This article first appeared on RotoBaller.com
[sc name=”Author Matt Terelle”]
Hey there RotoBallers! With Week 8 almost in the books, it’s already time to turn an eye toward the waiver wire in Week 9. As always, this column will aim to highlight Week 9 waiver wire adds and streamers for quarterbacks, players that you should consider targeting on your league’s waiver wire.
In the past few seasons, streaming the quarterback position has become a popular team management strategy. The guaranteed volume at the quarterback position makes it the easiest position in fantasy football to project, which therefore makes it a position that isn’t too hard to stream. Everyone has had a star wide receiver who inexplicably only sees three targets in a game.
The quarterback position, on the other hand, sees volume that is easier to forecast as even the lower ranked players will see a minimum of 20-25 passing attempts, even in a low-volume passing offense. All ownership percentages come from Yahoo! and are current as of October 30.
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One-QB Leagues – Week 9 Waiver Wire Streamers
Tyrod Taylor, BUF @ New York Jets
61% owned, FAAB Budget: 10-15%
Taylor posted a second straight solid performance, leading the Bills to a 34-14 win over the visiting Oakland Raiders. Taylor continues to provide solid production for fantasy owners despite the Bills operating a run-heavy offensive scheme. He has passed for at least one touchdown in five straight games and continues to provide bonus rushing production, having rushed for at least 38 yards three times this season.
While Taylor has been much better at home this season, a road date against a weak New York Jets defense is nothing to be too concerned over. The Jets have been quite generous to opposing signal-callers this season, allowing the 10th-most fantasy points per game and allowing at least two touchdown passes in five straight games.
Jared Goff, LAR @ New York Giants
46% owned, FAAB Budget: 4-5%
Coming out of his bye week, Goff draws a cake matchup against a leaky New York Giants pass defense. The second-year quarterback has been extremely steady this season, especially in favorable matchups. Goff’s worst two games this year have come against two of the better pass defenses in the league, Seattle and Jacksonville. Outside of those two games, he has been a useful streaming option. The Giants are allowing quarterbacks to score the seventh-most fantasy points per game and ranked just 21st in pass defense DVOA through Week 7. This sets up as a prime spot to stream Goff in leagues of 12 teams or more.
Trevor Siemian, DEN @ Philadelphia Eagles
29% owned, FAAB Budget: 2-3%
Siemian has either been really good or really bad this season. He has topped 20 fantasy points in three of his games played while posting 13 points or fewer in his other three contests. Of his poor outings, two came against excellent pass defenses in Buffalo and the Los Angeles Chargers. He has cooled off since he got off to a torrid start to the year but a matchup against a struggling Philadelphia pass defense should help him get going again.
The Eagles have not performed well against quarterbacks this season, allowing the ninth-most fantasy points per game to the position and ranking just 16th in pass defense DVOA. Sure, they held struggling rookie C.J. Beathard down in Week 8 but that is less likely to happen against Denver in Week 9. Siemian is not as safe as Tyrod Taylor or Jared Goff but he’s usable in one-quarterback leagues if you are in a bind.
Two-QB Leagues – Week 9 Waiver Wire Streamers
Josh McCown, NYJ vs. Buffalo Bills
25% owned, FAAB Budget: 2-4%
McCown continues to be a pleasant surprise for the Jets and fantasy owners. The veteran gun-slinger has passed for nine touchdowns over his past four games while adding a rushing touchdown for good measure. Granted, his past four matchups have come against extremely favorable opponents but his solid play can’t be ignored. Despite McCown playing like a QB1 of late, he gets downgraded to two-quarterback league status this week due to a tough matchup.
Buffalo has been extremely tough against the pass this season, allowing the sixth-fewest fantasy points per game to the position. McCown definitely isn’t a must-start option this week but he’s still widely available and can be used as a QB2 if you need a fill-in. For what it’s worth, next week he faces an exploitable Tampa Bay pass defense, so picking up McCown now is a solid strategy for those thinking one week ahead.
Joe Flacco, BAL @ Tennessee Titans
13% owned, FAAB Budget: 1%
Flacco sustained a concussion last Thursday night, but I’m writing this with the assumption he will be able to use the 10 days off to get himself cleared ahead of Week 9. Flacco was on his way to one of his better games of the season before getting concussed against the Dolphins. The veteran had completed 10-of-15 passes for 101 yards and a touchdown before departing during the second quarter.
Flacco draws a tasty Week 9 matchup against a struggling Titans pass defense which ranks 24th in DVOA and is allowing the 13th-most fantasy points per game to quarterbacks. That number has actually been helped of late as the Titans have benefitted from a soft quarterback schedule the past three games, facing Jay Cutler, Jacoby Brissett, and Cody Kessler. The last time they faced a quality fantasy quarterback was in Week 4 when Deshaun Watson shredded them for 283 yards and four touchdowns while adding a rushing score. Flacco is a solid choice in two-quarterback leagues this week.
Jacoby Brissett, IND @ Houston Texans
10% owned, FAAB Budget: 1%
Brissett was a pleasant surprise against a tough Bengals pass defense in Week 8, managing 233 passing yards and two touchdowns. With the recent news that Andrew Luck is experiencing renewed soreness in his throwing shoulder, it appears this will be Brissett’s team for the remainder of the season. Brissett doesn’t have a ton of upside but he will face off against a Houston pass defense that has given up some huge fantasy games to quarterbacks this season. You can do a lot worse at QB2 in two-quarterback formats.
Cut Them Free
The following quarterbacks aren’t necessarily must-drops but they haven’t quite been living up to expectations and can be cut loose if you need roster space for one of the above players.
Andy Dalton, CIN – 69% owned
Dalton was serviceable in Week 8 in a prime matchup against the Colts but he will find things much tougher in Week 9 against a Jacksonville Jaguars pass defense that is allowing the fewest fantasy points in the league to quarterbacks. He isn’t necessarily a must-drop as he has a favorable Week 10 matchup with the Titans but he is expendable in standard leagues if you need to make room for someone else.
Case Keenum, MIN – 13% owned
Keenum has performed well in relief of injured Sam Bradford and showed well against the Browns in Week 8. Unfortunately for him, that was likely his last start as one of either Bradford or Teddy Bridgewater should be back after the Vikings’ Week 9 bye.
C.J. Beathard, SF – 5% owned
The Beathard experiment continues to go poorly as he’s now struggled in two straight weeks in what appeared to be favorable matchups. He draws another nice matchup against the Cardinals in Week 9 but he’s getting hard to trust, even in two-quarterback leagues.
Strategy for Streaming Quarterbacks
Many factors come into play when identifying streamers. These include recent performance, overall upside, talent, opponent matchup, and Vegas totals. Every week, we’ll take a look at six streaming QB options: three for one-quarterback leagues, and three for two-quarterback leagues. The focus will be on streaming for the upcoming week, but there will also be players who break out and should be owned the rest of the season. As always, the goal with streaming is to eventually find a player who can be an every week starter for your team.
Options for one-quarterback leagues could be just about anyone outside of the bigger names at the position. Obviously, no one is going to be able to stream players like Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, and Tom Brady because they are owned in all leagues. The premium placed on the position in two-quarterback leagues changes expectations for streaming the position. In two-quarterback leagues, most starting NFL quarterbacks are already owned, so the pickings are going to be slim on waivers. Therefore, the players who are recommended for two-quarterback leagues will be lower-owned and most likely not attractive options in one-quarterback formats.
