December 20, 2016

Andrew Bua's top QB waiver wire pickups and fantasy football streamers for Week 16 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 16 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 16 waiver wire recommendations, for all fantasy-relevant positions. Just click on any link: ALL - RB - WR - TE - QB - DEF - 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 16 Waiver Wire Streamers

Colin Kaepernick, SF (37% owned)

The good news is, if you’re reading this post then chances are you’ve had an excellent season streaming quarterbacks. The bad news is, this might be the absolute worst week of the season for quarterback streamers as there aren’t many matchups containing hot unowned quarterbacks against poor defenses. For Week 16, Colin Kaepernick sits at the top of a very thin pile.

After two down weeks, Kaepernick returned to the fantasy-producing streamer we’ve become accustomed to seeing in Week 15 at Atlanta. The 49ers travel to Los Angeles in Week 16; not long ago this would have been a matchup to avoid but the Rams defense has instead become one to target. Los Angeles’ defense started the season in hot form, allowing a maximum of 15.76 points in standard leagues to opposing quarterback in four out of their first five games. However, times have unfortunately (for them) changed. They’ve allowed at least 20.36 fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks in three of their last four games, and the only outlier (14.86 to Tom Brady) came in a game where the Pats took the early lead and decided to play things very safe against the anemic Rams. Kaepernick righted his fantasy ship in Week 15; look for that to continue in Week 16.

Joe Flacco, BAL (22% owned)

Joe Flacco has had an on-and-off 2016, looking great in some instances and mediocre in others. Whether you're a believer or not, he sits near the top of a thin streamer pile for Week 16. In standard leagues, he scored 29.24 points against Miami in Week 13 and 19.06 at New England in Week 14, only to put up 12.14 against Philadelphia in Week 15. Against Pittsburgh this week Flacco is tough to truly believe in, but he remains one of the better widely available options.

The positive here is that we’ve already seen Flacco perform with some degree of success against the Steelers this season. Flacco barely finished outside of the top 12 in Week 9 when he threw for 241 yards and a touchdown to finish as the QB16 against Pittsburgh. The Steelers defense has picked things up as of late, but did surrender 15.32 points in standard leagues to Tyrod Taylor two weeks ago. In a must-win game for Baltimore, you can bet Flacco will need to pick it up instead of fully relying on an inconsistent running game. It’s slim pickings this week, but Flacco is a better bet than most of the other mediocre options.

Sam Bradford, MIN (31% owned)

In a week with a dream matchup, Sam Bradford severely disappointed fantasy owners in Week 15 as he only scored 7.64 points in fantasy leagues with 291 yards and a touchdown against the Colts. He was making progress fantasy-wise before that though, with finishes of 14.88 and 17.38 points in the two weeks prior. With another plus matchup on deck, Bradford is in a decent chance to rebound in Week 16.

The Vikings head to Green Bay on Sunday in a divisional matchup that’s crucial for both teams' playoff chances. We all know how bad the Packers defense has been lately, but after Week 14's unexpected elite showing against Russell Wilson it’s easy to forget. They returned to form in Week 15 when Matt Barkley threw for 362 yards and two touchdowns. In the four weeks prior to shutting down Wilson they allowed a minimum of 17.28 fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks (including at least 27.40 in two of them). Look for Bradford to get back on track against a defense that can apparently only play well against the Seahawks.

Two-QB Leagues - Week 16 Waiver Wire Streamers

Carson Wentz, PHI (42% owned)

Given Carson Wentz’s seemingly constant regression as of late, he is a very hesitant choice here given his Week 16 matchup against the red hot New York Giants. Despite his struggles, his point totals have kept him on the QB2 radar regardless – he was the QB14 in Week 14 and as of this writing is the QB16 in Week 15.

If Wentz does put up points this week, he’ll have earned it as the Giants defense has been playing pretty well as of late. They allowed only 10.22 fantasy points to the injured Matt Stafford in Week 15, and shut down Dak Prescott for 6.70 fantasy points the week prior. However, in the five weeks prior to facing Dallas, the Giants allowed an average of 12.92 fantasy points to opposing QB’s – a respectable number for a QB2 (and a higher total than Wentz’s in his QB16 position for Week 15). He should continue to be a midrange QB2 option in Week 16 despite the tough matchup.

Robert Griffin III, CLE (14% owned)

I really didn’t think there was any shot Robert Griffin III could make a return to the streamer list this season, but hey, crazier things have happened. After throwing for 196 yards and adding 48 yards and a touchdown on the ground (and perhaps most importantly, no turnovers), for 18.64 fantasy points against Buffalo, there’s no real choice but to give him serious consideration in a terrible week for streaming.

RG3 and the Browns have a home matchup with San Diego in Week 16, a team that has been causing a ton of turnovers but giving up even more yards and scores. For the season, the Chargers defense has held the opposing quarterback to under 11.50 points only once, and that was against Trevor Siemian in Week 8. While 11.50 certainly isn’t a perfect world scenario from your quarterback, it’s more than good enough for QB2 streamer purposes. Over their last five games, however, that number has shot up to an average of 16.81. Whether or not Griffin is having a fantasy resurgence remains anyone’s guess, but he’s definitely a solid QB2 streamer option in Week 16.

Matt Barkley, CHI (6% owned)

Another week, another Matt Barkley appearance on this list. Who said you had to be a good real life quarterback in order to be a solid streaming option? In three of his four starts, Barkley has put up a minimum of 12.48 fantasy points in standard scoring leagues, including one finish with 20.64. After throwing for 362 yards and two scores against the Packers in Week 15, Barkley gets to take on the Washington Redskins in Week 16.

The Skins’ had a nice showing against Carson Wentz in Week 14, but prior to that they were essentially a dumpster fire for most of the year. Before facing Philly, they had surrendered at least 17.84 fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks in six consecutive weeks, including a minimum of 21.70 in each of the latter three games. Overall, the Redskins have allowed the eighth-most points to fantasy quarterbacks this season. Given the way Barkley has been gunslinging (for better or worse) since going under center for Chicago, he should put up fantasy points despite probably not inspiring hope in Bears’ fans.