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.
Last Season's Results
Let's take a look at how we did last year. In future columns, we'll use this section to review the prior week's selections. Below is the conclusion section from last season's Week 17 column.
While we didn't have QB1 finishes every week, we were in the Top 14 in 12 of 16 weeks this season, including every week from Week 6 onward. That means that if you used Rent-a-Quarterback each week, you didn't get crushed at the quarterback position. Ideally, renting quarterbacks allowed you to stock up at the more premium "flex-eligible" positions and win your league with depth and elite scoring there.
The results were acceptable for the column's first season, but they leave some room for improvement. Here begins the improvement.
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 - at LA Chargers
Brissett is the newly-anointed starter and recently signed a new contract that highlights the team's commitment to him. L.A. will be without Derwin James for the season, which is a significant blow. Choosing Brissett here is advocating for Frank Reich as well, and Reich has shown an ability to create a game plan that puts his quarterback in position to succeed - regardless of whether or not that quarterback is a star player.
Jimmy Garoppolo - at Tampa Bay
This is another bet in not only matchup but coaching. Kyle Shanahan made undrafted free agent Nick Mullens a success after Garoppolo was injured last year. Garoppolo has looked bad all preseason long, but Shanahan should have a game plan to make his offense successful against a poor Tampa Bay secondary.
Deep Leagues Only
These selections are best saved for deeper leagues and/or 2QB/Superflex leagues.
- Nick Foles - vs. Kansas City: This game could be a sneaky shootout. Kansas City's defense should be improved, but it's a wait-and-see situation. And the Chiefs offense should continue to force teams to keep up.
- Matthew Stafford - at Arizona: This is a volume-based play, as Arizona's fast-paced offense might lead to more volume for opposing offenses against a tired defense. Only Matt Patricia and his slow-playing, conservative ways keep Stafford from the section above.
Looking Ahead
Typically in this space, we'll highlight players for the following week. But with rosters likely to be shaken up during the early-season waiver runs, many teams will likely drop their second quarterback. So here are some quarterbacks rostered in under 85% of Yahoo leagues who have every-week starter potential if the stars align and allow them to hit their ceilings.
- Dak Prescott - He was excellent down the stretch last year after Amari Cooper arrived.
- Jameis Winston - He's working under Bruce Arians' tutelage and is less likely to be benched this year.
- Mitchell Trubisky - Healthier weapons, a second year in Matt Nagy's system, and his rushing upside combine to make Trubisky a high-upside player.
Questions, comments, suggestions, and other feedback on this piece are always welcome via e-mail hester@footballguys.com
