How many times have you heard someone telling you to “stream” a position? Whether it be quarterback, tight end, or defense, the idea of streaming is great, provided you get the players you want off the waiver wire. The issue with streaming week-to-week is that everyone knows who you’ll be targeting in those good matchups and you might have that player swiped from underneath you, or even worse, your opponent that week may snag a player just to ensure you don’t get them.

Import your team to My Playbook for instant Lineup advice

We started this article so you don’t have to worry about that anymore. Each Saturday morning, you’ll head over to your waiver wire and snag the players who are lined up for good matchups the following week. They may have a brutal matchup for that current week. Great, even better. That just means they’re more likely to be available for you. By snagging them a week prior, you eliminate the need to spend a lot of FAAB dollars on the top tier defense that everyone is chasing. Here are the players who have solid Week 14 matchups on tap and are less than 40 percent owned.

Quarterbacks

Ryan Tannehill (TEN) at OAK
There are certain players who fantasy owners just have a negative perception on for things that happened in the past. We all know DeVante Parker is one of them. Not by coincidence, Tannehill, another former Dolphin, is another. If you were to remove the names from their jerseys and have them play under a false identity, they’d be started every week. Tannehill has posted at least 18.9 fantasy points in each of his five starts and has been the No. 2 quarterback in points per game since taking over, behind only Lamar Jackson. Now he’s going to play a Raiders team that’s been a funnel defense, allowing over 21 fantasy points per game to quarterbacks? Sign me up.

Jacoby Brissett (IND) at TB
The second half of the season hasn’t been kind to Brissett, though losing pass-catchers seemingly left and right surely doesn’t help. The matchup with the Bucs, however, will help. They’re the only team in the NFL who’s allowed more fantasy points to the quarterback position than the running back position. It’s not close, either, as quarterbacks have scored a ridiculous 22.3 fantasy points per game against them. Since Week 2, they’ve allowed 8-of-9 quarterbacks to finish as the QB14 or better.

Last ditch option: Kyle Allen (CAR) at ATL

Running Backs

Alexander Mattison (MIN) vs DET
When searching for a potential streamer at running back, you just want to find a game where there’ll be plenty of running back touches to go around. Not only do running backs average 28.3 touches per game against the Lions, but the Vikings are the third-most run-heavy team in the league. The Lions are also down to their second- or third-string quarterback while going into Minnesota, who’s still in the playoff race. You don’t think they’ll have Dalvin Cook out there in a big blowout, do you?

Nyheim Hines (IND) at TB
We talked about it above in the Brissett notes, but I’ll reiterate the point here. The Bucs are the only team in the NFL who’s allowed more fantasy points to quarterbacks than running backs. “How does this help Hines, Mike? He’s a running back.” It’s more about the game-flow than anything, as the Bucs have allowed a miniscule 3.29 yards per carry on the ground. Whether it be Jonathan Williams or Marlon Mack, they’re going to have trouble moving the ball on the ground. When you take away Eric Ebron, who was placed on injured reserve this week, you have to distribute those targets somewhere, and the running back targets correlate most with tight end targets. Hines also had a season-high 11 touches last week.

Wide Receivers

Auden Tate (CIN) at CLE
It seems many have forgotten about Tate’s high floor due to one bad game against the Steelers when he didn’t practice all week and wasn’t even expected to play. Prior to that game, he’d seen six-plus targets in eight straight games. Now that Dalton’s back under center, we should see higher potential with him once again. In six games as a starter with Dalton, Tate totaled 26 receptions for 385 yards and a touchdown. During that time, he was the No. 21 wide receiver in fantasy.

Corey Davis/A.J. Brown (TEN) at OAK
You can pick your poison with these two, though Brown has been the more efficient one throughout the year (Davis is the one who is more widely available, though). The Raiders have been a rock-solid run defense throughout the year, and though they’ve been slipping a bit lately, their secondary has struggled all year. The 9.83 yards per target is the fifth-highest mark in the league, while the 2.00 PPR points per target ranks sixth-most. With Tannehill playing as well as he is, both these receivers have WR4 appeal.

Allen Hurns (MIA) at NYJ
Not many have paid attention to Hurns since Preston Williams went down, but you probably should. Over the three games in a full-time role, he’s totaled 17 targets that have netted 10 receptions for 127 yards and a touchdown. The Dolphins cannot run the ball, which has Ryan Fitzpatrick dropping back to pass more than ever. The Jets have allowed the sixth-most fantasy points to the wide receiver position, with the majority going to perimeter receivers, which Hurns is.

Viable alternatives: Nelson Agholor (PHI) vs NYG, Demaryius Thomas (NYJ) vs MIA

Tight Ends

Noah Fant (DEN) at HOU
I’ve always told people to follow the targets at the tight end position. There’s so much uncertainty with the position, as touchdowns can come on trick goal-line plays in a run-heavy formation, making someone look better in the box score than they are in fantasy. Fant is someone who’s had massive targets over the last four games, totaling 28 targets. Over a 16-game season, that would amount to 112 targets. He should offer a higher floor than most streamers.

David Njoku (CLE) vs CIN
Ideally, we see Njoku play in Week 13 to ensure he’s not eased back in. If he doesn’t get activated, I’d look to the other viable alternatives. The Bengals are a team to attack with tight ends, as they’ve allowed a 74.2 percent catch-rate, 12.96 yards per reception, and 2.09 PPR points per target, all of which are bottom-three marks in the league.

Viable alternatives: O.J. Howard (TB) vs IND, Jonnu Smith (TEN) at OAK

D/STs

Green Bay Packers vs WAS
They will be the defense everyone is rushing to get off the wire next week. What more could you want? A massive home favorite going against Dwayne Haskins, who’s been a gift for opposing defenses. The Redskins offensive line is not good, as they’ve allowed at least three sacks in eight of their last nine games, including four-plus sacks in five of them. During that nine-game stretch, they also turned the ball over 17 times. The only defense who didn’t finish as a top-12 DST option were the helpless Dolphins. The Packers themselves have generated three-plus sacks in five of their games, so we know they’ll bring the pressure to the young quarterback.

Indianapolis Colts at TB
Sure, Jameis Winston may put points on the board, but he always sets up well for streaming defenses. Despite the Bucs scoring 23-plus points in 8-of-11 games, they’ve given up the fifth-most fantasy points to opposing defenses. That’s due to the fact that the Bucs have turned the ball over 27 times (20 interceptions, seven fumble recoveries) and have allowed multiple sacks to 10-of-11 opponents. Meanwhile, the Colts defense has held each of their last seven opponents to 23 points or less.

Subscribe: iTunes | Google Play | Spotify | Stitcher | SoundCloud | TuneIn | RSS

Mike Tagliere is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @MikeTagliereNFL.