Fantasy Football Week 14: Quarterback rankings for 2-QB leagues
By Dan Salem
Quarterbacks have been crazy inconsistent this season, but playing the matchups is your salvation. Your go-to Fantasy Football Week 14 QB rankings for 2-QB leagues.
For many leagues, Week 13 was either the first round of the fantasy postseason or the penultimate round of the regular season. Either way, performances make or break seasons at this point on the calendar. That’s why it’s so frustrating to see quarterback outputs that would be impossible to predict. As the season goes on, we expect to find things less surprising as we have more information to go off of, not the opposite.
Fantasy Football Week 13’s top quarterbacks included Ryan Fitzpatrick (third-most points at the position), Jared Goff back from the dead (fourth), Mitchell Trubisky (7th), Taysom Hill! (13th), David Blough (14th), and Drew Lock (22nd). The league’s leading passer heading into the week, Jameis Winston, didn’t even crack the top 24.
Though it wasn’t all bad news. In fact, Winston coming in at 25th for the week wasn’t even that bad. Week 13, overall, offered quality production. A whopping 32 quarterbacks topped our baseline performance from the week before of what would have started in a two-quarterback league.
The only real-life starters who didn’t make the cut were Dwayne Haskins and Nick Foles, and Foles’ replacement, Gardner Minshew, cracked double-digit points in part-time duty. Who’s the best quarterback play in Fantasy Football Week 14? We’ve got your exclusive rankings right here.
Two brothers from New York, Dan Salem and Todd Salem, debate Fantasy Football Week 14 in today’s NFL Sports Debate.
Fantasy Football Week 14 – The Top 12
Russell Wilson (TIE – Dan’s Ranking: 1, Todd’s Ranking: 4), Aaron Rodgers (TIE – Dan: 2, Todd: 3), Deshaun Watson (TIE – Dan: 3, Todd: 2), Lamar Jackson (TIE – Dan: 4, Todd: 1), Jameis Winston (TIE – Dan: 5, Todd: 7), Dak Prescott (TIE – Dan: 7, Todd: 5), Kirk Cousins (Dan: 6, Todd: 9), Patrick Mahomes (Dan: 8, Todd: 8), Carson Wentz (Dan: 11, Todd: 6), Ryan Tannehill (Dan: 9, Todd: 12), Matt Ryan (TIE – Dan: 10, Todd: 13), Josh Allen (TIE – Dan: 12, Todd: 11), Baker Mayfield (TIE – Dan: 13, Todd: 10)
Dan on Baker Mayfield at 13: Cincinnati shut down the Jets and Sam Darnold last week with a solid pass rush. The Browns are equally suspect up front, so Mayfield scares me this week. Its a boom or bust scenario.
Todd on Matt Ryan at 13: As expected last week, Ryan put up a performance that makes him a comfortable starter in two-QB leagues but not one worthy of a top-12 ranking. Carolina isn’t necessarily a more favorable opponent defensively than New Orleans was (the Panthers are elite against the pass and dead last defending the run according to DVOA), so Ryan stays in the same range.
14. Sam Darnold (Dan: 14, Todd: 15)
Dan Salem: I expect a bounce-back for Darnold against Miami’s suspect defense. It’s hard to say how great he will play, considering the Jets inconsistency. But at least he has a high ceiling.
Todd Salem: The Samchise slipped up last week after a run of great games. Week 14 will likely be the final time he is useful in fantasy with games against Baltimore and Pittsburgh set to follow this rematch with Miami.
15. Tom Brady (Dan: 17, Todd: 14)
Dan Salem: I don’t know if last week was a fluke or not, so I’m tempering expectations against Kansas City.
Todd Salem: Brady had his first good game in nearly two months. The KC defense has a nearly identical stat profile to Carolina, so don’t expect a repeat. New England likely leans more on the run this week.
16. Drew Brees (Dan: 15, Todd: 17)
Dan Salem: I don’t like this matchup, but I trust Brees to rise up to the occasion. This feels like his prove-it game before backing off until playoff time.
Todd Salem: I don’t trust Brees in this spot against the 49ers defense. I just trust him more than everyone else that follows.
17. Kyler Murray (Dan: 18, Todd: 16)
Dan Salem: I believe Murray finishes his rookie season strong, and it starts with a solid game against a solid defense.
Todd Salem: Take out the two San Francisco performances, and Murray has been highly up-and-down in recent weeks. But why would we take out the SF games when he put up major points — twice — against one of the best defenses in the league? Hopefully he gets things going on the ground and performs similarly against Pittsburgh.
18. Philip Rivers (Dan: 16, Todd: 21)
Dan Salem: I like the matchup versus Jacksonville, even if Rivers has been unbearably inconsistent all season. He can pick apart the Jaguars.
Todd Salem: Rivers has been steadily underwhelming but usable. He gets a favorable matchup this week after having his best game since Week 7.
19. TIE – Gardner Minshew (Dan: 19, Todd: 20)
Dan Salem: He’s auditioning for a starting job and Mishnew will succeed. The Chargers are not stopping anyone either.
Todd Salem: Finally, we get Foles out of the picture and Minshew back into the fold. Minshew was rolling through the league the first eight weeks of his career. Let’s hope he gets the magic back.
19. TIE – Jacoby Brissett (Dan: 21, Todd: 18)
Dan Salem: The Buccaneers will make life easy for Brissett, but it’s unknown what he will be able to do with the opportunity.
Todd Salem: So it turns out Indianapolis did not keep the ball out of Brissett’s hands. Instead, they threw it 40 times. It still didn’t result in a great fantasy day for Brissett, but with Tampa Bay on the docket, Indy could be forced to follow that same gameplan. TB is the best run defense in the league.
21. TIE – Ryan Fitzpatrick (Dan: 20, Todd: 22)
Dan Salem: New York is a mess defensively, so Fitzpatrick will certainly have plenty of opportunities. It’s just that time of year when he tends to fall back to earth.
Todd Salem: Fitzy kept things rolling last week and has a nice little finish to the season with both New York teams and Cincinnati on the schedule.
21. TIE – Mitchell Trubisky (Dan: 23, Todd: 19)
Dan Salem: I don’t trust Trubisky, but I trust him a little bit more on a Thursday night than anyone else available.
Todd Salem: Is Mitch Trubisky good now? I don’t know what to think. What I do know is he is on a roll and faces an overrated Dallas defense.
23. Jared Goff (Dan: 22, Todd: N/A)
Dan Salem: I believe Goff steps it up during the final month of the year. The playoffs are still within reach and he elevates accordingly.
24. TIE – Andy Dalton (Dan: 24, Todd: 24)
Dan Salem: It came down to Dalton or Garoppolo and with Dalton’s confidence after last week, I like his potential against Cleveland.
Todd Salem: The Bengals notched their first win of the year with Dalton reinserted as the starter last week. His numbers were okay, and I look for them to take another step up this week.
Next. NFL Week 14 Best Picks Against the Spread (ATS). dark
24. TIE – Jimmy Garoppolo (Dan: N/A, Todd: 23)
Todd Salem: It made sense that Garoppolo didn’t do much against Baltimore. But the 49ers offense has now gone two straight only throwing the ball 20.5 times per game, and New Orleans hosts with a sneakily elite defense. Those three straight games during the middle of the year when Garoppolo averaged more than 40 throws per game look like the outlier.