Sleepers at Quarterback
Drake Maye, New England (at Tennessee)
Maye left last week’s game with a concussion, but he was back at practice this week, and by Thursday, he was leading the quarterback reps in every drill. He’s on track to play in Week 9 without a setback. He would face a Titans pass defense that gave up three scores to Jared Goff on only 15 attempts last week and ushered in the new golden age of passing for Buffalo in Week 7. Maye had a rushing score early last week and was on his way to a big game before getting sidelined.
Joe Flacco, Indianapolis (at Minnesota)
Flacco has already proven that he can fantasy value in this Colts offense, and he also proved he can still be a strong fantasy QB1 in December last year when he took over the Browns offense. The Vikings defense started the season strong but gave up four passing scores last week to Matthew Stafford and the resurgent Rams passing game. The Colts defense should have trouble slowing down the stacked Vikings offense, so Flacco should get a lot of pass attempts and be able to play with an aggressive mindset.
Jameis Winston, Cleveland (vs LA Chargers)
Winston being a sleeper this week is more a testament to the depth at the position than Winston being under the radar. The Chargers defense is above average, but they gave up 278 passing yards to the Saints backup quarterbacks last week, and Justin Fields completed 25 of 32 passes for 245 yards against them earlier this season. Winston should be able to post 300+ yards against them after last week when he unlocked the value of a wide receiver group that is still deep without Amari Cooper.
Derek Carr, New Orleans (at Carolina)
Carr isn’t a sure thing to play this weekend, but he was back at practice to open the week and should play if he doesn’t have a setback. He’ll come back just in time to face a Panthers defense that has given up multiple passing scores in every game this year except a blowout loss to the Falcons when the running backs scored three times. Carr threw for 200 yards and three scores against the Panthers earlier this year on only 23 attempts.