The bye weeks have been humming along without much disruption so far, but Week 9 sees a major shakeup with six teams resting. The Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions, Chicago Bears, Atlanta Falcons, Buffalo Bills and Tennessee Titans all have the week off, so owners will have to find replacements for Aaron Rodgers, Matthew Stafford, Jay Cutler and Matt Ryan. Even Kyle Orton won't be a streaming option -- I would've included him on this list if he was playing this week.
Fantasy football waiver wire, Week 9: 5 quarterbacks to target
Aaron Rodgers, Matthew Stafford, Jay Cutler and Matt Ryan are all on bye this week, making for slim pickings at the quarterback position.
Jason Miller
Outside of Rodgers, none of those quarterbacks have met expectations this season, but that still leaves a big hole in the fantasy mid-to-upper tier in Week 9. Here are five quarterbacks owned in 50 percent or less of Yahoo! leagues who might be able to help you out this week.
Carson Palmer, Arizona Cardinals (50 percent) --Why don't you own him yet? Palmer didn't have the most efficient day against the Philadelphia Eagles, completing only 20 of his 42 passes. He more than made up for it with monster yardage, racking up 329 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. Palmer's shoulder is clearly 100 percent and he has QB1 value against the Dallas Cowboys next week. The 34-year-old is startable in almost every fantasy league.
Robert Griffin III, Washington (36 percent) -- Griffin wasn't ready for Week 8, but all signs point towards him making his return against the Minnesota Vikings this week. Washington was desperate enough to go with Colt McCoy over Kirk Cousins against the Cowboys on Monday night, so Griffin should have no problem winning the starting job back. The question, as it was in the preseason, is how well he'll fit in Jay Gruden's offense. RGIII is worth stashing, but wait a couple games to see how he looks before you start him again.
Austin Davis, St. Louis Rams (13 percent) -- This one is harder to justify than the others on my list. Davis took another step back in St. Louis' blowout loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, losing half of his offensive line and taking seven sacks. He hasn't reached 200 yards since Week 6 and now gets a date with the San Francisco 49ers on the road. Still, with so many solid mid-tier quarterbacks on bye, Davis showed enough early in the season that he's worth a dice roll in two-quarterback leagues -- besides, that last 200-yard game came against the same 49ers.
Derek Carr, Oakland Raiders (7 percent) -- Dare I say it, Carr has been the most impressive rookie quarterback this year. Unlike the turnover-happy ways of Blake Bortles and Teddy Bridgewater, Carr has been taking care of the ball outside of a garbage-time fumble against the Cleveland Browns last Sunday. He finished with his first 300-yard game and hasn't thrown an interception in his last two contests. Despite the Raiders being on the fast track to 0-16, Carr looks like someone they can build the team around. He'll get a real trial by fire when Oakland visits the Seattle Seahawks on the road, making him just a QB2 streamer this week.
Michael Vick, New York Jets (2 percent) -- It was eventually going to happen, and the Jets made it official on Monday. Vick will be the starter against the Kansas City Chiefs, with Geno Smith continuing to struggle. Vick didn't look much better when he took over in New York's loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday -- he completed only 50 percent of his passes, threw a pick and lost two fumbles. Perhaps he'll show better with a full week of practice and game planning with the first team, but Vick is only a desperation play in deeper fantasy leagues.
