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Stream of the Week: QB, TE, and Defense | Week 8 Rankings

Week 8 Defense Rankings

With Week 7 behind us, we have officially reached the halfway point of the fantasy regular season. Playoff pictures are solidifying, and those with three or more wins have their eye on the prize. If you’re sitting at 2-5 or 1-6, it’s not impossible, but you have your work cut out for you. If you haven’t won a game yet, thanks for still reading this article, but I’m not sure streaming will help you at this point. I’m not a miracle worker. Injuries and bye weeks are still going strong, and with Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert, and Travis Kelce on bye in Week 8, our QB, TE, and Defense streaming rankings are as crucial as ever.

A Quick Note: You will notice that I do not cover Kicker streams. We leave that to the experts, so check out Linda’s rankings.

Accountability

One step forward and two steps back. Finally a good week at TE, but we only hit one QB. Thankfully, the one was Trevor Lawrence, my Stream of the Week. For Week 7, it was one correct QB, three TEs, and three defenses. My Streams of the Week dropped 32 fantasy points, which matches what the QB12, TE12, and DEF12 are averaging this year. I don’t mind keeping pace, but there is still room for improvement.

The Best of the Bunch score shows how much room for improvement. This score represents the best of my five weekly picks; they were there, just maybe not my top choice. While my Streams of the Week are just the QB10, TE20, and DEF27 on the season, the Best of the Bunch is FAR BETTER. For the year, we have built the QB3, TE4, and DEF1. The Top-5 is within reach; just close your eyes and stream!

Streams of the Week Recap

QBTEDEF
Last Week Wins4 of 52 of 52 of 5
Season Wins36 of 8028 of 8047 of 80
SotW - Last Week Rank/ScoreQB7 / 26 fantasy ptsTE47 / 2 fantasy ptsDEF26 / 3 fantasy pts
SotW - Season Rank/ScoreQB8 / 317 fantasy ptsTE19 / 101 fantasy ptsDEF29 / 81 fantasy pts
Best of the Bunch - Season Rank/ScoreQB1 / 478 fantasy ptsTE2 / 221 fantasy ptsDEF1 / 243 fantasy pts
*A win is defined by one of the Streams finishing in the Top 15*
*Best of the Bunch is my best pick each week, regardless if they were SOTW or not*
* Updated thru Week 15*

Week 8 Streams of the Week

Reminder: All picks were available in more than 50% of ESPN leagues on Wednesday after waivers had run.
2nd Reminder: You can find all of our Consensus Rankings here!

Quarterback

Stream of the Week – Daniel Jones @ SEA

This marks the 2nd time Daniel J Dimes is my Stream of the Week, and he put up a respectable 17-point performance back in Week 6. Last week was even better, as he was the QB4 on the back of 107 rushing yards. His rushing ability is what really stands out in this game. Seattle gives up the 11th-most fantasy points to QBs, and the 7th-most rushing yards to the position. Back in Week 6, they let Kyler Murray rush for over 100 yards. If Jones can repeat what he did on the ground last week, with over 100 and a TD, that’s already 16 fantasy points. Anything he gets through the air is just icing on the cake.

Other Options

If you want more personalized advice from Ryan Weisse, you should check out ConnectGo! It’s an app that lets you get 1-on-1 advice from some of your favorite fantasy analysts. You can text them and even set up video calls to discuss waivers, trades, lineups, and whatever other fantasy football questions come to mind. Download the app today!
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Tight Ends

Stream of the Week – Irv Smith vs ARZ

Let’s keep this very simple: Start tight ends against the Cardinals. They allow over 20 fantasy points per game to the position, 2nd-most in the league, and have allowed seven different TEs to score 10+ fantasy points this season. Notably, they have given up five or more catches to the starting TE in each of their last three games. Juwan Johnson just scored two TDs against Arizona in Week 7 and finished as the TE2 in fantasy scoring. Smith has seen 4+ targets in each of his last five games and scored a TD against Miami in Week 6 before his bye. He is involved in this offense enough that one or two TDs are very much in play this week.

A quick note about Taysom Hill: As long as he meets the criteria, Hill will be my permanent #2 on this list. He offers an upside that no streaming TE can match, but his floor is still very bad. That floor is why I would never consider starting him at QB, but he is worth the gamble at TE. My fundamental issue with calling him a TE will likely prevent me from ever calling him my Stream of the Week.

Other Options

Wondering how I made some of my decisions? Check out our DFS Matchup report. It’s great for Start/Sit decisions, too!

Defense

Stream of the Week – Indianapolis Colts vs WAS

Asking you to trust the Colts is a leap of faith, and I 100% understand if you decide to decline this suggestion. However, even in this turbulent season, they are still the DEF16 and have scored six or more fantasy points in five of seven games this season. Washington is giving up the 5th-most fantasy points to D/ST, allowing about nine per week. That didn’t change with the switch to Taylor Heinicke, as the Green Bay DEF scored exactly nine fantasy points in Week 7 against them. My goal when choosing fringe defenses is to focus on sacks and turnovers. Sacks and turnovers lead to defensive TDs, and that is what your hope is every week: At least one TD. Indy has 3+ sacks in four games this year, plus at least one takeaway in six games. They also have registered 2+ takeaways three times this season, and that could quickly become four after Week 8.

Other Options

  • Jaguars vs DEN
  • Dolphins @ DET
  • Jets vs NE
  • Titans @ HOU

My Streams of the Week debut every Wednesday night on No Punt Intended. If you want to get ahead of the competition, join us live!