Related: Week 10 Fantasy Football Dark Horse Sleeper: RB Andre Brown
Aaron Rodgers will reportedly miss up to three weeks with a small fracture in his collarbone. If you’re a Rodgers owner like I am, your heart sank when you heard the news. Since I own Rodgers, I did not carry a backup quarterback on my roster and I’ll assume everyone else did the same unless they were in a two QB league. For his bye week, I dropped a bench player for a replacement, but it’s been Rodgers week in and week out.
Now owners are digging through the waiver wire looking for a replacement. Whether it’s week by week or for the full three weeks, there will be a lot of quarterback additions over the next couple of days. Luckily, Rodgers should be back in time for the fantasy playoffs (beginning in Week 14), so he will be able to lead you to a championship.
Based on strength of schedule and how he’s played in previous games, here are three quarterbacks I feel are good replacements for Rodgers for the next three weeks.
Nick Foles: Before I go into detail, this is only if Foles is named the starter. As of right now, head coach Chip Kelly has not made any announcement, but Foles is taking first-team snaps. We all saw the record-tying game Foles had last week in Oakland, but that’s not expected every week. The Philadelphia Eagles will take on the Green Bay Packers, a team that lost its starting quarterback and allowed Josh McCown to score 20 fantasy points.
The Eagles then play the Washington Redskins in Week 11, which is another favorable game. Foles gets everyone involved on offense and should start in Week 10. He’s thrown 13 touchdowns and zero interceptions this season. If he is named the starter, pick him up. He’s only owned in 10.4 percent of ESPN leagues.
Andy Dalton: Dalton only scored six fantasy points against Miami. I think that’s an outlier, as he’s more of a 15-20 points-per-game kind of guy. Before his Week 9 game, Dalton threw for 1,034 yards, 11 touchdowns and only two interceptions. His next two opponents, the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns, allow an average of 16.25 points to opposing quarterbacks.
With superstar A.J. Green and the emergence of Marvin Jones and Giovani Bernard, Dalton has plenty of weapons to succeed in these next couple of weeks. Dalton may be a tougher player to pick up, as he’s owned in 65 percent of ESPN leagues.
Case Keenum: Let’s make one thing clear — Keenum loves Andre Johnson. He targeted Johnson 13 times and succeeded nine times for 229 yards and three touchdowns. With Arian Foster still banged up, the Houston Texans will rely on the pass a little more than usual. The Texans’ next opponent, the Arizona Cardinals, allow just 15.1 points to opposing quarterbacks, but Keenum fared well against the Indianapolis Colts defense.
Their schedule gets even easier as they play the Oakland Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars in Weeks 11 and 12. Keenum is obviously owned in very few leagues, 1.8 percent to be exact, and is becoming a viable fantasy option, especially for Rodgers’ owners.
Bill Pivetz is a fantasy football writer for Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @Mr_Piv1127.
