Fantasy Football Week 14 QB Rankings: Baker Mayfield Injury Fallout

Getty Baker Mayfield of the Cleveland Browns

Welcome to our Fantasy Football Quarterback Rankings for Week 14 of the 2019 NFL regular season. This week, we examine the repercussions of Baker Mayfield’s lingering thumb injury, and whether we can trust him in our playoff lineups. Plus, Minshew Mania has returned to Duval County. And lastly, did Deshaun Watson show us enough this past Sunday night to jump Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson in the rankings? Let’s take a look.

Reminder: These rankings are based on standard league scoring formats where quarterbacks are rewarded with 4-points per passing touchdown.

* If you’re looking for more information on how to best set your lineup this coming week check out our Week 14 QB Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em.

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Quarterback Outlook Week 14

Baker Mayfield (QB10) suffered a hand injury on his throwing arm in the Cleveland Browns‘ devastating loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers this past Sunday. Mayfield sustained the injury with just 16 seconds left in the first half. While he missed just two offensive snaps on the day, he returned from halftime with a rather large wrap on his hand.

Mayfield claims the wrap did not impact his play, however, fantasy owners would like to have that as an excuse for the QB’s poor performance in Week 13. Over the two weeks prior to last Sunday, Mayfield ranked as the fifth-highest scoring fantasy quarterback in football with an average of 23.2 points per game. However, Mayfield finished Week 13 as QB30 with just 9.0 fantasy points.

Mayfield’s X-rays for his thumb have come back negative, yet the QB stated the injury feels a “little numb” at the moment. If the Browns signal-caller is indeed available for this week, he’s presented with a more than generous matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals. Cini has allowed 20.78 fantasy points or more to six of the past eight quarterbacks they’ve faced off against.

It’s not the exact situation you’d want for your starting quarterback heading into the fantasy playoffs, however if healthy, he’s a viable QB1 for the week.

Minshew Mania has returned to Jacksonville, as Gardner Minshew (QB24) was named the Jaguars starter on Monday. The offense clearly responds better with Minshew under center, as is evident by the way the Jags moved the ball down the field in Week 13 once the Jags pulled the plug on Nick Foles.

With that said, Minshew’s fantasy outlook this week is not too appealing. The Los Angeles Chargers allow the seventh-fewest fantasy points to opposing QBs this season. They’ve surrendered an average of just 11.65 fantasy points to QBs in seven of their last eight games, while holding their last four opponents to an average of less than 174 passing yards.  

Deshaun Watson (QB1) showed this past Sunday night, that he’s the type of talent you always roll with, even if presented with a tough matchup. Watson finished Week 13 as the QB2 in fantasy with nearly 28 fantasy points. He managed to accomplish this against a Patriots defense that had allowed an average of just 9.61 points to QBs in their 11 games prior.

Watson appears to have another difficult matchup on deck this week against a Denver Broncos defense that allows the fourth-fewest fantasy points to quarterbacks this season. However, those numbers can be a bit deceiving.

Since returning from their Week 10 bye, the Broncos have allowed seven total touchdowns and an average of 20.15 fantasy points to opposing QBs.

Lock Watson into your lineup now, and don’t look back.

Week 14 Fantasy Rankings: Quarterbacks

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1. 1. *Check out our other Week 14 Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Ems to further optimize your lineups
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