Week 15 Rankings (2016): Top 25 Quarterbacks

by Eric Stashin (aka The Rotoprofessor)

Week 14 was a disastrous one for quarterbacks around the league, partly due to weather, though that can’t be used as the only excuse.  How do some ugly performances, like the 5 INT game from Russell Wilson or Drew Brees’ second straight 0 TD/3 INT day, impact our thinking?  Let’s take a look at how things sit for Week 15:

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

Thoughts:

• Aaron Rodgers is a health risk, so keep that in mind early on this week.  That said, if he’s somewhat healthy it’s impossible not to have him at the top of these rankings.  Over the past four games he’s thrown 10 TD vs. 0 INT and the last time he failed to throw at least 2 TD in a game was October 16 (eight straight games).  He’s also taking on a Chicago defense that he shredded for 326 yards, 3 TD and 0 INT earlier in the season.
• We all know that the matchup for Tom Brady against the Broncos is not an easy one, but is anyone really ready to bet against him?  Utilize him as a Top 5 option.
• Kirk Cousins is coming off his lowest yardage day since October 2, throwing for 234 yards, 2 TD and 1 INT.  Of course he was also asked to throw the ball just 21 times, the first time he was below 30 attempts since the 10/2 matchup with the Browns.  He should get more opportunities this week against the Panthers, and with the way he’s been performing he has to be considered a trustworthy option.
• Needless to say Carson Palmer has been exceptionally better at home (11 TD/3 INT) than he has on the road (9 TD/10 INT).  As it is New Orleans has just 7 INT on the season, making Palmer a surprisingly good play.
• Russell Wilson is coming off a disastrous performance, as we already noted, but it wasn’t played in good weather so we have to give him a little bit of a pass.  Prior to Week 14 it had finally appeared like he was getting healthy and he will play in the comforts of his home stadium (6 TD/2 INT on the season).  It’s hard to bank on him, but the matchup is good enough to keep him on QB1 radars.
• Cam Newton is coming off back-to-back poor performances (less than 200 yards in each, with a total of 2 TD and 1 INT).  The Redskins do represent a favorable matchup, however, so it’s impossible to just ignore him completely.
• Drew Brees has thrown 6 INT without a touchdown over the past two weeks and now is going to be asked to travel to Arizona…  Seems like an impossible situation to trust, which is saying a lot.
• You can argue that Dak Prescott was exposed a bit by the Giants, and now the Cowboys’ rookie quarterback will square off against a Tampa Bay defense that has been surging in recent weeks.  The 11 game winning streak could skew your thought process, but don’t make the mistake of planning to utilize him.

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