I've got a win-and-you're in game this week, and I'm hurting at quarterback. Jaxson Dart is on his bye (Week 14 byes, grrr) and Justin Herbert has a broken hand. Maybe Herbert plays, but we might not know for sure (and it's a Monday night game). So I'm eyeing Marcus Mariota.
It's not certain that Mariota will start this week, with Jayden Daniels (elbow) a possibility. But Dan Quinn said the starter hasn't been cleared for contact yet, so early lean is Mariota. He's facing a Vikings defense that currently has a favorable ranking against the pass, but isn't actually very good (recent opponents have been running the ball and playing defense against Minnesota's comically inept quarterback play.
And Mariota the last four games he's started has been respectable, both NFL and fantasy wise.
Not great; for one thing, Washington has lost all those games. And Mariota will force some throws; there's a reason why he's bounced around the league for years. But in this offense, and his willingness to run, have made him a decent starter of late.
Table shows all quarterbacks who have started at least 6 games this year, plus Mariota in his last four. He comes in 11th in fantasy scoring (4-point TD passes, 1 point for every 20 passing and 10 rushing yards), just behind another veteran backup and just ahead of Daniels.
| QUARTERBACKS, MINIMUM 6 STARTS | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | GS | Pass/G | PaTD | Run/G | RuTD | FF/G |
| Josh Allen | 12 | 236 | 19 | 34 | 11 | 27.0 |
| Patrick Mahomes | 12 | 270 | 22 | 29 | 4 | 25.7 |
| Dak Prescott | 12 | 272 | 25 | 10 | 2 | 23.9 |
| Drake Maye | 13 | 263 | 23 | 25 | 2 | 23.6 |
| Jalen Hurts | 12 | 210 | 19 | 27 | 8 | 23.5 |
| Matthew Stafford | 12 | 256 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 23.5 |
| Daniel Jones | 12 | 253 | 19 | 13 | 5 | 22.8 |
| Justin Herbert | 12 | 237 | 21 | 29 | 1 | 22.2 |
| Jaxson Dart | 8 | 156 | 11 | 34 | 7 | 21.9 |
| Jacoby Brissett | 7 | 243 | 13 | 13 | 1 | 21.7 |
| Jayden Daniels | 6 | 197 | 8 | 44 | 2 | 21.6 |
| Marcus Mariota | 4 | 233 | 6 | 39 | 0 | 21.6 |
| Jared Goff | 12 | 252 | 25 | 4 | 0 | 21.3 |
| Bo Nix | 12 | 229 | 19 | 19 | 3 | 21.2 |
| Caleb Williams | 12 | 227 | 17 | 26 | 3 | 21.1 |
| Trevor Lawrence | 12 | 220 | 16 | 20 | 5 | 20.8 |
| Lamar Jackson | 9 | 205 | 15 | 29 | 1 | 20.5 |
| Baker Mayfield | 12 | 217 | 19 | 20 | 1 | 19.7 |
| Jordan Love | 12 | 233 | 19 | 14 | 0 | 19.4 |
| Joe Flacco | 10 | 245 | 15 | 3 | 1 | 19.2 |
| Sam Darnold | 12 | 243 | 19 | 4 | 0 | 18.9 |
| C.J. Stroud | 9 | 220 | 11 | 21 | 0 | 18.0 |
| Mac Jones | 8 | 215 | 13 | 6 | 0 | 17.9 |
| Bryce Young | 12 | 195 | 18 | 10 | 1 | 17.2 |
| Justin Fields | 9 | 140 | 7 | 43 | 4 | 17.1 |
| Aaron Rodgers | 11 | 190 | 19 | 2 | 0 | 16.6 |
| Michael Penix | 9 | 220 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 16.5 |
| Geno Smith | 12 | 211 | 15 | 9 | 0 | 16.5 |
| Spencer Rattler | 8 | 198 | 8 | 21 | 0 | 16.0 |
| J.J. McCarthy | 6 | 155 | 6 | 20 | 2 | 15.7 |
| Tua Tagovailoa | 12 | 190 | 17 | 4 | 0 | 15.6 |
| Cam Ward | 12 | 196 | 7 | 10 | 1 | 13.6 |
| Dillon Gabriel | 6 | 104 | 7 | 10 | 0 | 10.9 |
Maybe Herbert is practicing fully on Friday and I can go with him, or maybe somebody drops Brissett for whatever reason. But probably Mariota, and I could do worse, I think.
--Andy Richardson