Marcus Mariota (QB, LV) - Week 16 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 2QB Leagues

ROSTERED: 1% of Leagues

ANALYSIS: The Raiders season, if anything, is on the line entering Week 16. Las Vegas is hosting Miami for its second-to-last game of the year and they need to get that W. Last Thursday, against the Chargers, Derek Carr was forced out injured after playing just over a quarter. Enter Marcus Mariota, extender of late-season runs. In unexpected relief, Mariota did what he was always supposed to be capable of, and played to the label of "best replacement QB of the NFL" that we gave him entering the 2020 season.

In just 65 snaps and almost 45 minutes of actual game time, Mariota attempted 28 passes completing 17 of them for 226 yards. The former Titan threw for a touchdown against one interception and avoided fumbling the ball at all. Perhaps most importantly, Mariota was also able to run with the ball for 88 yards on 9 logged carries and scored a touchdown on the ground, bulking up his fantasy score.

Look, Mariota isn't anything new. He has some legs, he can get the job done passing, and he's pretty much a QB2 at best (he finished ranked a career-best QB13 in 2016 and a career-worst QB24 in 2018, not counting his 2019 season in which he only started 6 games). If you play in a 2QB league, you might still be able to score yourself a nice second-slot quarterback for the last game of the season...

...assuming Derek Carr stays out for another week. That's still to be seen, and given Las Vegas played last Thursday there is a high chance Carr is back on the field to face Miami. If he misses this week too, though, Mariota isn't the worst quarterback available out there in W16. Miami's defense ranks middle-of-the-pack against fantasy quarterbacks, and Mariota is quite a veteran that should be able to exploit this matchup. Again, not a play for those in shallow/one-QB leagues, but definitely someone to consider in deeper formats and most of all 2QB leagues.

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