National Tight End Day certainly lived up to it’s name! But which of them can we trust moving forward? Meanwhile, bye weeks have restarted with the 49ers and Steelers while a number of big names return from injury. With only three busts in 14 picks, Week 8 was our best week to date, so hopefully you celebrated in Jameis Winston fashion by eating the W. Now let’s keep that momentum going into the second half of the season.
To keep things simple, we’ll define a streamer as any player you wouldn’t usually start who is a viable option for this week. They may be on your bench or they may be on waivers, depending on your league. We’ll define a stash as any player you can probably find on waivers that you should stash for the future, either because they have a favorable match-up coming up, or because they could become a future fantasy starter.
Please also check out my rankings at ffdfantasyfootball.com and you can find my long-form videos on the Fantasy First Down Youtube channel and my Slot/Wide analysis on the Razzball Fantasy Youtube channel. If you have any questions, throw them in the comments below.
Be sure to check out the latest tools on Razzball.com: Slot vs. Wide PPG Allowed | WR Slot vs. Wide| DEF Targets Allowed | Home vs. Away | Wins vs. Losses | TD Tool
I’ll also be reporting my streamer record from the season to date above each section, to give you an idea of what to expect. Strong finishes mean top third of starters at the position, moderate means the top half of starters and a bust is anyone else.
QB Streamers (9 strong, 3 moderate, 5 bust):
- Player: Matthew Stafford
- Matchup: Seahawks
It’s amazing what happens when a good quarterback has his elite wide receivers back. With Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua returning, Matthew Stafford blew up TNF with a spectacular four touchdown performance against the Vikings. This week he has a chance to continue that momentum against the Seahawks.
- Player: Bo Nix
- Matchup: Ravens
It’s no surprise that Bo Nix looked good against the Panthers, they’re a top five quarterback matchup. But do you know who else is in that top five? The Ravens. And Nix gets Baltimore in Week 9, making him another viable, though risky, start in Week 9.
QB Stash:
- Player: CJ Stroud
- Matchup: Jets
You can’t start CJ Stroud, or most other players, against the Jets. But the Texans have a run of excellent matchups coming up after this week. A number of mediocre performances will leave Stroud on waivers in plenty of leagues, so now is the time to pick him up.
RB Streamers (14 strong, 6 moderate, 6 bust):
- Player: Tony Pollard
- Matchup: Patriots
The Patriots have an awful run defense and Tony Pollard has excelled in good matchups. Heck, he even looked good against the elite Lions run defense. I love him as a starter this weekend.
- Player: Chase Brown
- Matchup: Raiders
The Bengals are expected to put big points on a Raiders defense that struggles against the run. The Bengals backfield has been inconsistent but Chase Brown is the clear early-down back these days and has only struggled for touches when Cincy falls behind. That’s unlikely against the disappointing Raiders.
- Player: Raheem Mostert
- Matchup: Bills
It worked last week so I’m going back to the well. The Dolphins look like a totally different team with Tua Tagovailoa and Raheem Mostert always has scoring upside when Miami is playing well. Against the league’s third most generous run defense in the Bills, I feel good about Mostert’s scoring upside.
RB Stashes:
- Player: Rico Dowdle
- Matchup: Falcons
There’s few major changes in running back land at the moment. While the returns of Christian McCaffrey, Isiah Pacheco, Travis Etienne and Keaton Mitchell are interesting, you can hardly pick any of those guys up on waivers. Except Mitchell, but don’t pick him up. On the other hand, Rico Dowdle is still available in a heap of leagues and that’s simply a crime. Go pick him up for his juicy run of games in the second half of the season.
Running backs get injured more than any other player in fantasy, with the average Top 36 running back missing two games per season in fantasy. For that reason, your best bet in fantasy is to roster running backs who are an injury away from an every-down role. Each week, I’ll be listing my favorite RB stashes, only including players you won’t be starting most weeks.
