Late-round quarterback drafter? Had an injury to your starter? In need of a bye-week replacement? In this article, you'll find 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 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 and becomes an every-week starter. 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 publishing. Any post-publication edits will be noted.
Last Week's Results
Let's take a look at how last week's recommendations fared.
MATTHEW STAFFORD - AT PHILADELPHIA
Stafford didn't play well, but his fantasy day was hurt by an early kickoff return touchdown by Detroit. The team also chose to run the ball in on a second quarter opportunity from in close. Stafford's 201 yards and 1 touchdown led to a dreadful performance that didn't even keep him in the QB2 ranks.
JIMMY GAROPPOLO - VS. PITTSBURGH
Garoppolo was undermined by his teammates, who fumbled the ball away like it was covered in grease. Pittsburgh's offense also didn't force San Francisco to play aggressively. 277 yards and 1 touchdown won't get it done.
JOSH ALLEN - VS. CINCINNATI
Allen has been a regular in this space, and he was once again our best selection. But a QB18 performance won't cut it. We could've used a quarterback sneak for the game-winner instead of the one-yard plunge by Frank Gore.
Deep Plays
We didn't recommend Kyle Allen as an official play, but he was mentioned last week as a Deep Play, discussed by yours truly on Twitter, and mentioned on the Power Grid as a DFS play. Hopefully, some readers bought in and started him against Arizona.
This Week's Candidates
Here are the players available in at least 40% of typical leagues who could provide QB1 production this week. This week, we're adding projected team totals to each player to provide some additional information to help with your decision-making.
Daniel Jones - vs. Washington (Team Total: 25)
Jones showed the level of aggressiveness and athleticism that Eli Manning hasn't brought in a long time. Whether Washington can keep up the pace to make this game get near its Vegas total remains to be seen, but the Giants defense will do all it can to help. And with the injury to Saquon Barkley, if New York is going to move the ball, they'll likely do it via Jones.
Career 35-point fantasy games:
— Tyler Loechner (@LoechnerNFL) September 23, 2019
Daniel Jones: 1
Eli Manning: 1
It was a totally different offense Sunday. Jones averaged 9.83 air yards/attempt vs. Bucs. Manning 7.6 first two weeks.
— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) September 23, 2019
Manning led league w/26 passes at or behind line of scrimmage first two weeks. Average 13 per game. Jones threw a league-low 2 in first career start. #Giants https://t.co/IMxm314yaH
Matthew Stafford - vs. Kansas City (Team Total: 24)
We're going back to the well again with Stafford, whose rostership may finally surpass 60% this week. But the volume and pace the Kansas City offense forces puts any opposing quarterback into consideration.
Jacoby Brissett - vs. Oakland (Team Total: 26)
Oakland is allowing 295 passing yards per game. That figure is slightly inflated because they faced Patrick Mahomes II (443 yards) but also slightly deflated because they faced a run-first Minnesota team (174 yards). Oakland is yielding 9.2 yards per pass attempt, third-most in the NFL.
They have the feel of a defense that will yield production in any way the opposing offense wants, which makes his team's offensive game plan the biggest question mark for Brissett.
Deep Leagues Only
These selections are best saved for deeper leagues and/or 2QB/Superflex leagues.
- Kyle Allen - at Houston (Team Total: 20.5). In most weeks, he'd be in the section above. But this is a deep pool of "rentals." Houston is allowing 300 passing yards per game.
- Case Keenum - at N.Y. Giants (Team Total: 22). The Giants are allowing 27 more passing yards per game than the second-worst team. They have also allowed eight passing touchdowns in three games.
- Andy Dalton - at Pittsburgh (Team Total: 19.75). The matchup is good, and Dalton has been throwing it a lot. But can he be trusted in a primetime road game?
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.
- Andy Dalton - vs. Arizona: Play anyone you can against Arizona. Don't question it.
- Kirk Cousins - at N.Y. Giants: The way Minnesota wants to play makes it hard to trust Cousins. But multiple touchdowns against the Giants is in play for anyone.
Questions, comments, suggestions, and other feedback on this piece are always welcome via e-mail hester@footballguys.com
