This article took a break last week to focus on how to tackle the bye week conundrum in 2-QB fantasy football leagues. We’re back, and with Charlie Whitehurst being the only notable waiver wire pickup in 2-QB leagues last week we have a new set of names to consider.
Kyle Orton
This one is pretty simple. Orton is the new starter in Buffalo, with EJ Manuel being demoted to pine riding and clipboard holding duties.
Bills head coach Doug Marrone came out saying it was his decision to bench Manuel for Orton, but the writing seemed to be on the wall ever since the team gave Orton $11 million over two years to backup Manuel.
It’s most likely Orton has already been gobbled up in your 2-QB league, but sometimes fantasy owners are skeptical of backup quarterbacks and want to wait a week. If you have the room, and want to snatch him on your bench, you should do so and take the wait and see approach.
*Also, if you can, hang onto Manuel, and wait to see how Orton performs. You never know if Manuel might get the job back or not.*
Michael Vick
With Manuel being benched in Buffalo, all eyes are on the other highly drafted 2013 quarterback in New York. Chants for Michael Vick were heard in New York last week, but Rex Ryan has stuck behind Geno for now.
Most fantasy footballers know the score with Vick, and the fantasy potential he can bring, especially his rushing ability. If you have a feeling Geno will get benched for Vick, know’s the time to make a play for him on your waiver wire, as his cost is very minimal.
The Jets upcoming schedule is also favorable from Week 6 to Week 12: Denver, New England, Buffalo, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, BYE, and Buffalo.
Austin Davis
It happened. Jeff Fisher‘s mustache finally came around to the idea that perhaps giving Austin Davis a chance to see what he has to offer at the quarterback position would be better than going back to journeyman Shaun Hill.
Davis has been a pleasant surprise this year. You don’t always know what you’re going to get out of undrafted quarterbacks once they step on the field, but Davis’ play so far has been better than anyone expected this year: 72.3 completion percentage, 754 passing yards, three touchdowns, and three interceptions in two starts and one relief appearance.
Thanks to the data at PPF, we can see that Davis is seventh in accuracy percentage (78.9 percent), first in deep passing accuracy (66.7 percent), when you filter attempts by 25 percent, and he has the seventh-best PFF QB rating (96.33).
If for whatever reason Davis hasn’t been acquired in your 2-QB league make a bid on him now. And if he has, throw out an offer, as you might be able to get him for less than other QB2 options in a trade.
Jimmy Garoppolo
Raise your hand if you thought Jimmy Garoppolo would score more fantasy points than Tom Brady in Week 4? Nobody. Thought so. But, guess what? That’s exactly what happened, as Brady was pulled in New England’s Week 4 of a debacle loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
In his relief appearance, Jimmy G. completed six of his seven pass attempts for 70 yards and one touchdown.
There’s no quarterback controversy in New England, and you can see exactly how Bill Belichick feels about the topic in the vine below…
https://vine.co/v/Omzph7rYzpA
However, we’re now four weeks into the 2014 season, and Brady sits at QB27 in fantasy scoring. He’s been added to the droppable list in 1-QB leagues, and his 2-QB value has slowly eroded. You can’t drop him in 2-QB leagues, but you can’t really start him with confidence either. Garoppolo is more a 2-QB waiver wire speed dial name to keep tabs. Even more so if you own Brady.
Mark Sanchez
Nick Foles has taken a lot of hits this year, but he keeps finding a way to get up. According to Pro Football Focus, Foles is tied with Tom Brady for the most times a quarterback has been hit while throwing the ball at five. There are no indications Foles is injured, and the Eagles will be welcoming back OT Lane Johnson.
If you own Foles it wouldn’t hurt to keep tabs on Sanchez, if he’s on the waiver wire in your 2-QB league. Even if you don’t own Foles, snatching up Sanchez before the Foles owner can could put you in a strong trade position.
Derek Anderson
Cam Newton’s recovery from his offseason ankle surgery hasn’t occurred as quickly as the Panthers quarterback has hoped:
“We kind of teased about it a couple weeks ago, how the doctor kind of downplayed how the surgery was going to go. I just thought this was a surgery just to clean up the ligaments and what not,” said Newton. “But after reading a lot of reports from you guys, hearing about so much of ligament repair and this major ankle surgery that may hold Cam Newton off for a couple months, that’s when I started scratching my head like, man, this may be bigger than I thought. And something I thought may have a cast on for a couple weeks end up to be a couple months.”
Panthers backup quarterback Derek Anderson already started one game this year for Carolina, and finished as the ninth-highest scoring fantasy quarterback that week. He also went on to make two additional relief appearances.
At this point, if you own Newton, Anderson should be a must owned quarterback handcuff.
Matt McGloin
Early indications were that Derek Carr would miss multiple weeks after spraining his MCL and suffering a high-ankle sprain injury during Oakland’s Week 4 matchup vs. Miami.
However, Carr has come out saying he thinks he’ll play in Week 6 after the team returns from a bye. That would be a quick recovery for the rookie quarterback, and perhaps one that’s a tad on the optimistic side.
We won’t really know for sure what Carr’s status will be until next week, so stashing McGloin for now, especially if you’re a Carr owner, would be the best approach.
*Stats used in this article courtesy of Pro Football Focus and FantasyData
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