DFS NFL QB Coach: Week 10

Here is Ray Flowers' take on the quarterback position for the current NFL Week. 

* RANK - The rankings of players for the current week.
* PA - Percentage of plays run that were passes.

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* Pts allowed on Fanduel
** Opp Pass Rank is pass defense    
*** Opp Rank is Oppositions overall defensive rank
**** DVOA – Football Outsiders Defense adjusted Value Over Average
*****Pace - Seconds per play, the lower the number, the more plays run.

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• RZ Patt Red Zone Passing Attempts (inside the 20 yard line)
• RZ P<15 Red Zone Passing Attempts (inside the 15 yard line)
• RZ P<10 Red Zone Passing Attempts (inside the 10 yard line)
• RZ P<5 Red Zone Passing Attempts (inside the 5 yard line)
• RZ Ru Red Zone Rushing Attempts (inside the 20 yard line)
• RZ Ru<15 Red Zone Rushing Attempts (inside the 15 yard line)
• RZ Ru<10 Red Zone Rushing Attempts (inside the 10 yard line)
• RZ Ru<5 Red Zone Rushing Attempts (inside the 5 yard line)
• RZ Tar Red Zone Targets (inside the 20 yard line)
• RZ Tar<15 Red Zone Targets (inside the 15 yard line)
• RZ Tar<10 Red Zone Targets (inside the 10 yard line)
• RZ Tar<5 Red Zone Targets (inside the 5 yard line)
• RZ Rec Red Zone Receptions (inside the 20 yard line)
• RZ Rec<15 Red Zone Receptions (inside the 15 yard line)
• RZ Rec<10 Red Zone Receptions (inside the 10 yard line)
• RZ Rec<5 Red Zone Receptions (inside the 5 yard line)

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*NOTE: Note all quarterbacks have a writeup below. That doesn't mean that only the below options fit in each category. Check the graphs above to see where the others rank.

ELITE OPTIONS

Matt Ryan is third in the league in QB Rating when under pressure behind just Sam Bradford and Derek Carr. The Eagles are holding signal callers to 218 yards a game at a 58 percent completion rate with 23 sacks, the third most in football. As noted, Ryan continues to have success even when folks are in his face.

Philip Rivers has two passing scores in each of his last two games and in each of the last three he’s tossed for at least 267 yards despite all the injuries with his pass catchers. Rivers has also been deft at home with nine scores and just one pick in four games. Dolphins have only allowed just 11 passing scores and just 227 passing yards a week on the season.

Ben Roethlisberger looked bad in his first game back from knee surgery. His struggles were highlighted on the 20 passes he attempted that were in the air for more than nine yards as he completed just six of them. He came on late with a passing score and one on the ground, but he simply didn’t look like a fully healthy player. The Cowboys are a bottom third defense who has only picked off four passes in eight games while allowing signal callers to hit on 68 percent of their passes.

SOLID PLAYS

Cam Newton is holding on to the ball too long as his average time to pass is 2.65 seconds, ninth highest in football. Even with all the holding on he only attempted one pass over 20-yards last week. Newton has thrown just one touchdown pass in two games and four in five. He’s also run for just one score in four outings as he’s been held to 225 or fewer passing yards three times in four games. He has produced just five scores in three home games but he can still explode at any moment.

Marcus Mariota put four scores on the board last week, one rushing, but he also threw two picks and fumbled once which led to two touchdown returns. That’s 5-straight games with at least two passing scores for Mariota, though he continues to make a handful of confounding plays each game.

Jameis Winston leads the NFL with 67.1 percent of his passes gained in the air. It’s a lot of long passes from Winston who has 17 scores but nine interceptions thus far. Chicago has allowed only 221 passing yards a game the last three times out though, and Mike Evans is dealing with a concussion though the expectation is that he will play through that (obviously keep a close eye on the injury reports with the star wideout).

