Do you keep a back up QB even after your starter has a bye? (1 Viewer)

[Breesisdaman]

I understand QB by committee and thats not what I'm talking about here, I am talking about rostering a backup QB even if you have a must start QB at the helm who has already had his bye. I hear different philosophies going around on this topic. Is holding a 2nd QB is a waste of roster depth or do you keep the 2nd QB around in case of injury to the starter?

 

[PizzaDeliveryGuy]

I would feel pretty naked without a quality QB2 as insurance.

 

[armyeric]

I understand QB by committee and thats not what I'm talking about here, I am talking about rostering a backup QB even if you have a must start QB at the helm who has already had his bye. I hear different philosophies going around on this topic. Is holding a 2nd QB is a waste of roster depth or do you keep the 2nd QB around in case of injury to the starter?

I normally don't keep a backup QB I just grab one off the waiver for my bye. But in one league I have to keep a backup because everybody believes they need to roster 4 or 5 Qb even backup Qbs. I would rather use that spot for a RB or WR or as a Waiver spot.

 

[footballnerd]

Depends what starting/or potential starting RB/WR you can pick up, but I think you can do pretty decent playing the WW QB matchup if your starting QB only misses a few games. There are usually a few other guys in the league (mainly Top 5 QB owners) who will also roster only 1 QB, so you most likely will find some decent matchups (Freeman, S.Hill, Fitzpatrick, Hasselbeck, Bradford) . Its a risk though if your QB is out for the season later. If I had the likes of Schaub I would not play this game.

 

[llanoff]

I usually don't. You can often pick up your QB's backup if he goes down. Prefer to go higher risk and pick up long shot RBs or WRs. (Course, this year my QB is Cutler, so if he goes down, the fact that I can pick up Collins/Hanie? is not much consolation.)

Another way of looking at this -- take a look at your waiver wire -- worst case scenario who will be among your choices? It helps in the league above that a number of other owners use my same approach, so there is often a not terrible option on the wire (and there are almost no RBs or WRs worth picking up).

 

[munygon2]

I play in a 2 QB league and I always keep at least one backup for insurance. Right now I have 2 on the bench because I ended up with 2 on the same bye week. After week 8 I might cut Henne.

 

[gethugefast1]

I do not until last week of waivers just in case for FF playoffs. But...

I have Vick as my #1. His backup on my roster is Favre. So...

For week 6, if Favre can't go at 1:00 EST, I have McNabb ready to go at 4:00 EST.

Just going with the flow.

 

[cubbie5150]

I do... My league is a no waiver wire league--we use blind bidding only; it costs fantasy $ to pick up "free agents." It's ULTRA competitive, no holds barred, & If your starter goes down, the vultures will bid to pick up any viable QB. Since I haven't been able to trade either guy, I'll be rostering Rodgers & Orton all year...

 

[Clev4ever]

I will draft a decent one to block others until the better of the 2 has a bye week and roll with one afterwards.. I have had Rodgers the past 2 years. Last year my backup was Eli. I cut him after GB's bye. This year, I plan on doing the same.

 

[Touchdown Syndrome]

If I have the room, I'll keep a 2nd QB if I think he's to good to be a free agent.

 

[Pickle Rody]

It depends on my leagues (no QBBC's) and the quality of my starter. In my keeper league where I own P. Manning I usually hang on to a decent backup for use during the playoffs, simply because I've been burned in the past when the Colts sat their starters for weeks 16 & 17. In addition, if I don't trust my QB starter to stay healthy, I'll keep another around. I rarely roster another QB past one backup because I prefer those spots for extra RB's and WR's.

 

[Grigs Allmoon]

Depends... One league with smallish benches I have Romo, so I cut my backup so I could fill in for byes/injuries. I might pick one up later, but quite possibly not.

 

[NoCheese]

In a 12 plus team league, not having a good backup QB is akin to not handcuffing Javon Ringer or Jason Snelling to CJ2K or Michael Turner. In a 10 team or less league, the waiver wire should be full of adequate replacements. But if every owner keeps 2+ QB's, no matter the league size, the waiver wire would be pretty bare. Probably best to keep 2 QB's unless severe roster restrictions dictate otherwise.

