December 6, 2016

Andrew Bua's top QB waiver wire pickups and fantasy football streamers for Week 14 of the NFL Season. Target these single-QB and two-QB streamers in your leagues.

RotoBallers,

Welcome back. As always this column will aim to highlight Week 14 waiver wire adds and streamers for quarterbacks, players that you should consider targeting on your league's waiver wire.

In recent years, the concept of streaming has become a popular one within fantasy football circles. Particularly with quarterbacks and defense/special teams, the idea of swapping players out every week based on attractive matchups has led numerous owners to victory (or to the basement, if such owners didn’t stream correctly). It’s not a bad idea – why invest a high draft pick on a player you may not want to use every week when you can use the upcoming week’s tilts to your advantage and play the projections?

Editor's Note: Once you're done here, be sure to read about even more Week 14 waiver wire recommendations, for all fantasy-relevant positions. Just click on any link: ALL - RB - WR - TE - QB - DEF - FAAB - CUTS

Strategy for Streaming Quarterbacks

The problem, as mentioned above, is that if you’re going to go this route then you need to stream right - or you’re going to find yourself in a lot of trouble. Fortunately, the purpose of this weekly article will help you do exactly that with the quarterback position. Every week, we’ll take a look at six streaming QB options: three for one-quarterback leagues, and three for two-quarterback leagues. The focus will be on streaming for the upcoming week, but if that particular player has a positive outlook beyond that point it will be noted for your benefit.

Options for one-quarterback leagues could be just about anyone – if a decent QB really has that tasty of a matchup, then who are we to not take advantage of that? Of course, the obvious names aren’t “streamers” – your Newtons, Rodgers, and Wilsons of the world are plugged into the starting QB spot for their owners week in and week out. Other than the head honchos at the position though, anyone is eligible. Two-quarterback leagues, however, work a little differently. In these leagues, most of, if not all quarterbacks are already owned. Thus, to be a streamer option in a two-quarterback league, the QB needs to be close to the bottom of the barrel. For example, you aren’t streaming Eli Manning in a two-quarterback league because under that setting, Eli should be starting every week anyway.

RotoBallers, stream away to your heart’s desire. If you have any questions or comments feel free to send me an email ([email protected]), tweet (@Andrew_Bua), or reach out on Reddit (/u/CitiStrikeouts).

One-QB Leagues - Week 14 Waiver Wire Streamers

Alex Smith, KC (48% owned)

Well it’s now Week 14, and that means you’re either in the last week of your fantasy regular season or the first round of your playoffs. If you’re still alive and using the streaming quarterback method, congratulations – you’ve essentially done the impossible. Well, now onto the Week 14 streamers. Another week, another Alex Smith recommendation in this column. After an extremely favorable showing in a difficult matchup at Denver in Week 12, Smith could only muster 12.50 points in standard scoring leagues with a favorable matchup at Atlanta in Week 13. Given the way that game went though, there were more points to be had for Smith had Matt Ryan not thrown a few pick-six’s. With another favorable matchup on deck in Week 14, Smith is once again an ideal streamer choice.

The Chiefs welcome the Raiders to town in a matchup with huge AFC West implications. Oakland’s defense had a much better showing than expected against the Bills in Week 13, holding Tyrod Taylor to 191 passing yards and no passing scores, while also picking him off once and forcing a fumble. Hey, a broken clock is right twice a day, right? This is the same defense who has made numerous mediocre quarterbacks look solid over the course of the season, and the same defense who still ranks 27^th in the league with an average of 273.5 passing yards-per-game allowed. If you’re in need of a QB1 streamer in Week 14, Alex Smith is a great option.

Tyrod Taylor, BUF (70% owned)

Tyrod Taylor makes the cut on this list for the third time in the last four weeks, but his low ownership rate relative to fantasy production begs you to stream him. Okay, so Taylor didn’t live up to the billing we gave him when we listed him as the top quarterback streamer option in Week 13. However, given another tasty matchup in Week 14 though, it’s a solid bet that he won’t fail owners two weeks in a row.

Taylor and the Bills play host to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 14. The Steelers’ defense has been the epitome of bend-but-don’t-break, but it’s important to view that in context as they haven’t exactly faced stiff competition as of late. Make no mistake about it, Pittsburgh’s pass defense has been bad. The 263.5 yards-per-game they’re surrendering ranks 23^rd in the league. The number that keeps them alive though is 13, which represents the number of passing touchdowns they’ve surrendered (fifth fewest in the league). In recent weeks, however, they’ve had the benefit of facing quarterbacks such as Scott Tolzien, Cody Kessler, and Josh McCown, which has undoubtedly contributed to the lack of scores. Trusting Taylor after a rough Week 13 is tough, but this has the makings of a rebound game for him.

