We need to talk about the elephant in the room: am I jinxing tight ends? Maybe it’s not MY bad luck. Maybe I AM the bad luck. After a solid start with Juwan Johnson and Hunter Henry, I broke a rule. I took Henry again. Don’t chase last week’s points. He put up three fantasy points against the Jets while 3rd-string Pharoah Brown ate them up. Right process, wrong player. Then, in Week 4, Luke Musgrave left with a concussion after scoring one fantasy point. His backup scored seven points. Last week, I noted that Dalton Kincaid was taking over the target share, and it flipped right back to Dawson Knox. Let’s keep an eye on this situation as we dive into my streaming picks at QB, TE, and Defense from our Week 6 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
As you’ve likely gathered from the intro, tight end is a problem, at least for my Stream of the Week. So far this season, if you just stuck with the players I coined Stream of the Week, you’ve built the QB14, TE20, and DEF2. Obviously, great on defense, and QB is better than it looks; we are still averaging 20 points per week. But tight end vexes me. I make a good pick every week, as illustrated by my Best Picks being ranked QB2, TE1, and DEF1. I just need to make the right choice for Stream of the Week. The long and short is there is gold in this article; you just need to work for it.
| Last Week SOTW | Last Week Best Pick | SOTW Season Avg | Best Pick Season Avg | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QB | 14 fantasy points | 32 fantasy points | 17 fantasy points | 26 fantasy points |
| Rank | QB17 | QB5 | QB16 | QB2 |
| TE | 21 fantasy points | 21 fantasy points | 11 fantasy points | 16 fantasy points |
| Rank | TE1 | TE1 | TE7 | TE1 |
| DEF | 0 fantasy points | 16 fantasy points | 12 fantasy points | 16 fantasy points |
| Rank | DEF29 | DEF2 | DEF2 | DEF1 |
Note: Best Pick is the one of my five picks that scores the most points each week. I might not have called them Stream of the Week, but hopefully, you did!
Week 6 Streams of the Week
Reminder: All picks were available in over 50% of ESPN leagues after waivers had run on Wednesday.
Quarterback
Stream of the Week – Matthew Stafford vs. ARZ
While Stafford’s season-long QB17 ranking looks quite mid, he just got his favorite WR back and played quite well against Philadelphia in Week 5. Stafford dropped 222 yards and two TDs on the Eagles, and I think it’s safe to say they have a better defense than Arizona. The Cardinals give up the 5th most points to fantasy QBs. They have allowed every QB they’ve faced except Dak Prescott to score multiple TDs this season. Fantasy QBs are averaging 24 points against them, so I like Stafford to best the 20 he just dropped on Philly last week.
Other Options
- Gardner Minshew @ JAX
- Bryce Young @ MIA
- Sam Howell @ ATL
- Desmond Ridder vs. WAS
Tight Ends
Stream of the Week – Logan Thomas @ ATL
While he is old and injury-prone, none of that matters in the weekly streaming game. Thomas is averaging six targets and 11 fantasy points in four games this season. That puts him at TE6 on the season from a points-per-game perspective. Against Chicago, he was targeted 11 times, tied for the most by any TE this year, and finished as the TE4 overall. Now throw in that Atlanta is allowing 17 points per game to the tight end, 2nd-most in the league, and you have a recipe for another big game. On the season, four of the five starting tight ends that Atlanta has faced have finished in the Top 7 for the week, making Thomas very appealing in Week 6.
Other Options
- Hayden Hurst @ MIA
- Hunter Henry @ LV
- Gerald Everett vs. DAL
- Cade Otton vs. DET
DEF/ST
Stream of the Week – Detroit Lions @ TB
Yes, I just reprimanded myself in the intro about going with the same player in back-to-back weeks, but the DEF landscape is rough this week. Even worse, Tampa Bay is actually giving up the 5th-fewest points to D/ST on the season. I am playing with fire here, but I love the talent that the Lions have on DEF. They are the 11th-ranked fantasy DEF on the season and have 14 sacks and seven takeaways in five games. They are also coming off a solid performance against Carolina with three takeaways. That was good enough for DEF12 as our Stream of the Week in Week 5, and I think they can at least match that this week.
Other Options
- Buccaneers vs. DET
- Patriots @ LV
- Jaguars vs. IND
- Seahawks @ CIN
Be sure you’re following Ryan on Twitter! Also, you can find Club Fantasy’s Week 6 rankings here and the rest of our Week 6 content here!