More clarity on the knee injury suffered Thursday night by Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes came on Friday, when the team's "best-case scenario" played out with regard to the MRI results on his knee. A league source told our Adam Schefter that the MRI showed no additional damage other than the dislocated right kneecap. Prior to the MRI, team sources said they expected Mahomes to miss at least three games (through Week 10). It's worth noting that the Chiefs' bye comes in Week 12, so if Mahomes' recovery extends beyond those three games, he wouldn't return until Week 13 at the earliest. With that in mind, fantasy managers should think ahead to Week 8 and beyond, and because this unfortunate injury occurred on a Thursday, they can.
Regardless, while fantasy managers who roster Mahomes cannot swap him out of the active lineup for anyone playing this week on Sunday or Monday, they can add a quarterback for future weeks and drop a player not on the Chiefs or Denver Broncos. Those are the rules, up until Sunday's early games begin, so Mahomes investors should immediately check out free agency for available options and make a move. Nobody wants to see Mahomes hurt, but at least this happened Thursday, allowing for some preemptive roster adjusting.
Before we talk names, veteran Matt Moore relieved Mahomes and finished off the 30-6 win in Denver, completing 10 of 19 passes for 117 yards and a 57-yard touchdown to Tyreek Hill, who was otherwise quiet. Moore could be interesting for fantasy because of Hill, tight end Travis Kelce and creative head coach Andy Reid; but the schedule is not so kind over the next few weeks, with the Packers and Vikings visiting the Chiefs, then road games in Tennessee and Los Angeles against the Chargers. We will downgrade Hill, Kelce and other Chiefs with Moore at quarterback, but again, he might be only a short-term fill-in.
While Moore might be the best you can get in deeper formats or leagues in which you start multiple QBs, here are five other notable passers still available in at least half of ESPN standard leagues, along with my thoughts.
Sam Darnold, New York Jets (available in 84.0% of leagues): Darnold missed three games with mononucleosis and then threw for 338 yards and a pair of touchdowns -- one nearly the length of the football field -- to vanquish the Dallas Cowboys in Week 6. He might encounter some trouble on Monday against the New England Patriots, and Week 8 at Jacksonville is not terribly attractive; but then the schedule really couldn't look much better, with the Dolphins, Giants, Redskins, Raiders, Bengals and Dolphins again. The Jets should score plenty of points during that run, and Darnold boasts plenty of skilled talent around him.
Matthew Stafford, Detroit Lions (available in 51.7% of leagues): People forget that prior to the 2018 season when Stafford failed to surpass 4,200 passing yards for the first time in eight seasons, he had been a top-10 fantasy quarterback for three consecutive seasons and five out of seven. He is off to a strong, efficient start this season, averaging 8.0 yards per pass attempt -- a career best -- with only two interceptions. The No. 10 fantasy QB this season entering this weekend faces the Giants and Raiders in Weeks 8 and 9, and neither of those defenses are proficient in controlling the passing game.
Gardner Minshew II, Jacksonville Jaguars (available in 50.4% of leagues): The shocking rookie is more than a fancy mustache. Minshew is averaging more fantasy points per game than Aaron Rodgers, Philip Rivers and all but 13 quarterbacks, as he has avoided interceptions and can scramble a bit. Week 6 versus New Orleans was a dud, but this sport is all about matchups. After facing the awful Bengals this week, Minshew gets the Jets and Texans. Don't worry about what happens when Nick Foles gets healthy; we do not know when that will be, and Minshew could keep the job anyway.
Jacoby Brissett, Indianapolis Colts (available in 52.4% of leagues): The Colts host the Texans on Sunday, before facing the Broncos, Steelers and Dolphins in Weeks 8 through 10. The underrated Brissett has scored more than 20 fantasy points in each of his two home games this season, and he has multiple touchdown passes in four of five games.
Jimmy Garoppolo, San Francisco 49ers (available in 63.4% of leagues): The leader of the final unbeaten team in the NFC is not exactly producing major fantasy numbers so far, but Garoppolo is capable of playing better if defenses key on the team's running game. Why act on him now? Well, Garoppolo should have some statistical fun this weekend facing dreadful Washington (which could make him harder to pick up on waivers next week), then he gets the Panthers in Week 8 and the Arizona Cardinals twice in a three-week span.
If these names are not available in your league or you play in a deeper format, consider simply going on a week-to-week basis for your quarterback. In Week 8, for example, Minnesota's Kirk Cousins faces his former Washington team, which he should be mighty motivated for, and then the Chiefs in Week 9. Someone on the Steelers -- probably rookie Mason Rudolph -- faces the Dolphins in a Week 8 Monday night contest. And someone on the Chicago Bears -- probably Mitchell Trubisky -- faces the battered Eagles secondary in Week 9. Streaming QBs simply for the next game can work.