Top Handcuffs: Braelon Allen, Zach Charbonnet, Tyler Allgeier, Blake Corum, Ray Davis, Tank Bigsby, Kimani Vidal, Antonio Gibson, Ty Chandler, Roschon Johnson, Dameon Pierce, Justice Hill, Trey Benson
WR Streamers (4 strong, 11 moderate, 9 bust):
- Player: Romeo Doubs
- Matchup: Lions
Romeo Doubs remains the only every-down player on the Packers and he faces a very generous Lions secondary this week. Assuming Jordan Love plays, Doubs should be a starter for you.
- Player: Courtland Sutton
- Matchup: Ravens
Courtland Sutton was always due a bounce back after his Week 7 donut and he did that in style against the Panthers, turning eight receptions into a century of yards. This week he gets an excellent Ravens matchup and is a good chance of turning in another great performance. Hopefully this week it comes with a touchdown.
- Player: Calvin Ridley
- Matchup: Patriots
This is hard to believe but Calvin Ridley has had 32 targets in his last three games. He struggled to do much with them up until Week 8 but against the Lions, he exploded for 143 yards. With DeAndre Hopkins out of town, I believe this week could see another busy performance for the veteran.
WR Stashes:
- Player: Christian Watson
- Matchup: Lions
The Packers’ third receiver position has been a rotating door this season, with Christian Watson and Dontayvion Wicks getting variable snaps and usage each week. For the first time since Week 2 though, against the Jaguars in Week 8, Watson was the definitive number one. In fact, he received a higher percentage of snaps than any time this season and even out-snapped Jaylen Reed. But this is very much a fluid situation. As much as starting Watson against the generous Lions secondary feels fun, I’d rather hold on him for now.
- Player: Cedric Tillman
- Matchup: Chargers
I recommended last week that you start Cedric Tillman against the Ravens but you didn’t do it, did you? I did, in four leagues in fact. And I’ll be sitting him this week in all four. I recommend you do the same too. The Chargers are one of the toughest out-wide matchups in football and I’m not willing to risk putting the youngster into my line-up because of two big weeks against easy opponents.
- Player: Jalen McMillan
- Matchup: Chiefs
The Buccaneers receiver room went exactly as anticipated, but that doesn’t mean you can just rock out with Jalen McMillan every week. Against the Chiefs, it will be very hard to trust any Tampa Bay receiver, despite the excellent play of Baker Mayfield this season.
TE Streamers (5 strong, 2 moderate, 8 bust):
- Player: Cade Otton
- Matchup: Chiefs
The Chiefs have conceded the second most points to tight ends this season and Cade Otton was the top scoring tight end last week. Hopefully you picked him up last week and started him as we suggested. This week, let’s run it back.
- Player: TJ Hockenson
- Matchup: Colts
It seems crazy to start a tight end first week back from such a major injury, but I’m gonna do it. The Colts are a great matchup and all my favorite streamers have terrible matchups. So I’m putting my faith in the Vikings to give their returning star a touchdown gift.
TE Stash:
- Player: Dalton Schultz
- Matchup: Jets
With Nico Collins and, at the time of writing, probably Stefon Diggs out, Dalton Schultz surely must finally get a useful role in this offense. But I’ll believe it when I see it.
K Streamers (8 strong, 5 moderate, 3 bust):
- Player: Austin Seibert
- Matchup: Giants
Remarkably, Austin Seibert, the K2 on the season, remains available in the majority of leagues. That’s probably been helped by the injury to Jayden Daniels. But with Daniels back, now is the last time you can pick up Seibert before people grab him and never let go.
- Player: Cameron Dicker
- Matchup: Browns
The Chargers end up in more grind-fests than any other team and kickers love grind-fests. This game just screams field goals so I’m going to take the kicker on the favorite team, the one that lacks the turnover-prone quarterback.
DST Streamers (11 strong, 1 moderate and 4 bust):
- Player: New Orleans Saints DST
- Matchup: Panthers
The Saints defense is good, the Panthers offense is bad. You know the deal, start running backs, kickers and DSTs against Carolina.
- Player: Los Angeles Chargers DST
- Matchup: Browns
The Chargers have been solid all season and now face Jameis Winston coming off a massive but fluky win. This has negative bounceback written all over it.
Please note I won’t be listing any kicker or DST stashes as you should never roster more than one of either of these positions.
