Two. Games. Left. It’s Week 16, and most fantasy leagues are in the semi-finals. Unless you’re some weirdo that reads fantasy articles for fun, your presence here indicates you are one of the last four teams alive in your league. Congratulations. There is also a non-zero chance that you lost Jalen Hurts, and you are here desperately hoping to find a replacement to help you win your championship. I don’t like to deal in absolutes or guarantees, but I absolutely guarantee you that my Stream of the Week QB is ready to help you win. Here are my Top 5 streaming options from our Week 16 QB, TE, and Defense 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
Another rough week overall, but good QB play bailed us out. This is surprising when you consider we had to pivot last minute to Zach Wilson when they announced that Mike White would miss the game. Wilson’s strong effort helped us survive terrible weeks from Greg Dulcich and the Pittsburgh Steelers DEF. Our Streams of the Week scored 30 fantasy points against our goal of 34 fantasy points, which is the average weekly score of the QB12, TE12, and DEF12.
As always, our Best of the Bunch showed us how good we could have been in Week 16. The Best of the Bunch represents my optimal lineup from the five options I give every week. In Week 16, they scored 49 fantasy points, and for the season, they represent the QB1, TE2, and DEF1. You can build the perfect QB, TE, and DEF without ever wasting a draft pick. You just need to choose from my picks better than I do.
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 16 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 our Consensus Rankings here!
Quarterback
Stream of the Week – Gardner Minshew @ DAL
If you lost Jalen Hurts, the best option to replace him is his direct replacement. I should probably mention that I am an unapologetic fanboy and believer in Minshew Magic, so there could not be more bias here if Minshew wrote this himself. While he hasn’t played much in Philly, Minshew threw four TDs in two starts last year, and that was without AJ Brown. The Eagles’ offense this year is miles ahead of where they were last year. While this game in Dallas isn’t a must-win, the Eagles can clinch the division and #1 seed, plus they DO NOT want to lose to Dallas.
While the Cowboys have been pretty good against fantasy QBs this season, they did just give up 300 yards and four TDs to Trevor Lawrence. Coming into that game, Lawrence was 7-22 as the Jags starter. Minshew was 7-16 as the starter in Jacksonville. Basically, this proves that Gardner Minshew is better than Trevor Lawrence and will have an even better game against the Cowboys. It’s math, people. Don’t fight it.
Other Options
- Jared Goff @ CAR
- Zach Wilson vs JAX
- Sam Darnold vs DET
- Brock Purdy vs WAS
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Tight Ends
Stream of the Week – Chigoziem Okonkwo vs HOU
Rookie tight ends take time, and Chig Okonkwo is hitting his stride at the best possible time for fantasy managers. Over his last four games, he has turned 21 targets into 17 receptions, 202 yards, and a TD. He is the TE3 over the last four weeks. The Titans have even involved him in the running game, a trait that Jonnu Smith showed us has value.
The Texans give up the 10th-most fantasy points to TEs and have let six TEs to score 10+ fantasy points this season. Three of those games came in the last month against Houston. The Titans have limited options at WR, and Okonkwo is stepping up when needed. There is some concern that with Malik Willis starting instead of Ryan Tannehill, we could see a step back in this offense. While that is possible, the two rookies spent a lot of practice time together early in the season, and I won’t be surprised to see that carry over in this game.
Other Options
- Taysom Hill @ CLE
- Noah Fant @ KC
- Trey McBride vs TB
- Cade Otton @ 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 – Cleveland Browns vs NO
Choosing the Stream of the Week defense this week was a chore. As a fantasy writer, you become good at making the numbers match your narrative. I wanted to choose the Titans, but the more I looked, the less I like them. No matter how I spun it, it didn’t feel right. Next came Detroit, who has really played well as of late. if they were at home, they might have been the pick, but again, I couldn’t make the numbers tell the right story. This brings us to Cleveland. They are an improving defense playing a bad offense at home. This is a trifecta you look for when picking streams. To make matters even better, the weather looks terrible in northeast Ohio, and that should play in the favor of the defense.
The Browns have managed at least four fantasy points in each of their last four games and have scored 10 or more in two of those games. Their Week 13 performance was one of the best we’ve ever seen from a fantasy defense. The Saints have struggled this year, allowing the 6th-most points to fantasy D/ST, and three of their last six opponents have scored 10+. They’ve also allowed multiple sacks in five of their last six games, a great indicator for fantasy defenses. While New Orleans has not turned the ball over in any of their last four games, that just screams to me that they are due.
Other Options
- Lions @ CAR
- Titans vs HOU
- Bengals @ NE
- Rams vs DEN
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!
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