Week 13 Rankings (2017): Top 25 Quarterbacks

by Eric Stashin (aka The Rotoprofessor)

With Thanksgiving in our rearview mirror, the march towards the fantasy playoffs is well underway.  Unfortunately there are many questionable situations throughout the league, some due to injury and some due to simple poor play.  Which quarterbacks are the ones to trust with our seasons on the line?  Let’s take a look at how the rankings stack up for Week 13:

1. Carson Wentz – Philadelphia Eagles – at Seattle
2. Russell Wilson – Seattle Seahawks – vs. Philadelphia
3. Tom Brady – New England Patriots – at Buffalo
4. Kirk Cousins – Washington Redskins – at Dallas
5. Phillip Rivers – San Diego Chargers – vs. Cleveland
6. Cam Newton – Carolina Panthers – at New Orleans
7. Ben Roethlisberger – Pittsburgh Steelers – at Cincinnati
8. Jared Goff – Los Angeles Rams – at Arizona
9. Matt Ryan – Atlanta Falcons – vs. Minnesota
10. Case Keenum – Minnesota Vikings – at Atlanta
11. Josh McCown – New York Jets – vs. Kansas City
12. Derek Carr – Oakland Raiders – vs. New York Giants
13. Drew Brees – New Orleans Saints – vs. Carolina
14. Tyrod Taylor – Buffalo Bills – vs. New England
15. Marcus Mariota – Tennessee Titans – vs. Houston
16. Jameis Winston – Tampa Bay Buccaneers – at Green Bay
17. Matthew Stafford – Detroit Lions – at Baltimore
18. Blake Bortles – Jacksonville Jaguars – vs. Indianapolis
19. Alex Smith – Kansas City Chiefs – at New York Jets
20. Eli Manning – New York Giants – at Oakland
21. Andy Dalton – Cincinnati Bengals – vs. Pittsburgh
22. Dak Prescott – Dallas Cowboys – vs. Washington
23. Joe Flacco – Baltimore Ravens – vs. Detroit
24. Mitchell Trubisky – Chicago Bears – vs. San Francisco
25. Jimmy Garoppolo – San Francisco 49ers – at Chicago

Thoughts:

• Putting a quarterback who is facing the Seahawks atop these rankings was once thought of as unthinkable.  However injuries have depleted the secondary and they’ve taken a beating in recent weeks.  Carson Wentz hasn’t been accumulating yardage (227 yards or fewer in four straight games), but he hasn’t had to.  He has 9 TD vs. 0 INT over his past three games and 22 TD vs. 3 INT over his past seven.  It’s impossible to consider him anything less than a Top 3 option, even if you aren’t comfortable having him sit at the top.
• When looking at Phillip Rivers don’t just look at a 434 yard performance against the Cowboys on Thanksgiving and think it was a one-off big day.  He has thrown for 7 TD vs. 1 INT over the past three weeks and draws a Browns defense that has been among the worst against the pass all season long.  It’s rare that Rivers is considered a QB1 at this point, but he’s well worth it for this week.
• The New York Giants have been a bad defense this season (they’ve allowed the third most points per week to opposing quarterbacks), and a lot of their issues come from the secondary.  With Janorius Jenkins potentially out for the season, things aren’t going to get much better.  That said right now there are questions in regards to the availability of Amari Cooper (concussion) and Michael Crabtree (two-game suspension), and that’s going to cap the potential value for Derek Carr.  He’s still usable, but he’s not a must play.
• Coming off a down day, Jared Goff exploded once again against the Saints as he threw for 354 yards, 2 TD and 1 INT despite being without Robert Woods.  The last time he faced Arizona (Week 7) he threw for 235 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT, but has been playing much better of late (350+ yards and multi-touchdown performances in three of four).  Continue to roll with the upside.
• It’s easy to simply buy into the Drew Brees name, but fantasy owners need to remember that the Saints have morphed into an offense built around their running game.  That’s always going to bring risk, and it’s not like the Panthers are a can’t miss matchup.  View him more as a QB2.
• We’ll have to monitor the news and see if Jameis Winston is ready to return this week (there have been rumblings things are headed in that direction).  If he does he’s a QB2 with QB1 upside, but risk of a setback is going to suppress his overall appeal.
• The matchup would make us want to trust Marcus Mariota, but 6 INT over his past two games makes it difficult.  The upside is there to consider him, but it’s not enough to make him more than a QB2 gamble.

Sources – ESPN, CBS Sports, NFL.com

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