Week 8 Byes: Chicago Bears (Josh McCown), Tennessee Titans (Jake Locker), Indianapolis Colts (Andrew Luck), San Diego Chargers (Philip Rivers), Baltimore Ravens (Joe Flacco), and Houston Texans (Case Keenum)
When the NFL schedule makers sat down to whip up a 2013 NFL regular season schedule they must have done so without any care in the world for fantasy football. If they did, we wouldn’t have such an unbalanced bye week set-up, where six teams are taking the week off in Week 8. Plus, another six teams are off in Week 9.
Planning for bye weeks is difficult enough as it is, but in 2-QB leagues, when six quarterbacks are taken off the board, it makes filling out your 2-QB line-up even more challenging.
How many 2-QB leagues out there came out of their draft with a quarterback trio like this: QB1-Andrew Luck/QB2-Matt Schaub/QB3-Jake Locker? Unless that team made a waiver wire pick up for this week they’re going to take a zero at the quarterback position.
Of course the example I provided is extreme, but it’s one way to show just how much bye weeks impact quarterback lineup decisions in 2-QB leagues. Now that my mini bye week rant is out of the way, below you’ll find my Week 8 quarterback rankings for 2-QB leagues, as well as my weekly 2-QB Stock Watch report following it.
Week 8 Fantasy Quarterback Rankings for 2-QB Leagues:
1. Peyton Manning VS. Washington Redskins
2. Robert Griffin III @ Dallas Cowboys
3. Michael Vick VS. New York Giants
4. Aaron Rodgers @ Minnesota Vikings
5. Drew Brees VS. Buffalo Bills
6. Russell Wilson @ St. Louis Rams
7. Matthew Stafford VS. Dallas Cowboys
8. Colin Kaepernick @ Jacksonville Jaguars
9. Tony Romo @ Detroit Lions
10. Matt Ryan @ Arizona Cardinals
11. Terrelle Pryor VS. Pittsburgh Steelers
12. Cam Newton @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers
13. Carson Palmer VS. Atlanta Falcons
14. Eli Manning @ Philadelphia Eagles
15. Tom Brady VS. Miami Dolphins
16. Alex Smith VS. Cleveland Browns
17. Ben Roethlisberger @ Oakland Raiders
18. Geno Smith @ Cincinnati Bengals
19. Andy Dalton VS. New York Jets
20. Ryan Tannehill @ New England Patriots
21. Thaddeus Lewis @ New Orleans Saints
22. Chad Henne VS. San Francisco 49ers
23. Mike Glennon VS. Carolina Panthers
24. Jason Campbell @ Kansas City Chiefs
25. Christian Ponder VS. Green Bay Packers
26. Kellen Clemens VS. Seattle Seahawks
Week 8 Quarterbacks on the Rise in 2-QB Leagues:
Carson Palmer
You might be questioning why a quarterback I have been down on for the most part in 2013 is mentioned in the “up” section of the 2-QB Stock Watch report this week, and that’s a valid question. It’s not like Carson Palmer put in a Week 7 performance versus the Seattle Seahawks that made us think he’s suddenly turned things around. Far from it, actually.
Palmer, who finished the week as QB25 in standard scoring leagues, had another dud of a performance in Week 7, yet again throwing more interceptions than touchdowns, which is something he’s done four times this year. Palmer hasn’t been able to grasp Bruce Arians’ offensive system yet in Arizona, and for fantasy football purposes, Palmer sits at QB27, outside of the QB2 tier.
With the way Palmer has performed, and the Cardinals sitting at a record of 3-4 in the NFC West, tied for last with the St. Louis Rams, you would assume Palmer would be listed in the “Sliding” section of the 2-QB Stock Watch report.
The reason Palmer is a quarterback “on the rise”  is because Palmer, and the Cardinals, just finished a brutal stretch of games, where they faced the likes of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Carolina Panthers, San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks—not an easy schedule, and Palmer wasn’t benched. With the schedule lightening up, starting this week against the Atlanta Falcons, Palmer should hopefully begin to put up more friendlier fantasy football numbers going forward.
With his current low fantasy stock, now would be the time to swing a trade for Palmer, if you’re in the market for a rest of season QB2, or a Week 8 bye week fill-in.
Case Keenum
Gary Kubiak can talk about how he intends to “evaluate” the quarterback position for his team all he wants, and that Matt Schaub is his “starting quarterback”, but it’s hard to deny former third string quarterback Case Keenum’s performance versus the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 7.
