Stream of the Week: QB, TE, and Defense Rankings | Week 15

Look…I messed up. I AM SORRY. We have had a great season of streaming, but Week 14 was DREADFUL. Will Levis was mediocre at best, like mayonnaise instead of aioli. And on defense, the Buffalo Bills opened the floodgates and allowed point after point after point after…you get the picture. I’m pretty sure the Rams just scored another TD while you were reading this intro. Thankfully, Pat Freiermuth showed up, or the entire week would’ve been lost. I did give some decent picks; they were just my consolation prizes. So the lesson here is: Do not ignore the four Other Options I provide each week. Sometimes, picks 2 through 5 are the better choices. With that out of the way, let’s win you a playoff game. Here are the best QB, TE, and Defense streaming options from our Week 15 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

Am I any good at this? I’ll let the numbers tell you. In this section, you’ll see how my Stream of the Week (SOTW) and Best Pick finish every week. Since I always give five options, my Best Pick is the one that scores the most points, even if I didn’t call it the Stream of the Week. Basically, Best Pick shows you what streaming is capable of.

Scores and rankings are based on PPR scoring and 4-point passing touchdowns. Although the world uses 6-point passing touchdowns, data providers love 4-point, and I am trying to keep this simple.

If you want to see my old picks, this link will take you to my past Stream of the Week articles.

Week 15 Streams of the Week

Note: All of these players were available in around 50% of ESPN leagues as of Wednesday morning after waivers had run.

Quarterback

Bryce Young vs. DAL

Telling people to gamble on Young in the fantasy playoffs is risky, but I love the matchup this week. Dallas has given up the most fantasy points to QBs since Week 6. Six quarterbacks have scored 19 or more fantasy points in those eight games. The worst performance was 10 points from CJ Stroud, who threw for 257 yards but could not score a TD. Young has scored at least one TD in six straight games, so I think we’re looking at a 16-point floor here. In fact, since Carolina’s Week 11 bye, Stroud is the QB11 in fantasy and averages about 18 points per game. If Young can score 14 on a tough Philly defense, as he did in Week 14, I think 20 is very doable against Dallas.

Other Options

• Matthew Stafford @ SF (Thursday)
• Aaron Rodgers @ JAX
• Jameis Winston vs. KC
• Caleb Williams @ MIN

Tight End

Grant Calcaterra vs. PIT

Who? You’re forgiven for not knowing Calcaterra; he’s the backup to Dallas Goedert in Philadelphia. While Goedert has dealt with injuries this season, Calcaterra has played significant snaps in three games and averaged ten fantasy points in those games. Last week, he scored a touchdown and finished with 10.6 fantasy points, which was good for a top-10 finish. This week, the Eagles face Pittsburgh, who has given up the 10th-most points to fantasy TEs over the last month. David Njoku just beat them for the second-best finish in Week 14. Calcaterra may be unknown, but it’s a tough matchup week for some of the best TEs, and he could give you an edge as you look to move forward in the fantasy playoffs.

Other Options

• Pat Freiermuth @ PHI
• Stone Smartt vs. TB
• Isaiah Likely @ NYG
• Noah Gray @ CLE

New York Jets @ JAX

Well, no one can say I’m playing it safe in Week 15. I’ve given an embattled QB, an unknown TE, and now a polarizing defense. The Jets DEF/ST has been up and down all season. They were excellent in Week 13, finishing as a top-5 fantasy defense. Then they crashed in Week 14, going negative in fantasy and finishing as the second-worst defense on the week. We’ve seen this team score double-digit fantasy points four times this season, and this Jaguars matchup feels right for a good game. The Jets will face Mac Jones for the sixth time in his career. In the previous five games, he has thrown just four TDs and been sacked 16 times, including two six-sack games. Now, I am also required to mention that Jones has won all five of those previous tilts. So, there is a good chance the Jets will lose, but we don’t need them to win to have a good fantasy day.

Other Options

• Chargers vs. TB
• Cardinals vs. NE
• Packers @ SEA
• Seahawks vs. GB

Be sure you’re following Ryan on Twitter! Also, you can find Club Fantasy’s Week 15 rankings here and the rest of our Week 15 content here!