitzpatrick (Buffalo) - Cincinnati played really good defense against Buffalo and held Fitzpatrick in check. I expect a nice rebound game against Philadelphia. The Eagles defense has been weak and should be exploitable.

Quarterbacks to avoid: Curtis Painter (Indianapolis) - Painter threw for 281 yards but more than half of those came on two long touchdown passes. He only completed 13 of his 30 passes and was sacked 4 times. He gets Kansas City this week but I still think he will struggle and prove himself unworthy of a fantasy start.

Blaine Gabbert (Jacksonville) - Gabbert will face a defense that surprisingly stopped a good Bills team last week. The rookie has made some nice plays so far but he still needs to be avoided until he shows some substantial progress.