Drafting a backup quarterback is often overlooked, but it can actually have a huge impact on your fantasy team. With any luck, you’ll only have to use your backup quarterback once throughout the season (your QB1’s bye week). How can you make sure that your team doesn’t miss a beat with your QB2 in the lineup? Make sure he has an easy matchup during the bye week of your start. First, we must determine which are the easy matchups (I’ll pick 8).
Jacksonville
Jacksonville ranked 32nd in terms of YPA allowed, 26th in terms of passing touchdowns allowed and 28th in terms of passing yards allowed last year. They added help through free agency at two linebacker positions and the strong safety position, but they didn’t upgrade their pass rush, their corners, or the free safety position so it’s safe to say they’ll be among the 8worst pass defenses again this year.
San Francisco
San Francisco ranked 23rd in terms of passing yards allowed, 21st in terms of passing touchdowns allowed, and 24th in terms of YPA allowed last year. Nate Clements is gone, which will weaken their pass defense. Their schedule will be a bit tougher this year too. I think they fall into the bottom 8.
Washington
Washington ranked 31st in terms of passing yards allowed, 13th in passing touchdowns allowed, and 28th in terms of yards per attempt allowed. I know they added Josh Wilson and OJ Atogwe in the offseason, as well as Ryan Kerrigan as a pass rusher, but I don’t think it’ll be enough to get them out of the bottom 8. This team is going to be pretty terrible as a whole.
Denver
Denver was 25th in passing yards allowed, 24th in passing touchdowns allowed, and 30th in yards per attempt allowed. I know they added Rahim Moore, but he’s just a rookie. Champ Bailey and Andre Goodman are both another year older and on the wrong side of 30. Their pass rush should be better with Elvis Dumervil coming back and Von Miller coming in as a rookie, but they should still be pretty bad against the pass.
Cincinnati
They were 15th in passing yards allowed, 20th in yards per attempt allowed and 8th in passing touchdowns allowed, but Johnathan Joseph is gone and that’s a huge loss for their pass defense. They won’t be that great against the pass at all this year.
Oakland
Oakland was 2nd in passing yards allowed, but 19th in yards per attempt allowed and that’s a more telling statistic. They were also 28th in passing touchdowns allowed. Plus, Nnamdi Asomugha is gone and Stanford Routt and Michael Huff might be replicate their big contract years after getting paid.
Dallas
Dallas was 26th in passing yards allowed, 32nd in passing touchdowns allowed, and 29th yards per attempt allowed and did nothing to fix the cornerback position. Abram Elam is an upgrade at free safety over Alan Ball, but that’s not saying much. Terence Newman is also another year older and Dallas will be playing from ahead more, meaning more pass attempts by their opponents.
Minnesota
They were 10th in total yards allowed and 9th in yards per attempt allowed, so I’m going out on a limb here, but they don’t have a ton of talent in the secondary and with Ray Edwards gone, their pass rush will be weaker. This is just a guess, but I think they have a very bad year against the pass this year. They were 23rd in terms of passing touchdowns allowed last year.
In order to qualify for this, players must be available (on average) in round 10 or later, as you don’t want to draft a backup quarterback before then.
Week 5
Quarterbacks with byes: Tony Romo, Sam Bradford, Joe Flacco
Possible backups:
Kevin Kolb (vs. Minnesota)
Andy Dalton/Bruce Gradkowski (vs. Jacksonville)
David Garrard/Blaine Gabbert (vs. Cincinnati)
You always want to go with the guy you’re 99% sure (you never know with injuries) will be the starter during that week. David Garrard will probably be Jacksonville’s starter week 5, but they drafted Gabbert 10th overall last year, so it’s not a certainly or anything. As for Dalton/Gradkowski in Cincinnati, it’s anyone’s guess, plus neither or very good anyway. By default, that leaves Kolb, a very nice high upside QB2 who would pair well with Bradford (a high upside QB1). That doesn’t mean, however, he’s not the best choice if your starter is Joe Flacco or Tony Romo. He is. He just pairs with Bradford the best.
