By The Stream Master General, Ryan Weisse
Welcome back to football! After waiting what seems like an eternity, we are finally back to this game that we love. For Club Fantasy this season, we will be presenting you with my top-5 streaming options at the three most streamed positions each week– Quarterback, Tight End, & Defense. “What about kickers?” you ask in your best Joe Zollo impression. While we do not advocate removing kickers, you can basically start whichever one you want, pick a good offense, add their kicker, not much science to it. *Editor’s Note: Just tune into No Punt Intended presented by Club Fantasy each week and Joe will have a kicker to stream for you.
Before we dive into the streaming options for Week 1, I want to give you a quick rundown of my process. I will wait until waivers have already run before giving you my streaming options, the goal being that these guys are available without you having to spend FAAB or waiver priority on them. (Don’t worry, I’ll be doing a top-5 Pick Em Up article for the waiver claims too!) I will only be choosing players available in 50% of leagues on either Yahoo or ESPN. Some might be rostered far more on one site or the other, so results may vary when trying to add my streams. Finally, starting in Week 2, I will recap my successes and failures so that you can see if you should even be listening to me. We will be tracking the Rank and Score of my #1 pick in each position, my true Stream of the Week (SOTW), and tracking wins by all 15 options given each week. A win will be defined by the player finishing in the top-15. Since they were available in more than 50% of leagues, a finish in the top half is a win.
Without further ado…let’s get streaming.
Quarterbacks
Last year, the Rams gave up 44 points to the Cowboys in Week 15. Expect Jared Goff to throw a ton to keep up with their high-powered offense. (Photo from https://www.turfshowtimes.com/)
SOTW- Jared Goff (LAR) vs DAL
There are three reasons I love Jared Goff this week: 1. Volume 2. Volume 3. Volume. I expect the Rams vs Cowboys to be a high scoring affair and the 51.5 over/under for the game tells me that bettors agree. With Todd Gurley out of town, the Rams should lean more heavily on their passing game this season and that should mean good things for Goff, starting with Week 1. They are at home against a mediocre Cowboys defense that may struggle in the secondary. The Cowboys offense will put up points, so the Rams will need to keep up. With the likes of Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp, and Tyler Higbee as weapons, Goff should have a solid opening week and ranks out as my QB5. He is available in just 32% of Yahoo leagues but 58% on ESPN.
2. Philip Rivers (IND) @ JAX
3. Gardner Minshew (JAX) vs IND
4. Teddy Bridgewater (CAR) vs LV
5. Ryan Tannehill (TEN) @ DEN
Tight Ends
Is this the spot that Eric Ebron shines? The Steelers have a history of mixed results with TEs, but Ebron’s athleticism should be welcomed with open arms. The Former Lion and Colt faces a Giants defense that surrendered the 3rd most points per game in the league last year. (Photo from https://www.nfl.com/)
SOTW – Eric Ebron (PIT) @ NYG
Normally, I don’t love Pittsburgh tight ends but this feels like a good fit. Until rookie Chase Claypool proves himself, Ebron may be the best and only weapon this offense has in the red-zone. I expect another high-scoring game here and the Giants secondary is awful. New York has been bad against the TE for the last few seasons and there is not much reason to believe that Joe Judge is going to change that immediately. Camp reports on Ebron are that he is a mismatch just about everywhere he is lining up and that could shine in Week 1. One or two TDs are definitely within the realm of possibility and that could make him a top-5 play if things go his way. He is currently my TE14 but an extra TD would easily move him ahead of nine other guys. There are a bunch of fantasy teams with two TEs on their roster, so the pickings are slim right now but Ebron is available in more than 65% of leagues on both Yahoo and ESPN.
2. Jack Doyle (IND) @ JAX
3. Blake Jarwin (DAL) @ LAR
4. Dawson Knox (BUF) vs NYJ
5. Irv Smith (MIN) vs GB
DEF/ST
It may have taken all offseason, but Jadeveon Clowney finally found a new home with the Tennessee Titans. How much better does he make their defense? Drew Lock and the Broncos are about to find out. (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images)
SOTW – Tennessee Titans @ DEN
The Titans will not be on this list for long this season. They will be one of the best fantasy defenses very quickly and rostered almost everywhere. Take advantage of the sleepiness of the fantasy community and get them now. This game has the 2nd lowest over/under of Week 1, meaning that it should be a low-scoring game, always good for DEF/ST. It helps that both these teams would prefer to run the ball and keep the clock moving. The Titans already had an excellent front-7 before adding Jadeveon Clowney and their secondary is solid too. Denver still has a lot to learn about their own offense and there is a good chance that Drew Lock throws a couple of INTs in this game. The Titans D/ST is a top-5 play for me this week and there is no reason for them to be available in 62% of Yahoo leagues and 85% on ESPN. You should add them immediately.
2. Detroit Lions vs CHI
3. Cincinnati Bengals vs LAC
4. Los Angeles Chargers @ CIN
5. Arizona Cardinals @ SF
