Quarterback By Waiver Wire (QBBWW): Week 13

Nov 26, 2013

Game flow can be particularly insidious for those who pluck their quarterbacks from the waiver wire.

Elite fantasy signal callers are usually immune from the various ways in which defensive and special teams scores can make game flow go haywire. The ball is rarely taken out of their hands, and for good reason.

We’ve been on the wrong end of that game flow equation quite a few times this season – unsurprisingly, I should add – so it was nice to be on the good end in Week 12.

We had Josh McCown as a QBBWW selection, and an early St. Louis Rams lead forced Marc Trestman’s signal caller to fling to pigskin 47 times. He finished as fantasy’s No. 6 quarterback last week.

McCown’s performance speaks to why we trust Trestman. Perhaps Jay Cutler wasn’t our QBBWW gem as much as his head coach, the quarterback whisperer.

I stand by the inclusion of Houston quarterback Case Keenum in Week 12’s picks. The numbers screamed for us to play him against a Jacksonville secondary that had been shredded by quarterbacks of every caliber.

The entire Texans organization is a flaming dumpster fire, as we’ve seen over the past month, proving that sometimes even the best paper matchups are nullified by general team-wide incompetence. It’s not an excuse, just an observation.

My QBBWW picks, after 12 weeks, are averaging 16.8 fantasy points per game, or QB9 numbers. Optimal QBBWW selections have averaged 21.3 points per contest, or QB3 numbers.

There’s a glut of viable QBBWW plays in Week 13. Here are three that’ll I’ll use in every re-draft league, and more than a few daily games.