The NFL preseason is halfway done with two weeks of games in the books. Many teams have their depth charts close to settled, and we’ll see their starting lineups rolled out later this week in the third preseason game, the unofficial “dress rehearsal” of the NFL calendar.
Fantasy football 2017: Performance of sleeper, bust quarterback candidates from preseason Week 2
With the preseason halfway over, we take a look at some more sleeper and bust candidates at the QB position.
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But before we get to that point, let’s go over a few performances from the second week of preseason and gauge the fantasy value of a select few players. It’s still early to be making stone-cold predictions, but here are some sleeper and bust candidates at the quarterback position based on two preseason games.
Potential sleepers
Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs — Mahomes worked with the second team again, but he continues to shine, completing 10 of 14 passes for 88 yards and two touchdowns against the Cincinnati Bengals. Displaying a big arm, playmaking chops, and decisive field vision, Mahomes sure looks like the real deal in the early going of his rookie year. It feels like only a matter of time before he takes the starting job from Alex Smith.
Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys — No Ezekiel Elliott? No problem, apparently. Prescott got his first preseason action last week and picked up where he left off from his Offensive Rookie of the Year campaign, carving up the Indianapolis Colts for 7-of-8 passing and 131 yards. He also showed strong chemistry with Dez Bryant, who was his vintage self with 55 yards and a beastly touchdown on two catches. The Cowboys need Prescott to carry the offense while Elliott is out, and so far he looks up to the task.
Matthew Stafford, Detroit Lions — It seems like every year people sleep on Stafford, who goes on to have a low-end QB1 season and returns good value on his low draft status. This season, Stafford is going in the 10th round of standard 12-team leagues, which is almost a bargain for him. Fantasy owners are rarely excited to start Stafford, but he’s reliable more often than not. If you’re hunting for value and are willing to wait on QBs, you can’t go wrong with Stafford at that price.
Potential busts
Blake Bortles, Jacksonville Jaguars — Bortles has reached the end of hia rope in Jacksonville. After another miserable preseason performance, Doug Marrone confirmed that thr starting job was up for grabs between Bortlea and Chad Henne. This situation is a complete mess and further hurts the fantasy value of guys like Allen Robinson and Allen Hurns. Bortles is undraftable in all league formats.
Tyrod Taylor, Buffalo Bills — Boy does Taylor look like he misses his favorite target. After the Bills shockingly traded away Sammy Watkins, Taylor went out and had a dud, completing just 8 of 18 passes for 53 yards and two interceptions against the Philadelphia Eagles. His receiver weapons are now down to an injured Jordan Matthews and rookie slot guy Zay Jones. A flawed passer in a one-dimensional offense and possibly short leash from new coaches, Taylor’s fantasy arrow is quickly pointing down.
Paxton Lynch, Denver Broncos — Trevor Siemian might have already won the starting job before the third preseason game even started. It’s beyond discouraging that Lynch hasn’t made any progress in just his second preseason, and he’s already looking like a bust as a 2016 first-round pick. Lynch can be dropped in dynasty leagues and ignored until further notice.
