Week 3

The weekly QB Drop Back series is developed to give you the concise information to avoid the pressure and help you make the right read starting a QB. Come with us on a tiered dive into QB play based on DFS pricing and two weeks of results.

Elite

After two weeks of AAF play, it’s become obvious that the top two options are Garrett Gilbert (ORL) and John Wolford (ARZ). Gilbert is averaging over 300 yards passing per game, and 20% of his throws have gone for 20 yards or more. Wolford leads the league in passing TD’s with six and is the only QB who has both thrown and ran for a 2PT conversion. Both get tasty matchups as Gilbert plays winless Memphis and Wolford gets a rematch with Salt Lake City after throwing four TD’s against them in Week 1.

Bargain

Our next tier features the other QB's beside Gilbert and Wolford with a successful 2PT conversion. Luis Perez, Logan Woodside, and Josh Woodrum are all QB’s capable of putting up some points for their AAF teams as well as your fantasy squad this weekend. Luis Perez has taken a backseat to Trent Richardson in Birmingham’s offense but has a nice matchup against winless Atlanta this weekend to finally throw a TD or two. He trails only Gilbert and Wolford with his 60.6% completion percentage. Woodside has arguably the best WR corps in the league to throw to with Mekale McKay, Greg Ward Jr., Alonzo Moore, and De’Markus Ayers. He lost some 1st half snaps last week to Marquise Williams and some monitoring will be needed before firing him up against San Diego again this weekend. Finally, Josh Woodrum seems on track to return this weekend for Salt Lake City. He had engineered 16 2nd quarter points for Salt Lake City before his injury in Week 1 and tossed a TD as well as ran in a 2PT conversion. If healthy, he’ll get the chance to pick right back up in a rematch against Arizona.

Cheap

The last tier of AAF starters is a bunch you don’t want to have to start in any situation. Just comparing average attempts and conversions per game, Matt Simms actually compares well to Garrett Gilbert, with Simms averaging 16/26 compared to Gilbert’s 17/26 attempts/completions. The wheels start to fall off here though, as Gilbert averages 310 yards, 11.9 yards per attempt and 2 TD’s per game whereas Simms averages 143 yards, 5.5 yards per attempt, only 0.5 TD’s and 1.5 interceptions per game. Birmingham hasn’t given up more than 115 yards to QB and that likely won’t change this weekend going against Simms. Christian Hackenberg saved his fantasy day last week with his legs by getting into the end zone with a rushing TD. He’ll likely need garbage time this week to salvage his point total going against Orlando. Philip Nelson rounds up this tier and had the highlight no-look pass over his head last week. He’s thrown two interceptions to go with no TD’s and shouldn’t sniff your starting lineup this weekend against San Antonio after they had intercepted San Diego three times Week 1.

Situations to Monitor

The San Antonio Commanders QB situation is one that needs to be carefully watched. Last week had Marquise Williams get a series at QB in the first half, and Dustin Vaughan was thought to be the starter after being their first pick in the QB draft back in November. This is the same Marquise Williams that started over Mitchell Trubisky at North Carolina for two years and could give a rushing threat out of the pocket when inserted (he rushed for 32 yards on 3 carries in Week 2). Other QB’s to be aware of are the backups for our Cheap tier. Aaron Murray was Atlanta’s first pick in the QB draft and Matt Simms hasn’t inspired much faith with his check-downs. Brandon Silvers was warming up in the 3rd quarter last week for Memphis and could see time if Hackenberg continues to struggle. Mike Bercovici started the season for San Diego but was pulled for Philip Nelson during Week 1 and was famously removed from his helmet during a sack. Nelson hasn’t played very well so we’ll see if Mike Martz makes another change at QB.