teams. Of course, the implicit part of that agreement is that we would help you FIND said quarterbacks, kickers, tight ends and defenses. Last week started off okay quarterback (Brisset, Allen, and Stafford all over 15 fantasy points), mediocre at kicker (Bailey/Seibert bad, Badgley did not play) and amazing at defense (New York Jets over 20 points in most systems).
This week, we will be bringing tight ends back into the conversation as we have some more actionable information and the first set of waiver runs should have changed the landscape of what is out there.
The RotoExperts rankings and projections will guide you in making streaming and start/sit decisions, and the RX staff will be in the Daily Roto slack to answer questions for RotoExperts subscribers as well.
Streaming Notes: All players in this weekly column will be under 50% owned in Yahoo! Fantasy Football. A given player might be owned in your league but is not owned in all leagues. FAAB bids will be listed during the regular season but you know your league better than I do. FAAB dollars are also worth more the earlier they are spent in the calendara, so keep that in mind while streaming QB/K/DST.
Week Three Fantasy Football Streamers
Quarterback Fantasy Football Streamers
Jacoby Brisset – This is going to be a very popular week for quarterback streamers as many teams just lost Cam Newton (possibly), Ben Roethlisberger and Drew Brees. Unfortunately, it is not a great week for streamers. Josh Allen is now owned in more than 50% of Yahoo! leagues so he is out of our pool. Brisset is the best of the bunch, pretty clearly. The Colts have been one of the most situation-neutral running teams in their first two games against the Chargers and Titans but I am not sure if that is going to work for them at home against the Falcons who are one of the more pass-heavy teams. Brisset is averaging five rushing attempts per game but has only gained 34 yards; I would expect that to tick up as the season goes on. There is actually a little bit of ceiling with Brisset here this week and he is our preferred streamer.
Gardner Minshew – The man, the myth, the legend. Social media cannot stop talking about the former Washington State quarterback. If you are a loyal RotoExperts reader, you already know about Minshew and it is paying off. Gardner almost lead a heroic come from behind victory against the Texans last week while throwing 33 times and rushing six times for 53 yards. If he even cuts those rushing numbers in half but maintains the same amount of passing volume, he has a chance to be back-end top 15 quarterback. This specific matchup against the Titans doesn’t have a high total or a particularly intriguing game script but I like the player a little more than the situation.
If You Are Desperate: Andy Dalton (The Bengals have turned into one of the most pass-heavy teams through the first two weeks of the season as Dalton has 93 passing attempts through two games and while this matchup at Buffalo is truly horrible, Dalton could get to 15 fantasy points through sheer volume alone)
Kicker Fantasy Football Streamers
Jason Myers – We have absolutely smashed kicking streamers over the last week with Joey Slye (16 points) and Austin Seibert (13 points). Hopefully, if you guys have been reading the streamers column, you have your kickers for the rest of the year. If not, Myers is kicking at home for a Seattle team with a healthy team total against a Saints team that just lost their starting QB. The one worry I would have with starting Myers is that the Seahawks are not going to be trying to generate a ton of scoring possessions so would rather go with our third option, Zane Gonzalez if looking to maximize upside.
Dan Bailey- The Vikings offense is essentially in the same spot this week as they were in Week One against the Falcons. They are playing a home game against a team beneath their station with a healthy team total. Much like Myers, the Vikings are not trying to maximize scoring possessions but rather just assure themselves that they have the ball longer than the opponent. Bailey doesn’t have the same long-term upside as Austin Seibert did last week or Gonzalez does this week and is more of a desperation option.
Zane Gonzalez – After watching the Cardinals play for two weeks, I am just about ready to hold Zane Gonzalez as my kicker for the rest of the year. No one loves settling for a short field goal more than Kliff Kowardsbury. Kliff became the first coach since 1974 to call for three field-goal attempts inside the five-yard line! Now, the Cardinals get another good matchup against the Carolina Panthers who might be without Cam Newton. No team has generated more offensive plays than the Cardinals and that is a boon for their kicking game.
Tight End Fantasy Football Streamers
Jason Witten/Blake Jarwin – Most people, other than the O.J Howard and Evan Engram owners, are probably happy with their tight ends. I wrote up Witten and Jarwin as streamers last week and Witten hit with his second touchdown in two weeks but he actually is going to project even better this week due to the absence of Michael Gallup. Even if it is only another percentage point or two, we expect Witten to move his market share of targets up every so slightly with Michael Gallup on the sideline. Witten is my top priority streaming option this week after playing 77% of the teams’ snaps in Week Two and now getting the easiest possible matchup against Miami.
Jack Doyle – The Colts passing game, outside of T.Y Hilton, has essentially been a mess in terms of projecting volume. Jack Doyle has not repaid the faith that we had him in during the offseason with only five targets through two games. However, as we discussed with Brisset, the Colts have ran one of the most rush-heavy offenses through two weeks and that is not likely to be the case against Atlanta. If Doyle doesn’t see more than 65% of the snaps and run routes on at least 50% of Brissett’s dropbacks, it will be time to move him down several tiers.
Defense/Special Teams Fantasy Football Streamers
Structural DST Streaming Philosophy: The core tenants of finding a good streaming defense are finding a home defense that is going to face a lot of passing attempts. While your league settings might differ, in general, what we are chasing is sacks, turnovers and the main goal is finding DST touchdowns. DST touchdowns happen most often on passing plays as opposed to rushing plays.
Seattle Seahawks- A home defense against Taysom Hill and/or Teddy Bridgewater in his start of the year? Sign me up. The Seahawks are close to the threshold of being too owned to be in this column (right under 50%) but the issue they will have is the same as Jason Myers: the number of possessions. If Seattle is able to hold the ball for 35-40 minutes of the game, the Seahawks defense has less chances for sacks, fumbles, and turnovers. This is sort of a classic high-floor DST streamer where you are unlikely to be disappointed but it could be an overall middling day.
Philadelphia Eagles – Welcoming Matt Stafford as a road underdog has long been a profitable position for streaming defenses in fantasy football and that is where the Eagles find themselves this week. Their secondary is not their strong suit (as the Sunday Night Football game against Atlanta showed) but they have a strong defensive line and could face over 50 pass attempts if this game gets away from Detroit which would be a recipe for success.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Forgive me raining a little bit on the Daniel Jones parade but the Tampa Bay defense does seem semi-improved under Todd Bowles and will now be facing a rookie quarterback making his first NFL start. Daniel Jones is going to be like many NFL quarterbacks before him who are not defined by their first start and are liable to make a few mistakes on the road the first time they play. Tampa is one of the best streaming defenses of the week as they are seven-point home favorites and might see 40+ pass attempts.
