RosterWatch Nation, you ever get in an argument with your significant other and realize halfway through you’re wrong? I’m going to call this the Landry Jones predicament from now on. A whole lot of people, myself included, were flat wrong about the former Sooner. While the jury is still out, there is no doubt that Jones performed better in a quarter than Michael Vick has in the last two games.

The bye week is a bear in Week 7 for two star quarterbacks. Aaron Rodgers and Andy Dalton (the top two fantasy scoring quarterbacks in the league) are out for the bye. Hurting you a little less is the loss of Jay Cutler and Peyton Manning for the week. Manning owners might be better off not being forced to roll the old man out there. But if you’re looking for a replacement for Rodgers and Dalton or need a cheap pickup in DFS – Landry Jones is your guy.

Named after legendary Dallas Cowboys head coach Tom Landry, Landry Jones was once thought to be a surefire first-rounder. Instead he dropped to the fourth round and into the Steelers laps. Jones was incredibly productive at Oklahoma and his stats looked like those of a future franchise NFL quarterback. But he made some terrible decisions with the football and looked easily flustered by pressure. He had a label similar to Peyton Manning of “Can’t Win the Big Game”. A lot of scouts didn’t know what to make of him, especially following a terrible week at the Senior Bowl. Was he a product of the system? Was he capable of playing in the pocket with bodies around him?

I was actually OK with Pittsburgh drafting Jones where they did. In the fourth round, GM Kevin Colbert saw something there. But due to the fact that the Steelers haven’t drafted well in the secondary and Ben Roethlisberger was only 28 at the time, many Steelers fans were highly critical of the move. In fact, Colbert and Tomlin have been lambasted for the last three seasons over this pick. I hopped on the Landry Jones hate-train with most of Steeler Nation this offseason. Jones looked like he was still struggling to drive the offense down the field, even against guys that were going to be selling insurance and moving furniture a few weeks later.

But Jones wasn’t drafted to be Roethlisberger’s heir-apparent. He was drafted to be Roethlisberger’s long-term backup. Kevin Colbert knows what happens to franchises that lose their quarterback for long periods of time (ahem, Dallas Cowboys) or the whole season (2011 Indianapolis Colts) and intended to insure against that. With Roethlisberger out and Vick playing like hot garbage… enter Landry Jones. Boy did he shut us all up. Jones looked poised and had touch and anticipation in his throws – against a salty Arizona defense to boot. All the things the Steelers offense has been lacking since Roethlisberger was hurt. It would be surprising if Big Ben is not back under center against the Bengals in Week 8, so this week is Landry Jones’ chance!

Let’s take a look at the positives and negatives for Landry Jones while considering his fantasy value in Week 7 versus the Kansas City Chiefs.

Positives

– Arm Talent: Here comes the scouting cliché… he can make all the throws. I promise not to say that I’ll ‘bang the table’ for him, but Jones really can. I worry a bit about his deep ball accuracy but he puts touch on the ball and he looked really, really accurate against the Cardinals. He can fit the ball into tight windows. A skill that has been sorely missed with Ron Mexico shooting blanks recently.

– Weapons: The weapons… my God the weapons. Pittsburgh has the most complete arsenal in the NFL. The receivers alone are enough to make you pumped up. Martavis Bryant picked up right where he left off. He has to be considered the best deep threat in the NFL at this point in time. And if Bryant is the best deep threat, Antonio Brown has to be the most complete receiver in the NFL. He’s easily top three. Jones will be a big boon to AB’s value which has been in the crapper dropping since Vick came in. Markus Wheaton, despite a few struggles in 2014, has been putting it together as expected. Darrius Heyward-Bey has redeemed himself in Pittsburgh. And while he will likely never live up to the expectations of a top ten pick, he has made some clutch plays for the Steelers this year and last. He clearly has the trust of Big Ben and the coaching staff. This isn’t even accounting for Heath Miller, who is surely not explosive, but still remains one of the more reliable tight ends in the NFL and the player Cardinals HC Bruce Arians calls the best he’s ever coached. Also, the Steelers have the greatest receiving back in the NFL, you might have heard of him… the name Le’Veon ring a bell? DeAngelo Williams is no slouch either. What does this offense look like next year when Sammie Coates gets involved? Scary. Very scary.

– System: Michael Vick did not fit well in Todd Haley’s system. He was a veteran with a ton of experience and he still has legs but… nobody’s accusing Vick of being a cerebral quarterback. He failed to make good pre-snap reads and seemingly had little feel for the coverages he was seeing. On top of that, a lot of Haley’s “dink and dunk” (that’s a fallacy) system is predicated on getting the ball out quickly, which Vick wasn’t capable of. Landry Jones was noticeably getting the ball out fast and it was making a lot of difference in the tempo of the offense as well as efficiency.

– Matchup: The Chiefs are allowing 276.7 passing yards per game (8th worst in the league). Even better news for those thinking of playing Jones, they’ve allowed 14 passing touchdowns (2nd most in the league). This looks like a tasty matchup on paper – It’s the No. 1 receiver matchup per the RosterWatch Week 7 Matchup Tool. There are two guys in the secondary that make me pause. Sean Smith can hold his own but I don’t think he has the speed or quickness to keep up with AB or Martavis. Marcus Peters may be a rookie but man he has looked great. He’s an X factor in the secondary.

Negatives

– Road Game: I’d feel better if this game was in Pittsburgh or at least in a less hostile stadium like Edward Jones Cemetery. But the fact that it’s in Arrowhead is a little worrisome. Steelers Nation was able to invade St. Louis and San Diego but that’s not happening in Chiefs country. It’s going to be loud and Jones is already working on a silent count.

– Pass Rush: The Chiefs have 13 sacks which is exactly half of the Denver Broncos total but they still have two of the best edge pass rushers in the league. However, one still has to be fearful of Tamba Hali and Justin Houston who make up one of the best pass-rushing tandems in the league. After left tackle Kelvin Beachum’s tore his ACL, Alejandro Villanueva entered the lineup. Villanueva held his own but he wasn’t going against a player as elite as Houston. Dontari Poe could cause some problems against an interior offensive line that has been struggling especially with Cody Wallace at center. However, Jones’ ability to get the ball out quick will again be helpful.

– Return of the Roethlisberger: Big Ben in the last few years has easily become a Top 5 quarterback and playing at a whole other level. Not to mention he’s a tough SOB to boot. The Steelers are preparing as if he’s not playing but if he feels ready to suit up, all of this is moot. It’s going to be extremely important that you watch out for the injury report prior to 1 o’clock and if you can listen in to what the beat writers are saying about Ben playing or not. This truly is a game-time decision so check the RosterWatch Daily Fantasy Cheat Sheet and have a backup plan for this backup.

DECLASSIFIED: Landry Jones’ Week 7 Fantasy Outlook

I’m not touching Jones in redraft leagues unless you’re streaming quarterbacks. He’s not going to be a long term QB2 this season. This is likely a one week shot. But for daily fantasy and as a streamer in redraft? You can’t do much better!

His pricing looks good in daily fantasy! He’s $5100 in DraftKings. He’ll cost you less than Brian Hoyer who I think actually think reached his ceiling last week. He’s going for $6000 in FanDuel which is cheaper than Kirk Cousins and Josh McCown. I’d take Jones over those two every day of the week and twice this Sunday.

Jones is going to be a Top 10 scoring QB IF he plays this week, which is seeming more and more likely. All factors considered, I would expect Landry Jones to throw for about 290 yards, scoring not once, not twice … but three times in Week 7 versus the Kansas City Chiefs!