Any hopes of an Aaron Rodgers vs Patrick Mahomes showdown were dashed on Wednesday when an unvaccinated Rodgers tested positive for COVID-19. While it sucks that we won’t get that electric quarterback matchup, Rodgers fantasy owners are now scrambling to find an optimal Week 9 quarterback streamer to replace fantasy’s QB9 overall.
TAYSOM HILL (22% rostered)
Assuming Taysom Hill plays on Sunday (concussion), he drips in the most upside of these five quarterbacks.
As a fill-in for Drew Brees last season, Hill exceeded expectations. From both a real-life and fantasy perspective, Hill won games for the Saints and for his fantasy owners. He surprisingly completed over 72 percent of his passes in three of his four starts and accounted for eight total touchdowns during those four games. Most importantly, averaged over 20 fantasy points per game and was fantasy’s QB6 during that starting stretch.
Hill’s dual-threat skill-set and juicy matchup against the Falcons makes him a must-start. The Falcons secondary has allowed the fourth-most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks this season.
Taysom is ranked QB9 on The Wolf’s Week 9 Fantasy Rankings.
TUA TAGOVAILOA (45%)
Tua has turned into our favorite matchup-based streaming quarterback this season. We begged you to stream him against the Falcons and he responded with 35 fantasy points. During his four starts this season, he’s scored 18, 25, 35, and 14 fantasy points — with his one ‘dud’ coming against the tough Bills’ defense last week.
This week, Tagovailoa gets the Texans in what could be a sneaky shootout game. The Texans have given up the seventh-most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks this season and rank 16th in pass DVOA.
With DeVante Parker, Jaylen Waddle, and Mike Gesicki at his disposal, ink 20-plus points next to Tua’s name.
TYROD TAYLOR (6%)
People forget Tyrod Taylor led the despicable Houston Texans to a Week 1 victory. Sure, it was against the equally pathetic Jaguars, but he also looked good in Week 2 against the Browns’ defense before he exited the game with a hamstring injury that landed him on injured reserve. After racking up roughly 45 fantasy points through six’ish quarters of action, he’s set to return this week against the Dolphins.
Since Week 5, the Dolphins have allowed an average of 339 passing yards and 2.5 passing touchdowns per game. They’ve also allowed the most fantasy points to quarterbacks in that span. Over the course of the season, they’ve given up the third-most fantasy points to quarterbacks.
As noted above, this game could be a shootout, and picking one of these quarterbacks could be a key to Week 9 success for Rodgers’ owners.
JORDAN LOVE (7%)
Rodgers’ replacement, Jordan Love, is also a viable streamer this week. However, he comes with the most uncertainty as it’s his first career NFL start.
On the bright side, Love has elite weaponry led by Davante Adams and Aaron Jones. He should also have Allen Lazard and Marquez Valdes-Scantling back in action, alongside Randall Cobb and AJ Dillon. Not only does he have top-tier weapons at his disposal, but he has some Konami upside — with an 87th percentile burst score and a 75th percentile speed score.
To put the cherry on top, Love gets a Chiefs’ defense that has been ravaged by opposing quarterbacks to the tune of the second-most fantasy points allowed this season.
Is it risky? Yes. But, the same could have been said for Cooper Rush streamers last week.
MIKE WHITE (8%)
Something called Mike White crept out of the sewer and put up an obscene 405 passing yards and three touchdowns against a stingy Bengals defense. All-in-all, he scored over 30 fantasy points during his NFL debut as a starter.
Was it a one-week mirage or will the young quarterback continue to be white-hot in Week 9 against the Colts? Although it’s on the road, the Colts present a favorable matchup. They’re ranked 20th in pass DVOA thus far and they’ve given up the ninth-most fantasy points to quarterbacks this season.
The only tough choice is that the Jets play on Thursday night. Rodgers owners will have to decide to roll the dice on Thursday or wait until Sunday to roll out a different option.
