RADIO
Football fans got spoiled for the second week in a row thanks to a handful of high-scoring contests. Unfortunately, fantasy managers didn’t get equally high scoring out of their fantasy quarterbacks on an extremely bye-heavy week.
Tua Tagovailoa was the only quarterback in the NFL to throw for over 300 yards in Week 9. Both Tagovailoa and his opponent Justin Fields threw for three touchdown passes. More impressively, Fields finished as the week’s highest rusher with 178 rushing yards. Overall, it was another down week collectively for the quarterback position.
In this article, I will look at the fantasy football waiver wire for quarterback pickups and streamers, focusing on players under 65% rostered in fantasy leagues while adding a couple of deep sleepers for two-quarterback leagues (less than 25% rostered).
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Single-QB League Waiver Wire Options
Daniel Jones, New York Giants
Yahoo: 40% rostered
Daniel Jones had an unproductive game the week before New York’s bye (9.04 fantasy points), so it’s possible he found his way to the waiver wire as fantasy managers searched for a streaming option. If he’s available, Jones is a priority waiver add thanks to good matchups and his rushing upside.
Jones started the season with seven straight double-digit performances, including two weeks with over 20.0 fantasy points scored. Jones has at least 20 rushing yards in seven of eight games this year.
The Giants come out of the bye with four exploitable matchups against Houston, Detroit, Dallas, and Washington. That will give the veteran quarterback a fantastic chance to produce some solid scoring weeks. At the very least, he’s shown a safe floor this season.
Jimmy Garoppolo, San Francisco 49ers
Yahoo: 39% rostered
Jimmy Garoppolo went into the 49ers' bye week on a roll, scoring at least 15.0 fantasy points in five straight games starting in Week 4. During that stretch, the veteran signal-caller had two games with over 275 passing yards and four games with two touchdown passes.
The 49ers' offense will be especially dangerous going forward since they likely used the bye week to acclimate Christian McCaffrey to the playbook. They’ll also have a healthier Deebo Samuel after he was forced to miss Week 8.
San Francisco’s offense is littered with explosive playmakers, which means any pass can go the distance. Garoppolo has great matchups against the Chargers and Cardinals in his first two games out of the bye, so there should be plenty of chances for him to have big weeks.
Two-QB Waiver Wire Options and Stashes
Baker Mayfield, Carolina Panthers
Yahoo: 4% rostered
Mayfield is far from a priority add-on waivers, but he may have value once again after looking good in mop-up duty after the Bengals raced out to a giant lead in Week 9. At the very least, he may have forced the Panthers' coaching staff to have some serious conversations about their starter this week.
Mayfield replaced P.J. Walker after halftime and led the Panthers to their only three scoring drives of the game. Mayfield was fantasy-relevant during that stretch, throwing for 155 yards and two touchdowns and finishing with 14.20 fantasy points.
The Panthers have two great fantasy matchups on the horizon against the Falcons and Ravens before a game against the Broncos and a bye week. Mayfield may not be the starter, but if he can get back on the field, he can have some solid streaming upside as other quarterbacks head on their bye.
Deshaun Watson, Cleveland Browns
Yahoo: 27% rostered
There isn’t much to say about Deshaun Watson except for the fact that his suspension ends after the Browns’ next three games. He’s a great target for fantasy managers whose quarterbacks have already had their bye week.
The veteran quarterback will likely have some rust to knock off, but he’s still extremely talented and will have the benefit of a strong offensive line, a great running back, and solid passing weapons. He can have a major fantasy impact as soon as he’s activated.
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