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.
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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 16 matchups on tap and are less than 40 percent owned.
Quarterbacks
Andy Dalton (CIN) at MIA
Would you consider streaming Jared Goff or Baker Mayfield against the Dolphins? Of course you would, so why not the guy who’s averaged more fantasy points per game than both of them? Not many realize Dalton has been a solid streamer, totaling 16-plus fantasy points in 6-of-10 starts. Two of the teams he didn’t hit that mark against were the Ravens and Steelers. Meanwhile, the Dolphins have allowed 11-of-13 quarterbacks to score at least 15.6 fantasy points. The 8.01 yards per attempt and 7.19 percent touchdown-rate are both some of the highest marks in the league.
Ryan Fitzpatrick (MIA) vs CIN
The gunslinger has been getting it done for fantasy teams, totaling four 20-point performances over his last eight games. Some may see the Bengals as the team who doesn’t allow a massive ceiling to opposing quarterbacks due to the lack of pass attempts (29.8 per game), but everyone knows the Dolphins don’t/can’t run the ball, which should lead to Fitzpatrick throwing more than the average quarterback would. There are just three quarterbacks who’ve finished outside the top-16 against the Bengals.
Last ditch option: Gardner Minshew (JAX) at ATL
If available: Philip Rivers (LAC) vs OAK
Running Backs
Patrick Laird (MIA) vs CIN
I’ll be honest here: I don’t think Laird is going to be available in ultra-competitive leagues, but the cutoff mark is 40 percent, and as of the time writing this, he’s at 38 percent owned. The Bengals have allowed a massive 161.0 yards per game to opposing running backs this year, which has a lot to do with the 29.3 touches they average. He touched the ball 19 times last week in a tough matchup against the Jets and netted 86 total yards. There’s no reason he shouldn’t be owned and played if available.
Chris Thompson (WAS) vs NYG
Maybe there’s a hangover effect from the Derrius Guice injury, but Thompson is still widely available in fantasy leagues. While Adrian Peterson has played 51 snaps over the last two weeks, Thompson has played 47 of them. He also caught seven passes from Dwayne Haskins in last week’s game, so it appears the rookie found someone to use as a safety valve. The Giants have stuffed the run over the last four weeks, allowing just 2.86 yards per carry and two rushing touchdowns, so we could them move to the screen game with Thompson rather than the run-game with Peterson. Think of him like a Tarik Cohen-type player who should be in the high-end RB4 range.
Brian Hill (ATL) vs JAX
If you’ve watched the Jaguars play football at all in the last month and a half, you know why Hill is here. Over the last five games, as they’ve allowed 823 yards on 131 carries (6.28 yards per carry) with nine rushing touchdowns. The only team that didn’t total at least 175 yards on the ground was the Bucs running backs, who never record yardage in general. They’ve allowed at least two rushing touchdowns in each of their last four games. This is the best matchup in football right now, and it’s not all that close. Hill has received 7-12 touches over the last three games and if he were to get them against the Jaguars, it could net some decent results.
Wide Receivers
Anthony Miller (CHI) vs KC
While I don’t like Miller’s matchup in Week 15, he should be a solid play in Week 16 against the Chiefs. Their perimeter cornerbacks have been extremely good all year, but the slot has been a different story. The combination of Kendall Fuller and Rashad Fenton have combined to allow 26-of-40 passing for 322 yards and four touchdowns in their coverage, while the perimeter duo of Charvarius Ward and Bashaud Breeland have allowed just four touchdowns on 115 targets. Miller should be a favorite of Mitch Trubisky in that game.
Chris Conley (JAX) at ATL
It appears that D.J. Chark is week-to-week with his ankle sprain that required a walking boot. For now, let’s just say Chark is maybe 50/50 for next week’s game against the Falcons. Even with Chark in the lineup, Conley has seen 47 targets since the start of Week 7, which ranks 35th among receivers. The 9.80 yards per target the Falcons have allowed to receivers ranks second to only the Raiders. Because of that, they’ve allowed 21 different wide receivers to finish as top-40 options against them.
Kenny Stills (HOU) at TB
It should be safe to assume that Will Fuller is back by Week 16 at the latest, right? If so, that moves Stills back into the slot, which is huge for the matchup against the Bucs. On the year, they’ve allowed over 1,000 yards and nine touchdowns in the slot alone. Knowing the Texans will struggle to run the ball against them, we should also see increased pass attempts out of Deshaun Watson.
Viable alternatives: Allen Hurns (MIA) vs CIN, Nelson Agholor (PHI) vs DAL, John Ross (CIN) at MIA
Tight Ends
Mike Gesicki (MIA) vs CIN
You can be mad about the one-catch, six-yard performance last week all you want, but at tight end, you follow the targets, and Gesicki is getting tons of them. He hasn’t seen less than five targets since back in Week 8. The Bengals have played against four tight ends who’ve seen five-plus targets, with three of them finishing as the TE9 or better, while the only one who didn’t was Ryan Griffin, who still finished with a respectable five catches for 30 yards. With all the injuries adding up, it’s hard to see Gesicki’s target share going anywhere.
O.J. Howard (TB) vs HOU
With Mike Evans out for the year, Howard is going to be trusted with a much bigger role in the offense. We saw that start last week when he totaled five targets. In fact, Howard has 11 targets over the last two weeks, which ranks 13th among tight ends. Did you know that among the 36 tight ends who’ve seen 30-plus targets, Howard ranks fourth in yards per target? Add in a matchup with the Texans, who just allowed Noah Fant and Jeff Heuerman to combine for 5/121/2 on just five targets last week and we have a solid streamer.
Viable alternatives: Noah Fant (DEN) vs DET, Darren Fells (HOU) at TB
DSTs
Indianapolis Colts vs CAR
The Colts defense has been putting up some solid numbers over the last month or so, including a six-sack game against the Titans, and a three-interception game against the Bucs. Now on to play the Panthers who may or may not be led by Kyle Allen. The whispers for the switch to third-round rookie Will Grier have been getting louder, though both quarterbacks are a plus for a defense. On the year, the Panthers have given up the seventh-most points to the opposing DST which includes 34 sacks over the last seven games (4.9 per game).
Denver Broncos vs DET
Getting a home team is a great thing for a streamer, especially ones that will likely be a favorite and playing against a third-string quarterback. The Broncos have tallied 31 sacks, nine interceptions, and six fumble recoveries over their last 10 games, including a complete shutdown of the Texans high-powered offense last week. Over the course of two games under David Blough, the Lions have scored just 27 total points, allowed seven sacks, and have three turnovers.
Solid alternative option: New York Giants at WAS
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Mike Tagliere is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @MikeTagliereNFL.
