Whether you won or lost your first 2-QB fantasy football matchup of the year hopefully you have a good grasp of how your squad shapes up for the year.
If you went into the season with Carson Palmer as your QB2 then you’re pretty happy with his Week 1 performance. If either Alex Smith or Eli Manning is your QB2 you might be panicking a bit.
The good news is that’s it’s only Week 2, so there’s time for your quarterback(s) to turn things around, or try to upgrade your team via trade.
Below you’ll find my quarterbacks rankings for the week, followed by the weekly Stock Watch report.
Week 2 Fantasy Football Rankings for 2-QB Leagues:
1. Peyton Manning vs. KC
2. Aaron Rodgers vs. NYJ
3. Drew Brees @ CLE
4. Andrew Luck vs. PHI
5. Nick Foles @ IND
6. Colin Kaepernick vs. CHI
7. Jay Cutler @ SF
8. Russell Wilson @ SD
9. Jake Locker vs. DAL
10. Carson Palmer @ NYG
11. Matthew Stafford @ CAR
12. Robert Griffin III vs. JAC
13. Matt Ryan @ CIN
14. Andy Dalton @ ATL
15. Tom Brady @ MIN
16. Tony Romo @ TEN
17. Cam Newton vs. DET
18. Philip Rivers vs. SEA
19. Ben Roethlisberger @ BAL
20. Geno Smith @ GB
21. Alex Smith @ DEN
22. Ryan Tannehill @ BUF
23. Joe Flacco vs. PIT
24. Chad Henne @ WAS
25. Ryan Fitzpatrick @ OAK
26. Brian Hoyer vs. NO
27. EJ Manuel vs. MIA
28. Derek Carr vs. HOU
29. Matt Cassel vs. NE
30. Josh McCown vs. STL
31. Eli Manning vs. ARI
32. Shaun Hill @ TB
33. Austin Davis @ TB
34. Case Keenum @ TB
35. Mike Glennon vs. STL
Week 2 Quarterbacks on the Rise in 2-QB Leagues
EJ Manuel
Before the season even began EJ Manuel was “doomed”. Prior to kickoff Week 1, a report came out saying Manuel and Ryan Fitzpatrick were on short leashes. With the Bills giving Kyle Orton enough money to become a lifetime member of the Dollar Shave Club the signs were on the wall. Maybe the doomsayers spoke too soon.
Manuel helped the Bills defeat the Bears Week 1, and did so with his arm and legs. He threw for 173 yards, 1 TD, and 1 INT, and also added 19 yards and a score on the ground. He was only 0.58 fantasy points away from being QB12 for the week.
Let’s hope Manuel can keep the pace up going forward. Here are the defenses Manuel will face from Week 2-7: Miami, San Diego, Houston, Detroit, New England, Minnesota, NY Jets.
There are some streamable matchups for the Bills signal caller during that stretch. If you find yourself with Manuel on your bench as a QB2/QB3 you’re most likely feeling a whole lot better now than you were during the preseason.
Carson Palmer
What we were hoping for from Carson Palmer in the offseason when we targeted his 2-QB ADP of 87.80 (QB20) to be part of a QB2 streaming committee was that he could become a weekly QB1 option, rather than just a matchup dependent QB2 streamer.
It’s only been one week, and we while have to worry about his shoulder, Palmer came out and exceeded our expectations against the Chargers. His 304 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, and 29 rushing yards were good enough to see him finish as the QB5 when Week 1 was over.
You can’t expect him to rush for 30 or so yards every week, but even if you deduct the 2.9 fantasy points from his overall 21.06 standard points, he still would have finished as the QB10 for the week.
Week 2 Quarterbacks on the slide in 2-QB Leagues:
Alex Smith
Smith scored 9.68 standard fantasy points in Week 1, finishing as QB27. The Chiefs’ offensive game plan was whacky overall. Jamaal Charles only touched the ball 11 times, and Smith had one less carry than Charles. He also out-rushed him 36 yards to 19. You like bonus #KonamiCode points from your quarterback, but you also want to have a more balanced offensive game plan, rather than just throw the ball to Donnie Avery 13 times.
Smith’s three interceptions were concerning, but the offensive line the Chiefs trotted out was even scarier. They also just lost their LG Jeff Allen for the season. Who knows who’ll start this week in his place.
A potential shootout vs. the Denver Broncos could lead to Smith getting back into the QB2 streaming world, and he will hopefully be helped out with the return of top wide receiver Dwayne Bowe.
Chasing points is not something you can rely on from your quarterback, but the Chiefs-Broncos over/under for the game (51 points) is the second highest total for the week, which could lead to a lot of pass attempts for the Chiefs, while they play catch up.
In his QBBWW piece for Week 2 on 4for4, C.D. Carter reminded us that Smith threw for 523 yards and five touchdowns last year vs. Denver. He also added 98 rushing yards in those two contests.
If Smith can produce similar numbers again this year vs. Denver his stock might rise quickly.
Eli Manning
Only two quarterbacks scored less fantasy points than Eli Manning in Week 2: Shaun Hill and Austin Davis. Yikes.
The sour offseason we saw from Eli and the Giants offense as a whole continued into Monday night. While it’s only Week 1, and we want to be patient with our fantasy football team, if you’re rolling with Eli as your only QB2 then you might want to look into upgrading the position.
Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians mentioned veteran quarterbacks learning a new system, like Eli with Ben McAdoo’s west coast offense, need at least eight games to buy in. Arians has some recent experience, having dealt with such a scenario last season with Carson Palmer.
You can see how splits from Palmer’s first eight games in the 2013 compare to his last eight games thanks to the rotoViz Game Splits App below…
For the sake sake of Eli owners in 2-QB leagues you hope he follows the same path as Palmer, but there’s no guarantee he will.
*Stats used in this article from 4For4, PFF, rotoViz, and FantasyData
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