Torrent status stays on "Downloading metadata"

[LemmysBass]

I have been using QBit for quite a while, I moved over from Utorrent. However, lately, every torrent I try to download immediately sticks on "downloading metadata" and stays there. I'm running Windows 10 64bit with NordVPN. I also run CCleaner for antivirus, and Windows Defender is on. I'm nowhere near an expert with torrenting so I hope someone here can help me. I have tried disabling Windows Defender, but that doesn't fix it. I know a torrent will not download if the "seeds" column is 0 (0), but the "seeds" column of two of the stuck torrents are 0 (7) and 0 (1), so shouldn't they begin downloading? Also, several of the torrents I select to download from sites like LimeTorrents, 1337X, and Piratebay show many seeds, yet when they open in Qbit to download, there are no seeds.
I have tried changing the torrent port in Qbit's settings, but that has not helped.
My ISP is Frontier and my service is 100/100.
I have attached a screenshot of the setting I currently have on QBitt.
Torrenting used to be fun, but this ongoing issue is making it a pain in the neck now. Do I have incorrect settings on my computer or is there something else I need to tweak to make this work more smoothly? Thanks for the help.