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.
DANIEL JONES - VS. WASHINGTON (TEAM TOTAL: 25)
Jones was fine. But ultimately, the on-paper issue with him came to fruition as Washington's offense was inept enough that New York's offense didn't need to force the issue. With 225 yards and 1 touchdown (plus 33 yards rushing), Jones was QB18 heading into Monday night. That didn't crush the dreams of his fantasy managers, but it isn't what we're looking for.
MATTHEW STAFFORD - VS. KANSAS CITY (TEAM TOTAL: 24)
Stafford was has appeared in this column in three of four weeks so far. And he's responsible for two of our five QB1 performances, including both top-five showings. This week, 291 yards and 3 touchdowns led to 28.35 fantasy points and the week's QB5 ranking heading into Monday night.
JACOBY BRISSETT - VS. OAKLAND (TEAM TOTAL: 26)
Brissett is another player who has appeared multiple times here. We missed the boat in Week 3 when Brissett had the QB12 finish against Atlanta, but changing course and including him in Week 4 worked out. Brissett had 265 yards and 3 more touchdowns, which yielded 26.15 fantasy points and the QB6 finish heading into Monday night.
Brissett now has multiple touchdowns in each of his four outings this season and is tied with Patrick Mahomes II and Lamar Jackson for the league lead in touchdown passes.
This Week's Candidates
Here are the players available in at least 40% of typical leagues who could provide QB1 production this week.
Andy Dalton - vs. Arizona (Team Total: 26.5)
DFS players are familiar with the points-per-dollar metric. When investigated retroactively, it's a good way to measure how a player performed against expectations. The high-priced players have higher expectations, which drives down their ratio compared to lower-priced players. For example, Kyle Allen scored 25.34 DraftKings points on a $4,000 price. 25.34 divided by 4.0 equals 6.35.
Using that metric, only one quarterback has failed to meet at least 5x his price, and that player leads a team with a strong run-first preference when they control games. So don't mistake Russell Wilson's poor fantasy performance for Arizona being better on defense.
Cincinnati is pass-heavy and will continue to be. That, in addition to the pace that Arizona brings, should create a friendly environment for Dalton and his receivers. Through three weeks, Arizona is the fastest neutral-script team, and Cincinnati is the 13th-fastest. Through three weeks, Cincinnati also passed on 78.0% of its neutral-script plays, the highest percentage in the league. If efficiency can intersect with volume, Dalton could be in store for a big week.
Jimmy Garoppolo - vs. Cleveland (Team Total: 25.25)
Garoppolo nearly doesn't qualify for this list (56%), but we're happy to take the low-hanging fruit when we can get it. Coming off a bye, he gets a nice spot against a Cleveland team that will be traveling cross-country. The Browns have been average against quarterbacks but are still allowing two passing touchdowns per game.
Jacoby Brissett - at Kansas City (Team Total: 23.5)
The "Kansas City Volume Machine" is always worth our attention. The case against Brissett is that Indianapolis is on the road, where they held Lamar Jackson to 267 yards and 0 touchdowns. Jackson's fantasy day was salvaged with 46 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
Brissett is mobile, but we can't rely on that. He'll need to overcome the difficulty of Arrowhead Stadium to keep up with Kansas City and be a quality Rent-a-Quarterback this week.
Deep Leagues Only
These selections are best saved for deeper leagues and/or 2QB/Superflex leagues.
- Chase Daniel - at Oakland: Is he Chicago's best passer? Regardless of the answer to that, if he gets the start against Oakland, he's viable in deeper or 2QB leagues because of the matchup.
- Kyle Allen - vs. Jacksonville: Allen's fantasy production declined, but perhaps his confidence increased, as he went to 2-0 on the season. If he gets another start this week, he's worth a look. And if Jalen Ramsey is out again or traded, Allen's outlook is further enhanced.
- Kirk Cousins - at N.Y. Giants: Cousins should probably be above these other two "deep leaguers," but it's hard to trust a player whose team would prefer to pass 15 times or fewer -- even when the on-paper passing matchup is good.
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. Warning: they're ugly. So play for this week instead of using the two-week outlook as a tiebreaker.
- Dwayne Haskins - at Miami: if he can survive this week against New England and still have a job, "Miami" is the best thing a rookie could ask for to get a productive game under his belt.
- Kirk Cousins - vs. Philadelphia: the risks were mentioned above, but a funnel defense like Philadelphia could bring out some desire and efficiency in the Minnesota passing game.
- Kyle Allen - at Tampa Bay: Obviously, this is assuming he still has the job. But the beauty of Rent-a-Quarterback is that even if the best-laid plans don't work, we have contingency plans.
- Gardner Minshew - vs. New Orleans: He'll have the job, but will a Bridgewater-Minshew battle inspire the kind of game environment we strive for when looking for QB1 production?
Questions, comments, suggestions, and other feedback on this piece are always welcome via e-mail hester@footballguys.com