Gardner Minshew or Tom Brady? Fantasy outlooks for the Eagles backup and the Buccaneers legend in Week 16

If you remain in the running for a fantasy football league, you have probably leaned on a reliable quarterback the entire year. On the flip side, if you haven't, you may be unsure who to choose for Week 16 between Tom Brady and Gardner Minshew.

Jalen Hurts' absence from Sunday's game due to a throwing shoulder issue was disclosed last Monday. Minshew, a limited streamer option this week, will start the game against the Dallas Cowboys.

Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will face the Arizona Cardinals, an interesting matchup for a few reasons.

As a result, Tom Brady is a better option than Gardner Minshew for Week 16.

Why Tom Brady is a better pick than Gardner Minshew

The Arizona Cardinals give away an average of 22.1 points per game to opposition passers and this presents Tom Brady with an opportunity. Of the last eight quarterbacks to have faced Arizona, five have managed at least 24 points. Fantasy managers should be on the lookout since this might be one of Brady's best matches of the year.

Minshew may struggle this week. In 2021, he had two starts for the Philadelphia Eagles, scoring 22 points against the New York Jets and 18 against the Dallas Cowboys. This week's game at Dallas is predicted to be considerably more difficult. Trevor Lawrence destroyed that secondary for 34 points in their last game, but we don't foresee Minshew repeating it.

Tom Brady's fantasy outlook for Week 16

It might be a perfect week to start Tom Brady as a differential against the number 26 fantasy defensive unit against signal-callers. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are reverting to an approach where they use the air game more and this might be encouraging for fantasy managers that own Brady.

Brady last scored 20 points against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 5. This week's opponents, the Cardinals, have given up the seventh-most points to QBs and are 20th in passing DVOA. Brady should at least provide respectable statistics.

Gardner Minshew's fantasy outlook for Week 16

Minshew has the finest tools in Philadelphia, particularly with Dallas Goedert on the verge of returning, but he is essentially a top-tier backup.

Last year, Minshew made two starts and scored 22.8 and 18.4 points. In 2020, he started nine games and scored at least 20 points on six occasions while playing with weaker teammates. Even if we don't consider Minshew a better passer than Jalen Hurts, the system is in a great position to allow him to succeed.

Gardner Minshew is efficient. The only drawback is a challenging game, but managers can trust him. Especially given that half the league will play this weekend in adverse weather and strong winds.