Marcus Mariota, QB, Atlanta Falcons
Mariota surpassed his pass attempt total from the previous two games (27) on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers, going 20-for-28 for 253 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions along with 43 rushing yards. He has multiple passing touchdowns and more than 24 fantasy points (Yahoo! scoring) in two of his last three games, and a least 17.9 fantasy points in three of his last four.
Week 9 against the Los Angeles Chargers is a middle of the road matchup for Mariota, but he may be pushed into heavier pass volume in a negative game script. After that he’ll get the Panthers again in Week 10, followed by the Chicago Bears (Week 11), Washington Commanders (Week 12) and Pittsburgh Steelers (Week 13). He has no especially bad matchups before a Week 14 bye.
It often won’t be pretty for Mariota. But he offers rushing production with some good talent around him, and as long as the Falcons are winning games he won’t be replaced by rookie Desmond Ridder.
Mariota is a solid add and starting option in two-quarterback leagues, and he’s on the streamer radar in one-quarterback formats.
ESPN Ownership: 24%
Yahoo! Ownership:Â 26%