Facing the top defense in the NFL, Keenum put up a respectable stat line, completing 60 percent of his passes, throwing for one touchdown, and throwing for the second highest number of passing yards the Chiefs have allowed all season (271). Keenum was able to make plays that Schaub wouldn’t have been able to, because of his mobility, and it was clear Keenum gave the Texans a different dimension.
Keenum did take some lumps, fumbling twice, losing one of the fumbles, and taking five sacks, but all in all, it was a performance Kubiak should reward with at least a second start in Week 9.
Andre Johnson “wasn’t surprised” by Keenum’s performance, saying:
“You always see flashes from players in practice, preseason and different situations throughout the season. What he did during the preseason and the things you see from him in practice, the guy, he creates plays at times when things aren’t there. Like I said before, there’s just something about him. He did a great job.”
If Kubiak wants to keep his team, and one of its best offensive players happy, he might want to keep in mind what Johnson had to say when making his Week 9 starting quarterback decision.
Jake Locker
A surprise return to game action for Locker had many, myself included, thinking that Locker should not only have not played in Week 7 versus the San Francisco 49ers, but that he also shouldn’t have been a fantasy consideration for starting line-ups.
Well, Locker proved the doubters wrong, putting up another QB1 performance against a stingy 49ers defense, where he went 25-of-41, for 326 yards, two touchdowns, one interception, and added an additional 29 yards rushing.
Locker is going to make many 2-QB owners smart for sticking with him through his injury, or picking him up from the waiver wire/free agency pool, and should be in most starting 2-QB line-ups for the rest of the season, once the Titans come back from their bye.
Even though he’s missed two games this year, and had a very rough showing Week 1, Locker sits at QB20 in fantasy scoring, giving optimism that he’ll continue to be, at a minimum, in the QB2 discussion.
Week 8 Quarterbacks on the Slide in 2-QB Leagues:
Nick Foles
There was so much hope for Nick Foles, and he had the perfect opportunity to steal the starting job from Michael Vick for the rest of the season, in what was supposed to be a dream match-up versus the Dallas Cowboys in Week 7. It all blew up in Foles’ face though, and his fantasy owners took the brunt of the damage.
Going into Week 7, Foles had a 67.2 completion percentage, a yards per attempt average of 8.89, and threw six passing touchdowns to zero interceptions. The Cowboys, on the flip side, were allowing 300+ passing yards per game, and had given up a total of 14 touchdowns in six games. It was all lining up for Foles to put up QB1 numbers.
It didn’t happen though, as Foles was inaccurate and ineffective, completing only 11-of-29 passes for 80 yards, zero touchdowns and zero interceptions. Foles was eventually pulled from the game in the fourth quarter, in what turned out to be a concussion.
Vick is on track to start Week 8 for the Eagles against the New York Giants, and Foles’ shot at being the Eagles’ starting quarterback, even with a healthy Vick in the fold, have vanquished. Outright dropping Foles in 2-QB leagues isn’t advisable, as we don’t know how Vick will play in his return, but it’s going to be difficult to see Foles play again this year, unless the Eagles are desperate.
Matt Schaub
If Case Keenum is “on the rise” then Matt Schaub is “on the slide” by default, as he’s the one who’s losing playing time and reps to the undrafted quarterback. Schaub was having an up and down 2013 season, and the sad part of his Week 7 demise is that he was performing well before leaving the game versus the Rams due to injury, as he was 15-of-21 for 186 passing yards, and a completion percentage of 71.4
The quarterback situation in Houston is currently undecided, and until Kubiak officially goes back to Schaub, he holds minimal value.
Josh Freeman
If Josh Freeman winds up playing only one game for the Minnesota Vikings this year, it will have been one very lucrative job audition for Freeman.
The Vikings signed Freeman to a $3 million contract to see if he could be their quarterback of the present, and maybe future, and Freeman rewarded the team with one of the worst passing performances ever put forth by a quarterback.
Freeman threw 33 total incompletions, with 16 of them being overthrown, and his 37.7 completion percentage was the fourth worst in the history of the NFL by any quarterback that had at least 50 attempts.
Not all of the blame can be put on Freeman though, as he was thrust into action on short notice, having to learn a new system, and was diagnosed with a concussion after the game was over. Christian Ponder will be starting for the Vikings this week, and if he puts in an admirable performance, Freeman might find himself yet again playing second, and maybe even third, fiddle on the quarterback depth chart.
Stats used in this article from FantasyData.com, Yahoo! Fantasy Sports, and ESPN.com, JJ Zachariason, and Rotoworld.com
