How Game Flow Affects Quarterbacks in Daily Fantasy Football

Fantasy football is all about volume. You have every right to believe that random back-up running back dude will eventually have his own room in the Hall of Fame. But if homie can't get on the field, you're probably not going to want him on your fantasy roster.

This is what threatened to make Carson Palmer's Week 5 of 2015 performance against the Detroit Lions a disaster. Palmer's Arizona Cardinals absolutely throttled the Lions, pulling out to a 28-7 lead at halftime and going up 35-7 in the third quarter. There's no need to throw the ball when you're ripping your opponent's heart out, right?

As such, Palmer only attempted 14 passes in the game before being taken out during garbage time. Surely, those who used him could be found weeping in a random alley after the game. Such is life.

Not so fast, mis amigos. For those who did roll out Palmer, this wasn't really the case. He may have only thrown the ball 14 times, but he made the most of those attempts. He threw for 161 yards with 3 touchdowns and no interceptions, resulting in 18.34 points on FanDuel. That was the 11th best mark of any quarterback that week, a decent output given how little he chucked the ball.

Performances like Palmer's fly in the face of everything we have learned about fantasy football. We are supposed to seek volume at all costs. Yet, when this guy saw the lowest volume one could possibly expect from a starting quarterback, he still managed a respectable performance. What does this mean for what we should be looking for in quarterbacks when it comes to game flow? Let's take a look.