Monday, September 10, 2018

2018 Fantasy Football QB Waiver-Wire Options Heading Into Week 2

Every week, we examine players that may be available on your league's waiver wire that could help your team in the short and/or long term.

For a player to be listed, he must be owned in 50 percent (or less) of Yahoo! leagues. The goal is to provide recommendations of players that have a greater chance of being available on your league's waiver wire. Of course, your league's size and settings could significantly impact whether these players (or better options) are available in your particular league(s).

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With that said, here are some quarterback waiver-wire options that I like heading into Week 2 (Yahoo! ownership in parenthesis):

[Note: Players listed below are sorted by my preference to add.]

1. Tyrod Taylor, Cleveland Browns (12 percent)

The great thing about a mobile quarterback like Taylor is that he can throw for just 177 yards and still have a productive fantasy outing. Rushing for 77 yards and a score, Taylor scored 13.7 fantasy points from his rushing stats alone. His 23.58 fantasy points were sixth-most before the Monday Night Football matchups.

During fantasy draft season, I wrote that Taylor could be a top-12 fantasy quarterback on a per-game basis for as long as he's the starter. While the Browns have a late-season bye (Week 11) and a transition to Baker Mayfield may make sense following it, it's also possible that the team has some success and sticks with Taylor longer than that.

Either way, the Browns will head to New Orleans to take on the high-powered Drew Brees-led offense in Week 2. It's certainly possible that Taylor and the Browns are forced to play catchup early. Not that anyone should expect a similar game to what Ryan Fitzpatrick just had against the Saints, a top-12 fantasy outcome is certainly within the realm of possibilities for Taylor this week.

2. Case Keenum, Denver Broncos (25 percent)

Throwing three interceptions isn't the way Keenum wanted to begin his Broncos tenure, but the turnovers did not cost the team the game. On a positive note, Keenum threw for more than 300 yards (329, to be precise) and three touchdowns. If you stream quarterbacks, this could be a good week to roll with Keenum given his matchup against the Raiders. Before trading away their best defensive player (Khalil Mack), the Raiders had a bad defense (good for opposing quarterbacks) and they now have to travel to Denver on a short week.

3. Sam Darnold, New York Jets (9 percent)

A blessing in disguise? Darnold began his NFL career by throwing a pick-six on his first pass attempt, but perhaps that helped to calm the nerves as the 21-year-old quarterback rebounded well. Outstanding in all three phases, the Jets intercepted Matthew Stafford four times and had passing, rushing, defensive and return scores in their 48-17 romp of the Lions. Most weeks won't turn out as well for the Jets, which could be positive for his fantasy outlook as Darnold could be forced to throw more often than he did in his debut.

4. Ryan Fitzpatrick, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3 percent)

The unofficial odds on Fitzpatrick having another useful fantasy start this week are about 0.14%. Of course, plenty of owners will add Fitzpatrick this week based on Sunday's performance (417 passing yards and four TDs and 36 rushing yards and a touchdown). That said, he's followed up some of his big performances (e.g., 358 yards and six TDs in 2014) with a dud (e.g., 135 yards and no TDs the following week) and the matchup against the Eagles isn't a favorable one. Unless you're in a 2-QB league, Fitzpatrick is better left on the waiver wire, especially considering the job could once again be Jameis Winston's as early as Week 4.

- More Fantasy Football Waiver-Wire Advice Heading Into Week 2

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