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Dan's fantasy football quarterback waiver wire pickups for Week 16 of the 2022 NFL season. His free agent QBs to add and QB streamers for 1QB and 2B leagues.
All of the fantasy quarterbacks decided to wait until the playoffs began before they started putting up big numbers. Week 15 had some of the wildest games and biggest performances, especially out of the quarterback position.
Kirk Cousins paced all passers with 426 yards (most of which came in the second half and overtime). Seven other quarterbacks surpassed the 300-yard passing mark on the week. Four different quarterbacks (Cousins, Trevor Lawrence, Josh Allen, and Joe Burrow) had four passing touchdowns and three others threw for three touchdowns.
In this article, I will look at the fantasy football waiver wire for quarterback pickups and streamers, focusing on players under 65% rostered in fantasy leagues while adding a couple of deep sleepers for two-quarterback leagues (less than 25% rostered).
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Single-QB League Waiver Wire Options
Daniel Jones, New York Giants
Yahoo: 59% rostered
Daniel Jones gets to be the beneficiary of Week 16’s offensive game against the Minnesota Vikings secondary. Minnesota had allowed over 300 passing yards in five straight games before Week 15’s wild victory over the Indianapolis Colts. If Indianapolis hadn’t scored multiple touchdowns on defense and special teams, they likely would have hit that number too.
Jones has been extremely efficient as a passer since the Giants' Week 9 bye and always presents a solid rushing floor. He remains a fantasy-relevant quarterback (in a fantastic matchup) and should have a big scoring upside against Minnesota’s awful secondary.
Gardner Minshew, Philadelphia Eagles
Yahoo: 0% rostered
The Eagles were riding high after beating the Chicago Bears in Week 15 and setting themselves up with a clear path to the #1 seed in the NFC. Then, reports started to surface on Monday that Jalen Hurts had suffered an injury to his throwing shoulder and would likely miss Week 16's divisional game against the Dallas Cowboys.
That injury (combined with the fact that the Eagles are locked into a playoff spot) means that Gardner Minshew has an excellent chance to start not only this week but for the rest of the regular season so Jalen Hurts can get to full health before the Eagles' Super Bown run.
The veteran quarterback (and cult hero) has a career 63% completion percentage and a 41-12 touchdown to interception ratio. The Dallas matchup is far from simple, but Minshew will still be playing behind the league's best offensive line with a strong running game and excellent pass-catching weapons (and may get tight end Dallas Goedert back as well).
Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers
Yahoo: 20% rostered
Brock Purdy has played in three straight games for the San Francisco 49ers and is completing 66.7% of his passes for 678 yards and six touchdowns with two interceptions. He’s scored at least 14.0 fantasy points in each of the last three weeks.
Purdy put up statistics last week against a tough Seattle defense despite the lack of Deebo Samuel at wide receiver. The rookie quarterback delivered 217 yards and two touchdowns with zero turnovers in a 21-13 victory.
San Francisco has the offensive line to give Purdy protection against Washington’s defensive line, giving him time to attack their questionable secondary. He’s an intriguing fantasy option once again.
Two-QB Waiver Wire Options and Stashes
Sam Darnold, Carolina Panthers
Yahoo: 6% rostered
Sam Darnold is performing admirably since being named the team’s starting quarterback again in Week 12. The Panthers are utilizing a run-first offense with the veteran quarterback at the helm, but despite that Darnold has thrown for 284 yards and two touchdowns, and zero interceptions in three games.
Darnold has some rushing upside to offset the lack of passing attempts, but he’s hardly a reliable dual threat. That being said, he does have an interesting matchup on the horizon against the Detroit Lions. That alone gets him on the fantasy radar even with an apparent lack of scoring upside.
Davis Mills, Houston Texans
Yahoo: 5% rostered
Davis Mills hasn’t been able to build upon the promise he showed throughout his rookie season both as an NFL quarterback and a fantasy asset. Mills has just 11 touchdowns to 12 interceptions on the year and was benched for a stretch in favor of Kyle Allen.
However, he put together his best game as a quarterback this season against the Kansas City Chiefs in a close overtime loss. The second-year quarterback completed just 50% of his passes but threw for 121 yards and two touchdowns with zero interceptions. He also added five carries for 21 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
Houston is awful and missing some of their top offensive weapons, but will be facing off against a terrible Titans secondary in Week 16. There is a chance that Mills builds upon his strong performance, putting him firmly on the fantasy radar for managers in a pinch.
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