Drew Brees threw for 323 yards and three scores last week, on the road. He should have success even in a tough matchup (Denver allows just 183 passing yards a game and has permitted just six passing scores) given that he’s at home and cause the Broncos defense is dealing with some health woes (Derek Wolfe and Aqib Talib).

Dak Prescott is second in the NFL with a 121.5 QB Rating when not under pressure. The pocket is clean, Prescott has success. The Steelers rank just 19^th in pass rush according to PFF so Dak should be able to find the time he needs to have success.

Andy Dalton is third in the Pro Football Focus QB Rating. He faces a Giants club that has only 11 sacks and allows 44 passes a game, the most in football, though they do rank as a top-10 unit overall according to PFF.

Russell Wilson is opposed by a Patriots defense that has allowed a mere nine touchdown passes in eight games. They also allow just 252.5 passing yards a week. Russell finally looked like his old self on MNF throwing for 282 yards and two scores, with another one rushing and looked pretty spry in doing it. HE still has just two passing scores in four games, but he’s finally trending upward.

Eli Manning has thrown for 350-yards or four touchdowns in 4-of-8 games this season. He has also tossed eight scores in four home games, though he’s also been picked off six times. The Bengals are a bottom 3-unit in pass coverage according to PFF, and they are on pace to allow 32 touchdown passed and 4,200 passing yards.

RISKY PLAYS

Blake Bortles truly is the second half master. He has four touchdown passes and seven picks in the first half while throwing for just 757 yards. Things are totally different in the second half though: 10 scores, three interceptions and 1,399 yards. He threw only one pick last week though, honestly, it should have been three, and he continues to make bad reads and to stare down receivers.

Jay Cutler faces Tampa who has allowed 18 passing scores with a mere four interceptions through eight games. They just aren’t a very successful club against the pass, a fact driven him last week when Matt Ryan torched them without mercy.

Trevor Siemian faces the Saints who just got blown up for 389/2 by Colin Kaepernick. He faces the Saints who allow a league worst 300-passing yards a game with only four interceptions. Will it matter? Not likely as Siemian has five touchdown passes in five games and the last two games he’s been particularly poor with a 50.7 mere completion ratio the last two games. It’s not 1971 so that simply isn’t acceptable.

Colin Kaepernick threw for 398 yards and two scores last week, but as we say all the time, don’t chase points. He put up that effort against a defense that is allowing a league worst 300 passing yards an outing. Also, 144 of those yards last week came on three plays where the Saints flat out blew the coverage. He also completed just 61.5 percent of his passes and was off the mark on many of the passes that were caught. He faces Arizona that is the #1 defense at PFF.

Carson Wentz is not playing good football at the moment. Mr. Avoid the Turnover threw interceptions on his first two tosses in Week 9. This week he will be opposed by the Falcons who ranked 20^th in pass coverage according to PFF. HC Doug Pederson wants to scale back the pass attempts moving forward as well. 

QUARTERBACKS TO AVOID

Ryan Tannehill completed just two passes over 10-yards downfield in Week 9 and ended the effort with less than 205 passing yards for the fourth time in five outings. Check out this Daily Dive video for more.

Sam Bradford was working at a quicker pace with the new offensive coordinator. Bradford released 76 percent of his passes in under 2.5 seconds in Week 9, well above the 62 percent mark that he owned coming into the game. Bradford also tossed eight wideout screens in the game after throwing an average of three the previous seven games. That helped drop the percentage of snaps he was pressured on by 11 percent.

Case Keenum is last in the league in adjusted accuracy percentage (48.7) and QB Rating (31.2) when under pressure. He stinks. #AstuteAnalysis

Ryan Fitzpatrick is a mess and it’s not getting better (he’s also dealing with a PCL injury too). He will be opposed by the Rams who lead the PFF rankings for pass rushing. It’s not likely to be pretty this week for the Jets offense who might have to turn to Bryce Petty this week.