RADIO
Hey there RotoBallers! With Week 14 almost in the books, it's already time to turn an eye toward the waiver wire in Week 15. As always, this column will aim to highlight Week 15 waiver wire adds and streamers for quarterbacks, players that you should consider targeting on your league's waiver wire.
In the past few seasons, streaming the quarterback position has become a popular team management strategy. The guaranteed volume at the quarterback position makes it the easiest position in fantasy football to project, which therefore makes it a position that isn't too hard to stream. Everyone has had a star wide receiver who inexplicably only sees three targets in a game.
The quarterback position, on the other hand, sees volume that is easier to forecast as even the lower ranked players will see a minimum of 20-25 passing attempts, even in a low-volume passing offense. All ownership percentages come from Yahoo! and are current as of December 11.
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One-QB Leagues - Week 15 Waiver Wire Streamers
The Carson Wentz injury has thrown a wrench in the fantasy playoffs. It is feared he suffered a torn ACL during his team's win over the Los Angeles Rams in Week 14. Wentz owners who are still alive in the playoffs will want to be aggressive in procuring a backup quarterback for the fantasy semifinals. From a game theory standpoint, if you are facing the Wentz owner in Week 15, it would be beneficial to make an aggressive bid to add one of the top free agent quarterbacks on the wire, if possible, to block your opponent from adding him.
Blake Bortles, JAX vs. Houston Texans
34% owned, FAAB Budget: whatever you have left (especially Carson Wentz owners).
Bortles came up big in what appeared to be a tough matchup against the Seattle Seahawks. Granted, Seattle is pretty banged up on defense but they had still been doing a decent job of limiting opposing signal callers. That was, up until they squared off against Bortles in Week 14. The much-maligned signal-caller passed for 268 yards and two touchdowns to help propel his team to a 30-24 win over Seattle.
Whether you trusted Bortles or not in Week 14, he is one of the top quarterback streaming options in Week 15 in a home matchup against the Houston Texans. Houston has been one of the top teams to target with quarterbacks in fantasy, having allowed the second-most fantasy points per game to the position this season. Add in Bortles' above-average rushing production and this is a no-brainer stream for those in need of a Week 15 quarterback. Carson Wentz owners would be wise to go all-in on Bortles, who will also be usable as a streamer in Week 16 against the Titans.
Jimmy Garoppolo, SF vs. Tennessee Titans
34% owned, FAAB Budget: 15-20%
Garoppolo is just #goodatfootball. In just his second start with the 49ers, Jimmy G led his team to just their third win of the season, with two of those victories coming in his two starts. Despite heading an offense that is lacking weapons, Garoppolo managed to throw for 334 yards, one touchdown, and one interception against the Texans.
He draws another fine matchup in Week 15 as he will face off against a weak Titans pass defense at home. Before Week 14's action, Tennessee's pass defense ranked 25th in the league in DVOA, setting up Garoppolo for another solid outing. As mentioned above, Carson Wentz owners find themselves in a tough spot after his knee injury. Garoppolo should ease the sting in Week 15, although he does have a tough Week 16 matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars. If you pick up Garoppolo this week, be sure to be making preemptive strikes for Week 16, as well.
Joe Flacco, BAL @ Cleveland Browns
14% owned, FAAB Budget: 3%
Flacco has been trending up over the past few weeks as he's passed for at least 260 yards and two touchdowns in three of his past five games. To be clear, he is a full tier below Blake Bortles and Jimmy Garoppolo from a streaming standpoint, but he is on the map if you lose out on those two aforementioned signal callers. Flacco draws a beautiful matchup against a Browns pass defense that made Brett Hundley look like Aaron Rodgers in Week 14. Okay, maybe that's a bit bold, but Hundley did pass for 265 yards and three scores on Cleveland.
