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: Deshaun Watson (elbow), Matthew Stafford (ribs)
Top options if they’re available…
Taysom Hill (vs. KC, 63%) — Hill will get at least one more start while Drew Brees heals from his broken ribs so you have at least one more chance to get QB1 production from Hill like he’s done in his first four NFL starts. He’s scored 18+ FP in each of those starts and he has two TD passes in each of his last two games. The Saints will have to put up some points this week to keep pace with Patrick Mahomes this week, and the Chiefs have allowed multiple TD passes in five straight games with 22+ FP in four of those contests.
Derek Carr (vs. LAC, 47%) — I hope you stuck with Carr after his dreadful performance against the Falcons in Week 11 as he’s been fantasy gold since then. Carr has attempted 45+ passes and he’s posted 25+ FP in consecutive weeks with Las Vegas’ defense and their running game bottoming out the last two weeks. Las Vegas has allowed 31+ points in four straight games and 38.3 points per game in that stretch, which resulted in the dismissal of DC Paul Guenther for the final three weeks of the season. The Raiders have scored 27+ points in five of their last six games to cover up for their defense, and Carr will have to air it out plenty in this week’s highest totaled game of the week (53.5 points) against the Chargers. He managed just 15 FP against Los Angeles in Week 9, but he won’t be able to get away with a season-low 23 attempts again this week.
Players to consider streaming the next couple of weeks
Jalen Hurts (@Ari, @Dal — 18%) — I hope you followed this article last week and snagged Hurts off of the waiver wire as he could be a league-winning quarterback over the next two weeks against the Cardinals and the Cowboys. I knew Hurts was going to run a lot against the Saints last week, but I didn’t anticipate an NFL quarterback season-high of 18 carries, which he turned into 106 yards. Hurts and Lamar Jackson are the only QBs with 16+ carries in a game over the last six seasons, and his legs will make him a viable QB1 in the fantasy playoffs. The Cardinals had allowed 35+ rushing yards or a rushing TD to opposing QBs in five straight games in Weeks 7-13 before a clearly hobbled Daniel Jones failed to register a carry last week.
MItchell Trubisky (@Min, @Jax — 11%) — Starting Trubisky in the fantasy playoffs takes some cajones, but winning fantasy titles sometimes comes down to making uncomfortable decisions. Trubisky has three top-10 QB performances in six starts if you’re shooting for upside, which includes his performance last week when he posted 267/3 passing against the Texans. The Bears have scored 25+ points with 30.3 points per game given up since Trubisky took back over as the starter. The Vikings have allowed 24+ points in four straight games so this game could be a sneaky high-scoring affair with a total sitting at 47 points.
Players to consider streaming this week
Philip Rivers (vs. Hou, 41%) — The Colts offense is starting to fire on all cylinders after they roasted the Raiders for a season-high 44 points. T.Y. Hilton and Jonathan Taylor are really starting to hit their stride and Rivers has certainly benefited with multiple TD passes and 17+ FP in four straight games. One of those performances came against this week’s opponent, the Texans, when he threw for 285 yards and two touchdowns in Week 13. The Texans defense just got ripped by Mitch Trubisky for 267/3 passing, and their already decimated defense will be down S Justin Reid and DT Brandon Dunn this week. I am a bit worried that Taylor could dominate in this contest, but Hilton certainly has a long history of tormenting the Texans if you want to tail him with Rivers. It also doesn’t hurt that the Colts have an implied team total sitting around 30 points.
Tight End Streamers
Players to consider benching this week
In danger of missing: Mike Gesicki (shoulder), Hunter Henry (hip)
Top options if they’re available…
Jared Cook (vs. KC, 65%) — Cook may have been dropped after he posted a combined 3/36 receiving on eight targets in Weeks 9-12, but he’s starting to heat up as a red-zone threat for Taysom Hill with touchdowns and three catches in consecutive games in Weeks 13-14. The Saints will be forced to throw more this week to keep pace with Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs offense, and another vertical threat at TE, Mike Gesicki, went for 5/65/2 receiving against the Chiefs last week before getting injured.
Logan Thomas (vs. Sea, 58%) — Thomas is surging with double-digit FP in three straight games, which has coincided with Antonio Gibson (toe) and Terry McLaurin disappearing the last two weeks. It looks like Alex Smith will return to the lineup off of his calf injury last week, which is a plus since he’s averaging 6.0 targets per game since Smith took over the offense in Week 9. Thomas doesn’t get the easiest matchup against the Seahawks this week, but Seattle has at least allowed five TDs to the position in their last seven games.
A player to consider streaming the next couple of weeks
Cole Kmet (@Min, @Jax — 6%) — Kmet has started his 2021 fantasy hype campaign over the last couple of weeks, and he could cement his status as an upside late-round pick with a strong finish in the fantasy playoffs. He’s seen seven targets in each of his last two games while running routes on 64.5% of Mitch Trubisky’s dropbacks, which has helped him turn in 9/78/1 receiving in that span. Of course, Jimmy Graham is still sticking around like a cold sore, stealing a touchdown on an end-zone target last week, but it’s clear HC Matt Nagy is involving Kmet every week down the stretch. The Vikings gave up a touchdown to Rob Gronkowski last week and Tyler Eifert and James O’Shaughnessy combined for 10/86 receiving against the Vikings in Week 13. Kmet would also be helped out if stud LB Eric Kendricks (calf) can’t play again so don’t be afraid to give the rookie a chance.
Players to consider streaming this week
Irv Smith (vs. Chi, 7%) — I picked up and used Smith in a 14-team league with huge benches last week with Kyle Rudolph (foot) out of the lineup, and he came through with 4/63/1 receiving against the Buccaneers. Smith will be on my radar again this week if Rudolph is unable to play, but I’ll be looking elsewhere if he returns to the lineup. Tyler Conklin did run more routes (24 to 17), and he played more snaps (57% to 35%) than Smith last week, but ISJ should see a bigger role this week as he was coming off a two-week absence for a groin injury. The Bears have allowed 50+ receiving yards and/or a touchdown in 12 of their 14 games this season and it would’ve been 13 of 14 if a wide-open Jordan Akins didn’t lose a perfect pass in the sun last week.
Adam Shaheen (vs. NE, 0%) — I’ve been riding Mike Gesicki’s hot streak with Tua Tagovailoa in a couple of leagues in recent weeks, and I might be forced to look at Shaheen as insurance in case he can’t play. The Dolphins got wrecked with injuries at receiver last week with Gesicki, DeVante Parker (hamstring), and Jakeem Grant (hamstring) each going down. Shaheen could see a more prominent role this week after posting 2/26 receiving on three targets in Week 14 against the Chiefs. He ran 19 routes, including 11 from the slot, compared to Durham Smythe’s 11 routes (four from the slot) last week. I’d rather play a guy like Shaheen with a rock-bottom floor and unknown upside in Miami’s bruised and battered lineup than to play a guy like Dalton Schultz, who will post a six-point floor with no upside as the fifth-best option in a limited offense.
Dan Arnold (vs. Phi, 1%) — Arnold has been riding touchdown luck with four scores in his last four games, and he’s a perfect 3-for-3 on end-zone targets in that span. He’s seen just 12 targets in that span so he’s scored on 33.3% of his targets but there are worse bets to make this week going against an Eagles secondary that will be without Rodney McLeod (ACL) for the rest of the season. The Eagles have given up TDs to Jared Cook and Robert Tonyan in consecutive weeks, and they’ve allowed eight scores to TEs (7th-most) for the season.
