For a complete look at my Week 3 fantasy quarterback rankings for 2-QB fantasy football leagues you can can check those out right here, in my weekly 2-QB Stock Watch report. Don’t forget to take a look at TwoQBs.com and their Week 3 rankings as well, for a different perspective.
Most 2-QBers already have an idea of which fantasy quarterback will be their QB1 for the week, and many others won’t have much of a difficult decision selection the quarterback to man their QB2 slot either. This brings me to a little game called the QB2 By Committee Match Game.
The QB2 By Committee Match Game series is more for 2-QB fantasy football owners who decided to play the QB2 streaming game with their 2-QB roster, and are in need of some guidance as to which QB2s make for good fantasy starting options.
Below are the fantasy quarterbacks I have ranked from 13-32, or QB2/QB3 options in Week 3. Checking in on Patrick Thorman’s pre-season chart of fantasy defenses and quarterback schedule matching, we can highlight Schaub, Cutler, Manuel, Flacco, Roethlisberger, and Ponder with either bad match-ups or potential bad match-ups. They’ve been highlighted in red:
13. Alex Smith versus the Philadelphia Eagles
14. Tom Brady
15. Andrew Luck
16. Carson Palmer versus the New Orleans Saints
17. Ryan Tannehill versus the Atlanta Falcons
18. Andy Dalton versus the Green Bay Packers
19. Matt Schaub versus the Baltimore Ravens
20. Sam Bradford versus the Dallas Cowboys
21. Jay Cutler versus the Pittsburgh Steelers
22. Philip Rivers versus the Tennessee Titans
23. EJ Manuel versus the New York Jets
24. Terrelle Pryor versus the Denver Broncos
25. Joe Flacco versus the Houston Texans
26. Josh Freeman versus the New England Patriots
27. Jake Locker versus the San Diego Chargers
28. Ben Roethlisberger versus the Chicago Bears
29. Brian Hoyer versus the Minnesota Vikings
30. Geno Smith versus the Buffalo Bills
31. Christian Ponder versus the Cleveland Browns
32. Chad Henne versus the Seattle Seahawks
First off, we can eliminate Tom Brady and Andrew Luck from the list of QB2 streaming options, as they were drafted in the QB1 tier of 2-QB fantasy football drafts.
I wouldn’t eliminate Schaub, Cutler, Manuel or Flacco from QB2 consideration, and would start them if your other QB2 streaming option isn’t all that appealing, like Josh Freeman, for example.
Speaking of Freeman, my personal cut off point this week starts with him, meaning I wouldn’t start Freeman or anybody I have ranked below him, as my QB2 this week. If you eliminate Brady and Luck, in addition to Freeman and those ranked below him (Locker, Roethlisberger, Hoyer, Geno Smith, Ponder, and Henne) that leaves 11 potential QB2 streamers.
Playing the QB2 By Committee Match Game is one you need to be committed to, and be willing to spend plenty of time researching. You’ll notice Chad Henne, who last week was near the top of the QB2 streaming options, is now a quarterback you need to avoid completely this week, seeing as how Henne and the Jaguars are going up against the Seattle Seahawks. You do not want to start him this week, no matter how nice his final garbage time padded numbers looked last week.
Alex Smith leads off the QB2 streaming options this week for one reason only: he plays the Philadelphia Eagles. If you’ve been watching the Eagles this season you’ve seen how bad it is. There is no Defence Against the Dark Arts potion that can help them maintain control in that secondary of theirs.
In two games, they have given up 748 passing yards and five touchdowns to Robert Griffin III and Philip Rivers combined. Smith hasn’t had to do much in his short Kansas City Chiefs career, other than to throw short-intermediate length passes, but he’s done it, and done it well. It might seem like Smith hasn’t done a whole lot, but he’s currently tenth in fantasy quarterback scoring, which has been helped by his four passing touchdowns, and 82 yards rushing.
If you drafted Smith as your QB3 this year, like I hope you did, now’s the time to cash in on your 2-QB draft selection, Thursday Night Football “curse” and all.
Other than Smith, you’ll see names such as Palmer, Tannehill, Dalton and Bradford, just to name a few, with fairly decent fantasy match-ups, with Dalton versus Green Bay perhaps being the most inviting. In two games, the Packers have given up the 4th most fantasy points to quarterbacks. Dalton’s already performed well against two tough defenses in the Chicago Bears and the Pittsburgh Steelers, and that might continue if he has to match Aaron Rodgers drive for drive this week.
Good luck streaming your QB2 this week, and hopefully your decision isn’t a difficult one.
Stats used in this article from FantasyData.com, XNSports.com, and Yahoo! Fantasy
