Can You Trust Brian Hoyer, Josh McCown and Tom Brady In Week 12?

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is one star that every fantasy football player loves to start. Brady is elite at his position and typically put up points in a most fun fashion. With Thanksgiving so fresh in our memories, Brady is the glorious turkey at the center of the dinner table. Brady is the reliable main event act that we all look forward to when coming fresh out of the oven. Well, Cleveland Browns quarterback Josh McCown and Houston Texans quarterback Brian Hoyer are the leftovers. No one is excited about the leftovers and will only look for them if there are no other options. That explains how they got their starting jobs in the NFL.

Despite comparing them to cold stuffing and old turkey, there’s great value in McCown and Hoyer this week. Hoyer and the Houston Texans will have a feast in a great matchup against the putrid New Orleans Saints defense. New Orleans is viewed as the worst defense in the league and is giving up 423 yards per game. Most of the yards are through the passing game. The Saints have allowed the most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks this season. McCown has an almost equally delicious matchup on Monday Night Football against the Baltimore Ravens. Following the punishment to Johnny Manziel, McCown has the starting quarterback job in Cleveland and he should give great results this week. McCown passed for 457 passing yards and two touchdown scores in his prior matchup against the Ravens in Week 5. Baltimore’s pass defense is still very weak and has given up the fourth most fantasy points to the quarterback position.

Brady will have a more difficult time with his matchup this week. The New England Patriots will visit the Denver Broncos and their elite defense. Already without trustworthy weapons Julian Edelman and Dion Lewis out for the season, Brady may be forced to go it without Danny Amendola due to his knee injury making him questionable. Brady has already been showing signs of falling off his perch of dominance lately but now he will be facing the best pass defense with limited weapons. As great as Brady is, this is a situation that seems impossible to achieve success in. If the Broncos game plan well enough to limit Rob Gronkowski, Brady will be in for a long day. While you can’t sit Brady in standard leagues because you’d never forgive yourself if he goes off, daily fantasy is different. This week is an example of where you can trust a lesser option and fade the star. Regardless of what values you see at other positions, there’s no reason to have Brady in your daily fantasy lineup over Hoyer or McCown.