Which Backup Quarterback will have the Better Fantasy Day: Giants’ Tyrod Taylor or Browns’ P.J. Walker?
Two NFL franchises had their starting quarterbacks ruled out for week 6 within a couple minutes of each other.
Cleveland Browns starter Deshaun Watson was ruled out with a right shoulder injury. P.J. Walker will start in his place.
New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones was then ruled out with his neck injury. That leaves Tyrod Taylor to start this weekend.
Both quarterbacks are going up against some of the tougher defenses in the league, and it got me thinking which of the two will have the better fantasy showing. Let’s dive in and try to determine the answer.
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The Matchups
Walker and the Browns will be taking on the San Francisco 49ers in the first slate of games on Sunday. Taylor and the Giants will face the Buffalo Bills in the Sunday night matchup,
If you think winning with a backup quarterback is tough, just wait until you see the defenses each guy will be going against.
The 49ers have allowed the third-least fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks coming into the week. San Fran allows an average of 220 passing yards, 15 rushing yards and one total touchdown a game, which all adds up to just 11 fantasy points.
Buffalo’s defense is the best in the league against quarterbacks, allowing just nine fantasy points a game so far. The Bills allow 218 passing yards, 12 rushing yards and less than one total touchdown a game.
Both defenses have eight interceptions, which is the top mark in the league. Buffalo has 21 sacks, while San Fran has 13.
Past Experience
Walker signed with the Indianapolis Colts back in 2017. He didn’t play in the regular season until 2020 after he signed with the Carolina Panthers. He’s since signed with the Chicago Bears and Browns.
Walker played in 15 games across three seasons with Carolina, including seven starts in which he went 4-3. Walker has thrown for 1,461 yards while completing 57.5% of his passes. He’s thrown five touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Walker has added 50 rushing yards on 18 attempts.
Taylor has been in the league since 2011, appearing in 85 games and making 53 starts, in which he’s gone 26-25-1.
He’s thrown for 10,886 yards and 60 touchdowns, while tossing just 26 interceptions. Taylor has completed 61.5% of his passes. The veteran has rushed for 2,087 yards and 19 touchdowns on 370 attempts.
Walker has not played any snaps for the Browns this season, while Taylor has appeared in four games already.
Offensive Weapons
The matchups don’t favor either quarterback, but the history section is heavily in Taylor’s favor. Let’s next take a look at what kind of team they have around them.
Each team has several players on the injury report, but the Giants have quite a few more guys listed. There’s a total of 16 players other than Jones on New York’s list this week. That includes 10 offensive players - six offensive linemen, two running backs, a wide receiver and a tight end. Two offensive linemen, Andrew Thomas and John Michael Schmitz have already been ruled out.
Cleveland has six players on the injury report other than Watson. However, five of those players are on the offensive side of the ball - one running back, one receiver, one tight end and two linemen. At least guard Joel Bitonio will be out for this weekend’s game.
Instead of speculating who might play or not play from each team’s injury report, let’s look at the skill players available that are healthy.
Cleveland wide receivers Amari Cooper and Elijah Moore are both healthy, and have combined for over 400 receiving yards. Running backs Pierre Strong and Kareem Hunt are the two healthiest backs, and they've combined for 124 scrimmage yards.
New York wide receiver Darius Slayton and running back Matt Breida are the team’s top producing healthy players, with just under 300 combined scrimmage yards. Receivers Jalin Hyatt and Isaiah Hodgins add just over 200 combined scrimmage yards of production.
Neither team has a lot of healthy players that have produced all that much, so the Browns having Jerome Ford and the Giants getting Saqon Barkley and tight end Darren Waller on the field would be huge boosts for the backup quarterbacks. Keep watching their statuses as the week progresses.
Who to Start in Week 6
Let’s start this off by saying you shouldn’t be seeking out either of these backup quarterbacks if you have other options available. If you are starting Taylor or Walker, you are likely in a deep league and have one of Jones or Watson.
For this decision, I’m going to say that Barkley and Waller both play and that Ford suits up for the Browns.
Even though the Giants have looked abysmal most weeks on offense, I’d still take the more-experienced Taylor over Walker if I could. In his history in the league he’s done a nice job of taking care of the ball. He might not score too many fantasy points, but I like his chances to avoid the negative points more, so I’d take him over Walker.
I’d pivot to Walker if Barkley is eventually ruled out. Barkley is the best skill position player on either the Giants or Browns and is a big difference maker when out on the field. If he can’t go, New York simply doesn’t have enough other talented players to help Taylor out.
Even if Ford doesn’t end up playing for Cleveland, Walker will still have Cooper and Moore to pass to. Strong and Hunt should at least be serviceable backs and take a little of the pressure off Walker.
All in all though, these two guys are probably going to put up a couple of the worst fantasy scores at the position this weekend. I’d say they were destined to have the two worst scores, but Denver’s Russell Wilson produced a stinker on Thursday that won’t be hard to top.
