DFS NFL QB Coach: Week 1

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Drew Brees is always a star. Doesn’t matter who he throws the ball to.  He was second in the NFL in attempts last season (627), first in 2014 (659) and third in 2013 (650). He’s nearly always a top-5 weekly option with that volume.

Derek Carr threw for 3,987 yards and 32 scores last season against only 13 picks as he attempted the 9^th most passes in football (573).

Kirk Cousins had 11 games last season with exactly one touchdown pass. One. However, he was an absolute monster at home last season, crazy good with a 117.0 QB Rating, the best in the game (16 touchdowns passing, four rushing and two picks, two).

Jay Cutler may or may not face J.J. Watt (back). Even if the superstar plays, you have to think he will be limited which helps Cutler who will actually have his top-2 wideouts (Alshon Jeffery and Kevin White) after failing to have the duo all season long last year.

Joe Flacco’s knee appears to be fine. However, his wideout group is a complete unknown at the moment with Steve Smith and Breshad Perriman completely untrustable at the moment.

Blaine Gabbert will be in charge of the Chip Kelley offense in Week 1. Carlos Hyde dealing with a concussion is a concern, as is a depleted wideout corps that has no clarity beyond Torrey Smith.

Jimmy Garoppolo will man the ever dangerous Patriots offense after a solid preseason. Sounds like Danny Amendola could be active though Malcom Mitchell (elbow) may not allow him to play in Week 1.

Robert Griffin III has had some high’s and low’s this camp season. He will enter the week without Josh Gordon and Terrelle Pryor trying to establish himself as a legit wideout. Corey Coleman also missed a lot of time with hamstring woes this spring and hauled in just one of six targets this preseason. RGIII is nothing other than a QB2 dart throw in Week 1.

Andrew Luck will likely have his full complement of pass catchers as it sounds like the hip issue with Dwayne Allen is nothing to worry about. Luck didn’t look great at times this spring, but that has to have something to do with just being rusty. The o-line is an issue, as are turnovers, but folks seem to misunderstand that Luck was on a 16 game pace last season for 4,300 passing yards and 34 touchdowns while playing poorly.  

Eli Manning has ODB, and that helps to cover up a lot of woes. Sterling Shepard appears poised to succeed in his first season, but the offense as a whole looked awful in preseason. Can they turn on the success just because the regular season lights are on?

Marcus Mariota has Rishard Matthews and Tajae Sharp trending up while Kendall Wright (hamstring) cannot seem to get healthy. If Andre Johnson plays significant snaps in Week 1 that cannot be a good thing for the second year signal caller.

Brock Osweiler has DeAndre Hopkins who is a star, and Will Fuller and Jaelen Strong appear ready to operate as handcuffs. Lamar Miller can help out catching passes out of the backfield as well.

Carson Palmer has looked terrible this preseason. There shouldn’t be much concern given his supporting cast. If you look at last season, his 8.7 YPA mark led football.

Dak Prescott has an intriguing skill set in fantasy. He’s also totally inexperienced, has trouble with football and in the pocket, and just because he had success against vanilla defenses in the preseason means virtually nothing to this scribe.

Philip Rivers will throw the ball, a lot. It will be high percentage stuff that features Keenan Allen out wide, Danny Woodhead out of the backfield and Antonio Gates in the red zone. Rivers though had no scores last season in two games against the Chiefs.

Matt Ryan is boring and no one wants to start him. He threw for 4,591 yards and 21 scores last season. In his entire NFL career, Joe Montana hit both those numbers in the same season – not one single time.

Trevor Siemian will take the reins of an offense that simply wants to control the clock, keep the game close, feature the running attack, and let their defense win games.

Matthew Stafford is in for a good week. No between the runner tackles you can trust, and in the second half last season with OC Cooter, he threw for 19 touchdowns and just two picks. The Lions also went heavy no-huddle in the preseason signaling that they plan on running a ton of plays.

Ryan Tannehill has Adam Gase with him, a nice bonus for a quarterback who now can call his own plays at the line of scrimmage. “He kind of gave me the keys and said, ‘Go play,’” Tannehill said. Gase did a lot for Jay Cutler and one should expect Tannehill to also show growth this season with Gase in tow.

Tyrod Taylor completed 63.7 percent of his passes with 20 scores and six picks. Efficient and the thrower of a nice deep ball, Taylor also brings that dynamic talent with his legs 568 rushing yards and four scores.

Carson Wentz appeared in the preseason 38 snaps as he dealt with an issue with his rib cage. He says he’s ready. He’s not.

Russell Wilson has grown so much as a player to the point where you can argue that he does more, with less, than any quarterback in football. With Jimmy Graham uncertain to do much of anything in Week 1 even if he plays, Wilson will be hard pressed to see a huge volume of passes, but with his accuracy and his wheels, you can’t think that he’s anything other than an upper echelon option in Week 1.