Week 4 byes: Green Bay Packers (Aaron Rodgers), Carolina Panthers (Cam Newton)
NFL bye week season is officially in play but luckily we get to ease into it with only the Green Bay Packers and Carolina Panthers getting the week off. That means two fantasy quarterbacks won’t be available for our fantasy teams this week, which isn’t all that bad. Unfortunately, they’re Aaron Rodgers and Cam Newton, a couple of QB1s.
Hopefully you were able to draft yourself a respectable QB3 that you can plug into your 2-QB fantasy football line-up in their place. As for the rest of the fantasy quarterbacks, there are some juicy match-ups this week, such as Peyton Manning versus the Philadelphia Eagles, and Terrelle Pryor (if cleared to play) versus the Washington Redskins. Take advantage of those, if you can.
Below you’ll see my full 2-QB rankings for the quarterback position in Week 4. The situations in Minnesota and Oakland are both a little unclear at the moment, which is why I ranked Matt Flynn and Matt Cassel. Make sure you check the injury reports this week, and ensure you’re prepared in case Pryor or Christian Ponder are unable to play. As always, following the rankings are this week’s 2-QB Stock Watch:
1. Peyton Manning
2. Drew Brees
3. Tony Romo
4. Robert Griffin III
5. Michael Vick
6. Matthew Stafford
7. Tom Brady
8. Matt Ryan
9. Russell Wilson
10. Colin Kaepernick
11. Terrelle Pryor
12. Andrew Luck
13. Ben Roethlisberger
14. Jay Cutler
15. Ryan Tannehill
16. Alex Smith
17. Andy Dalton
18. Philip Rivers
19. Eli Manning
20. Carson Palmer
21. Sam Bradford
22. Joe Flacco
23. Matt Schaub
24. EJ Manuel
25. Geno Smith
26. Mike Glennon
27. Brian Hoyer
28. Jake Locker
29. Matt Flynn
30. Matt Cassel
31. Christian Ponder
32. Blaine Gabbert
Week 4 Quarterbacks on the Rise in 2-QB Leagues:
Mike Glennon
Any starting quarterback in a 2-QB league has value and now that it’s officially the Mike Glennon Show in Tampa Bay hopefully you have him rostered on your 2-QB team. You might not start Glennon this week, but after the Buccaneers’ Week 5 bye, they play back-to-back games versus the Eagles and Falcons, both of which are favorable match-ups. Minus a Week 9 showdown with Richard Sherman and the Seahawks, Glennon has a relatively friendly schedule, especially from Weeks 10-14, and should make for a good QB3 bye week fill-in.
Jake Locker
It’s not very often you’ll get to see Locker’s name in this category, but the Titans’ signal caller in Week 3 had himself a memorable performance against the San Diego Chargers, both in real life and fantasy football. In the real world of the NFL, Locker led the Titans on a game winning touchdown drive, that culminated in a passing touchdown to Justin Hunter, with only 15 second remaining on the clock.
On the day, Locker wound up with a more than respectable stat line that saw him thrown for 299 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions. Locker also tacked on 68 yards rushing and added an additional touchdown on the ground. When it was all said and done, Locker finished the week in standard fantasy leagues as the third highest scoring fantasy quarterback.
Brian Hoyer
Not much was expected out of Hoyer in Week 3 but that didn’t stop him from throwing for 321 yards and three touchdowns to go alongside three interceptions. Not only did Hoyer help the Cleveland Browns win their first game of the season but he finished the week as a Top-12 fantasy scoring quarterback in standard leagues. With Brandon Weeden‘s thumb not fully healed, Hoyer gets at least one more crack as the team’s starting quarterback, and another win could keep him the job for even longer, even if Weeden’s healthy.
Week 4 Quarterbacks on the Slide in 2-QB Leagues:
Josh Freeman
You lose your starting quarterback job in the NFL and there’s no where else to go but down. While Freeman will be happy to find his way out of Tampa Bay after being demoted, it doesn’t look like he’ll have any suitors for his services at the moment. The best Freeman can hope for is an injury to another team’s starting quarterback for trade inquiries to be fielded. Or for his replacement, Mike Glennon, to be ineffective, or suffer an injury. Even if Freeman were to play another snap for the Buccaneers this year, it’s highly likely he’ll have no motivation and could be even worse than what we’ve already seen out of him this year. If you own Freeman, you have no option but to keep him and hope for a change of scenery or drop him if you have a more viable QB3 option.
Eli Manning
If you thought Eli’s Week 3 QB31 fantasy performance versus the Carolina Panthers was bad, wait until he faces off against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 4. It’s been a rough start to the 2013 NFL season for Eli and the Giants and things will probably get worse before they get better. How could it not when the Giants face off against a defense that’s first in total team sacks (15), fifth in total net passing yards (555), and has more interceptions (4) than touchdowns (2)? The Chiefs defense is legit so far in this young season and Eli’s about to get an up close and personal first hand account of just how legit. It’ll be hard to start Eli this wee but if you have no better option on your bench you’re going to have to.
*Stats used in this article from ESPN.com and FantasyData.com
