With all the talk about offensive line troubles, did we forget about Andrew Luck? He didn’t enter the season with near as much hype as the previous year, but yet, there he was at the end of week 1 at the top of the quarterback heap for fantasy football.
Luck finished with 35.50 fantasy points in a game that also featured Matthew Stafford putting up major numbers at 26.10. Part of Luck’s big day was game flow, with the Colts getting down big early, necessitating the Colts’ need for Luck to air it out.
But when he did, he sliced through the Lions’ defense in a game where he led a go-ahead touchdown drive in the closing minute, only to see it evaporate because Indianapolis’s defense is terrible. That could be a regular occurrence this season.
With week 2 approaching, here’s my start ’em, sit ’em week 2 guide for quarterbacks in fantasy football.
Start
Eli Manning vs. New Orleans Saints
This is going to be a regular storyline. If you have a quarterback squaring off against New Orleans, start him. Manning threw a terrible interception against Dallas on Sunday, but for the most part, he looked the part of a QB1. He didn’t go for huge numbers in passing yards (with 207), but he did throw three touchdowns and spread around the ball nicely.
Having Ben McAdoo as a coach will help Manning this season. He has been a more accurate passer in the past two seasons and I expect that to continue this season. With more weapons at his disposal, that should help him stay more consistent from week-to-week, too.
What also helps is that it appears New Orleans’ defense is back to the same song and dance as before. They couldn’t stop Oakland on Sunday, and it looked like deja vu for the Saints again. They have a strong offense, but can’t stop anybody. Expect a much higher yardage total for Manning this week.
Andy Dalton vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
Maybe Dalton is a top-tier quarterback.
He was harassed like no other in week 1 against the New York Jets to the tune of seven sacks, but still mustered 366 yards and one touchdown. That’s perseverance and he’s starting this season where he left off from last year.
He was one of the most surprising fantasy players of the season last year before he was injured. The Bengals look more comfortable with passing, as evidenced by Dalton’s 30 pass attempts. Brandon LaFell is healthy, so that gives the Bengals a realistic second wide receiver. And it appears that A.J. Green hasn’t lost a step.
Dalton was a top-five option more often than not last season when healthy. Week 1 showed that it wasn’t a fluke with a solid performance despite being pressured constantly against a very good pass defense.
Watch out for both offenses to find more space than usual in this matchup, allowing Dalton to find spaces to throw against the Steelers’ secondary.
Matt Ryan vs. Oakland Raiders
If we forgot about Andrew Luck, maybe we did the same thing about Ryan. As a franchise quarterback who can win the big games, I’m not sold on Ryan.
But as a fantasy option, he looked pretty good in week 1 and faces the Raiders, which allowed Drew Brees to look like his old self with 423 passing yards.
Ryan carved through Tampa Bay’s defense, netting 334 yards to go along with two touchdowns. Part of his big day was game flow, with Tampa Bay jumping out to a good lead, allowing Ryan and the Falcons to air it out. But with the way Oakland opened up its playbook against the Saints, I expect this game to go over the over/under.
Another good sign for fantasy owners is that Ryan did most of his work without Julio Jones having much of an impact.
Expect the Falcons to have to come-from-behind often this season, allowing Ryan many opportunities at passing attempts.
Sit
Tyrod Taylor vs. New York Jets
Taylor was bad in week 1. He mustered five fantasy points against the Baltimore Ravens and just couldn’t move the ball.
Lack of weapons will hinder Taylor this season. I’m also concerned that NFL defenses have figured out the shifty quarterback, who was nothing more than a mediocre college football quarterback.
And that could prove problematic against the New York Jets this week. In two meetings last season, Taylor finished with less than a combined 350 yards passing and 63 rushing yards. That isn’t going to get the job done for your fantasy team.
Sure, the Jets struggled to stop Dalton in the passing game Sunday. But they sacked him seven times and that pressure won’t stop against the Bills on Thursday.
The Jets fix up a few holes in the secondary and Taylor will have another tough time getting his footing against the Jets.
Philip Rivers vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
Jacksonville is young, so don’t guarantee another strong defensive output. But I have a good feeling that the Jaguars will create a difficult environment for Rivers.
I wouldn’t mind this matchup for Rivers if he still had Keenan Allen. Rivers was masterful in the first half against Kansas City on Sunday with Allen as his top man. Then Allen went down with what is being called a torn ACL, and Rivers went back to being just a run-of-the-mill option, unable to punch the ball into the endzone.
It was similar to last year where Rivers was good, but inconsistent at being a top-tier fantasy quarterback. The offensive line appears to be improved, but it will have a stiff test against a Jaguars defensive line that pressured Aaron Rodgers consistently Sunday.
The Jaguars were able to hold Rodgers to less than 200 yards passing, and while they only registered one sack, Rodgers was under pressure.
I’m not always a fan of East Coast teams traveling cross-country. But this game is in the late afternoon window and it’s early enough in the season that we shouldn’t worry too much about travel.
Alex Smith vs. Houston Texans
I know some of you might grab Smith off the waiver wire or consider starting him this week based on last week’s performance.
Don’t do it.
Smith managed the third-best total among quarterbacks with 28 points against the Chargers. But the majority of that work was done primarily because of game flow. The Chiefs’ offense was stagnant, until the Chargers went into ultimate conservative mode and Kansas City started throwing it all over the field.
That won’t be the gameplan this week. Kansas City will focus on running the football and Smith will be a compliment to the running game.
If that isn’t enough of a reason to bench him, the Texans are once again elite at rushing the quarterback. Houston sacked Chicago’s Jay Cutler five times on Sunday and disrupted him at a high rate. Expect the Texans to take out some frustration from being blown out twice last year against Kansas City, meaning Smith is a bad fantasy start in week 2.
