Fantasy Football Rankings, Week 9: Quarterbacks

Many familiar names topped the fantasy quarterback scoring for Week 8, namely Stafford, Brady and Peyton Manning. Surprisingly, some others jumped in on the action and rose to the top, notably Josh Freeman, Alex Smith and Blaine Gabbert. Freeman and Smith both passed for three touchdowns and over 230 yards. Smith was especially accurate and calmed the fears of those who thought his confidence had been shaken. Freeman continued his strong streak of fantasy games with his third straight three touchdown game.

Looking at injuries and their effect on fantasy quarterbacks, two starters went down on Sunday and were replaced by two Matts. Matt Cassel looks like he will start against the Chargers on Thursday night. Brady Quinn went down with what looks to be a concussion and will probably be held out this week. Ryan Tannehill suffered knee and quad injuries, which knocked him out of the game. Matt Moore came in and led the Dolphins to a win over the Jets. He was not amazing but solid and accurate. A third Matt, Matt Hasselbeck managed the game and almost had his third win as the starter. Jake Lockermay return this weekend but it doesn't matter who's behind center, the matchup is avoidable as Tennessee faces Chicago.

The biggest news though is whether there will be a quarterback change in Philadelphia or not. Michael Vick stated that Andy Reid was looking at making a change at quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles. There was no word on the matter on Monday out of Philadelphia, whether that was in the works or not. Personally, I find it hard to believe that at this point of the season, the Eagles would hand the offense over to a rookie quarterback. The Eagles are not out of the playoff picture and they have an awesome matchup offensively coming up when they take on the Saints. If you have Vick, it's worth it to make a claim on a quality starter that's available or even to handcuff Foles. Foles is a traditional pocket passer and was quite productive in college. This situation is very fluid and could change this week or very shortly.

My predictions for quarterbacks that will have a strong Week 9:

Josh Freeman, Buccaneers - Freeman is on a roll and you will want to continue to roll with him. He has thrown three touchdowns in three straight games and has a very good matchup against the Oakland Raiders. I think his passing touchdown streak will continue in Week 9 with three more.

Brandon Weeden, Ravens - Weeden did not have a good game last week but the weather was horrible and led to more of a ground game. In his last game against the Ravens, he went over 300 yards and only turned the ball over once. The Baltimore defense has been weakened since that game and I think Weeden will have some shots down field.

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