Colin Kaepernick, SF (31% owned)

Raise your hand if you ever thought the day would come when a quarterback who threw for four yards in one week would be a recommended QB1 streamer the next. Thankfully, no one is raising their hands but that day has unexpectedly come nonetheless. Much like Tyrod Taylor, Colin Kaepernick had the polar opposite of a solid game in Week 13. Assuming he’s the 49ers starting quarterback in Week 14, however, Kaepernick is primed for a big rebound.

San Francisco plays host to the New York Jets in Week 14, and the Jets are certainly a nice opponent to wake up any player’s offensive woes. We’ve all heard a million times how bad Darrelle Revis has become, but the rest of their defense has been equally terrible. In four of their last eight games, they’ve surrendered multiple touchdown passes along with a minimum of 286 passing yards. The games that didn’t meet that threshold were against the likes of Case Keenum, Ryan Tannehill, and Carson Palmer in a Monday Night Football blowout. After putting up a minimum of 22.22 points in three of his last four weeks before Week 13’s dud, this is an optimal game for Kaepernick to get back on track. Let’s just make sure he’s starting this week – but given how good he was prior to Week 13, he should be.

Two-QB Leagues - Week 14 Waiver Wire Streamers

Ryan Fitzpatrick, NYJ (38% owned)

Not too long ago, it would have been unfathomable to consider streaming Ryan Fitzpatrick even in two-quarterback leagues. When the Jets returned from their bye week against the Pats though, Fitzpatrick looked more like the 2015 “Fitzmagic” than the quarterback we’ve seen for most of this year by throwing for 269 yards and two scores. There’s no reason to think that won’t continue when the Jets head to San Francisco in Week 14.

The 49ers’ pass defense might look decent on paper as the 246.9 passing yards-per-game they’re surrendering is 14^th-best in the NFL. However, their rush defense is so terrible that the opposition simply doesn’t need to pass the ball to beat them. So then why recommend Ryan Fitzpatrick against them if the Jets will likely run the ball a ton? Despite the lack of passing volume, San Francisco is still bleeding fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks. The 19.78 fantasy points per-week the 49ers are allowing to quarterbacks ranks fourth-highest, and they’ve allowed a minimum of 20.66 fantasy points to the position in four of the last five weeks (excluding Week 13’s snow bowl in Chicago). Fitzpatrick is back on track, and the 49ers’ defense is ripe for the picking.

Jared Goff, LA (17% owned)

A week after throwing three touchdowns in New Orleans, Jared Goff predictably fell way back down to earth in Week 13 when the Rams couldn’t get much going in New England. Week 14 poses a much easier matchup for the rookie quarterback when the Rams head back to Los Angeles to take on the Falcons.

Atlanta’s defense has been hammered enough in this column, but we’re going to recite it all again as it bears repeating. The Falcons continue to lead the league in fantasy points surrendered to opposing quarterbacks, with that average up to 21.30 points per-week. Their defense was actually bailed out to an extent in Week 13, as the two pick six’s Matt Ryan threw meant two less offensive possessions the Chiefs needed to have (and less possessions where they trailed and needed to throw the ball). Smith still threw for 270 yards and a touchdown, and that could have easily been more had the Chiefs had the ball more. Considering this will only be the fourth time Goff has seen real NFL action, he is of course a wild card. But given the fact he was able to take advantage of a terrible Saints defense two weeks ago, there’s no reason he can’t do the same to an arguably worse unit in Week 14.

Brock Osweiler, HOU (25% owned)

I almost felt sick recommending Brock Osweiler as a streamer in two-quarterback leagues for Week 13, but he rewarded that recommendation handsomely with 202 yards and two touchdowns for 17.28 fantasy points in standard scoring leagues. With a road date in Indianapolis in Week 14, Osweiler is set to likely return QB2 value once again.

Scroll two paragraphs up to see all the things written about the Atlanta Falcons. Now take that, make it only a slight bit better, and you have the Indianapolis Colts defense. Whereas the Falcons give up the most passing yards in the NFL and the most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks, with an average of 278.7 passing yards allowed per-week and 20.70 fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks each week, the Colts are right there with Atlanta in both categories. That includes a minimum of 20.84 fantasy points in each of the last three weeks. Starting Brock Osweiler is always a risk, but he’s at least been consistent in returning QB2 streamer value more often than not.