Week 5 byes: Minnesota Vikings (Christian Ponder/Matt Cassel), Pittsburgh Steelers (Ben Roethlisberger), Washington Redskins (Robert Griffin III), Tampa Bay (Mike Glennon)
The QB2 tier this week has some interesting names to pick from, in terms of QB2 streaming options. If you take a gander at my Week 5 quarterback rankings for 2-QB leagues, you’ll see Michael Vick, Terrelle Pryor, Philip Rivers, Eli Manning and Brian Hoyer sneak into the QB1 tier.
If you own either of those five on your 2-QB league, you should feel confident in starting them. With five QB2/QB3 names invading the QB1 tier, that means some of the QB1 regulars are slumming it in QB2 Valley this week, and they are Russell Wilson, Tom Brady, Colin Kaepernick, and Andrew Luck. If you’re looking for the fifth name, remember that Robert Griffin III is on his bye this week.
For a detailed look at my Week 5 quarterback rankings for 2-QB leagues, you can check those out here. If you’re interested in a different 2-QB rankings perspective, my friends at TwoQBs.com always have you covered.
If we eliminate the usual QB1 suspects from the QB2 streaming options, we’re left with the following (players highlighted in red signifies tough match-up):
1. Michael Vick – at New York Giants
2. Terrelle Pryor – vs. San Diego
8. Philip Rivers – at Oakland
9. Eli Manning – vs. Philadelphia
12. Brian Hoyer – vs. Buffalo
14. Jay Cutler – vs. New Orleans
17. Sam Bradford – vs. Jacksonville
18. Alex Smith – at Tennessee
20. Ryan Tannehill – vs. Baltimore
21. Andy Dalton – vs. New England
22. Matt Schaub – at San Francisco
23. Joe Flacco – at Miami
24. EJ Manuel – at Cleveland
25. Carson Palmer – vs. Carolina
26. Geno Smith – at Atlanta
27. Ryan Fitzpatrick – vs. Kansas City
28. Blaine Gabbert – at St. Louis
29. Chad Henne – at St. Louis
I wouldn’t really feel comfortable starting anybody from EJ Manuel down to the Jaguars QBs, so that leaves us with seven QB2 streamers to choose from, minus the five that I have ranked in the QB1 tier. Those seven are Jay Cutler, Sam Bradford, Alex Smith, Ryan Tannehill, Andy Dalton, Matt Schaub, and Joe Flacco.
Out of those seven, I feel the strongest about Bradford, mainly because of his match-up versus the Jaguars, a team that is giving up an average of 21.67 fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks. Minus Terrelle Pryor’s Week 2 10.04 fantasy points performance, no fantasy quarterback has scored less than 17 fantasy points against the Jaguars this year. Your confidence might be shaky in Bradford after last week, but this is a good week to start him in fantasy, when looking at QB2 streaming options.
Conversely, this might sound odd, given that the New Orleans Saints, who are allowing the third fewest fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks this year, have proven to be a tough defense to go up against, but I still like Cutler’s chances of putting up a decent fantasy stat line this week.
Bad Cutler and Good Cutler can co-exist in fantasy, with last week being a prime example. Good Cutler threw 317 yards and two touchdowns last week. Bad Cutler threw three interceptions. Even with those three picks, he still managed to finish the week as QB13 in quarterback fantasy scoring. In four games, last week was the only time this season Cutler has thrown more interceptions than touchdowns.
At least Cutler has the likes of Brandon Marshall, Alshon Jeffrey, Martellus Bennett, and Matt Forte in his pass catching stable of weapons. That alone ranks him over Bradford, and his more cushy match-up. If you don’t feel comfortable throwing Cutler out against the Saints, that’s understandable.
Out of all the other QB2 streaming possibilities available to you this week, Matt Schuab would be the only one to worry about, other than Cutler, when it comes to match-ups, as Schaub faces off against the San Francisco 49ers this week.
If you’re playing the QB2 streaming game, or one of your regular QB1s or QB2s is on a bye this week, there are some good options out there, with Pryor being the best example. Remember, just because I have somebody like Jay Cutler ranked higher than Sam Bradford, that doesn’t mean you should automatically start Cutler over Bradford. Only you have the final say with your starting line-up decision, so make sure you start who you want to start.
*Stats used in this article from FantasyData.com and Yahoo! Fantasy Sports
