With quarterback scoring way down this season, fantasy football managers are searching far and wide for QB1-level performances. Joe Flacco delivered just that in Week 5. Given Anthony Richardson’s uncertain status, should fantasy managers be putting in a waiver claim for Flacco this week?
Should Joe Flacco Be Added From the Fantasy Waiver Wire in Week 6?
At the ripe young age of 39, Flacco keeps on rolling. He got the start last week with Richardson out due to an oblique injury. All Flacco did was throw for 359 yards and three touchdowns. That’s 26.5 fantasy points, a number literally every fantasy manager would sign for every week from any quarterback. As a backup making a spot start, Flacco did that.
Going back to last season, Flacco has now started six regular season games in the past two years. He has finished as a QB1 … wait for it … six times. At this point, how can I not rank Flacco inside the top 12 quarterbacks whenever we know he’s starting?
As a younger man, Flacco was largely a game manager. He was never really the guy who chucked it up 40+ times. Old man Flacco must have a clause in his contract where he is allowed to do whatever he damn well pleases.
Flacco has attempted at least 42 passes in six of his last eight starts, which includes his playoff game against the Houston Texans. He has six 300-yard games and has thrown multiple touchdowns in every regular season game he’s appeared in between this year and last year.
39-year-old Joe Flacco has started 7 games over the last two seasons for #Browns and #Colts.
He's gone over 300 yards in six of them, and thrown 17 TDs. pic.twitter.com/kNWtOMwOlW
— Adam Levitan (@adamlevitan) October 7, 2024
Opponent doesn’t matter. Situation doesn’t matter. If Flacco is starting, someone in every fantasy league should be starting him.
The problem for fantasy managers is we need to make a decision on Flacco on Tuesday night. We are not going to get a meaningful update on Richardson’s status until Wednesday’s practice. Even then, we’re unlikely to get clarity until later in the week.
With bye weeks and injuries taking their toll, it’s hard to imagine many of you have the luxury of using a roster spot on a backup streamer, in the event Richardson is able to play. With that in mind, here’s how to play this.
Gauge your league’s waiver wire. If not Flacco, who would you stream? How much better is the next-best option behind Flacco or the third or fourth guy? If there isn’t much difference between the non-Flacco streamers, just grab Flacco.
The potential benefit gained from starting Flacco likely outweighs the loss from not getting your preferred secondary QB streamer. If Richardson returns, then you can drop Flacco on Friday afternoon (or Sunday morning, depending on when we find out for sure).
Unfortunately, there is no scenario where you can wait and see. Someone is probably going to add Flacco off the waiver wire Wednesday morning. If you want any chance of being able to use him this week, you’ll need to be proactive.
With that said, I would not go overboard when spending FAAB, as there’s a greater than 50% chance it will end up being wasted. Make a reasonable effort to get Flacco if you need him while understanding he’s likely only making one more start, at most.