3 Fantasy Football Quarterback Streaming Options for Week 15

Sound the alarms and batten down the hatches: the fantasy football playoffs are here.

It's time to 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 14 Recap and Situations to Monitor

Mixed results in Week 14 for this column, depending on who you streamed. Taysom Hill gave us the fourth-best quarterback score of the week, which rocks. Cam Newton couldn't crack 15 fantasy points, which does not rock. Taylor Heinicke left the game with an injury and missed out on sweet sweet garbage time, but he also wasn't getting it done before he left. If you read closely, however, then hopefully you benefitted from Justin Fields' QB10 performance.

The biggest situation to monitor is Josh Allen, who "suffered a foot sprain and is considered day-to-day." Even if he suits up, a foot sprain seems concerning for his mobility and subsequently his rushing floor and ceiling. Allen managers need a backup plan.

Lamar Jackson sprained his ankle, but since it doesn't seem to be a high ankle sprain, he could still gut it out this week. We'll have to stick close to those practice reports and similar to Allen, definitely have a plan B ready.

We don't yet know if Jalen Hurts is ready to go, but considering he practiced in a limited basis and then had a full bye week to rest, signs point to him back as the Philadelphia Eagles starter in Week 15. Aaron Rodgers allegedly suffered a "setback" with his toe injury, but he's balling regardless and it would be shocking if he doesn't continue playing through the injury with the NFC's top seed on the line.

Justin Fields is similarly playing through a few injuries (ribs/non-throwing hand) but all signs point to him as the starter again this week. Our once king of streaming Taylor Heinicke suffered a knee injury but Adam Schefter reports he plans to play through it. Daniel Jones is visiting a neck specialist so it feels safe to assume Mike Glennon will continue to start for the New York Giants.

Bye weeks are officially in the rearview, so we'll have the full gamut of options to work with for the rest of the season.

Let's aim for more streaming goodness in Week 15!

Tua Tagovailoa, Dolphins

Roster Percentage: 34%

If you're wondering: Yes, it's Tua time. A cursory look at season-long stats belies Tua Tagovailoa's actual production this year. He's missed four games and played sporadically in another two, so both overall and points per game numbers don't paint an accurate picture of his fantasy production to date.

Across the seven games Tua has played start to finish, he's averaging 19.1 fantasy points per game. That would rank him as the QB12 this year by points per game, just barely behind Dak Prescott this season. Put simply, he's a borderline every week starter at quarterback who is somehow rostered in only one-third of Yahoo! leagues.

That roster percentage is a gift for those in need of a backup plan for either Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson. Tua is at home against the lowly New York Jets as 8.5-point favorites this week. The Miami Dolphins have a strong 25.75-point implied team total, 8th-best among all Week 15 teams.

There isn't a better matchup for passing games than the Jets, who have the worst schedule-adjusted pass defense in the league, per numberFire's metrics. As a result, they've allowed the third-most schedule-adjusted fantasy points to quarterbacks. Tua also shouldn't face much pressure against a Jets defense that ranks bottom-ten in both Pressure Rate and Hurry Rate, per Pro Football Reference.

Miami's offense, meanwhile, is a sort of pass funnel offense. The Dolphins sport the 17th-best schedule-adjusted pass offense (likely weighed down by five-plus games with Jacoby Brissett at quarterback), but rank 31st in schedule-adjusted rushing offense. It makes sense, then, that Miami is third in neutral situation pass rate this season (63%), according to Sharp Football Stats.

While Will Fuller is nowhere in sight, having DeVante Parker back is a big boon for this passing offense. Fresh off the bye, it's likely Parker, Jaylen Waddle, and Mike Gesicki are as healthy as they'll be all season. With his pass-catching corps rounding into shape, a pristine matchup and a high implied team total, Tua checks plenty of boxes as a strong streaming option this week. He carries our 10th-highest quarterback projection for Week 15, too.

Justin Fields, Bears

Roster Percentage: 19%

It's surprising that Justin Fields is rostered in just one-fifth of Yahoo! leagues. Over his last three full starts, he's averaged just shy of 22 fantasy points per game. It's not coincidental that he's averaging nine carries for 74 rushing yards over that same span. He's finally turning into the fantasy quarterback we expected based on his prospect profile.

Fields has a date with the Minnesota Vikings, who just allowed Ben Roethlisberger's best fantasy performance of the season. While Minnesota's pass defense is a healthy 16th in our schedule-adjusted metrics, I've pointed out multiple times that ranking continues to slip in the absence of star pass rusher Danielle Hunter.

In terms of adjusted fantasy points allowed to the position, Minnesota is fifth-worst. Conveniently for Fields, Minnesota also allows the ninth-most rushing yards to quarterbacks.

That's pretty much it. Fields is running the ball more than ever and now gets a matchup that sets up well for his efficiency both on the ground and through the air. It makes sense he's our 13th-best quarterback this week, according to numberFire's projections.

If we get news that Lamar Jackson can't play and if Fields isn't available, Tyler Huntley is the arbitrage play. Similar to touting Fields last week, Huntley will get a Packers defense that's allowed 30 more quarterback rushing yards than any other defense this year.

Jimmy Garoppolo, 49ers

Roster Percentage: 30%

Look, I'm not excited about recommending Jimmy Garoppolo here and neither are you. I'm especially always hesitant to include non-rushing quarterbacks in our streaming pool.

Let's put aside our bias, though, and focus on Garoppolo's recent play. Since Week 8, Garoppolo is the QB8 by fantasy points per game, averaging 18.42 points per game. Over that span, he's been a top-twelve scorer three separate times, with two more QB13 performances added in. He's essentially been a low-end QB1 for the latter half of the season.

It doesn't feel like a coincidence Garoppolo's play has surged with George Kittle back healthy and Brandon Aiyuk finally out of the doghouse. It also doesn't hurt that Elijah Mitchell's health isn't close to 100%. He missed this past week with both a concussion and knee injury, so it's possible he's limited or out again this week. With Mitchell out this past week, Garoppolo set a season-high with 41 pass attempts (though admittedly overtime helped him get there).

Jimmy G's team environment is obviously a big part of his streaming appeal. The San Francisco 49ers enter Week 15 as 8.5-point home favorites, and their 27.25-point implied team total is fifth among all teams.

The matchup helps, too. The Atlanta Falcons are 29th in our schedule-adjusted pass-defense rankings, but rank a respectable 15th against the run. That's a big reason why Atlanta has allowed the most schedule-adjusted fantasy points to quarterbacks this season. Furthermore, as we touched on with Cam Newton last week, Garoppolo should have a squeaky clean pocket against Atlanta's pass rush which ranks dead last in Pressure Rate.

The lack of rushing hurts his floor/ceiling combo, but every other factor is working in Garoppolo's favor as a Week 15 streamer. He's 14th among quarterbacks in numberFire's projections to boot.