3 Fantasy Football Quarterback Streaming Options for Week 6

We're back! Let's get right down to it and look at quarterback streaming options for your season-long and DFS lineups.

Quarterback streaming isn't for everyone, but if you're in a standard league -- like a 10- or 12-team league that features just one starting signal caller -- grabbing potentially productive quarterbacks in good matchups off the waiver wire is often doable. For some roster constructions, it can even be optimal.

Sure, you won't have the luxury of setting it and forgetting it with Patrick Mahomes as your quarterback, but when the top-end signal-callers draw a tough matchup, their upside can oftentimes be matched by a waiver-wire option in a more favorable situation.

Throughout the season, this column should, will, and must be your go-to resource for identifying quarterbacks to stream in a pinch. Here are three quarterbacks rostered in fewer than roughly 50% of Yahoo leagues who are in solid spots this week.

Week 5 was a down week for this column. Recommended stream Sam Darnold finally hit his first road bump of the season. Trey Lance was solid in his debut and gave us the rushing floor we asked for, but getting tackled on the one-inch line meant he didn't score any touchdowns on the day. We'll call it a wash on Daniel Jones given his mid-game concussion. Hopefully, he's okay for Week 6.

Unfortunately, Week 5 was also a major week for injuries, and the quarterback position was no exception. Russell Wilson suffered a nasty finger injury on Thursday night, which is expected to sideline him for at least a month. On Monday, it came out that Lance suffered a knee sprain and is now in danger of missing Week 6's game against the Indianapolis Colts. As mentioned, Daniel Jones suffered a concussion, while Justin Fields left for a play with a knee scare, and Joe Burrow went to the hospital with a throat contusion but is reportedly fine.

We'll have plenty of situations to monitor throughout the week. For now, let's aim for more streaming goodness in Week 6!

Carson Wentz, Colts

Roster Percentage: 17%

With bye weeks here and given the stringent definition of a streamer as defined by, well, me, it's slim pickings for quarterback streamers this week.

And so here we are, trusting the process with Carson Wentz. While he hasn't been a fantasy stud to date, Wentz has been remarkably consistent, scoring 18 or more fantasy points in four games so far this year. In fact, if you remove Week 3 in which Wentz somehow played on two sprained ankles, he's averaging a respectable 19.4 fantasy points per game.

While that's not winning your week, Wentz is providing a solid floor to keep your lineup competitive. Now, Wentz is coming off his best game of the season, in which he sliced and diced the Baltimore Ravens for 402 yards and 11.5 yards per attempt.

Wentz notably carried nine times for 60 yards across the first two games of the year. Then he sprained both of his ankles and the rushing floor evaporated. While he only carried twice on Monday night, it's notable that it was his first week since Week 2 in which he logged multiple full practices. Given how efficient he was throwing, he simply didn't need to run much. If that rushing value comes back at all, he'll be a legitimate weekly streamer option.

Most importantly, he plays the Houston Texans this week. Houston checks in as a legitimate pass funnel defense, ranking a respectable 14th in numberFire's schedule-adjusted rush defense rankings but a mere 26th against the pass.

Geno Smith, Seahawks

Roster Percentage: 1%

If you've read this week's waiver column, then you know know the deal here. Russell Wilson is out, and Geno Smith is in.

It's been an interesting path to get here, but Smith has quietly made himself a solid career as a backup. Now in his ninth season, Smith looked legitimately sharp in spot duty last week, compiling 131 yards, a beautiful touchdown, and an unfortunate interception through the air in very limited action. Arguably more importantly, he added three carries for 23 yards and looked spry in the process.

Smith is as much a smart stash ahead of bye weeks as he is a recommended stream. The matchup on the road against the Pittsburgh Steelers doesn't exactly stand out, but it's also not as bad as meets the eye. In fact, Pittsburgh checks in as an even more severe run funnel than the Houston Texans mentioned above; the Steelers grade 4th-best in rush defense in numberFire's metrics but just 18th against the pass.

Regardless, Smith will be throwing to one of the best wide receiver duos in football, and his rushing ability supports a fantasy floor and ceiling no matter the matchup. Pittsburgh permitted nine carries for 44 yards to Josh Allen on the ground in Week 1 and let Aaron Rodgers get in for a rushing score recently.

There is certainly risk here given Seattle's low implied team total (19.00), but a spread of 4.5 implies a reasonably close game script, and it helps that Smith and the coaches had an extra three days to prepare coming off the Thursday night game. Smith is viable for those in desperation.

Taylor Heinicke, Washington

Roster Percentage: 16%

It might be time to go back to the Taylor Heinicke well here. Heinicke, a smash hit as a recommended stream in Week 4, has quietly scored 20 or more fantasy points in three of his four starts already this year and now gets to face the lifeless Kansas City Chiefs defense at home in Week 6.

Especially considering the game scripts we've seen Washington play in recently, this game has shootout written all over it with Patrick Mahomes and company coming to town. Kansas City's "defense" ranks 31st overall in schedule-adjusted defense and 29th against the pass. It's simply a defense we want to target every week until further notice.

This game is also one we want to attack as a whole, as the 55.5 total is the highest of the entire week.

A common theme throughout this column will always be rushing success for quarterbacks, the true key to fantasy value. We now have a seven-game sample size in which Heinicke has played at least 35% of the Washington Football Team's offensive snaps dating back to last season.

Across that sample (despite two not being starts), he's averaging 6.8 carries, 27.9 rushing yards, and 0.3 rushing touchdowns per game. That rushing value alone should keep him on the streaming radar more often than not. Heinicke is a flat-out awesome play this week.