Best available quarterbacks on the Week 10 waiver wire

There are a few quarterbacks widely available that either have good matchups heading into Week 10, or had successful Week 9 performances, or could benefit from an injury. With that in mind, here are five quarterbacks with under 50% rostership in traditional fantasy football leagues that managers can consider picking up for Week 9.

Week 10 byes: Atlanta Falcons, Dallas Cowboys, Kansas City Chiefs, New York Jets

This week we’ll be without Patrick Mahomes, Matt Ryan, Sam Darnold/Joe Flacco, and Garret Gilbert. That’s quite the wide array of talent, but Mahomes and Ryan are the biggest losses. We’ll try to find some possible replacements below.

Tua Tagovailoa, Dolphins (24 percent)

Next up — LAC, @DEN, @NYJ, CIN, KC

Tagovailoa’s first start didn’t go so well, but his second start was a bit of a revelation, as he looked great against the Cardinals. Arizona’s lack of pass rush and getting some live snaps in last week both helped. His numbers still weren’t top end for fantasy, but he showed enough to see that kind of output on the horizon. His seven rushes for 35 yards is the stat that gives me the most hope for a consistent fantasy floor. This week he’ll face a Chargers defense that has been mostly below average this season, allowing the eighth-most fantasy points to quarterbacks.

Drew Lock, Broncos (20 percent)

Next up — @LV, MIA, NO, @KC, @CAR

Lock hasn’t been good the last two weeks, but he’s put up some great garbage stats against the Chargers and Falcons. This week he’ll face a Raiders defense that is third-worst in adjusted sack rate and the 12th-worst fantasy points to quarterbacks. Lock isn’t a smash play by any means and has an extremely low floor, but his receivers are healthy again and playing well.

Philip Rivers, Colts (21 percent)

Next up — @TEN, GB, TEN, @HOU, @LV

Rivers can’t handle good defenses, as he needs time to throw the ball and he can’t hit those tough sideline throws with any force. But, when facing an average to bad defense, he can pick them apart with time. Last week he had no chance against the Ravens top defense, but this week he’ll face a bad Titans defense. They have just seven sacks on the season and rank 32nd in adjusted sack rate, while giving up the seventh-most fantasy points to quarterbacks. They’ve given up good fantasy days to Gardner Minshew, Kirk Cousins and Nick Foles this season.

Baker Mayfield, Browns (33 percent)

Next up — HOU, PHI, @JAX, @TEN, BAL

If we can get the Baker Mayfield that threw five touchdowns before his bye, then we’re on our way to a championship, but we likely won’t see that kind of upside moving forward. The good news is that he has a great schedule, including this week against the Texans.

Derek Carr, Raiders (42 percent)

Next up — DEN, KC, @ATL, @NYJ, IND

Carr has shown a higher upside this season, as he’s pushing the ball further down field than previous seasons. He’s shown he can put up numbers on good defenses like the Chiefs and he’ll face them and the Falcons and Jets over the next four games.