You’re not playing fantasy football right if you’re not streaming in any of your leagues. In case you’re unfamiliar with the term, streaming is the act of rotating starters at a position and playing someone off the waiver wire based on a favorable matchup. There’s a good chance you should be streaming at least one of your positions each week unless you drafted the perfect team this summer — there’s a chance you did since you subscribed to this site!
I’m almost always streaming defenses in all my leagues during the season so I highly encourage you to check out Justin Varnes’ weekly streaming defenses piece. I’m also not afraid to stream at the typical one-starter skill positions like quarterback and tight end. Every week in this space, I’ll take a look at some lesser-owned players you might want to start based on a matchup, increased opportunities, and/or other factors that might boost their value in a given week. I’ll also highlight some typical weekly starters that you might want to shy away from because of a tougher matchup, an injury, and/or playing time issues.
Important note…
These are not strict Start/Sit recommendations. This article is meant to give you players who are widely available and are looking better than usual this week. Conversely, I’ll also give you players who are widely owned and are looking a little worse than usual this week. Also, ownership percentages are from Yahoo leagues.
Quarterback Streamers
Players to consider benching this week
In danger of missing: Drew Brees (ribs), Daniel Jones (hamstring)
In tough matchups: Cam Newton (@LAR, 14.8 FPG allowed)
Top options if they’re available…
Taysom Hill (@Phi, 61%) — I need to play in some of these leagues where Hill is still available because I can’t believe I’m still writing him up in this article. He’s posted 18+ FP in each of his first three starts after running for a career-high 83 yards while also throwing for his first two touchdowns last week against the Falcons. The Eagles have had issues against mobile QBs like Lamar Jackson (108/1 rushing) and Daniel Jones (156/1 in two games) this season, and this could be a secondary to pick on this week if top CB Darius Slay (knee) can’t play and slow down Michael Thomas.
Matthew Stafford (vs. GB, 55%) — Stafford got back to his 2019 ways after the Lions fired Matt Patricia before Week 13. Stafford averaged a deep pass (20+ yards) on just 10.1% of his passes through Week 12 after he had a 19.2% deep ball rate last season. With Darrell Bevell freed from Patricia’s tyrannical rule, Stafford attempted deep balls at a 21.4% rate, which helped him to throw for 402 yards with a 9.6 YPA average against one of the league’s better defenses in the Bears. I’m expecting Stafford and Bevell to continue to push the ball downfield in this week’s highest totaled game of the week at 55.5 points.
Players to consider streaming the next couple of weeks
Philip Rivers (@LV, vs. Hou — 40%) — The Colts have leaned more pass-heavy than I anticipated this season, especially recently with Rivers averaging 39.0 attempts per game over the last five weeks. The volume has turned him into a viable fantasy option as he’s posted 18+ FP in three consecutive games with 285+ passing yards and multiple scores in each contest. The Colts will be down to their third-string option at left tackle with Anthony Castonzo (knee) and Le’Raven Clark (Achilles, IR) out this week, but Rivers’ receiving corps is starting to come into its own recently. T.Y. Hilton is finally on the same page with Rivers after three months while Michael Pittman and Nyheim Hines have become weekly features in this passing attack. We could see some fireworks in the desert as this is one of the highest totaled games of the week at 51.5 points, and the Raiders just gave up 23.0 FP to the previously deceased Sam Darnold last week.
Jalen Hurts (NO, @Ari, @Dal — 3%) — I’m admittedly not thrilled to play Hurts in a brutal first matchup against the Saints, which is sporting arguably the league’s best defense in recent weeks. But what has piqued my interest was Hurts’ 5/29 rushing line in just 22 minutes of action last week. He also showed some potential as a passer with his ability to extend plays with his legs as he completed 5/12 passes for 109 yards, one TD, and one INT with the Packers playing soft with a big lead. I’m always interested in dual-threat quarterbacks for fantasy, and he’ll be going against Taysom Hill this week, who was the player he was compared to this spring after the Eagles drafted Hurts in the second round. I am a bit worried Doug Pederson could play some QB musical chairs with Hurts and Carson Wentz this week, but Jalen should get enough running opportunities to provide a solid fantasy floor for those searching for help.
