Week Four: Fantasy Football Waiver Wire QBs aka The Fitzmagic Is Gone

Week Four: Fantasy Football Waiver Wire QBs

Week Four Waiver Wire: QB  RB  WR  TE

Week three is almost behind us and some of you are looking at the quarterback you decided to draft and the horror is starting to set in.  Some of you didn’t think that Josh Allen would have one of the top quarterback performances in week three.  And you were wrong.  Some of you thought Andrew Luck still had enough arm strength to throw a hail mary.  And you were wrong.  Some of you thought fantasy football was more of a hobby, and less of a giant weight you wear around your neck for three months every year.  And oh boy were you wrong. Lucky for you, there are waiver wire QB options available to save you from yourself.   So let us examine what our best waiver wire quarterback options for week four are.

THE WEEK FOUR WAIVER WIRE QB ROOKIES – A.K.A When All Your Choices Are Terrible Ones

Josh Allen – Owned in 3% of leagues – Before week three, nobody in their right mind would be considering Josh Allen.   Then Allen scored three touchdowns again a Minnesota Vikings team widely considered to have one of the best defenses in football.  After this performance, nobody in their right mind would still consider picking up Josh Allen on the waiver wire.  I’ll just let you read Jeff Krisko’s preseason evaluation since I couldn’t have put it better myself. Temper your expectations for Allen, and don’t go nuts for him in the realm of week four fantasy football waiver wire QBs.

Baker Mayfield – Owned in 10% of leagues – On Thursday night, if you listened to the telecast of the New York Jets and Cleveland Browns game, you know that Baker Mayfield singlehandedly saved the city of Cleveland.   Fans everywhere have been saved, so long as you overlook the fact that they still root for Cleveland.  Sure, he threw for 201 yards after Tyrod Taylor went into the concussion protocol.  The problem with picking up Mayfield on the week four fantasy football QBs waiver wire is we still don’t know if he is going to be the starter.  I suggest waiting until we know who the starter is before burning a waiver spot on Baker Mayfield.

Josh Rosen – Owned in 2% of leagues – Late in the fourth quarter of Bears vs Cardinals, Arizona benched Sam Bradford and put Josh Rosen.   Although Josh Rosen wasn’t able to pull off the comeback, Cardinals head coach Steve Wilks said after the game that he would further evaluate his quarterback position before naming a starter for week four.  Judging by how the first three weeks went for Sam Bradford, I think the Josh Rosen era has begun in Arizona.  But that doesn’t mean the Josh Rosen era should begin on your fantasy team.  Don’t waste your waiver position on Josh Rosen.

THE WEEK 4 WAIVER WIRE QB VETERANS A.K.A When You Can’t Tell The Difference Between Dalton and Rodgers.

Andy Dalton  – Owned in 31% of leagues – As crazy as this might sound, through three weeks, Andy Dalton is a QB1.  In standard scoring leagues, his numbers are similar to Aaron Rodgers.  Which tells us two things.  One, you should have listened to us when we told you not to draft quarterbacks early.  And two, Andy Dalton is a very good fantasy quarterback this year.  While he had a disappointing game against Carolina, he still put up low-end QB1 numbers in week three, throwing for 352 yard, 2 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. Seriously, the dude threw four picks and is still top among week four waiver wire QBs. If you are desperate for help at quarterback, you could do a lot worse than Andy Dalton.

Ryan Tannehill  – Owned in 8% of leagues – If you were wondering whatever happened to Ryan Tannehill, just know that everyone else was wondering the same thing.  In week three, Tannehill reminded us that he exists by throwing for 289 yards and 3 touchdowns in the Miami Dolphins victory over the Oakland Raiders.  So now that Tannehill has reminded us that he exists, we can promptly forget about him and ignore him on the waiver wire.

THE ABSURD WEEK FOUR WAIVER WIRE QBs A.K.A. When Desperation Overwhelms Your Common Sense

C.J. Beathard – Owned in 0% of leagues – Late in the fourth quarter of the Chiefs vs 49ers game, Jimmy Garoppolo suffered what the team believes to be a season-ending ACL injury.  The injury drastically changes the prospects of the San Francisco 49ers and many fantasy football teams.  Some fantasy football managers might take the approach of picking up C.J. Beathard, Garoppolo’s back-up and trust in the magic of Kyle Shanahan to solve their quarterback woes.  Those managers might take that approach if they are complete freaking morons.  I’ve listed at least one viable option so far on the waiver wire for fantasy quarterbacks.  And that option is not C.J. Beathard, who is decidedly bad at football.  How bad is he?  Well, after drafting C.J. Beathard to develop, Kyle Shanahan promptly traded for Jimmy Garoppolo and paid him oodles of money just so he would never have to watch C.J. Beathard play football again.  If you are the kind of guy who likes to watch his fantasy football roster burn, pick up C.J. Beathard.  Otherwise, try grabbing someone not terrible at football.

Other notable quarterbacks to monitor

Joe Flacco — Owned in 11% of leagues

Eli Manning — Owned in 14% of leagues

Derek Carr — Owned in 30% of leagues