Pick one: Tee Higgins, Amari Cooper or Puka Nacua?

Welcome back to another live fantasy football Q&A right here at The Athletic! Let us start where so many great thinkers before us have; at the very beginning. To say the quarterback landscape has been tumultuous feels like a gross understatement. Roughly one-quarter of this weekends shot callers are either making their NFL debut or

Welcome back to another live fantasy football Q&A right here at The Athletic! Let us start where so many great thinkers before us have; at the very beginning. To say the quarterback landscape has been tumultuous feels like a gross understatement. Roughly one-quarter of this weekend’s shot callers are either making their NFL debut or filling in as backups, affecting essentially every fantasy roster. I’ll start with thoughts on each dynamic QB situation and what fantasy repercussions they’ll have, followed by my custom PPR rankings.

In other words, there’s no rest for the weary in the face of another riveting Sunday of fantasy football.

Clayton Tune, Arizona: Tune’s a 24-year-old, fifth-round draft pick from the University of Houston with big-time athleticism scores. He excelled as a dual-threat producer in college, passing for over 4,000 yards plus 40 TDs in his senior year while averaging nearly 42 yards a game on the ground. Arizona’s in a rough spot as the biggest underdog this week against a vaunted Browns defense. Although the general profile does pique fantasy interest, the timing is all wrong. I expect Tune to maintain the same narrow target tree we’ve seen all year so you can start Marquise Brown and Trey McBride, just hold your nose knowing their ceilings are capped.

Taylor Heinicke, Atlanta: I couldn’t disagree more with what’s being anticipated as a lateral move for the Dirty Birds at QB. I think Heinicke is a more productive NFL quarterback than Desmond Ridder; there, I said it. We’ve seen better metrics from Heinicke in terms of EPA/attempt while boasting a more accurate deep ball and taking fewer sacks. Don’t forget that during his time starting for Washington in 2023, Heinicke fully understood the assignment, getting the ball early and often to the most talented players. Despite star wide receiver Drake London being out, I believe we’ll see the best version of the Falcons’ aerial attack featuring breakout games from Kyle Pitts and Bijan Robinson.

Aidan O’Connell, Las Vegas: The Raiders’ fourth-round rookie out of Purdue will make his second professional start today on the road in New Orleans against a staunch Saints defense holding opponents under 300 total yards/game this season. O'Connell played admirably in his debut (238-0-1; 3-3-1) despite losing to the Chargers in a significantly softer matchup. Don’t be fooled by the rushing touchdown, however, O'Connell is a statue out there. He averaged *negative* 88 yards per season for the Boilermakers. As far as fantasy goes, there’s an interesting dichotomy. O’Connell’s not start-worthy himself but this young man fully understands the assignment and feeds his studs. In O'Connell's Week 4 start, Josh Jacobs and Davante Adams totaled eight receptions on at least eleven targets each, so they both remain must-starts.

Brett Rypien, Los Angeles Rams: As other teams with quarterback concerns roll out a rookie, the Rams turn to “veteran” Brett Rypien. I use quotations to more properly frame his five years in the NFL not quite matching his 151 career dropbacks. For reference, 31 different quarterbacks have eclipsed that mark already this season and we’re only eight games in.

What we’ve seen thus far from Rypien has been bad by any analytical measure; -0.17 EPA/dropback, 62.8 passer rating, and twice as many interceptions as touchdowns thrown. That said, I hate betting against Sean McVay or Cooper Kupp for that matter. Of the ten passes Rypien has thrown this year, half have gone Kupp’s way, so continue starting him in fantasy. The same probably goes for Puka Nucua, who still projects for eight targets even with reduced expectations.

Jaren Hall, Minnesota: Another fifth-round rookie from the 2023 NFL Draft, he’s the least experienced of the bunch. Hall never topped 3,200 passing yards, 31 TDs, or 350 rushing yards in college. Honestly, the lack of explosivity makes me a bit worried about starting anyone in purple today. Given the amount of fantasy assets missing due to the bye, you still have to hold your nose and roll with Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson.

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