Week 9 Byes: Denver Broncos (Peyton Manning), Detroit Lions (Matthew Stafford), New York Giants (Eli Manning), Arizona Cardinals (Carson Palmer), San Francisco 49ers (Colin Kaepernick), and Jacksonville Jaguars (Chad Henne)
Eight weeks of NFL regular season action are in the books and Andy Dalton, Philip Rivers, and Alex Smith are in the Top-12 of standard fantasy scoring quarterbacks for the year. Like we all predicted.
Every NFL season brings with it unpredictability, and we’ve seen exactly that at the quarterback position this year.
How many 2-QBers drafted Tom Brady as a Top-5 fantasy quarterback this year, only to watch him limp to his current QB20 rank? Conversely, how many 2-QB teams have been saved by picking up Terrelle Pryor from the waiver wire?
The great thing about fantasy football though is that it’s a weekly game. Every week brings with it a fresh start, and just because Brady is QB20 after eight weeks, it doesn’t mean he’s going to be QB20 every week.
Whether you’re 0-8, 8-0, or somewhere in between, Week 9 gives you another shot at making your 2-QB team better.
Below you’ll find my weekly quarterback rankings for 2-QB leagues, followed by my Stock Watch report. Feel free to check out the weekly quarterback rankings over at TwoQBs.com, for a different perspective.
Week 9 Fantasy Quarterback Rankings for 2-QB Leagues:
1. Tony Romo VS. Minnesota Vikings
2. Cam Newton VS. Atlanta Falcons
3. Aaron Rodgers VS. Chicago Bears
4. Drew Brees @ New York Jets
5. Philip Rivers @ Washington Redskins
6. Jake Locker @ St. Louis Rams
7. Robert Griffin III VS. San Diego Chargers
8. Terrelle Pryor VS. Philadelphia Eagles
9. Alex Smith @ Buffalo Bills
10. Andrew Luck @ Houston Texans
11. Russell Wilson VS. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
12. Josh McCown @ Green Bay Packers
13. Case Keenum VS. Indianapolis Colts
14. Nick Foles @ Oakland Raiders
15. Matt Ryan @ Carolina Panthers
16. Andy Dalton @ Miami Dolphins
17. Tom Brady VS. Pittsburgh Steelers
18. Ryan Tannehill VS. Cincinnati Bengals
19. Jason Campbell VS. Baltimore Ravens
20. Geno Smith VS. New Orleans Saints
21. Ben Roethlisberger @ New England Patriots
22. Joe Flacco @ Cleveland Browns
23. Mike Glennon @ Seattle Seahawks
24. Thaddeus Lewis VS. Kansas City Chiefs
25. Josh Freeman @ Dallas Cowboys
26. Kellen Clemens VS. Tennessee Titans
27. Austin Davis VS. Tennessee Titans
Week 9 Quarterbacks on the Rise in 2-QB Leagues:
Nick Foles
Back in the quarterback saddle for the Philadelphia Eagles once again is Nick Foles. Michael Vick was rushed back from his hamstring issue last week, partly due to Foles’ concussion issues/ineffective Week 7 performance, but Vick re-aggravated his injury.
There’s no timetable for Vick’s return, but don’t expect it to happen anytime soon.
While it might be hard to trust Foles this week, he had been performing better than expected in Vick’s absence, with a Week 6 performance versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in which he was the second highest scoring fantasy player, not just quarterback, in standard scoring leagues.
Of course the highs from Week 7 were tempered with the lows from Week 7, where he scored a paltry 5.7 standard fantasy points, outscoring Josh Freeman’s abysmal Monday Night Football outing versus the New York Giants by .1 points. That should put in to perspective how bad Foles played Week 7.
Yet, here Foles is, a starting NFL quarterback once again, with a chance to redeem himself. If Foles can turn his play around, he’ll have a shot to win the starting quarterback job in Philadelphia, and lead a team that has plus match ups versus the Washington Redskins, Minnesota Vikings, and Dallas Cowboys rest of the season.
Andy Dalton
There’s not much to say about Andy Dalton’s play the past three weeks, other than he’s on fire. The last three weeks of the NFL season have seen Dalton finish no lower than QB3 for the week, and he was the second highest fantasy scoring quarterback twice in that span.
