Let's get right down to it and look at quarterback streaming options for your season-long 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. I'll recommend quarterbacks rostered in fewer than roughly 50% of Yahoo leagues who are in solid spots this week.
Week 7 was a stellar week for the streaming #process.
Top streaming recommendation Tua Tagovailoa messed around and scored more fantasy points than any other quarterback on the week. BOOM. Mac Jones, meanwhile, registered the QB9 performance on the week despite leaving the game late due to a blowout. Daniel Jones was recommended before Sterling Shepard suffered an injury setback, and yet he still provided a top-15 quarterback performance. Hopefully, you took advantage!
Fortunately, it was a light week of quarterback injuries. Zach Wilson wasn't really on the streaming radar, but he'll miss 2-4 weeks with a sprained PCL. The New York Jets traded for Joe Flacco in Wilson's absence. We should expect Jimmy Garoppolo and Case Keenum to start for their respective teams unless we get any developments. As long as Dak Prescott's calf is good to go, we should be in for a mostly clean week at the position. We'll be missing Lamar Jackson and Derek Carr to bye weeks.
Let's aim for more streaming goodness in Week 8!
Carson Wentz, Colts
Roster Percentage: 38%
Back to the well with Carson Wentz, who delivered as a streaming suggestion two weeks ago. Despite the lack of fanfare, Wentz has been incredibly consistent in fantasy football this season, scoring between 17-23 fantasy points in every game but one. The only time he didn't meet that mark was when he entered a week with two sprained ankles.
Clearly over his ankle injuries, Wentz is quietly the QB10 over the last four weeks. On a per-game basis, he's the QB14 over that span. With bye weeks in full force, he's honestly closer to fringe QB1 than he is desperation streamer, yet his roster percentage suggests otherwise.
This week, Wentz faces the Tennessee Titans at home. Tennessee ranks a middling 18th in schedule-adjusted defense, per numberFire’s metrics. Notably, however, they rank 17th against the pass but 7th against the run, setting up a pass funnel opportunity for Wentz to exploit.
As discussed ad nauseam in this column, we want rushing value from our streaming quarterbacks. Wentz's rushing fell off a cliff when he was injured, but he's now registered four or more carries in four games this year. Most notably, he's coming off 4 carries for 23 rushing yards a touchdown in Week 7. Tennessee has allowed the 14th-most rushing yards to quarterbacks this season.
This game sets up as one to attack in general. It carries a strong 49.5-point total (which I could see rising), and the small 1.5-point spread implies a back-and-forth affair. I'm streaming Wentz with confidence this week.
Daniel Jones, Giants
Roster Percentage: 28%
A mainstay in this article, Daniel Jones is built for our streaming needs. He's scored 20 or more fantasy points three times this year, and he's still third among quarterbacks in rushing yards.
While his performance in the last three weeks hasn't been as helpful, there are plenty of easy explanations. The New York Giants' skill position core has been extremely banged up, while all three of those matchups rank top-11 in our schedule-adjusted defense rankings.
The Kansas City Chiefs, uh, do not grade as well; their defense is 31st overall in our schedule-adjusted rankings. Kansas City has allowed the most rushing yards to quarterbacks (241) and is tied for the most rushing touchdowns given up to the position (4). It's a wheels-up matchup, especially for rushing quarterbacks.
This game has the second-highest over/under of the week. After the Chiefs were embarrassed by the Titans, we should expect Patrick Mahomes and company to come out firing on all cylinders against the Giants' 21st-graded defense, per our metrics. Daniel Jones will have no choice but to air it out to keep up, and there's hope he can get one or both of Sterling Shepard and Kenny Golladay back this week.
Our projections agree, slating Jones with the 10th-strongest projection among quarterbacks this week. Giddy up.
Teddy Bridgewater, Broncos
Roster Percentage: 20%
Look, you don't want to play Teddy Bridgewater. I get it.
But let's remove the name for a second and focus on the stats. Bridgewater has scored 19.6 or more fantasy points in four of his six full games played this year. Better than you thought, right?
He has mostly feasted on good matchups and struggled against tougher defenses. This week, he's at home against Washington Football Team, which ranks 26th in schedule-adjusted pass defense, per numberFire’s metrics. Notably, Washington is another pass-funnel defense, grading 10th-best against the run. This certainly qualifies as a good matchup.
Things are turning around for his pass-catching core, too. Bridgewater has developed decent chemistry with Courtland Sutton and Noah Fant, and now he's finally expected to get Jerry Jeudy back. That's a big deal.
It's also helpful that the Denver Broncos are coming off a long week of rest after playing on Thursday Night Football. We haven't seen Teddy run as much recently, but he's also been on the injury report for the last several weeks. When he was healthy early in the season, we saw him carry the ball three or four times a game.
With more rest, it's possible we get some more rushing juice from Bridgewater this week. Of note, Washington has allowed the third-most rushing yards to quarterbacks this season.
To be clear, Teddy is more of a two-quarterback-league play this week. But for those in desperation, he's a decent streaming option.