Week 11 byes: Dallas Cowboys (Tony Romo), and St. Louis (Kellen Clemens)
More injuries to the quarterback position in Week 10 have given 2-QB fantasy owners additional QB2 streaming options for this week, and next, with one of them a familiar name. We’ll go over that in more detail later on.
First let us recap last week’s QB2 streaming options, where we were hit and miss, once again.
The biggest hit was Nick Foles, who might be graduating to permanent QB1 status soon, as he had himself another fine day on the stat sheet. When it was all said and done, Foles was the fifth highest scoring fantasy quarterback for the week.
While Foles might have been lucky on some of his passes, and reviews of his game performances show he didn’t put in the best quarterbacking day, none of that matters to fantasy footballers.
It might in real life, and it’s worth noting NFL.com’s Gregg Rosenthal credited his performance more to luck than anything else. Also, Foles’ PFF passing grade for the week was 0.5.
However, in the world of fake football, all we want are results, and if Foles was QB5 when the week was over, then we’ll take it.
The other two recommended QB2 streaming options from last week were Christian Ponder, and Seneca Wallace, who were both hit with the injury bug.
Luckily, Ponder was still able to put up a Top-12 fantasy performance for the week before leaving with a shoulder injury. Wallace, on the other hand, was a fantasy wasteland, sine he left early in the 1st quarter, making way for Scott Tolzien.
No credit can be taken for Scott Tolzien, who finished the week as QB16, but it was refreshing to see the Packers offense wasn’t left for dead after Rodgers’ collarbone injury.
Below are three QB2 streaming options for Week 11, but before you dive into them, check out my full Week 11 quarterback rankings for 2-QB leagues, which can be found here.
Week 11 QB2 Streaming Circle of Trust
Nick Foles
This one goes without saying, but I wanted to still remind 2-QB Foles owners to keep riding the Foles train.
It’s kind of hard denying the hot streak Nick Foles has been on the last two weeks, even if some of it is based on luck, rather than skill. In his last two games, Foles has thrown for over 600 combined yards, and ten touchdowns, while throwing zero interceptions. He’s also added 52 rushing yards.
Back to back Top-5 fantasy quarterback finishes might seem unsustainable, but a match-up versus the Washington Redskins, is up next, giving Foles a chance to continue his hot streak. The fewest fantasy points a quarterback has scored versus the Redskins defense this season was Tony Romo’s 9.80.
If you own Foles you’re not benching him.
Mike Glennon
Forget about Mike Glennon’s Monday Night showing versus the Miami Dolphins, and remember only the good times. Like Donald Penn’s touchdown goal post slam dunk.
Remembering Penn’s touchdown celebration should make you feel good enough to look at Glennon’s numbers from last week: 139 passing yards, one touchdown (to Donald Penn), one interception, and 7.26 fantasy points.
Nothing about that Buccaneers-Dolphins game was pretty, but in fantasy football, you have to sometimes wipe your memory of previous weeks, and focus on the week ahead.
And this week, Glennon goes up against a Falcons defense having a hard time defending the pass. Only one quarterback this year hasn’t scored multiple passing touchdowns against them, and that was Cam Newton, who in addition to his one passing touchdown, also ran a touchdown in.
In Week 7, Glennon put up 256 passing yards, and two touchdowns, while throwing zero interceptions. He did lose a fumble though, but sort of made up for it with 13 yards rushing.
On the year, the Falcons defense has given up 19 passing touchdowns to six interceptions, and Glennon will give himself an opportunity to repeat what he did earlier in the year versus the Falcons, when he scored 17.54 fantasy points, while also getting a chance to erase last week’s ugly performance from his memory.
Josh McCown
The Josh McCown show gets at least one more episode to air on live television this week, and if you haven’t changed the channel yet, you can keep the remote at bay.
In three relief appearances this year for Jay Cutler, McCown has performed better than anybody, other than Marc Trestman, could have expected.
In Week 7, playing a little more than two quarters, McCown finished the week as QB15. In a full Week 9 start, McCown was the eighth highest scoring fantasy quarterback for the week. And last week, in only one drive, he was still QB26.
Going up against the Baltimore Ravens might put a scare into starting McCown this week, but they’ve shown some holes the past couple of weeks. In their last two games, the Ravens defense has been passed on to the tune of an average of 268 passing yards, and have given up five passing touchdowns in total.
Add to that the 22 average rushing yards per game allowed to quarterbacks, and McCown has a chance to gain additional #KonamiCode fantasy points on the ground.
There’s a good probability McCown follows in the footsteps of Jason Campbell and Andy Dalton, becoming the third quarterback to finish in the QB1 tier for the week after playing the Ravens.
Scott Tolzien
With the Nick Foles QB2 streaming option almost a gimme, I wanted to dig a little deeper this week, and highlight a quarterback that might not be on the radar of too many 2-QBers.
Nobody expected Tolzien would be playing this year in Green Bay, even after Seneca Wallace was named the new starter, but he was pressed into action last week after Wallace pulled his groin, and now Tolzien will make his first career start at quarterback in the NFL.
In relief, Tolzien completed 61.5 percent of his passes, for 280 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. He also added 19 yards on ground. In total, Tolzien scored 13.1 standard fantasy points, which saw him finish the week as QB16.
On the season, the Giants are allowing an average of 17.92 fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks, but in their last three games they have given up in succession: 6.60, 3.32, and 9.78.
The quarterbacks they’ve faced were an unprepared Josh Freeman, rookie Matt Barkley, and injured Terrelle Pryor.
Not the stiffest competition, but they were held in check. Now they face a quarterback that has been given a week’s worth of starting quarterback reps in practice, while having an offensive minded coach like Mike McCarthy dream up an offensive game plan for him.
What I like about Tolzien is the situation he finds himself in. Jordy Nelson, James Jones, and Jarrett Boykin are his passing outlets, while Eddie Lacy running the ball will force the Giants to respect both the run and the pass. It doesn’t hurt having Aaron Rodgers and McCarthy praise your work ethics and football intelligence either.
Don’t be too afraid of starting Tolzien if you have to this week. Stranger things have happened in the NFL. Like Kellen Clemens being a Top-10 fantasy scoring quarterback for a week.
Stats used in this article from FantasyData.com, ESPN.com, and Yahoo! Fantasy Sports
