Fantasy Football Quarterback Streamers & Waiver Wire Pickups (Week 16)

Week 16 is the penultimate week of the fantasy football season in most leagues, enhancing the importance of nailing this week’s quarterback streamers. I’m pinch-hitting for Mike Fanelli this week, and I hope my streaming suggestions live up to the stellar options he’s provided this year.

The two suggested 1-QB league options in Week 16 oppose one another. The Superflex picks are both widely available, checking in on fewer than 16% of ESPN’s rosters. Finally, a banged-up quarterback should be avoided against an aggressive defense.

All the quarterbacks in this article are rostered in fewer than 50% of ESPN 1-QB leagues and fewer than 35% of Superflex leagues.

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Fantasy Football Quarterback Streamers & Waiver Wire Pickups

Streaming Targets in 1-QB Leagues

Aaron Rodgers (QB – NYJ) vs. Los Angeles Rams (43.8% Rostered)

Aaron Rodgers is my second favorite 1-QB league streamer this week. However, he’s on a higher percentage of rosters than my favorite selection. The multi-time MVP had a slow start to the year. Yet, Rodgers has turned it on lately.

According to the data suite at Fantasy Points, in the previous two weeks, Rodgers has completed 43 out of 69 pass attempts (62.3%) for 628 passing yards (314 yards per game), 9.23 adjusted net yards per attempt, a 9.4-yard average depth of throw, four touchdowns and zero interceptions with four sacks taken. The 41-year-old signal-caller also rumbled for 45 rushing yards in Week 15.

The Jets are 3-point underdogs at home. However, the game’s total of 46.5 points leaves Gang Green with an acceptable implied total of 21.75 points.

Matthew Stafford (QB – LAR) at New York Jets (39.4% Rostered)

Matthew Stafford is the A-side of a matchup against Rodgers after years of being the B-side when both were in the NFC North. The Rams have a juicy implied total of 24.75 points this week. They will come into this matchup with an extended rest period after playing on Thursday Night Football in Week 15.

Los Angeles dealt with injuries to its pass-catching corps and the offensive line earlier this year, but they’ve mostly operated as a well-oiled machine when healthy. The Rams had a hiccup in a wet game last week, but I’m willing to give them a pass for it on a short week against a division foe.

Last week was a rare misstep for Stafford. In eight games since Week 8, Stafford has completed 66% of his passes for 258.9 passing yards per game, 7.73 adjusted net yards per attempt, 16 passing touchdowns and only three interceptions. The veteran gunslinger tossed multiple touchdowns in six of those eight games.

New York’s defense is no longer an imposing matchup for quarterbacks, either. In three games since their Week 12 bye, the Jets have allowed a 67.7% completion percentage, 277 passing yards per game and five passing touchdowns with only two interceptions and five sacks. Stafford should carve up the hosts.

Streaming Targets in Superflex Leagues

Drake Maye (QB – NE) at Buffalo Bills (15.9% Rostered)

Stafford and Jared Goff have torched the Bills in consecutive games. Both NFC quarterbacks had an embarrassment of riches in the passing attack, and rookie Drake Maye’s weapons would be afterthoughts for the Rams and Lions. Nevertheless, Maye’s rushing ability elevates his floor and ceiling despite his lackluster — putting it mildly — supporting cast.

Maye has made nine starts this year. However, he was knocked out of one start early with a concussion. In the other eight starts, Maye completed 69.4% of his pass attempts for 231.6 passing yards per game, 12 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Maye’s passing work wasn’t outstanding, but it was rock-solid. However, he also had 37.6 rushing yards per game, 8.14 yards per carry and one rushing touchdown.

In that eight-game sample, Maye scored 18.7 fantasy points per game. Maye will likely be stuck dropping back in a negative game script, but he’s an appealing fantasy start sit Superflex streamer since he’s demonstrated the ability to score fantasy points in similar compromised game scripts.

Cooper Rush (QB – DAL) vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6.0% Rostered)

Ideally, gamers can do better than scraping the bottom of the barrel for Cooper Rush. Nevertheless, he’s a more appealing choice than others who qualify for inclusion in this section. The rock-steady backup quarterback has tossed multiple touchdowns in three of his previous four starts, surpassing 210 passing yards twice. Rush also threw only one interception and took five sacks in that period.

Turnovers don’t hurt badly in fantasy, and sacks aren’t usually a scoring category. Still, Rush’s turnover and sack avoidance allow him to keep Dallas’ offense on track. They have also allowed him to avoid getting benched for Trey Lance.

The Buccaneers have tightened up against the pass lately. Still, their larger sample of work is quarterback-friendly. Tampa Bay has permitted the second-most fantasy points per game to quarterbacks this year. Thus, Rush is mainly a matchup-driven Superflex streamer fantasy start sit suggestion this week.

Streamer to Avoid

Geno Smith (QB – SEA) at Minnesota Vikings (47.8% Rostered)

Geno Smith was knocked out of last week’s game early. Fortunately, Smith’s knee injury wasn’t serious. Mike Macdonald is optimistic about his availability this week.

Just because Smith could be available for the Seahawks this week doesn’t mean gamers should trust him in their fantasy lineups. According to Pro-Football-Reference, entering Monday night, the Vikings were first in blitz rate (38.7%), second in pressure rate (25.8%), tied for second in quarterback knockdowns (54), tied for first in hurries (51) and tied for sixth in sacks (40).

An immobile Smith would be a sitting duck for Brian Flores’ blitz-happy defense. Moreover, he’s at risk of getting knocked out early if he’s taking a beating. The juice isn’t worth the squeeze to roll the dice on Smith this week.

Josh Shepardson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Josh, check out his archive and follow him @BChad50.