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After a few great offensive weeks, Week 7 was underwhelming at the quarterback position in fantasy. There was just one 300-yard passer (Josh Allen) and one quarterback with three passing touchdowns (Jordan Love).
Some injuries will shake up quarterback rooms in the NFL and fantasy. Deshaun Watson (Achilles) suffered a likely season-ending injury. New Raiders’ quarterback Aidan O’Connell also hurt his thumb, moving Gardner Minshew II back into the starting lineup.
Week 8 is a rare reprieve from bye weeks in the NFL. That means that a future value may be uncovered on the waiver wire with fantasy managers content to overlook the position. In this article, I will be 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 Waiver Wire Pickups and Streamers
Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins
Yahoo: 45% rostered
There is a belief that Tua will be ready to return in Week 8, which means he needs to be rostered in all fantasy leagues. We only got one full game from Tua this season before he suffered a concussion, but it was an impressive showing. The quarterback completed 23 of 37 passes for 338 yards and a touchdown in that game, finishing with 20.6 fantasy points.
The veteran quarterback will return to a matchup against a hapless Cardinals defense. Tagovailoa has a stretch of positive quarterback matchups on the horizon, with games against Buffalo, the Rams, Las Vegas, and New England from Weeks 9 to 12.
There will always be a risk in rostering Tua due to his history of concussions. But he also can go nuclear in fantasy with weapons like Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, De’Von Achane and Jonnu Smith at his disposal.
Geno Smith, Seattle Seahawks
Yahoo: 62% rostered
Geno Smith has been putting up big passing yards during a season where quarterback play has been generally subdued. The veteran quarterback has three 300-yard passing games this season. While he didn’t hit that mark in Week 7 against Atlanta, he still had a good day.
GENO SMITH HITS DK Metcalf FOR THE 31-YARD TOUCHDOWN ‼️ pic.twitter.com/Ee7EPPOX9L
— NFL Fantasy Football (@NFLFantasy) October 20, 2024
Smith completed 18 of 28 passes for 207 yards and two touchdowns in a crucial win for the Seahawks against Atlanta. He also added four carries for 15 yards. Smith now has at least 17.0 fantasy points in five of seven games this season. He has streaming appeal with matchups against Buffalo and the Los Angeles Rams over the next two weeks before Seattle’s Week 10 bye.
Jameis Winston, Cleveland Browns
Yahoo: 1% rostered
Deshaun Watson’s season is likely over due to an Achilles injury. The team’s immediate backup in Week 7 was Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who did little to impress (11 of 24 passing for 82 yards and two interceptions with three carries for 44 yards) before leaving with a finger injury.
That allowed Jameis Winston to close out the game. And he arguably had the best drive of the game for Cleveland when he did.
Jameis Winston will make the Browns look like a real offense.
See you Sunday. 🤝 pic.twitter.com/ymMVZ2615z
— Nick Karns (@karnsies817) October 20, 2024
Winston is poised to take over under center for Cleveland, which is a rollercoaster for real football but could be great for fantasy football.
Sure, the Browns traded away Amari Cooper last week, leaving the Browns with David Njoku and Jerry Jeudy as his primary pass catchers. But we have seen Winston put up big numbers with a subpar supporting cast before.
Cleveland will have a good matchup against a questionable Ravens secondary in Week 8 before facing off against the Chargers in Week 9. Then they will have their bye week. There is plenty of risk in trusting Winston in fantasy, but he’s a starting quarterback who isn’t afraid to air the ball out.
Two-QB Waiver Wire Pickups and Stashes
Mason Rudolph, Tennessee Titans
Yahoo: 1% rostered
Will Levis’s shoulder injury allowed Mason Rudolph to make his first start in 2024. On the surface, it sounds like Levis will miss some extended time with the injury. The matchup wasn’t great for Rudolph against the Bills and his stat line suffered accordingly.
The veteran quarterback completed 25 of 40 pass attempts for 215 yards and a touchdown with one interception. He also added five carries for 13 yards. What did stand out from his performance was Tennessee’s willingness to let Rudolph air the ball out in a negative game script. That bodes well for his fantasy upside in a Week 8 matchup against the Detroit Lions.
Rostering Rudolph won’t feel great, but amid bye weeks securing a starting quarterback is far more valuable than taking a lower score from a bench player. Rudolph will have an intriguing fantasy upside against the Lions with Calvin Ridley and DeAndre Hopkins at his disposal.
Bo Nix, Denver Broncos
Yahoo: 13% rostered
Bo Nix is finally proving to be relevant in fantasy football. Nix didn’t have a great game against the Saints on Thursday night from a professional football standpoint (16 of 26 passing for 164 yards), but he was able to get there in fantasy thanks to his rushing upside (10 carries for 75 yards).
The designed run for Bo Nix was awesome
It’s essentially QB Crack Sweep with the two receivers getting solid blocks (which was a theme on Thurs) with Bolles and Powers pulling
Great blocks, great speed, and look at Forsyth all the way down field#BroncosCountry @MileHighReport pic.twitter.com/pL0MvYrHEu
— Ross (@Ross_MHR) October 20, 2024
That marks three straight games (and four games overall) with at least 14.0 fantasy points. Before Week 7, Nix also had back-to-back weeks with two passing touchdowns against the Raiders and Commanders. The passing probably won’t ever be consistent for the rookie quarterback this year, but he’s proving to have a solid fantasy floor due to his rushing ability.
Nix has at least four rushing attempts in every game this season and at least six attempts in his last three games. He has five games with 25 or more rushing yards and three games with a rushing touchdown this year.
Denver has a fantastic Week 8 matchup against the Carolina secondary before another good matchup against the Ravens in Week 9. Those matchups are great for his ability to put up fantasy points.
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