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, the article will be edited. Any post-publication edits will be noted.
Last Week's Results
Let's take a look at how last week's recommendations fared.
Derek Carr - vs. Detroit
Detroit visited Oakland in a game where both teams gain and allow most of their yardage via the pass. Predictably, the passing production took center stage. On the other side, Matthew Stafford eclipsed 400 yards and passed for 3 touchdowns. He bested Carr, but 289 yards and 2 touchdowns yielded a QB10 performance (pending Monday night).
Gardner Minshew - vs. Houston (London)
"Minshew Madness" did not travel to London. Houston suffocated Jacksonville, and Minshew only passed for 309 yards without a touchdown. He's currently the QB20 on the week.
Jimmy Garoppolo - at Arizona
In the middle of the week, we downgraded Garoppolo to our third choice because of a potential lack of volume and lack of need to score against Arizona. Instead, the Cardinals produced enough against the San Francisco defense to force the 49ers into playing offense for four quarters.
Garoppolo, not the run game, shouldered the load to the tune of 317 yards and 4 touchdowns. Garoppolo finished the week (pending Monday night) behind only Russell Wilson and his heroic effort against Tampa Bay.
This Week's Candidates
Here are the players available in at least 40% of typical leagues who could provide QB1 production this week.
Jacoby Brissett / Brian Hoyer - vs. Miami (Team Total: 27.5)
This is dependent upon Brissett's health. Before you call this a hedge that doesn't help you on waivers this week, note the following: Brissett is rostered in enough leagues that his availability isn't guaranteed. If that's your league, grab Hoyer just in case. And if Hoyer isn't worth the waiver claim, we'll likely find out the starter later in the week when you can get Hoyer as a first-come, first-served (i.e. non-waiver) free agent.
Derek Carr - vs. L.A. Chargers (Team Total: 23.5)
The matchup is difficult, but Carr is playing great football -- both for real and fantasy purposes. He's a high-floor play in Week 10.
Daniel Jones - "at" N.Y. Jets (Team Total: 22.5)
Jones gets a home/road/neutral game vs. the Jets, a team that is yielding over 273 yards across its last four games. Two of those games were played against Dak Prescott and Tom Brady, but the most recent two came against Gardner Minshew and Ryan Fitzpatrick. In fact, Prescott and Brady combined for one touchdown. Minshew and Fitzpatrick each threw three.
Deep Leagues Only
These selections are best saved for deeper leagues and/or 2QB/Superflex leagues.
- Ryan Tannehill - vs. Kansas City (Team Total: 22.25). Kansas City is allowing 5.1 rushing fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks, second-most in the NFL. Tannehill is the QB5 over the past two weeks despite only 524 combined passing yards, thanks in part to 9.5 rushing fantasy points during that pair of games.
- Mitchell Trubisky - vs. Detroit (Team Total: 22.5). One of these cake matchups has to result in Trubisky outperforming expectations...right? Detroit has yielded at least 19 fantasy points in every game but one this season.
- Kyle Allen - at Green Bay (Team Total: 21). The matchup isn't ideal, but Green Bay is allowing the 10th-most passing yards per game on the season. And Allen continues to provide a stable floor with a ceiling that shows up in the better matchups.
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.
- Derek Carr - vs. Cincinnati: Carr may eventually be rostered in too many leagues to be mentioned here. So get him now if he's available.
- Ryan Finley - at Oakland: The rookie will get his first start in Week 10. If he's only adequate against Baltimore, he's worth a look against Oakland's miserable secondary.
- Kyle Allen - vs. Atlanta: Remember Atlanta? We missed them during their bye week and can't pick on them in Week 10 because Drew Brees isn't a rental option. But there shouldn't be anything preventing us from going back to the well.
Questions, comments, suggestions, and other feedback on this piece are always welcome via e-mail hester@footballguys.com
