We’ve reached the point of the season where you should only be focused on one thing: Will this help me make the playoffs? Before you make a trade, waiver claim, or put Taysom Hill in your Flex spot, think about the playoffs. It’s literally all that matters from this point forward. You have six games left to get to nine or ten wins on the season and secure your spot. Go. Get. It. With all that said, here are the best streaming options from our Week 9 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
Well, it seems my curse was temporarily lifted from TE and moved to my QB. Matt Stafford was my latest victim, injuring his thumb after scoring just 13 fantasy points, less than ideal from a QB. TE and DEF picked up the slack, scoring 14 and 11, respectively. It could have been so much better if I moved Sam Howell up one spot and called him my Stream of the Week, as he was the QB1 on the week. All in all, if you followed just my Stream of the Week picks, you have scored 17 points per week at QB, 7 at TE, and 13 on DEF/ST. My best picks are the QB2, TE2, and DEF1 on the season. Things are going well, but they could be going even better—story of my life.
| 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 9 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 – Derek Carr vs CHI
The Bears give up over 23 points per game to fantasy QBs, the 3rd-most in the league. They have also allowed five different QBs to drop 25+ on them, including Justin Herbert last week. Carr played well in Week 8, throwing for 310 yards and two TDs. It was the first time he scored more than 20 fantasy points this season, but he is averaging 19.9 over his last four games. This date with Chicago should make it back-to-back weeks above that 20-point mark.
Other Options
- Sam Howell @ NE
- Baker Mayfield @ HOU
- Gardner Minshew @ CAR
- Bryce Young vs IND
Tight Ends
Stream of the Week – Taysom Hill vs CHI
Not only is Chicago bad against QBs, but they also give up a ton of points to RBs and TEs. So why not start a QB who plays RB with a TE designation in fantasy football? For the first time ever, Taysom Hill is my Stream of the Week. I fought against it last year because he is not a tight end, and fantasy platforms are dumb, but this is too good a matchup to ignore. Hill was the TE3, QB13, and RB7 last week with 22 fantasy points. Over the previous three games, he has:
- 48 passing yards
- 94 rushing yards and three TDs on 23 attempts
- 12 catches and 113 receiving yards on 14 targets
They are using him everywhere, and he could legitimately drop one TD from each category on the Bears this week. No other TE has that upside.
Other Options
- Logan Thomas @ NE
- Trey McBride @ CLE
- Jake Ferguson @ PHI
- Luke Musgrave vs LAR
DEF/ST
Stream of the Week – Atlanta Falcons vs MIN
If you watched our show last night, you know this pick was the cause of some controversy. For the first time ever, I switched picks mid-show after being talked out of a very sketchy Chargers defense taking on the Jets. The long and short is that there are few great defensive plays this week, and choosing the home team just feels like the best choice, so I’m going with the Falcons. They are facing off against Jaren Hall, a 5th-round pick making his first career start on the road. The Vikings were already giving up seven points per game to D/ST with Kirk Cousins, and you have to think this offense will take a big step backward. For their part, Atlanta has multiple sacks in four of their last five games and three takeaways over the previous two weeks. It’s not a pretty pick, and I do recommend crossing your fingers.
Other Options
- Chargers @ NYJ
- Colts @ CAR
- Giants @ LV
- Vikings @ ATL
Be sure you’re following Ryan on Twitter! Also, you can find Club Fantasy’s Week 9 rankings here and the rest of our Week 9 content here!