The Browns have been an extreme pass funnel defense this season as they ranked first in run defense DVOA and 26th in pass defense heading into Week 14. Look for the Ravens to take advantage of this against their divisional foes in Week 15 as they continue to scrap for a Wild Card berth. Flacco is better suited as a QB2 but he can be used as a QB1 if you are in a tough spot this weekend.
Two-QB Leagues - Week 15 Waiver Wire Streamers
Trevor Siemian, DEN @ Indianapolis Colts
7% owned, FAAB Budget: 1%
Starting Siemian feels kind of gross but his Week 15 matchup with the Colts gives him hope as a QB2 in deeper leagues. He wasn't totally horrible in Week 14 against the Jets, passing for 200 yards and a touchdown. Indianapolis has brought out the best in opposing quarterbacks this season, allowing the 10th-most fantasy points per game this season and ranking 29th in pass defense DVOA. Siemian has shown us that he's a replacement-level quarterback at best this season but he should provide a usable floor for fantasy owners this week.
DeShone Kizer, CLE vs. Baltimore Ravens
4% owned, FAAB Budget: 1%
Kizer played the best game of his short NFL career in Week 14, passing for three touchdowns against the Green Bay Packers. The rookie signal caller has definitely benefitted from the return of Josh Gordon, which has given him a bonafide stud wide receiver to target in the passing game.
Coming off a cake matchup with the Packers in Week 14, Kizer gets a matchup downgrade as he will take on the Ravens this weekend. Baltimore's pass defense has been excellent this season, ranking second in DVOA, but they are also without top cornerback Jimmy Smith. In their first game without Smith, in Week 14, they allowed Ben Roethlisberger to shred them for 506 passing yards. Now, Kizer has yet to reach even a 300-yard passing game but he does bring some rushing upside to the table which gives him a workable floor. He's fine as a QB2 if you need one this weekend.
Blaine Gabbert, ARI @ Washington Redskins
4% owned, FAAB Budget: 1%
Gabbert was a popular sleeper in Week 14 against the Titans but he failed to do much, passing for 178 scoreless yards. The veteran signal-caller certainly hasn't inspired much confidence from quarterback streamers over the past two weeks but he remains in play as a deep QB2 option. The Washington pass defense has really slipped this season, having allowed two or more passing touchdowns in six of the past eight games. Overall, Washington is allowing the 14th-most fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks.
Cut Them Free
The following quarterbacks aren't necessarily must-drops but they haven't quite been living up to expectations and can be cut loose if you need roster space for one of the above players.
Andy Dalton, CIN - 54% owned
Dalton has been mostly solid this season, offering a decent floor, albeit without much of a ceiling (except against the Browns, who he's already faced twice). He isn't necessarily a must-cut but he draws a brutal Week 15 road matchup with the Minnesota Vikings. That being said, if you can spare a roster spot, he's worth keeping around for a Week 16 contest against a leaky Lions pass defense.
Josh McCown, NYJ - 48% owned
It took a while, but McCown finally suffered his annual injury, this time breaking his non-throwing hand against the Denver Broncos. McCown was a surprise QB1 many weeks this season but he's reportedly heading for surgery which will end his year. There's no reason to keep him on rosters heading into Week 15.
Strategy for Streaming Quarterbacks
Many factors come into play when identifying streamers. These include recent performance, overall upside, talent, opponent matchup, and Vegas totals. 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 there will also be players who break out and should be owned the rest of the season. As always, the goal with streaming is to eventually find a player who can be an every week starter for your team.
Options for one-quarterback leagues could be just about anyone outside of the bigger names at the position. Obviously, no one is going to be able to stream players like Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, and Tom Brady because they are owned in all leagues. The premium placed on the position in two-quarterback leagues changes expectations for streaming the position. In two-quarterback leagues, most starting NFL quarterbacks are already owned, so the pickings are going to be slim on waivers. Therefore, the players who are recommended for two-quarterback leagues will be lower-owned and most likely not attractive options in one-quarterback formats.
