October 11, 2016

Andrew Bua's top QB waiver wire pickups and fantasy football streamers for Week 6 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 6 waiver wire adds 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 more Week 6 waiver wire recommendations, for all other 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 6 Waiver Wire Streamers

Alex Smith, KC (52% owned)

Through four games in 2016, Alex Smith has been his normal efficient self by completing 64.9% of his passes for an average of 268.3 yards-per-game to go along with five touchdowns and two interceptions. The Chiefs have a pretty favorable schedule overall, but it doesn’t get much better than coming off a bye to face the Raiders (the league’s worst-ranked pass defense). As such, Smith tops our QB1 Streamer/Waiver Wire rankings for Week 6.

Targeting the Raiders defense in this column has been a common theme this year, but it’s well deserved. The Raiders are currently allowing opponents to complete 64% of their passes against them for 325.5 yards-per-game, eight touchdowns and three interceptions. Simply put, this defense has not stopped anyone. That is it's highly unlikely to stop a Chiefs offense that has mostly exposed opponent weaknesses all year long. Smith is on pace to shatter his career-high in pass attempts this year, and his 268.3 yards-per-game would be a new career high by a lot (his previous best was 220.9 in 2012). Assuming he keeps throwing like he has been, he’s primed to put up numbers against the Raiders sad excuse for a “defense”.

Carson Wentz, PHI (64% owned)

For a rookie quarterback, Carson Wentz has gone above and beyond for both fantasy owners and Eagles fans. Combine that with the fact he only learned he was starting immediately before the season started, and it makes his accomplishments even more impressive. Given how well he’s played thus far, Wentz is an easy pick for our Week 6 QB1 Streamer/Waiver Wire rankings.

The Eagles head to D.C. in Week 6 to take on the Redskins in what will be the first divisional game of the young quarterback’s career. The Redskins haven’t been terrible against the pass, surrendering 262 yards-per-game, but they do rank 28^th in completion percentage against with a 68.8% rate. They also rank 29^th against the run, meaning the Eagles will probably be running a lot to set up some big pass plays as the game goes along. Through four games, Wentz has been a tremendously accurate passer with a 67.4% completion percentage. Thus, when the Eagles take their chance, odds are in their favor that Wentz hits a big play. He’s also shown he's not intimidated in hostile road environments – you could do a lot worse in one-quarterback leagues than Wentz as a streamer in Week 6.

Marcus Mariota, TEN (68% owned)

Remember a few paragraphs up when we said targeting the Raiders’ defense was a common theme this year? Take Cleveland and multiply that statement by 100. Marcus Mariota has been underwhelming thus far in 2016, but the Browns have proven that playing them is the perfect cure to underperformance.

Despite the numbers not meeting expectations overall, Mariota put forth one of his best career games in Week 5 at Miami. Mariota finished 20-29 for 163 yards and three touchdowns, while adding another 60 yards and a score on the ground. The Browns? Well, you saw what Tom Brady did. Mariota may not be Tom Brady, but he’s shown he’s good enough to pick on weaknesses to put up big stats. The Browns have allowed 270+ yard passers in four out of five games, while also allowing 115+ rushing yards in three out of those five. There’s little doubt Mariota has a good chance to finish as a QB1 in Week 6.

Two-QB Leagues - Week 6 Waiver Wire Streamers

Dak Prescott, DAL (56% owned)

Given the success that Dak Prescott has had, you would think he would stop being on streamer lists and would soon enter the conversation to at least be owned every week. For whatever reason, Prescott is still only 56% owned in all Fleaflicker leagues. With a Week 6 matchup in Green Bay, that ownership percentage will likely be on the rise next week.

The Packers’ defense currently ranks first in the league against the run, but defending the pass is an entirely different story. Green Bay is surrendering 307.3 passing yards-per-game, ranking 30^th in the league in that department. Prescott, meanwhile, is coming off another pretty good start against the Bengals that saw him throw for 227 yards and a touchdown, while adding another score on the ground. The Packers haven’t been tested by a dual threat quarterback yet this season, and given that they’ve mostly failed to successfully defend anyone through the air it will be interesting to see how they handle a player like Prescott who has now scored three rushing touchdowns on the year. Prescott is absolutely worth a shot in 2QB leagues.

Brock Osweiler, HOU (32% owned)

Brock Osweiler is coming off a very tough outing in Minnesota that saw him complete only 45.2% of his passes for 184 yards. But then again…what quarterbacks haven’t bummed out fantasy owners against the Vikings defense this year? Fortunately for Osweiler and the Texans, they get to take on a much less intimidating defense, the Indianapolis Colts, in the friendly confines of NRG Stadium in Week 6.

We’ve heard all year about how badly the Colts defense has been ravaged by injury. While that’s true and unfortunate, it certainly makes things easier when trying to pick quarterback streamers. They’ve allowed 317+ yards through the air in three out of five weeks, including a whopping 397 to Brian Hoyer in Week 5. Osweiler hasn’t had the benefit of facing any teams this year with a defense as weak as the Colts, and played well against a pretty solid Tennessee defense just two weeks ago to the tune of 254 yards and two touchdowns. In two-quarterback leagues, you can’t do much better than Osweiler’s matchup this week.

Derek Anderson, CAR (8% owned)

This one comes with a big caveat in that he obviously won’t play if Cam Newton returns in Week 6, which it looks like there’s a pretty solid chance of. Nonetheless, Anderson’s matchup needs to highlighted as an easy one to stream if he is playing, considering he is only owned in 8% of Fleaflicker leagues and would likely return high-end QB2 value.

In Week 6, the Panthers get to be the lucky beneficiaries playing the New Orleans Saints and their horrendous defense. In four games this year, the Saints have allowed 308+ passing yards in three of them, with the only exception weirdly being Matt Ryan. Opponents are completing an incredible 68.4% of their passes against the Saints (sixth-worst in the league) for an average of 301.2 yards-per-game (27^th ranked). There is definitely uncertainty here with Derek Anderson in that he hasn’t started a game since 2014 and was never that good to begin with. However, he did complete 73.91% of his passes for 172 yards and two touchdowns in relief of Cam Newton in Week Four, and when you’re streaming QB’s in two-quarterback leagues you must play the matchups right. If he ends up playing, he should be near the top of your QB2 list this week.

It should be noted that if it looks as though Cam Newton is going to play this week, in place of Anderson you should look to pick up Trevor Siemian (40% owned). He sounds near-certain to return to action on Thursday night and gets to play the Chargers, who ranked 25^th at defending the pass BEFORE Jason Verrett went down with a torn left ACL a few days ago.