Streaming Quarterbacks – Week 2

Welp, Week 1 went exactly how we thought, amiright? Let’s start by reviewing the top 12 quarterbacks from Week 1:

 

 

My “Stream of the Week”, Matthew Stafford, finished as the fourth-highest scoring quarterback of the week. Stafford threw for 385 yards and three touchdowns, albeit in a full period of overtime, but a win is a win. The Lions attempted to establish the run early, but reverted back to their old ways, throwing the ball 60% of the time.

The Nick Foles streaming experiment ended early with Foles leaving the game early with a broken clavicle. His replacement, Gardner Minshew, played well, completing 22 of 25 attempts for 275 yards and two touchdowns, putting his name in the hat as a potential streamer moving forward.

The Raiders defense was able to keep the Broncos off the scoreboard in the first half and did a nice job of getting pressure on Joe Flacco, sacking him three times. Flacco’s performance was disappointing, but shouldn’t be that surprising considering he was just 7% owned. Let’s get into this week’s streaming picks.

 

Josh Allen (32% Owned, Pick of the Week)

 

Josh Allen and the Bills offense struggled to get going against the Jets defense and for good reason – the Jets have one of the best front-fours in the game. This week, they go from one New York team to another, where they’ll face the Giants. The Giants defense rolled over and allowed Dak Prescott to have his way with them, where Prescott threw for over 400 yards and four touchdowns. Prescott also went the entire game without being sacked, which makes sense, given Pro Football Focus ranking the Giants pass-rush at 30th in the league.

Josh Allen has a built-in floor thanks to his running game and even in a poor performance against the Jets, managed to put up a solid 16 fantasy points. If you’re feeling nervous about your quarterback situation in Week 2, Allen could be your sneaky pickup this week.

 

Derek Carr (29% Owned)

 

Derek Carr was unspectacularly solid in his Week 1 start against the Broncos. Carr went 22/26 for 259 yards and one touchdown pass to newly anointed number one, Tyrell Williams. That was good for a meh 14.6 fantasy points. However, there were some positives, other than Carr being solid, that came from this game. Number one is the offensive line managed to keep Von Miller and the vaulted Broncos pass rush at bay, allowing no sacks on the day. The second is that Carr protected the football, something he struggled with last year

This week, Carr gets a matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs, and if Carr can play as well as Foles/Minshew (347/3), we should be in for a top 12 quarterback. The Raiders will most likely be in catchup mode, meaning Carr will be asked to sling the ball more than last week. If that offensive line protects him the way they did this week, Carr should have no problem picking apart the Chiefs 30th ranked secondary according to Pro Football Focus.

 

Marcus Mariota (8% Owned)

 

Here’s our hail mary of the week. Marcus Mariota finished Week 1 as the ninth highest scoring quarterback with 24.3 points. However, he did not play great, going 14/24 for 248 yards and three touchdowns. The fact of the matter is the Browns played a sloppy game, turning the ball over three times and being sacked five times, and the Titans took advantage of good field position.

This week Mariota faces the Colts, who just got lit up by Philip Rivers, who threw for 333 yards and three touchdowns. I wouldn’t recommend Mariota in any standard 10 or 12 team leagues, unless there’s literally no one available, but in a 2-QB league or leagues that are 14 teams or larger, he should be safe this week.

 

(Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire)