Oh, man! Injuries! Coronavirus! Mitchell Trubisky sucking out loud and getting his butt benched! At least one of these things was unexpected, but in a more real sense, you could see all of these things coming from a mile away. So, you have to turn to some quarterback sleepers this week. Given that some guys who qualify for the quarterback sleepers article have some real bad matchups… This isn’t a great week! To qualify as one of the quarterback sleepers, a player must be available in 50% or more of Yahoo! leagues, with one player available in over 90% of leagues for the deep divers.
Quarterback Sleepers Option #1: Baker Mayfield at Dallas (43% rostered)
I know, I know. I keep putting Baker Mayfield on this list, and I keep getting little bunny foo-fooed by Kevin Stefanski’s game plan. This week though, this week he won’t pull the football away when I go to kick it (and put it straight into Nick Chubb’s belly). Baker’s been… fine the last couple of weeks but didn’t light the world on fire. He’s been okay so far, but he’s also faced one good matchup (Baltimore), one marginal matchup (Washington), and one bad matchup (Bengals).
This week, Baker gets the third-best matchup this year with the Dallas Cowboys. After the Rams game planned away from Jared Goff in week one, it’s been an all-out aerial assault on America’s Team. They’ve allowed nine passing touchdowns with zero interceptions in their last two games while opposing QBs average about 290 passing yards per game against them. With Kevin Stefanski calling Kareem Hunt “day-to-day,” the Browns likely resort to going through the air more on Sunday.
Quarterback Sleepers Option #2: Kirk Cousins at Houston (27% rostered)
As of right now, it doesn’t look like COVID-19 is going to knock this one down, despite the Vikings playing against the Titans while the Titans had COVID-19 positive players.
I told you this week isn’t great. Cousins gets the Texans this week, who aren’t a great matchup on paper. They allow the eleventh-fewest fantasy points per game to quarterbacks, but that’s mostly from lack of trying. Through three games, their 92 targets against ranks as the third-lowest. Opposing running games have been doing the hard part early in the season, so passing games have taken a step back. This week, Cousins will throw more than that as the Vikings and Texans both fight for their lives.
The Texans have some per-play trouble, allowing the fourth-highest QB touchdown rate on the season. They also allow the fifth-most yards after the catch per completion in the league. Both of these are big in Justin Jefferson’s tool bag, so expect Cousins to lean on the rookie wide receiver after his big breakout game last weekend. Cousins has played better than you expect this season, turning in at least 20 fantasy points in two of his first three games. A disastrous one point five two points in week two against Indianapolis tanked all good feelings about him, but he was a top-twelve QB in both weeks one and three.
Deep Dive Quarterback Sleepers Option: Ryan Fitzpatrick versus Seattle (10% rostered)
Oh, yea baby, the stream of the week. The cream of the crop. The GOAT. Ryan “Fitzmagic” Fitzpatrick. Usually, when I suggest a maddening quarterback I recommend not watching him play. This time, I recommend cackling wildly as he throws the ball all over the Seahawks’ defense. Seattle currently allowed the highest yards per catch in the NFL, and thanks to their bottom-third pressure rate, Fitzmagic will have all day to pick apart this defense.
Since starting at New England, where the Patriots ground the Dolphins to death, Fitzpatrick’s posted back-to-back 24 point fantasy days. He has one of the best possible matchups and he’s yeeting opposing defenses with the reckless abandon we’ve come to know and love in his 75 years in the NFL.
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