Streaming QBs: Week 7

(Photo by Patrick Gorski/Icon Sportswire)

Welcome to the number 1 spot Jameis Winston. It’s been a weird season for the Bucs quarterback who was suspended to start the year, almost lost the starting job for good to Ryan Fitzpatrick, and now finds himself the #1 fantasy quarterback for week 6. He threw for nearly 400 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions en route to almost taking down the Falcons. I don’t expect the matchup to be as juicy this week against Cleveland, but I still like Winston moving forward as a viable starter given his glut of weapons. I suppose I should also mention that Winston was our stream of the week last week, and it really paid dividends. Our streamers overall were Jameis Winston (32.9 points), Baker Mayfield (12.3), Blake Bortles (11.2), and C.J. Beathard (18.9) for an average of 18.8 points per streamer. I’m happy with that result, especially when our top streamer was a homerun. Other viable streaming names we could have hit were Dak Prescott (thank you rushing yards), Mitch Trubisky (this is 2 straight weeks now), and Brock Osweiler (I don’t know what to say about this one). The rest of the way was chalk with each other option being a minimum 89% owned. Let’s take a look at the full top-12.

Player	Team	Opponent	Percent Owned	Fantasy Points
Jameis Winston	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Atlanta Falcons	59%	32.9
Dak Prescott	Dallas Cowboys	Jacksonville Jaguars	32%	29.5
Patrick Mahomes	Kansas City Chiefs	New England Patriots	99%	29.0
Aaron Rodgers	Green Bay Packers	San Francisco 49ers	100%	28.4
Mitch Trubisky	Chicago Bears	Miami Dolphins	29%	28.3
Matt Ryan	Atlanta Falcons	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	96%	27.5
Brock Osweiler	Miami Dolphins	Chicago Bears	1%	26.0
Andrew Luck	Indianapolis Colts	New York Jets	89%	25.7
Carson Wentz	Philadelphia Eagles	New York Giants	94%	24.5
Cam Newton	Carolina Panthers	Washington Redskins	99%	22.3
Russell Wilson	Seattle Seahawks	Oakland Raiders	94%	21.9
Tom Brady	New England Patriots	Kansas City Chiefs	100%	21.8

Similar to previous weeks, we saw some choice matchups in Atlanta vs Tampa Bay and Kansas City vs New England. I think it’s safe to say we can chase Kansas City and Atlanta, and expect high-scoring affairs from both teams. For week 7, that would tell us to target Andy Dalton (vs Kansas City) and Eli Manning (vs Atlanta). There was also an unexpected point explosion from Chicago vs Miami. Really, we can blame this one on a complete and utter collapse of the Bears secondary, ultimately allowing Brock Osweiler (I just threw up in my mouth) to throw multiple 40+ yards touchdowns in a Miami comeback victory. I think we should now be paying attention to Mitch Trubisky as he has looked very good for two weeks in a row. He is certainly not matchup proof, but he has a great look this week against a “blah” New England passing defense. Without further ado, here are our week 7 streamers:

Andy Dalton (79%)

Andy Dalton is owned at a healthy 79% right now. So why bother checking for him? One word: matchup. The Bengals are taking on the Chiefs, who can’t see to be stopped by anyone. They are putting up nearly 36 points per game, and this means every opponent is throwing. Let’s add in that the Kansas City passing defense is not very good (giving up the second most passing yards of any team), and we have more reason to support Dalton as an option. Finally, let’s finish with Dalton himself: he is averaging better than 20 points per week through 6 games, and he looks good right now. Check for Dalton on waivers just in case and consider him an EASY top-10 play (maybe top-5) if you can find him.

Jameis Winston (71%)

I already discussed Winston, but I wanted to mention him again here in the under-owned section. Winston has a lot of weapons on a Bucs team that gives up a lot of points. Like the Chiefs, they throw a ton and they then kindly give up almost as many yards to their opponents. Play Winston if you can, and keep an eye on his opponents for streaming choices if he’s already gone. Like Dalton, I think Winston has easy QB1 upside and he is a better option than all streamers this week.

Mitch Trubisky (51%)

Oh Mitch. I find it clear that if I start you, I’ll get burned. If I don’t, I’ll still get burned. I love Mitch Trubisky as a starter moving forward, and one more breakout game will send him through the roof. Grab him while he is under the radar. With each week, he seems to get more and more comfortable in the offense and the coaching staff seems to trust him more. Sure, he still misses some throws he needs to be hitting. However, he also makes some beautiful passes as well. The matchup is good against the Patriots this weekend and I expect the Bears offense to score. I would consider Trubisky a better choice than the streamers, though it is closer than the last two options.

Baker Mayfield (41%)

Last week was probably the worst game of Baker Mayfield’s young career. He completed less than half of his passes, he threw 2 interceptions, and he failed to hit 250 yards for the first time as a starter. Still, he was trusted enough to have 40+ attempts for the third week in a row. I love that kind of volume, especially in a matchup that could turn into a shootout. The Browns play the Buccaneers in week 7, and I could easily see both teams putting up a few touchdowns. Since Jameis Winston is already owned, you can confidently roll with Baker Mayfield in this one.

Joe Flacco (40%, stream of the week)

Welcome back to the list Joe Flacco. After being left off last week, I am happy to roll with Flacco against a porous Saints defense. Joe Flacco is averaging nearly 300 passing yards per game while New Orleans is giving up 300+ passing yards per game. I still love the weapons in Baltimore: John Brown can easily break any play open, and Michael Crabtree and Willie Snead make for great possession receivers. Overall, this passing attack has proven capable on a weekly basis, and I love them against a bad defense. Not only do I like Joe Flacco in this matchup, but he is my stream of the week for week 7.

Eli Manning (22%)

If the thought of starting Eli Manning on your fantasy roster makes you queasy, you aren’t alone. The Giants offense has not looked good this year, save for the special talent that is Saquon Barkley. They have had trouble getting Odell Backham Jr. the ball, and the result is a 1-5 start feeling an awful lot like last year. Still, Eli Manning has mostly avoided making mistakes with only 4 interceptions to this point. He throws for 250+ yards per game and the Giants face the Falcons this week. If the Giants passing game is ever going to look good, it’s going to be against Atlanta. Start Eli if the previous options were gone, and know that he has upside for a really good week.