Week 5 byes: Minnesota Vikings (Christian Ponder/Matt Cassel), Pittsburgh Steelers (Ben Roethlisberger), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Mike Glennon), and Washington Redskins (Robert Griffin III)
Mike Glennon has officially been named the starting quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, meaning we need a new poster boy for the 2-QB Waiver Wire Future Planning series. Below you’ll see a few notable quarterback names for the 2-QB fantasy landscape, with Brian Hoyer being the only real must-add, but other than that, it’s murky waters for the most part.
Brian Hoyer
It’s been two weeks since Hoyer became the Browns’ starting quarterback, and twice he has finished in the Top-12 of fantasy scoring. Week 3 might have been a wait-and-see approach on Hoyer in 2-QB leagues, with Week 4 being more about seeing if he could at least reproduce his Week 3 QB1 production, which he did.
If you jumped on Hoyer immediately, especially if you were a Brandon Weeden owner, you have been rewarded with a QB1 off the waiver wire. One of the rarest types of fantasy players you can find in 2-QB leagues. Weeden continues his sit on the sidelines for the Browns and even though he has been cleared medically to play, Hoyer won’t be relinquishing the starting quarterback duties anytime soon in Cleveland. If, for whatever reason, Hoyer is still on the waiver wire of your 2-QB fantasy football league, make it a priory it pick him up. He won’t be there for much longer.
Matt Cassel
If you’re a Christian Ponder owner, you more than likely picked up Matt Cassel so as not to be down a quarterback on your 2-QB roster. You also probably didn’t have much hope Cassel would be productive in Week 4, but that wasn’t the case as he scored the 12th most fantasy points at the quarterback position. You would think Cassel would have a shot going forward to be considered the Vikings starter, after he helped them beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, but Head Coach Leslie Frazier has said: “Our quarterback is Christian Ponder.”
With the Vikings on a bye in Week 5 there’s no need to rush out to pick up Cassel, but if Ponder misses another game in Week 6, and Cassel fills in admirably again, Frazier might have less encouraging words regarding Ponder’s job security. For now, Cassel is a good 2-QB bench stash.
Ryan Fitzpatrick
Jake Locker was making ‘The Leap’ for the Tennessee Titans in his third NFL season, and it was sad to see him leave Week 4’s game versus the New York Jets with a hip injury. The worry was Locker would miss up to two months of game action, but it turns out he only suffered a hip strain, which should see him miss only a few weeks.
It’ll be a difficult decision as to what to do with Locker if he’s on your 2-QB fantasy roster, as his bench spot could be more useful to a another player, but releasing him outright would leave a potential QB1 on the waiver wire. If you can afford to do so, keep Locker on your bench, and only drop him if you have no other option.
As for Ryan Fitzpatrick, he was a name mentioned before in this series, mainly due to fears of Locker not becoming a fantasy relevant quarterback this season. That line of thinking is no longer valid, and now we see 2012’s fantasy QB20 take the reigns in Tennessee, as he tries to keep the Titans’ hot start going.
In relief of Locker in Week 4, Fitzpatrick threw 108 yards and a touchdown on 3 of 8 passing, and was .14 points behind Geno Smith, who was Week 4’s QB24. Fitzpatrick will more than likely put up QB2 numbers during his stint as the Titans quarterback, but he’ll have a tough time doing so in the short-term. Here’s the Titans schedule the next four weeks: Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers, Bye, and St Louis Rams. If you’re in need of a QB2/QB3, Fitzpatrick is worth picking up in 2-QB leagues, because he’s a starting NFL quarterback, but just don’t expect him to be a must start every week.
Drew Stanton
Carson Palmer was being drafted in the low-end QB2 range in 2-QB drafts this off-season, and right now he sits at QB28 in standard scoring leagues. You don’t want your starting QB2 to be lumped in the QB3 group, but his best showing so far this year was in Week 1, when he finished the week as fantasy’s QB18. Larry Fitzgerald not being fully healthy, the Arizona Cardinals not having much of a run game, and Palmer playing behind a leaky offensive line that has given up 10 sacks, tied for eighth most, and which has been graded by Pro Football Focus as the sixth worst pass blocking team also doesn’t help.
Palmer’s played in worst situations before, and was still able to produce. We’re only four weeks into the NFL season, meaning we have plenty of time to see Palmer get himself back in the QB2 territory of fantasy quarterbacks, but it doesn’t hurt to have one eye on Drew Stanton, just in case Palmer were to struggle, or get injured playing behind an offensive line that Cardinals’ Head Coach called “putrid.”
Stanton, at the very least, would provide a more mobile quarterback option than Palmer, and could make something happen when the pocket breaks down. Take a look at his combine results, and compare them to Cam Newton’s, for example. He’s not that far off the pace when it comes to the 40, 20, and 10 yard dashes, 20 yard shuttle, and 3-cone drill.
There hasn’t been any indication that Palmer will be losing his job anytime soon, but if Arians wants to make a change, Stanton would be the likely choice. Remember his name in 2-QB leagues, especially if you own Palmer.
2-QB Waiver Wire Speed Dial: T.J. Yates (Houston), Matt Simms (New York Jets), Chad Henne (Jacksonville)
*Stats used in this article from Pro Football Focus and FantasyData.com
