Late-round quarterback drafter? Had an injury to your starter? In need of a bye-week replacement? This is the place to find your weekly quarterback choices. In this article, which is new to Footballguys this season, I'll highlight a couple of quarterback options likely available in most leagues (we'll use players rostered in fewer than 60% of Yahoo leagues) who could provide some punch at the quarterback position.
Unless most teams in your league carry a backup quarterback, there should be plenty of starting NFL quarterbacks on your waiver wire each week. Instead of starting a low-end QB1 facing an elite secondary, look to the waiver wire and play the matchups. Ideally, a player who appears in this space gets hot for multiple weeks and becomes an every-week starter. But if not, throw him back to the wire and come back here next week. Quarterback is one of the most predictable positions in fantasy football. Simply by using matchups, fantasy GMs can start a mid-to-high QB1 every week by using the waiver wire.
Disclaimer: this column will typically be written on Monday evenings. Should any relevant events occur on Monday Night Football that do not make it into the article, it will be edited after publish. Any post-publication edits will be noted.
Week 7 Results
Let's take a look at how last week's recommendations fared.
Baker Mayfield - at Tampa Bay
It started ugly for Mayfield, which prompted my Power Grid colleague Devin Knotts to ask us to reprimand him the next time he mentions Mayfield on the show. But a fourth-quarter surge (and a boost from 43 rushing yards) got Mayfield to 23.05 fantasy points on the day, good for a QB10 ranking (pending Monday night's game).
Joe Flacco - vs. New Orleans
In Week 6, we discussed Flacco as a consistent floor play with a limited ceiling. Last week, though, we mentioned that Baltimore's elite defensive unit can actually lower that floor. The matchup vs. New Orleans, as predicted, resulted in Baltimore's offense needing to pass for four quarters. Flacco accumulated 22.35 fantasy points, QB11 (pending Monday).
Week 8 Candidates
Here are the players available in at least 40% of typical leagues who could provide QB1 production this week.
Preface: this is a tough week. It might be the least confidence-inspiring group we've suggested all season.
Mitchell Trubisky - vs. N.Y. Jets
Trubisky is on fire, passing for over 300 yards in three straight. But it feels like a "one week too late" spot for a player who had eclipsed that mark just once in his 15 prior games. That said, the process here is good. Trubisky is a home favorite in a game with a reasonably high total (his team's total is 26.5 points as of this writing).
And he has the running ability to bolster his fantasy output, which could mitigate a bad passing day or raise the ceiling of a good one. Trubisky has at least 32 rushing yards in four of six games this season, is averaging 60.3 over his last three games and has two rushing touchdowns on the year.
Case Keenum - at Kansas City
A quarterback on the road, in the division, who scored 11.25 fantasy points the first time playing this opponent earlier in the season? A quarterback who scored 11.45 fantasy points last week? We said this week's crop of recommendations wouldn't be great.
But looking deeper, between those 11-point games, Keenum had two straight games of 322 or more yards with two touchdowns in each. His defense (and a touchdown pass by one of his receivers) capped his production in Week 7, as did a low-volume outing. Denver ran only 59 plays, compared to 77 in Week 5 and 65 in Week 6. And a chunk of those 59 were in non-passing, clock-killing situations.
Since appearing in this space successfully in Week 1, we missed on Keenum twice and swore off selecting him again. But the process is the process, so he's back.
Deep Leagues Only
These selections are best saved for deeper leagues and/or 2QB/Superflex leagues.
- Derek Carr - vs. Indianapolis: He lost his WR1 and best running back. His opponent just held a quarterback to 3.0 fantasy points. But his team total is 26.5.
- Joe Flacco - at Carolina: This could be a 21-17 type of game that is great to watch from a real football perspective but unexciting for fantasy football purposes.
- Baker Mayfield - at Pittsburgh: This was a defense we were targeting early in the season, but they have shown improvement lately and are at home coming off a bye.
Looking Ahead
If others in your league are also playing the "Rent-a-Quarterback" game, it might be wise to get a jump on next week's potential choices.
Week 9 is looking almost as ugly as Week 8. It might be worth waiting to see if any new information becomes available this week before locking in one of these players.
- Alex Smith - vs. Atlanta: Smith is far from his 2017 self, but Atlanta is high-flying and allowing plenty of production on the year. Plus, they're among the best teams to target with pass-catching running backs, and no one checks down more effectively than Smith.
- Joe Flacco - vs. Pittsburgh: It's hard to take a quarterback facing an opponent for the second time, but Pittsburgh should be able to perform better offensively this time around, like New Orleans did, making Flacco more attractive.
Questions, comments, suggestions, and other feedback on this piece are always welcome via e-mail hester@footballguys.com
