Week 9 Byes: Denver Broncos (Peyton Manning), Detroit Lions (Matthew Stafford), New York Giants (Eli Manning), Arizona Cardinals (Carson Palmer), San Francisco 49ers (Colin Kaepernick), and Jacksonville Jaguars (Chad Henne)
Last week was a brutal week for streaming purposes on the surface, mainly due to six teams being on the bye, and a string of perceived bad fantasy match-ups for quarterbacks.
Terrelle Pryor and Carson Palmer were two names targeted the most for QB2 streaming purposes, and they both delivered, in their own ways.
Pryor finished the week as QB11 in standard scoring leagues, putting up 16.12 standard fantasy points on the board. However, 15.3 of those points came from a first quarter 93-yard touchdown run. That tantalizing run teased Pryor fantasy owners for the rest of the game, as they dreamed of many, many, more fantasy points to be scored.
While Palmer didn’t join Pryor in the QB1 tier, he did finish with 13.78 points of his own, and if it wasn’t for the Cardinals 21-6 lead at halftime, Palmer might have had a bigger fantasy day, but game flow played a large part in the Cardinals sitting on their lead for the rest of the game.
Even though Palmer and Pryor rewarded their fantasy owners in Week 8, there were other names that emerged from the rubble to put up decent fantasy performances. Jason Campbell, Alex Smith, and Christian Ponder each finished in the Top-12 of fantasy scoring quarterbacks, and Mike Glennon was right there at QB13.
Glennon was a popular start, mainly out of necessity in Week 8, and for owners forced to start him, he rewarded their owners with a near QB1 performance, reminding us that no matter how much skill we think we have as fantasy owners, we also need a bit, and sometimes a lot of, luck. Oh, and garbage time points never hurt.
Week 9 brings us a few more QB2 streaming options than last week, as there are some tasty fantasy matchups on the docket for a few perceived QB2s this week. Before delving into this week’s QB2 streamers, check out my full Week 9 quarterback rankings for 2-QB leagues, to see where I have each quarterback ranked.
Week 9 QB2 Streaming Circle of Trust
Jake Locker
A lot of love has been poured on Jake Locker in recent days, and if we look at the season Locker’s been having we can see why.
While Locker currently sits at QB25 in standard scoring leagues, we have to remember he missed two games due to injury, and the Tennessee Titans have also had their bye week, which means Locker has put up near season long QB2 numbers, even though he’s only played in five games.
If we dig deep underneath the surface of Locker’s overall fantasy numbers, we find a quarterback that has finished in the Top-12 of fantasy scoring quarterbacks in three of his five starts, with one more week where he was QB2 worthy.
The only dud from Locker this year came in Week 1 versus the Pittsburgh Steelers, but other than that he’s been start worthy every week he’s played in 2-QB leagues. A recharged and healthier Locker going up against the St. Louis Rams in Week 9 gives 2-QBers a chance to see if Locker can keep up his QB1 streak.
In eight games this year, the Rams have allowed opposing quarterbacks, including the combination of Chad Henne/Blaine Gabbert, to throw two or more touchdowns against them six times. They’ve also only intercepted three passes on the year.
For a quarterback averaging 23.45 standard scoring fantasy points in his last three starts, and who has a 7:1 touchdown to interception ratio during that span, the odds are in Locker’s favor to put up at least QB2 fantasy numbers this week. We also haven’t mentioned his rushing ability, and in the last three games, Locker has rushed for 114 yards, and one touchdown.
Terrelle Pryor
It’s almost getting to the point where it’s time to consider Pryor more of a high end QB1, than part of the QB2 tier. I’ll have a rest of season quarterback rankings for 2-QB leagues update later this week, but here’s a sneak peek: Pryor is in the QB1 tier.
Yet, Pryor was never drafted as QB1, nor was he drafted as QB2, in most 2-QB drafts this off-season. He was most likely a waiver wire QB3 pick-up for most 2-QBers, but he’s been an every week starter in 2-QB leagues, and has been the biggest (good) quarterback surprise of the season.
Last week Pryor was helped out by his 93-yard rushing touchdown to finish the week as QB11, and this week he goes up against a Philadelphia Eagles defense that has surrendered an average of 19.78 fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks.
Heading into last week, we also thought Eli Manning was in store for a good fantasy day versus the Eagles defense, but he squandered his opportunity by throwing for 246 yards, zero touchdowns, and zero interceptions.
Prior to Eli’s 9.74 standard points, the fewest fantasy points scored by a quarterback versus the Eagles was Tony Romo’s 14.88 in Week 7. The lowest fantasy output of Pryor’s season to this point was 10.04 fantasy points in Week 2 versus the Jaguars.
The Eagles secondary has been picked apart this year, and for the season, they have allowed the second most passing yards (2,418), the most passing completions (219), and the most passing attempts (349).
We know Pryor isn’t a volume throwing quarterback, with 34 pass attempts versus the Chiefs being the most he’s thrown for in a game, and his average pass attempts per game this season is 26.2. Compare that number to the leader in pass attempts this year, Matthew Stafford, and his 42.25 pass attempts per game.
While the Eagles have been a mess in the secondary, their rush defense has been better, and they are currently in the top ten of rushing defense in terms of rushing yards per game, at 99.5, and they’ve only allowed five rushing touchdowns this year.
Some of that might have to do with game flow, and teams focusing on beating the Eagles through the air, but they haven’t allowed a 100-yard rushing all season either.
In terms of rushing quarterbacks, the Eagles’ defense hasn’t faced a true running quarterback yet this year. Robert Griffin III in Week 1 doesn’t count, since RG3 wasn’t a rushing threat early in the season. Alex Smith was able to rush for 32 yards against them though.
Like we said last year, with Pryor, you’re banking on rushing yards as the reason to start him, and that rushing threat is still there. You just also happen to get the added bonus of Pryor facing a porous Eagles passing defense, giving Pryor a chance to score yards through the air as well.
Alex Smith
Week 8 was another week in which Alex Smith finished in the Top-12 of fantasy scoring quarterbacks, and it was the third time this season he has scored at least 20 fantasy points.
A Week 9 match-up versus the Bills, a defense that has allowed the third most fantasy points per game is awaiting Smith and the undefeated Chiefs. We’ve seen this year that the Bills can be passed on, and only twice this year have quarterbacks not been able to throw at least 200 yards against them: Brandon Weeden (197), and Ryan Tannehill (194).
Tannehill was able to make up for his low passing yards by throwing for three touchdowns though, and every quarterback, minus Weeden, have thrown for at least two touchdowns against the Bills this year.
In the past three weeks, the Bills defense has given up a total of 11 touchdowns, with five of them coming in one game from Drew Brees last week. The Bills do have the second most interceptions this year though, with 12, which is one less than league leaders Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks. Five of those interceptions came from Joe Flacco in one game though.
Smith has been a steady fantasy quarterback performer this year, and has been able to produce both on the ground, and through the air, while minimizing his mistakes. On the year he has a touchdown to interception ratio of 9:4, and has added 258 yards rushing and one rushing touchdown to that total.
Currently QB11 in standard scoring, Smith finds himself in another plus match-up, and a chance to provide his 2-QB owners with another QB1 performance, which is something he’s already done three times this season.
Stats used in this article from FantasyData.com, Yahoo! Fantasy Sports, and ESPN.com
