Photo by Todd Kirkland/Icon Sportswire
There are good weeks and bad weeks, and week 7 was most definitely a great week if you followed our quarterback streaming list. We pointed out 3 under-owned options as well as 3 streamers, and five of our six names had 19.5+ points. My apologies if you chose to go with Andy Dalton: I still love that match up and I will still start quarterbacks playing against the Chiefs on a weekly basis. It just didn’t work out this week. Our full list of names from last week was Andy Dalton (8.92 points), Jameis Winston (22.1 points), Mitch Trubisky (33.42 points), Baker Mayfield (20.9 points), Joe Flacco (19.56 points), and Eli Manning (20.66 points). This means our “top 6” average was 20.93 and our streamer average was 20.37. I am thrilled with this result, and I only hope we can match it again this week. Let’s take a look at the full top 12.
| Player | Team | Opponent | Percent Owned | Fantasy Points |
| Patrick Mahomes | Kansas City Chiefs | Cincinnati Bengals | 99 | 33.82 |
| Mitch Trubisky | Chicago Bears | New England Patriots | 53 | 33.42 |
| Cam Newton | Carolina Panthers | Philadelphia Eagles | 99 | 25.66 |
| Andrew Luck | Indianapolis Colts | Buffalo Bills | 91 | 22.74 |
| Tom Brady | New England Patriots | Chicago Bears | 100 | 22.68 |
| Jameis Winston | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Cleveland Browns | 73 | 22.1 |
| Baker Mayfield | Cleveland Browns | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 41 | 20.9 |
| Eli Manning | New York Giants | Atlanta Falcons | 22 | 20.66 |
| Dak Prescott | Dallas Cowboys | Washington Redskins | 35 | 20.22 |
| Philip Rivers | Los Angeles Chargers | Tennessee Titans | 95 | 20.14 |
| Joe Flacco | Baltimore Ravens | New Orleans | 42 | 19.56 |
| Matt Ryan | Atlanta Falcons | New York Giants | 97 | 19.26 |
Looking over the list, we caught 3 of the 4 possible streamers, missing only Dak Prescott. Dak could be a name to watch now that he will have Amari Cooper in the fold: in theory, a true #1 receiver. I’m not sure things will click so smoothly, and I’m not so sure that the Cowboys didn’t just overpay for damaged goods. Nevertheless, it is one more guy to throw to and Dak’s numbers should see some kind of bump. If we expand our reach to names that were 75% or less owned, we caught 5 of the 6, including Mitch Trubisky at number two. In addition to the list of streamers, we saw some good match ups pop up: Bears vs Patriots, Falcons vs Giants, and Browns vs Buccaneers. We have regularly been chasing the Buccaneers, Chiefs, and Falcons opponents, and 2 of the 3 showed up big. We will continue along this line of thinking for the coming week as we look to see who is useful in week 8. Without further ado, let’s dive in.
Andy Dalton (76%)
I just can’t quit Andy Dalton this year. Through his first 6 weeks, Dalton averaged 279 yards and 2.3 touchdowns per game. He certainly came out of the gate hot, and now he draws a great match up in Tampa Bay. I know the Atlanta game looked good last week, but the Tampa Bay match up might be even better. I expect Dalton to some back strong, to throw at least 250 yards, and to end up with a couple touchdowns. I would be happy to roll with Dalton again, and it would be a close call between him and the next man on the list for who I like more. Either way, I would tout both as top 10 options against the list of 90%+ owned names. Start Dalton above all streamers this week.
Jameis Winston (74%)
Jameis Winston and the Buccaneers offense love to put up points. In his last two weeks, Winston has averaged 380 yards and 2 touchdowns per week. These are monstrous numbers, and they match what we saw from Ryan Fitzpatrick at the beginning of the year. Tampa Bay’s offense is loaded, and I am happy to start Winston against almost anyone. Well, the Cincinnati match up doesn’t seem unbeatable, so here we are once again beating the Jameis Winston drum. Like Dalton, I would have Winston in my top 10 for the week, and I would be happy to roll with him.
Baker Mayfield (43%)
The Pittsburgh Steelers give up 25+ points per game, though they have played the likes of the Buccaneers, Falcons, and Chiefs–three top passing attacks in the league. The Steelers also like to put up points early and often. I think there is a chance that this becomes a defensive slug fest, but more likely I expect each team to score a few touchdowns. Baker Mayfield has looked good the last few weeks, and I think he will keep the Browns rolling this week. Still, part of me hopes the team struggles so that they finally fire Hue Jackson. Nevertheless, I expect the Browns to fight from start to finish, and I wager Baker will put up a good stat line against the Browns’ hated rival.
Case Keenum (23%, stream of the week)
Case Keenum has thrown an interception in every single game this year. He has failed to reach 200 yards twice and in three of his seven games, he didn’t throw a touchdown. If you’ve been reading, you know what’s coming next: he is playing the Kansas City Chiefs. Case Keenum is a capable quarterback, and I think he is still capable of a big game here and there. In weeks 5 and 6, he averaged 350 yards and 2 touchdowns. I love the Kansas City match up (I know…I repeat this every week), and I could see this being fruitful for us in week 8. Sure, the Broncos are travelling to Kansas City to play in a hostile environment. However, it wouldn’t surprise me at all to watch Keenum throw 2-3 scores.
Eli Manning (21%)
Eli Manning has looked decent the last 3 weeks. I still feel uneasy saying that, even as he helped us last week. Maybe it’s the “dead cat bounce”, but Manning has averaged 330+ yards and 1 touchdown over that time. He still has some great weapons, and they will need to score more as the defense sells off parts (so far a defensive back and a defensive tackle). I expect Manning to play well against the Washington defense that gave up 270+ yards to Dak Prescott last week. Eli is not my top choice, but I could start him if the previous 4 names are already gone.
Joe Flacco (38%)
Joe Flacco has slowed down form his torrid pace at the beginning of the year, but he continues to play well for the Ravens. He averages 295 yards and 1.5 touchdowns per game, and this is a huge step up from last season when he averaged under 200 yards per game. Flacco draws a Carolina defense that has given up 2 passing touchdowns in each of the last 5 weeks. Excluding when Carolina played Washington and Alex Smith in week 6, they have given up 300+ yards in each of the last 4 weeks. I can easily talk myself into Flacco, and he would be a close call with Eli this week as a final streamer option.