Unless you have a bonafide stud at quarterback, it’s easy to play the matchups at quarterback in fantasy football. In today’s day and age, it’s more common than ever to find quarterbacks throwing for 300 yards and three touchdowns on a weekly basis. Heading into Week Three, unclaimed players like Blake Bortles and Derek Carr could be good last-second adds to your fantasy roster.
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Blake Bortles, Derek Carr Top Week Three Quarterback Waiver Claims
Blake Bortles
No, this isn’t an overreaction to Blake Bortles’ fantastic performance against the New England Patriots. Bortles was absolutely amazing, throwing for 377 yards and four touchdowns while adding 35 yards on the ground. He won’t put up those type of numbers again, but he’s more than capable of being a serviceable starter for a team in a pinch.
Bortles is genuinely one of the best rushing quarterbacks in the league, and he faces a Tennessee Titans defense which has struggled in the first two weeks. In Week Two, Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson threw for 310 yards and two touchdowns while adding 44 rushing yards against the Titans. Watson did all that while still looking hobbled, so Bortles should be able to put up a similar stat line.
Derek Carr
It appears that chastising quarterback Derek Carr in front of the media worked wonders for Jon Gruden and the Oakland Raiders. Carr was dynamic in his second start of the season, throwing for 288 yards and one touchdown in a 20-19 loss to a good Denver Broncos defense. Carr looked more like his 2016 MVP form than his 2017 check-down form. If he can continue to be aggressive with the football, he can be a solid QB2 for the season.
Carr faces a Miami Dolphins defense which hasn’t faced a good offense yet. In Week One, they took on a Titans in a game which underwent two different weather delays. While the Miami defense played well in Week Two, they still allowed rookie quarterback Sam Darnold to throw for over 300 yards.
Andy Dalton
Ever since first becoming a starting quarterback in 2011, Andy Dalton has been considered the “prime meridian” for quarterback standards. A perfectly competent quarterback most of the time, Dalton has put together two strong weeks at the start of 2018. While there’s always the worry he will regress to the mean, there is hope that Good Dalton could be around to stay.
For one, Dalton is surrounded by a strong supporting cast of A.J. Green, Tyler Eifert, Tyler Boyd, and several other strong playmakers. The last time he had a grouping this strong was 2015 when he was a borderline MVP candidate before injuring his thumb.
Dalton and the Bengals are going up against a Carolina Panthers team which just surrendered 30.7 fantasy point to Matt Ryan. While the unit will probably put up a better showing against the Bengals, this still looks like a good matchup for Dalton.
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