Players to consider streaming this week
Mike Glennon (vs. Ten, 3%) — Who would’ve thought I’d be recommending Jacksonville’s third-string quarterback going against the AFC South’s first-place team in Week 14. Welp, here I am recommending Glennon as a streaming option against the Titans for those in need of help in two-QB formats. Glennon has surprisingly been competent in his first two starts with the Jaguars dropping games to the Browns and the Vikings by a combined five points. He completed 28/42 passes for 280 yards, one TD, and two INTs in Jacksonville’s overtime loss to the Vikings in Week 13, which gives him 515 passing yards and three TDs in two starts. Glennon has been throwing downfield with reckless abandon as he’s leading the league with a staggering 20.8% deep-ball rate (20+ yards) for 175 yards, two TDs, and one INT. His aggressive style is intriguing this week going against a Titans defense that just got eviscerated by Baker Mayfield for 290/4 passing…in the first half.
Tight End Streamers
Players to consider benching this week
In danger of missing: Mark Andrews (COVID-19), Jonnu Smith (ankle)
Top options if they’re available…
None of note.
A player to consider streaming the next couple of weeks
Cole Kmet (vs. Hou, @Min, @Jax — 1%) — You probably didn’t notice (and why would you) but the Bears are finally giving Kmet his chance to get his feet wet at the end of the season. He’s now significantly out-snapped Jimmy Graham in three straight games and the extra playing time finally resulted in fantasy production against the Lions last week. He posted a career-best 5/37/1 receiving on a team-best seven targets (20.6% share). With the Bears’ playoff chances all but evaporated, I could see HC Matt Nagy designing more plays for their second-round pick out of Notre Dame going forward, and his upcoming schedule is nothing to run away from against the Texans, the Vikings, and the Jaguars.
Players to consider streaming this week
Tyler Eifert (vs. Ten, 6%) — Eifert is picking up momentum since Mike Glennon took over at quarterback with consecutive double-digit performances with the veteran signal-caller. He has 9/61/1 receiving on 10 targets — including two red-zone looks — since Glennon took over the offense two weeks ago. Eifert last reached double-digit FP all the way back in Week 2 when he posted 3/36/1 receiving on six targets against this week’s opponent, the Titans. Tennessee has given up seven TDs to TEs this season and the seventh-most FPG (14.5) to the position.
Anthony Firkser (@Jax, 9%) — Firkser is worth a look again this week if Jonnu Smith is out of the lineup with his ankle injury. The Harvard TE needed some major garbage-time production to come through last week. He posted 5/51 receiving on seven targets despite playing fewer snaps than Geoff Swaim (38) and MyCole Pruitt (32) against the Browns. On a positive note, he ran a route on 25 of his 30 snaps, which was 14 more routes than both Swaim and Pruitt, who each ran 11 routes against the Browns. The major concern this week is if the Titans jump out to a huge lead and they ride their running game on the Jaguars as 7.5-point road favorites. Firkser could still inflict his damage early, and he posted 4/45 receiving in this matchup back in Week 2 as the Jags gave up a combined 8/129/2 receiving to Firkser and Jonnu.
Dalton Schultz (@Cin, 20%) — Schultz is far from a sexy option but he can provide a nice PPR floor if you’re looking for your TE not to kill your fantasy team this week. Heading into their Week 13 matchup with the Ravens, Schultz had 4+ catches in four consecutive games as a check-down option for Andy Dalton and company. The Bengals have struggled against TEs most of this season, especially in the last two weeks with Evan Engram (6/129 receiving) and Mike Gesicki (9/88/1) each exploding for 17+ FP.