 

[Tree Shaker]

I have Brees as my QB1, and, so far, haven't rostered another QB (since his bye is in Week 10). However, one of the owners in my league just dropped Jay Cutler a few hours ago, so I swooped in. It can't hurt, especially if Cutler gains the form he had in weeks 1 and 2. Oh, and CHI gets a better OL.

But, if Cutler had not been available, I would have waited until week 10 to pick up a scrub QB.

 

[coolnerd]

1) If I have a QB that does not have a significant history of injury then try not to carry a 2nd QB unless

2) If I have back-up that is performing well or I actually like. If I have 2010 Orton then I keep him because either I trade him or I keeping a QB1 on my roster versus as a starter against me. If it in the Garrard level where I can get a similar of the waiver wire no reason.

 

[PizzaDeliveryGuy]

I'm assuming all of the guys that don't carry a backup are talking strictly H2H leagues? My main money league is total points and I honestly couldn't imagine not having a quality backup. Actually, not having one would put you one play from having no chance at all.

 

[SSOG]

If the backup is better than the guys on waivers, I keep him.

If the backup is roughly comparable to the top guys on waivers, I cut him loose.

Practically speaking, though, 6 of my 7 leagues have ample bench space (20+ man roster). In leagues like that, nobody carries just one QB, and I don't buck the trend because I'd hate to have to rely on Alex Smith or Ryan Fitzpatrick long-term if my starter got injured. In the league with short benches (16 man rosters), I'll sometimes carry one QB and sometimes carry two. Right now I'm carrying two, because I drafted Romo and Roethlisberger. I figure in a week or two I'll be able to trade one or the other for a quality piece somewhere else.

 

[CompetitiveEdgeFootball]

I might if my QB is Rodgers or Cutler, or another QB whos OL might get him killed by week 10...

Also I look at playoff schedule. If my starter has a so-so playoff schedule, i might roster a high upside backup with a good playoff schedule.

 

[Mr. Know-It-All]

In a 1 QB league, I try to draft on of the top 6 and a backup that has a decent matchup during my primary QBs bye week. After that bye week I cut the backup. Now, if I don't get one of the top 4-6 QBs as my primary I am likely to always HAVE to carry a QB2 regardless of bye to play the matchups.

Also, if I have a top QB with a brutal playoff schedule I might also try to get and keep a quality QB2 with a favorable playoff matchup.

 

[shortbow]

Its my belief that its situational, having 1 QB that you never plan on benching is great until he gets hurt.

In one of my money leagues I have Brady and I picked up Vick to cover if he ever gets injured and in my other im running a QBBC and im happy to have 2-3 on my team.

 

[Phantom Knight]

It depends upon the quality of the backup. If my backup is a mid-to-low tier qb, I probably drop him after my #1 qb's bye week figuring I can get close to an equal plug-in should disaster strike. If my backup is a #1 or solid #2 qb, I do NOT drop him. I might (and in the past have) trade him though.

This year in my main league I have T Brady and K Orton. No way Orton gets dropped! I will certainly keep them both at least until I see how Brady does w/o Moss. And in fact, it is a keeper league and I am considering keeping both until next August as possible keepers for 2011 (Brady as a 12th rounder; Orton as a 15th rounder)

 

[menobrown]

Just depends on a few factors.

I have a league this year were I drafted Kolb and the only other QB I drafted was Vick. In this league I have kept both of them and will continue to keep both of them all season. In week 8 I'll add a third QB and cut him after week 8.

In another league I have Brady and picked up Kolb to play last week. My plan was to cut whatever QB I used in week 5 after Brady's bye. Now I'm less confident in Brady after the Moss trade and with Vick's style so conducive to injuries I'm going to attempt to hold Kolb as a potential high upside guy who I'd even start some weeks over Brady.

In a league were I have Peyton Manning I'm going to cut my backup. Freeman, after week 7 and make no attempts to pick anyone else up all season.

So for me it depends on how good the QB I keep is and how I view his injury history.

 

[Hugonel]

Orton is me backup. I keepee.