Week 6
Philip Rivers
Matt Stafford (vs. San Francisco)
Colt McCoy (vs. Oakland)
Jay Cutler (vs. Minnesota)
Philip Rivers owners have three solid choices. Stafford is the riskier one, but he has the most reward. He plays the easiest of the three defenses and has the most talent, but can he even last until week 6 with his injury history. Cutler is the safest option and McCoy is neither safe nor high upside. Consider him a 3rd option should Stafford and Cutler both be off the board. You can get away with McCoy as your QB2, but there are better options. Note that Stafford gets drafted on average in the middle of the 9th. I made an exception for him here because of his upside and because he could slip into round 10 easily, but just note that.
Week 7
Tom Brady, Eli Manning, Michael Vick
Joe Flacco (vs. Jacksonville)
Cam Newton/Jimmy Clausen/Derek Anderson (vs. Washington)
Chad Henne/Matt Moore (vs. Denver)
Matt Cassel (vs. Oakland)
Sam Bradford (vs. Dallas)
Bradford would be the best option here. I have him highest rated of this group and he just drafted lower than Flacco, on average. Flacco, on average, goes late 9th, which makes him another exception here. He could fall into round 10. It’s just more likely Bradford does. I don’t like Cassel’s fantasy prospects at all this year. He has a tougher schedule this year and doesn’t throw for a lot of yards anyway. You can throw out Carolina’s quarterback and Miami’s. We don’t know who will be the starter in those cases and none of those 5 are that good anyway.
I like the Manning/Bradford pairing. Manning is a safer low end QB1 while Bradford has more risk, but more upside. I like the combination, especially since, on Bradford’s bye, week 5, Manning faces Seattle so this strategy works both ways for that duo. If you miss out on a top quarterback, mixing and matching Bradford and Manning might not be a bad idea.
Week 8
Matt Ryan, Jay Cutler, Aaron Rodgers, Josh Freeman
Colt McCoy (vs. San Francisco)
Ryan Fitzpatrick (vs. Washington)
Matt Stafford (vs. Denver)
Charlie Whitehurst/Tarvaris Jackson (vs. Cincinnati)
Cam Newton/Derek Anderson/Jimmy Clausen (vs. Minnesota)
We throw out Seattle’s mess and Carolina’s mess and we’re left with 3. Stafford has the most upside. However, Fitzpatrick against Washington is the safer bet here, while McCoy is a decent, but not great 3rd option if you miss out on the first 3 because you were too busy snatching up high upside sleepers or something.
Week 9
Matt Stafford
Alex Smith/Colin Kaepernick (vs. Washinton)
John Beck/Rex Grossman (vs. San Francisco)
Jason Campbell (vs. Denver)
Kyle Orton/Tim Tebow (vs. Oakland)
Matt Hasselbeck/Jake Locker (vs. Cincinnati)
You might out of luck with this strategy if you have Stafford. However, Stafford is my 15th quarterback so you should probably pair him with a low upside low end QB1 (Eli Manning, Joe Flacco, etc.) or a low upside QB2 (Jay Cutler). That might apply to Jason Campbell, but it’s risky.
Week 11
Peyton Manning, Matt Schaub, Ben Roethlisberger, Drew Brees
Options galore for this week. Flacco on average goes late 9th so I think we can throw him out in favor of cheaper options. Kolb is my favorite here, followed by McNabb and Sanchez. McCoy and Campbell aren’t great and Washington’s situation at quarterback is obviously a mess so you don’t want to touch it.
Colt McCoy (vs. Jacksonville)
Kevin Kolb (vs. San Francisco)
Mark Sanchez (vs. Denver)
Joe Flacco (vs. Cincinnati)
Donovan McNabb (vs. Oakland)
John Beck/Rex Grossman (vs. Dallas)
Jason Campbell (vs. Minnesota)
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