In the first run of this week's projections, Joe Flacco projects at QB20. I don't know how that sounds to you, but based on what he's done the past two years, it's flat-out disrespectful.
Flacco has played at least 80% of the offensive snaps in eight games over the past two seasons. In those eight games, he's thrown for 2,332 yards and 20 touchdowns. To put that into context, his 17-game pace if for 4,956 yards and 42 touchdowns. Elite. He's averaged 24.3 FPPG in CBS scoring. Also elite. So why is he projected so low?
It's kind of the reverse of what we talked about last week. Nix was boosted in the projections by a high implied total and an awesome matchup. Flacco's Colts have an implied total of 20.5 this week and they're facing a Vikings defense that has only allowed one QB to top 20 Fantasy points in their building. Brock Purdy, C.J. Stroud, Aaron Rodgers, and Jared Goff averaged 16.75 Fantasy points in Minnesota this season. They had the same number of interceptions as touchdowns (6).
There's also the fact that a lot of those big numbers from Flacco came in Cleveland last year. He's only averaging 238 passing yards per game for the Colts and just 6.6 yards per pass attempt. He's a must-add in Superflex leagues and I don't mind rostering him in a one-QB league, but there are better options this week. You'll find them in the waivers section below.
Let's get to the rest of the preview:
Fantasy Football Today Newsletter
Know What Your Friends Don't
Get tips, advice and news to win your league - all from the FFT podcast team.
By pressing sign up, I confirm that I have read and agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge Paramount's Privacy Policy.
So I'm on an island with Carr this week, but assuming he plays he's not just an add but he's also a top 12 QB for me. And yes, this has a lot to do with the matchup. Six of eight QBs have scored at least 20 Fantasy points against Carolina and three of the last four have scored at least 27. Carr is averaging a modest 17.6 this season but he has multiple touchdowns in three of five games and he's averaging a very good 7.7 yards per pass attempt.
I don't actually like Nix as much as I did last week. The Ravens are a good matchup, but they aren't as inept as the Panthers. And Vegas doesn't like the Broncos offense near as much, their implied total is eight points lower. Still, the Ravens have given up the third most Fantasy points per game to opposing QBs and Nix is averaging 21.6 FPPG since Week 3.
If this game really as simple as just play the best quarterback every week? It seems like it. Jackson is the third-highest Qb by cost but I have him projected for three more Fantasy points than any other QB this week.
Carr is your budget option at QB but he comes with big upside thanks to his opponent. He should also come with a low roster rate thanks to the questionable tag that should linger on his profile throughout the week.
QB Preview
Heath's projections
My full set of Week 9 Fantasy football projections for every position are now available on SportsLine. You'll find them here. Find out which of my favorite plays are projected to score higher than consensus rankings and which don't live up to their draft hype, at least in Week 9. Projected stats for all starting running backs are available, so be sure to check out the full set of projections at SportsLine.
