Monday, September 17, 2018

2018 Fantasy Football QB Waiver-Wire Options Heading Into Week 3

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 3 (Yahoo! ownership in parenthesis):

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

1. Ryan Fitzpatrick, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (23 percent)

Things could not have gone any better for Fitzpatrick and the Bucs to start the season. Not only are they 2-0 as a team, but Fitzpatrick has thrown for 400-plus yards and four touchdowns in back-to-back games against the Saints and Eagles. Expecting another 400/4 game in Week 3 would be unrealistic, but he's now just one of three quarterbacks (Dan Marino and Billy Volek are the others) to do so in consecutive games.

In Week 3, the Bucs will host the Steelers. Losing in a 42-37 shootout against the Chiefs, the Steelers just allowed Patrick Mahomes to throw six touchdowns in his third-ever start. While Jameis Winston returns from suspension after next week's game, the Bucs have said it's not a given that he immediately returns as the team's starter. Given how well Fitzpatrick has played and considering the Bucs have a Week 5 bye, it would make sense that he starts (at least) in Week 4 as well.

2. Tyrod Taylor, Cleveland Browns (31 percent)

Expected to be a higher-scoring game, the Saints edged the Browns 21-18 on Sunday and there wasn't a ton of fantasy success for Cleveland's players including Taylor. That said, Taylor is typically a high-end streaming option as his rushing ability raises both his floor and ceiling. Taylor rushed for 77 yards and a touchdown in Week 1, when he finished as the QB6 despite throwing for less than 200 yards. If you stream quarterbacks, going back to the well with Taylor on Thursday Night Football against the Jets could make sense.

3. Andy Dalton, Cincinnati Bengals (27 percent)

Since entering the league in 2011, Dalton has never finished any worse than that of a high-end QB2 in 12-team leagues. In other words, his worst season was QB18 (multiple seasons). Granted, his last top-12 finish was in 2013, but he's off to a decent start through two games -- QB9 going into Monday Night Football. In those two games, Dalton has thrown six touchdowns and only one interception to go with 508 passing yards.

4. Blake Bortles, Jacksonville Jaguars (28 percent)

Outdueling Tom Brady in the team's home win over the Patriots, Bortles threw for 377 yards and four touchdowns and added 25 rushing yards. Over the past three seasons, Bortles has finished as fantasy's QB4, QB10 and QB13, respectively. (One of my bold predictions for 2018 was that Bortles would finish the season as a top-10 fantasy quarterback.) While I wouldn't expect too many more games of 377/4 passing, Bortles is one of the league's more mobile quarterbacks and his rushing stats boost his fantasy outlook in most weeks.

- More Fantasy Football Waiver-Wire Advice Heading Into Week 3

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