Week 2 Rankings (2016): Top 25 Quarterbacks

by Eric Stashin (aka The Rotoprofessor)

How much does a Week 1 performance change our opinion of a player?  Do we give someone who had a monster opening week a big bump up our rankings, regardless of how we felt entering the season?  How about a player who struggled, do we simply send them spiraling down?  We never want to react hastily, but the fantasy football season is a lot more like a sprint than a marathon.  With that in mind let’s take a look at how things stack up for Week 2:

1. Aaron Rodgers – Green Bay Packers – at Minnesota
2. Drew Brees – New Orleans Saints – at New York Giants
3. Cam Newton – Carolina Panthers – vs. San Francisco
4. Andrew Luck – Indianapolis Colts – at Denver
5. Eli Manning – New York Giants – vs. New Orleans
6. Carson Palmer – Arizona Cardinals – vs. Tampa Bay
7. Ben Roethlisberger – Pittsburgh Steelers – vs. Cincinnati
8. Derek Carr – Oakland Raiders – vs. Atlanta
9. Russell Wilson – Seattle Seahawks – at Los Angeles
10. Blake Bortles – Jacksonville Jaguars – at San Diego
11. Matt Ryan – Atlanta Falcons – at Oakland
12. Jameis Winston – Tampa Bay Buccaneers – at Arizona
13. Matthew Stafford – Detroit Lions – vs. Tennessee
14. Andy Dalton – Cincinnati Bengals – at Pittsburgh
15. Philip Rivers – San Diego Chargers – vs. Jacksonville
16. Marcus Mariota – Tennessee Titans – at Detroit
17. Joe Flacco – Baltimore Ravens – at Cleveland
18. Jimmy Garoppolo – New England Patriots – vs. Miami
19. Carson Wentz – Philadelphia Eagles – at Chicago
20. Trevor Siemian – Denver Broncos – vs. Indianapolis
21. Ryan Fitzpatrick – New York Jets – at Buffalo
22. Tyrod Taylor – Buffalo Bills – vs. New York Jets
23. Kirk Cousins – Washington Redskins – vs. Dallas
24. Dak Prescott – Dallas Cowboys – at Washington
25. Alex Smith – Kansas City Chiefs – at Houston

Thoughts:

• The New York Giants defense fared well in Week 1, but was that due to the improvements they made or taking on a rookie QB?  It’s probably a little bit of both, though in what will likely be a shootout with the Saints (and given the display New Orleans put on in Week 1) there’s no way to consider Drew Brees anything but one of the elite in the league.
• Speaking of the Giants-Saints game, New Orleans gave up 319 passing yards to Derek Carr and company in Week 1.  What do you think will be possible for the Eli Manning-Odell Beckham connection?
• Taking on the Miami Dolphins, it’s hard not to be disappointed with the Week 1 performance from Russell Wilson (27-43, 258 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT).  He should improve, assuming he’s healthy (there’s been mixed reports about the severity of his ankle injury) but is there really a guarantee?  He averaged 251.5 yards per game last season, the difference was his 34 TD throws.  He remains a QB1, but it’s impossible to keep him near the top of the rankings.
• After watching Jameis Winston throw for 4 TD against the Buccaneers, it’s hard not to get excited about the prospects of Derek Carr in Week 2.  As it is he’s coming off a big opening week himself, having thrown for 319 yards and 1 TD against the Saints.  There is a chance that the team leans on Latavius Murray, but at this point he is a viable QB1 in all formats.
• Matt Ryan threw for 334 yards and 2 TD in Week 1, now he draws an Oakland defense that allowed 423 yards and 4 TD.  Granted Ryan is not Drew Brees, but there’s obviously reason to believe in Julio Jones lighting it up and Ryan posting QB1 type numbers.  There is risk, but there’s also more than enough reward.
• Philip Rivers always seems to find a way, but without Keenan Allen is he really a quarterback you want to be depending on?  The fact that he also draws a tough matchup in the Cardinals and he needs to be dropped to QB2 status thanks to the unknown of where the targets are going to go (though that doesn’t mean there isn’t potential, like Tyrell Williams).
• While we want to get excited about Marcus Mariota, especially after the Lions got torched in Week 1, he isn’t Andrew Luck and the Tennessee are going to try and feature the running game.  He’s a viable QB2, but not more than that.