Welcome to TheFantasyFix.com’s ninth installment of our DFS quarterback rankings. We will list six quarterbacks here that we think you should start based on their current price on Draftkings. The first tier is for the elite quarterbacks, the high priced big name guys with favorable matchups that everyone will likely be after. The next tier is “value”, where you will find the best value for your buck. The final tier is “contrarian” where you will spend little on your QB with the hope that they will exceed expectations and help you cash out. As always, good luck this week! I hope you all take home big money.

For the second week in a row, I am fading two of the top quarterbacks in the game in Aaron Rodgers and Andrew Luck. Rodgers is coming off a terrible week against the Denver Broncos’ defense in which he threw for just 77 yards, and now has to deal with the Carolina Panthers’ defense. That, plus being the second highest priced QB this week is enough for me to steer clear of him. Luck has been, to put it nicely, pretty bad this year, and gets the Broncos’ defense this week. No thanks! I would like to note that I put Eli Manning in the “elite” category this week since I’m fading both Rodgers and Luck, and I don’t personally feel like going anywhere near Matt Ryan anymore, even though he is facing the 49ers defense. Plus, you can’t spell “Elite” without “Eli” (Please ignore me, I’m a New York fan).

Tier 1 – Elite

Tom Brady, New England Patriots, $8,500 – The MVP candidate Tom Brady gets a favorable matchup this weekend, taking on the Washington Redskins at home in New England. Owning any of the Pats’ players this weekend will be costly, however, as each Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, and Julian Edelman are all amongst the most expensive at their positions. That being said, you can’t go wrong with starting Brady in this matchup, no matter what the cost is. The Redskins don’t have a bad defense by any means, ranking 11^th in the league in passing yards allowed per game (232). However, this is the Patriots and Tom Brady that we are talking about, so you know very well that they’re going to put up a lot of points. If you were looking to pair Brady with another Patriot, I’d put my money on running back Dion Lewis having a huge game. If you’re willing to spend big on a quarterback, look no further than the ageless wonder. The 38-year-old Brady enters week nine with 2,410 passing yards on the season, to go along with 20 touchdown passes against just one interception.

Eli Manning, New York Giants, $6,900 – If you had Eli this past weekend, chances are you cashed out rather nicely. Manning exploded for a career-high six touchdown passes against the New Orleans Saints on the road, while tallying 350 yards through the air. With Odell Beckham Jr. finally back to full strength, Eli showed us what he could do when he has the right weapons around him. Eli and the Giants have another favorable defensive matchup this weekend, as they head into Tampa Bay to take on the Buccaneers and their abysmal pass defense. Tampa Bay has allowed Kirk Cousins, Blake Bortles, and Matt Ryan all throw for over 300 yards and at least two touchdowns against them this season, so expect the very same from Manning in this matchup. The laced time Manning faced the Bucs was back in 2012, when he threw for 510 yards, so we hope he does something similar this Sunday.

Other options: Drew Brees, Andrew Luck, Aaron Rodgers. Though I’m not sold on Rodgers/Luck

Tier 2 – Value

Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers, $6,900 – Despite leading the league in passing yards, Phillip Rivers is just the seventh-most expensive quarterback on the market this week. Granted, his number one receiver Keenan Allen is likely done for the rest of the season, and Antonio Gates has question marks surrounding his health week in and week out. Nonetheless, the running game is awful for San Diego, so we will continue to expect Rivers to air the ball out every chance he gets. Malcom Floyd and Stevie Johnson are in line to get a brunt of the targets going forward (ugh), so they could make for an interesting stack option if you’re going that route. Rivers and the Chargers get the benefit of taking on the Chicago Bears on Monday night, as they look to snap a four game losing streak against one of the league’s worst defenses. Despite losing four straight, Rivers has a completion percentage of almost 70 percent, while tossing for over 1,500 yards and ten touchdowns, while turning the ball over just once. Rivers is on pace this season to throw for an NFL record 5,506 passing yards with 36 TD passes, which would be a career-high for the veteran. I had Rivers as my “must start” last weekend, and while he doesn’t get the same title this weekend, he is still worth the start in a very favorable matchup.

Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers, $6,600 – Big Ben didn’t look like himself last week in his return from a knee injury, throwing for 262 yards with a touchdown and three interceptions against the Cincinnati Bengals. The hope is that he was just rusty last week after being out since week three, and that he will return to form this weekend at home against the Oakland Raiders. There has been just one quarterback this season that has failed to throw for multiple touchdowns against the Raiders, and that was Peyton Manning. To give you an idea of how this defense has been against opposing QBs, they allowed Geno Smith (yes, that Geno Smith) to throw for almost 300 yards and two touchdowns against them last weekend after Ryan Fitzpatrick exited the game with a thumb injury. Have I convinced you to start Big Ben yet? The Raiders are a young team on the rise, but the defense needs a lot of improving before they can consider themselves a serious contender. Look for Roethlisberger to have a big game on Sunday, as he and top wide receiver Antonio Brown will likely hookup for at least one score.

Other options: Peyton Manning 

Tier 3 – Contrarian

Derek Carr, Oakland Raiders, $5,500 – If you weren’t convinced that Derek Carr was for real, last week’s performance should be enough to persuade you. The second-year quarterback went off against a stellar New York Jets’ defense, tallying 344 passing yards to go along with four touchdowns in a game that was lopsided from the start. Carr now has seven touchdowns against zero interceptions in his last two games, and has the benefit of throwing to possibly the best young wide receiver in the game, Amari cooper. The Raiders are facing the Steelers on the road Sunday, a defense that has given up the sixth most passing yards this season to opposing quarterbacks. I expect Carr and the Raiders’ offense to continue to soar this weekend against the Steelers’ defense. The Raiders still has a ways to go, particularly on defense, but beating the Big Ben and the Steelers on the road could finally silence all the doubters and officially put this team on the map. One of my good friends is a die-hard Raiders fan, and he said it best a few days ago, “I was really hoping we would fly under the radar and surprise teams, but now people actually have expectations for this team”. Positive expectations can never be a bad thing, though, especially for a team that hasn’t made the playoffs since 2002.

Jameis Winston, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, $5,200 – I’ve put Winston on this list a few times this season, including calling for a breakout early in the season against Carolina, and each time it has backfired on me! That being said, Winston gets the pleasure of facing the Giants’ secondary this weekend, so there is a very good chance he explodes in this game. However, being a Giants fan, they really like to make me look stupid, so I wouldn’t be shocked if Winston throws five picks in this game. That’s just the way things have been going this season. We saw what Drew Brees did to this same defense last week, throwing for seven touchdowns and over 500 passing yards, so the potential for a huge game is there for Winston. The Giants’ defense allows 315 passing yards per game, by far the league worst, while also allowing nearly 20 fantasy points per game to opponents, which ranks 28^th in the league. He’s not going to throw for seven touchdowns, but the stars are aligned for Winston to break out in a big way. The rookie quarterback hasn’t thrown an interception in his last three games. I will be starting Winston in a few of my lineups this weekend, and I truly believe you should do the same.

Other options: Marcus Mariota and Blake Bortles