If you’ve read my articles for any period of time, you know my intros are short, sweet, and to the point. I am not having a great week personally, so this might set the record for brevity. We have six teams on bye this week, and you probably need to stream. Here are my Top 5 picks for your stream-worthy quarterback, tight end, and defense from our Week 9 rankings.
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
The contrast between my actual Streams of the Week and my Best of the Bunch is basically heartbreaking at this point. To clarify, every week, I give you five options. I call one of them my Stream of the Week. A lot of time (read: most times), one of the other four picks does better than the guy I called the Stream of the Week. If you had taken my Stream of the Week advice, you would have built the QB12, TE20, and DEF28. That defense ranking hurts my soul.
However, if you picked the best option I’ve given every week, you would have built the QB1, TE4, and DEF1. That is truly insane. We’ve made the best QB and DEF in fantasy and a top-5 TE, all from players available in more than 50% of leagues.
Last week, the Streams of the Week were mediocre, and we only finished with 23 fantasy points. On the season, the QB12, TE12, and DEF12 are averaging 34 points per week, so we lagged behind again. To no one’s surprise, the Best of the Bunch scored 59 fantasy points. I’m making the correct picks, just not putting them in the right spots!
Streams of the Week Recap
| QB | TE | DEF | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Week Wins | 4 of 5 | 2 of 5 | 2 of 5 |
| Season Wins | 36 of 80 | 28 of 80 | 47 of 80 |
| SotW - Last Week Rank/Score | QB7 / 26 fantasy pts | TE47 / 2 fantasy pts | DEF26 / 3 fantasy pts |
| SotW - Season Rank/Score | QB8 / 317 fantasy pts | TE19 / 101 fantasy pts | DEF29 / 81 fantasy pts |
| Best of the Bunch - Season Rank/Score | QB1 / 478 fantasy pts | TE2 / 221 fantasy pts | DEF1 / 243 fantasy pts |
*Best of the Bunch is my best pick each week, regardless if they were SOTW or not*
* Updated thru Week 15*
Week 9 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 – Justin Fields vs MIA
Choosing Justin Fields is betting on his rushing ability, plain and simple. He’s averaging over 50 rushing yards per game, which is immediately five fantasy points. He’s also rushed for over 60 yards in each of his last three games and scored a rushing TD in his previous two. So he gets the job done on the ground. Now he gets Miami, who gives up the 7th-most fantasy points to QBs, and the 5th-most rushing yards to the position. I’m not sure what he will do with his arm, but his legs give Fields a great floor.
Other Options
- Trevor Lawrence vs LV
- Andy Dalton (or Jameis Winston) vs BAL
- Marcus Mariota vs LAC
- Taylor Heinicke vs MIN
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 – Evan Engram vs LV
The goal of these picks, especially with tight ends, is picking on the defenses that allow a lot of points. It usually works, and sometimes I pick Irv Smith against Arizona. This week, Engram, who scored his first TD last week, takes on the Raiders, who have given up six TDs to the TE on the season. Yes, four of those came in one game to Travis Kelce, but that just speaks to the upside of this pick. Las Vegas also allows five catches for 50 yards on average. So Engrams has a safe 10-point floor with a ceiling as the overall TE1.
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
- Taysom Hill vs BAL
- Robert Tonyan @ DET
- Hayden Hurst vs CAR
- Noah Fant @ ARZ
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 – Kansas City Chiefs vs TEN
The circumstances of this game swing wildly in favor of a Kansas City blowout. The Chiefs are coming off a bye and get a prime-time home game against a conference rival. It doesn’t matter who plays QB for the Titans; it will be a bad game. Tennessee gives up the 14th-most fantasy points to defenses, but that averages out to 7 fantasy points per game, a nice floor. They’ve given up eight fantasy points in each of their last two games, and neither Houston nor Indianapolis have a defense you would call better than Kansas City. The Chiefs D/ST have disappointed this year, but that is mainly due to a lack of turnovers and TDs. They rank in the top half of the league in sacks. With the Titans playing from behind, we can expect 2-3 takeaways and hope that one finds the endzone.
Other Options
- Vikings @ WAS
- Bengals vs CAR
- Colts @ NE
- Rams @ TB
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!