After weeks of lineup submissions, waiver wire claims, and rejected/accepted trade offers, the moment we’ve been waiting for in our 2-QB fantasy football leagues is finally here, and yes, I’m talking about the fantasy football playoffs.
The playoffs in most leagues begin Week 14, meaning we are now at the start of the year where every single one of our fantasy decisions has greater importance to it than any other move we’ve made the previous 13 weeks.
By this point in the season, you have hopefully whittled down the starting quarterback combination of your 2-QB playoff team, and don’t have to worry too much about deciding upon which quarterback you should roll as your QB1 or QB2.
Not every 2-QB owner is lucky enough to be in that situation though, and there will be plenty of 2-QB fantasy owners deciding if the first round quarterback they drafted (RG3) should sit on the bench this week for the hot waiver wire quarterback (FitzMagic) they picked up midway through the season.
I want to help you with that decision, and the rankings below will hopefully help you formulate a plan as to which fantasy quarterback to roll out during the playoffs.
As always, stay tuned for my weekly Stock Watch report following the rankings.
Week 14 Fantasy Quarterback Rankings for 2-QB Leagues:
1. Nick Foles VS. Detroit
2. Tom Brady VS. Cleveland
3. Matthew Stafford @ Philadelphia
4. Peyton Manning VS. Tennessee
5. Cam Newton @ New Orleans
6. Josh McCown VS. Dallas
7. Matt Ryan @ Green Bay
8. Robert Griffin III VS. Kansas City
9. Drew Brees VS. Carolina
10. Alex Smith @ Washington
11. Joe Flacco VS. Minnesota
12. Ryan Fitzpatrick @ Denver
13. Tony Romo @ Chicago
14. Russell Wilson @ San Francisco
15. Philip Rivers VS. New York Giants
16. EJ Manuel @ Tampa Bay
17. Ben Roethlisberger VS. Miami
18. Carson Palmer VS. St. Louis
19. Case Keenum @ Jacksonville
20. Ryan Tannehill @ Pittsburgh
21. Andy Dalton VS. Indianapolis
22. Eli Manning @ San Diego
23. Matt McGloin @ New York Jets
24. Colin Kaepernick VS. Seattle
25. Andrew Luck @ Cincinnati
26. Mike Glennon VS. Buffalo
27. Scott Tolzien VS. Atlanta
28. Alex Tanney @ New England
29. Matt Cassel @ Baltimore
30. Chad Henne VS. Houston
31. Geno Smith VS. Oakland
32. Kellen Clemens @ Arizona
Week 14 Quarterbacks on the Rise in 2-QB Leagues:
Nick Foles
It almost looks too easy for Nick Foles at times. Even if you think he’s been lucky this year, and it’s hard to deny luck hasn’t played a part in his 2013 NFL campaign, there’s no denying that he’s good.
After being giving the keys to Chip Kelly’s offense, Foles has taken the NFL, and the fantasy world by storm, posting a 19:0 touchdown to interception ratio. He also leads the league in quarterback rating, and has the highest yards per attempt average of quarterbacks who have attempted at least 150 passes.
Foles has also posted four straight fantasy performances of at least 20 or more standard fantasy points, and according to 4for4.com’s John Paulsen, he has been the fifth best fantasy quarterback since Week 5.
With games against the Lions, Vikings, and Bears the next three weeks, there is no one quarterback I would rather have than Foles leading my 2-QB fantasy football team during the playoffs.
EJ Manuel
The matchup looked good on paper for EJ Manuel in Week 13 versus the Atlanta Falcons, and Manuel didn’t disappoint his fantasy owners, as he finished as QB13, where he was just a smidgen off from being a QB1.
What’s funny is that Manuel has scored exactly 18.7 standard fantasy points in back-to-back weeks, and in Week 11 that total was good for QB9, while in week 13, he finished QB13.
It’s another nice match-up for Manuel this week, as he faces off against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which has not stopped an opposing quarterback from throwing multiple touchdowns going back to Week 4.
That’s eight straight games where the opposing starting quarterback has thrown for at least two touchdowns against them, with three of those quarterbacks throwing three passing touchdowns. Look for Manuel to help his 2-QB owners get off to a good playoff start.
Ben Roethlisberger
Don’t look now, but Ben Roethlisberger has posted four QB1 performances, out of his last five games, with three straight QB1 performances to his name.
All of sudden, Roethlisberger has vaulted himself into the QB1 discussion, and it couldn’t have come at a better time for his fantasy owners.
Games against the Dolphins, and Bengals, in the next two weeks might not make for the easiest playoff schedule for Roethlisberger, but if you can make it to the championship game in Week 16 of your league, you’ll be happy to see the Steelers face off against a Packers defense that has only picked off quarterbacks six times this year, and allowed opposing fantasy quarterbacks to throw 22 touchdowns against them this year.Â
