Getty Tua Tagovailoa #1 of the Miami Dolphins looks to pass against the Los Angeles Rams.
Welcome to Fantasy Football Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em Quarterbacks edition for Week 9 of the NFL season. In this week’s quarterback edition, we feature a handful of once locked-in starters looking to reprise their role in owners’ lineups. Plus, is this the week Tua Tagovailoa breaks out? Let’s take a look.
* Reminder: Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em is intended to present you with the non-obvious choices for your fantasy lineup. We dig deep into player matchups, scoring trends, and other factors to best help you with your fantasy decisions. Superstars such as Patrick Mahomes will not be found in this column. If you’re looking for players of his caliber check out our weekly fantasy football quarterback rankings.
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QB: Start ‘Em
Start of the Week: Josh Allen vs. SEA
Over the first month of the season, Allen never once scored below 25.42 points, ranking as QB3 over that span (30.09 ppg). Since then, the Bills QB has failed to eclipse 18.32 points in any game, plummeting to QB14 over the last four weeks. However, there’s light at the end of the tunnel. Seattle allows nearly 360 passing ypg (most in NFL). Five of their seven opponents at the position this season have topped 23.29 points. Hell, even Nick Mullens racked up two TDs and 17.52 points in under a quarter against the Seahawks last week.
Matthew Stafford at MIN
Stafford has now tossed three TDs in half of his past four games, thrown for 336-plus yards in back-to-back weeks and has averaged 21.72 points over three of his last four games. Minnesota surrenders 345.7 ypg through the air at home (2nd most in NFL) and has not held an opposing QB below 20.9 points since Week 3.
NOTE: Stafford has been placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list but has a chance to be taken off in time to play Sunday.
Cam Newton at NYJ
Is Newton in danger of losing his starting job? Most likely. Yet, as long as he’s under center for New England, his running prowess makes him a viable play. That reigns even more true this week against the Jets. Gang Green has allowed three opposing QBs to top 30 rushing yards against them this season. They’ve also surrendered an average of 24.59 ppg to the position over the past month. Despite his flaws, Newton has topped 18.35 points in all but two games this season.
Drew Lock at ATL
A sleeper play for us a week ago, Lock gets pushed up a notch after a three TD outing. Atlanta did contain Teddy Bridgewater a week ago, but prior to that game they had allowed four consecutive 313-plus passing yard outings. The opportunities should be there for Lock to push for his first 300-yard performance of the season, as he’s now attempted 40-plus passes in back-to-back weeks.
Sleeper: Derek Carr at LAC
Carr underwhelmed a week ago, ending his three-game streak of 20.0-plus points. However, that blame could be cast on his opponent’s struggles, as Cleveland’s inability to muster up any offensive production limited what Carr was asked to do. That shouldn’t be the case in Week 9 against a Chargers offense that has averaged 32.0 ppg over their past four games. The QB-DEF matchup is also quite welcoming for Carr, as Los Angeles has allowed an average of 23.85 to the position over that same span.
Deep Sleeper: Jake Luton vs. HOU
Digging extremely deep on this one, as Luton is set to make his first career NFL start in place of Gardner Minshew. Luton passed for 28 TDs and only three INTs as a senior at Oregon State. Jacksonville clearly has talent at the skill position, while Houston has allowed back-to-back four TD performances to opposing QBs. You almost certainly have a higher floor option at the position, but Luton is worth a flyer in DFS.
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QB: Sit ‘Em
Sit of the Week: Teddy Bridgewater at KC
We touched on Bridgewater’s underwhelming performance a week ago. Speaking of last week, the Jets showed us that trying to keep pace with the Chiefs’ high-octane offense is not the way to attack the defending champs. Expect Carolina to slow the game down with a mixture of a likely-healthy Christian McCaffrey, and Mike Davis. Kansas City has now held opposing QBs out of the endzone in back-to-back weeks and under 134 passing yards in two of the last three weeks.
Philip Rivers at BAL
Over his last two games, Rivers has averaged 24.01 ppg, fifth-most since Week 6 (Wk. 7 bye), tossing three TDs in each outing. However, Baltimore has held all but two starting QBs this season below 18.87 points, two of whom failed to throw a TD pass. Over their last three games, the Ravens have allowed an average of just 192.6 ypg passing.
Tua Tagovailoa at ARI
Yes, Miami’s offense proved it’s capable of housing a fantasy QB1 this season, but just as much of that had to do with the ad-libbing of Ryan Fitzpatrick as it did with the team’s talent and system around him. Tua will likely need a bit more time to fill those shoes for fantasy owners. Not to mention, the young QB is met with a daunting matchup this week. The Cardinals have forced five interceptions over their last two games and have held each of their past two opponents not named Russell Wilson to 13.80 points or fewer.
Buyers Beware: Ryan Tannehill at CHI
While not to the same extreme as Josh Allen (noted above), Tannehill has also seen his fantasy star dwindle a bit of late, ranking as QB15 (17.81 ppg) over the past two weeks. Chicago allows the fifth-fewest points to opposing QBs this season, surrendering just eight TD passes on the year (tied for fewest in NFL).
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Fantasy Football Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em Quarterbacks: Week 9