Eleven touchdowns, two interceptions, and an average of 344.66 passing yards per game is what Dalton has produced the last three weeks, and when a quarterback is this hot, you start him, and start him with confidence. Dalton’s gone on streaks like this in the past, but the emergence of Marvin Jones as a second wide receiver option behind A.J. Green might be just what this offense has been looking for. Jones, himself, is on his own hot streak, having scored at least one touchdown in each of the past three games, including his four-touchdown outburst last week.
A Thursday Night Football match-up versus the Miami Dolphins might not be the most ideal setting for Dalton to continue his streak, but when a quarterback is this hot there’s not much that can stop him.
Jason Campbell
There wasn’t a whole lot of support for Jason Campbell to produce fantasy worth numbers last week versus the Kansas City Chiefs, but the low expectations we had for him were exceeded. By a wide margin.
Going up against the top defense of the Chiefs, Campbell finished the week as QB8 in standard scoring leagues, and became the only quarterback this season to throw multiple touchdowns versus the Chiefs. Campbell also threw for the second most passing yards against them.
There’s no going back to Brandon Weeden this year for the Browns, and even a Campbell injury would most likely mean a free agent quarterback signing for the team, as they would like to avoid having Weeden under center at all costs.
While Campbell might not have the greatest job security, it’s comforting to know that at least he’s not Brandon Weeden, and in 2-QB leagues, we’ll take it.
Week 9 Quarterbacks on the Slide in 2-QB Leagues:
Kellen Clemens
Ouch. That’s about the best way to describe Kellen Clemens’ play versus the Seattle Seahawks on Monday Night Football. The scary thing is the Rams were still a last minute goal line drive away from being able to win the game.
Ultimately though Clemens and the Rams’ offense were stuffed at the goal line by the Seahawks defense, and wound up losing the game 14-9.
Completing less than 50 percent of his passes, and throwing for two interceptions showed there was nothing to Clemens’ game in which a promising future is ahead for him as the quarterback leader of this offense, but he has been named the team’s Week 9 starter.
Clemens should watch out for former undrafted back-up quarterback Austin Davis though, who has experience in this offense, and was recently re-signed by the team. If it turns out the Rams have nothing left to lose, the team might feel the same way, and give Davis a shot. And those of you rostering Clemens in 2-QB leagues should monitor the situation closely, and pick up Davis, in any event he’s named the starter.
Christian Ponder
Aided by 38 rushing yards, and a rushing touchdown, Ponder vaulted himself into the QB1 tier of fantasy scoring quarterbacks for Week 8. However, take away those 9.8 standard scoring fantasy points Ponder earned through running the ball, and he would have finished the week as QB23, instead of QB12.
Ponder wasn’t able to move the Vikings’ offense against the Green Bay Packers in Week 8, and as long as Josh Freeman can pass his concussion protocols, it should be Freeman starting for the Vikings this week. There’s no official word yet on who will start for the Vikings, but be prepared to insert Ponder back on the bench of your 2-QB league, and possibly set him free into the wild of your league’s 2-QB waiver wire/free agency pool.
Michael Vick
Double (w)hammy is the best way to describe how Michael Vick’s season has unfolded up to this point. It’s Week 9 of the NFL season, and what many predicted would happen, has happened, with Vick yet again getting injured. This will be the second time this year Vick will miss a start due to injury, and it’s very likely he’ll miss multiple starts, if he can’t heal up quickly.
It’s hard to drop Vick in 2-QB leagues, because of his potential in that offense, and Chip Kelly’s willingness to want to ride Vick and his legs. A healthy Vick is a clear-cut better option in Kelly’s eyes, and for fantasy football purposes, Vick needs to be stashed in 2-QB leagues.
However, the threat of Nick Foles stealing the quarterback job away from Vick is in play, and that’s the biggest concern Vick owners have in 2-QB leagues. One alternative to stashing Vick, if you don’t own Foles, is to target the Foles owner, and pawn Vick off on him, for something useful to your team right now. It’s that, or have sit on your bench, hoping he plays again at some point this year.
*Stats used in this article from FantasyData.com
