2014 Fantasy Football Rankings: Week 9 Quarterbacks

Compared to the first four weeks of the 2014 NFL season, perception has certainly changed quite a bit over the past four weeks for Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.

In the first four weeks of the season, Brady was anything but terrific as he averaged less than 200 passing yards per game (197.75 to be exact) with no multi-touchdown games during his slow start. During that span, he averaged only 9.31 fantasy points per game with his best game coming against the Raiders (12.66 points, QB25) in Week 3.

Starting in Week 5, however, Brady has been the Brady to whom we’ve become accustomed over the past decade. In his past four games, Brady is averaging 317.0 yards per game and has a 14:0 TD-to-INT ratio. He’s had a minimum of 20.98 fantasy points in all four games and has not finished worse than the QB7 for the week.

And he’s coming off his best game of the year (354 yards and five touchdowns) with 34.16 fantasy points. It was his second game with 30-plus fantasy points in the past three weeks.

Of course, the standard line between any matchup between two great quarterbacks is that Brady is playing the Broncos defense — or Peyton Manning is playing the Patriots defense — and it isn’t a matchup between two great quarterbacks.

That said, the way the Brady and the Patriots have played over the past four weeks makes the drama of the matchup(s), the teams and quarterbacks, all that more exciting.

The Broncos have allowed the eighth-most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks this season, but they have not allowed a top-12 finish to an opposing quarterback since Week 3 (Russell Wilson).

As well as Brady has played recently, Manning has played just as well through the entire season.

Suprisingly, Manning has yet to finish as the top-scoring fantasy quarterback in any given week this season. That said, he has yet to finish outside of the top-10 fantasy quarterbacks in any week and has finished as a QB7 or better in six of seven games.

In his seven games so far, Manning has thrown for 2,134 yards (304.86/G) with 22 touchdowns (3.14/G) and only three interceptions. In fact, Manning has thrown multiple touchdowns every week with at least three scores in six of seven games.

One year after setting the single-season records for passing yards and passing touchdowns, Manning is on pace for 4,878 yards and 50 touchdowns.

There have been only two quarterbacks in NFL history — Brady and Manning — that have one 50-TD season, which would make Peyton the only to ever accomplish the feat in back-to-back seasons if he maintains his current pace.

The Patriots have allowed four top-12 fantasy quarterbacks this season, but none have finished higher than QB9 in any week. And no team has held opposing quarterbacks to fewer fantasy points than the Patriots.

This rivalry game will have plenty of significance in terms of both “real” and fantasy football this week.

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Some more thoughts on quarterbacks:

- Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson has alternated between monster fantasy performances and duds over his past four games since the bye. Here are his past four games: 34.24 fantasy points (QB1), 10.24 (QB27), 37.12 (QB1) and 13.46 (QB22). One of the league’s best dual-threat quarterbacks, Wilson has rushed for more than 100 yards and a touchdown in both of those QB1 performances. While Wilson has exceeded 202 passing yards only twice this season, he has thrown multiple passing touchdowns in five of seven games and has finished as a top-eight fantasy quarterback in each of those five multi-touchdown games.

- Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw for 522 yards and six touchdowns against the Colts last week and became the first quarterback in NFL history with multiple 500-yard games. Big Ben’s worst fantasy performance (6.68 points, QB30) of the season came in Week 2 against the Ravens. He gets a shot to redeem himself on Sunday Night Football in a rematch of this intense rivalry.

- San Francisco’s Colin Kaepernick had his best game of the season in Week 6 against the Rams. In that game, he threw for 343 yards and three touchdowns, both of which are season highs, and he gets another shot at the Rams this week.

- Arizona’s Carson Palmer has now thrown exactly two touchdowns in all four of his games this season with a a pair of 300-yard games. Palmer hasn’t been great, but he’s been consistent with a minimum of 16.12 fantasy points in each game and at least 21 points in two of those games.

- For the first time since his injury in Week 2, Washington’s Robert Griffin III will get the start in Week 9. Considering RG3 wasn’t playing great before the injury, I’d prefer to wait a week before inserting him into my starting lineup, if possible. In addition, the Vikings have done an excellent job at limiting fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks. Only the Lions (12.32/G) allow fewer fantasy points than the Vikings (13.79/G).

Here are my Week 9 fantasy football quarterback rankings:

1. Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts (at NYG)
2. Peyton Manning, Denver Broncos (at NE)
3. Tom Brady, New England Patriots (vs. DEN)
4. Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks (vs. OAK)
5. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints (at CAR)
6. Colin Kaepernick, San Francisco 49ers (vs. STL)
7. Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers (at MIA)
8. Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers (vs. BAL)
9. Nick Foles, Philadelphia Eagles (at HOU)
10. Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers (vs. NO)
11. Ryan Tannehill, Miami Dolphins (vs. SD)
12. Carson Palmer, Arizona Cardinals (at DAL)
13. Tony Romo, Dallas Cowboys (vs. ARI)
14. Robert Griffin III, Washington Redskins (at MIN)
15. Alex Smith, Kansas City Chiefs (vs. NYJ)
16. Andy Dalton, Cincinnati Bengals (vs. JAX)
17. Eli Manning, New York Giants (vs. IND)
18. Blake Bortles, Jacksonville Jaguars (at CIN)
19. Joe Flacco, Baltimore Ravens (at PIT)
20. Michael Vick, New York Jets (at KC)
21. Mike Glennon, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (at CLE)
22. Ryan Fitzpatrick, Houston Texans (vs. PHI)
23. Brian Hoyer, Cleveland Browns (vs. TB)
24. Derek Carr, Oakland Raiders (at SEA)
25. Teddy Bridgewater, Minnesota Vikings (vs. WAS)
26. Austin Davis, St. Louis Rams (at SF)

Teams on bye in Week 9: Bears, Bills, Falcons, Lions, Packers, Titans

More of our Week 9 rankings:

• Week 9 Running Back Rankings
• Week 9 Wide Receiver Rankings
• Week 9 Tight End Rankings

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