Sometimes you pick up a streamer and it’s just like a Tinder hookup. You use them and then toss them back before the night (aka waivers) are over. Other times, it’s more like John Denver and you have to tear yourself away from your streaming options, and you find yourself singing, “I’m streaming, on a jet plane. Don’t know when I’ll be back again. Oh babe, I hate to go.” The best case scenario is that you find yourself falling in love with a new starter, or starting option, that you can roster all season. While most streaming options fall into the Tinder hookup category, I hope some others have given you at least a couple weeks of production.

Jameis Winston and Cameron Brate may have you thinking about putting a ring on it. Will Dissly, Ryan Fitzpatrick, and Jesse James, got their numbers put in the phone, but then we ghosted them after a couple weeks. Fitz lost his job and “No, I don’t want no scrubs.” Dissly got injured, and Jesse James was a victim of the hot ex coming back into the picture.  Most streaming options will be more like Jimmy Garoppolo’s preseason date than Reese Witherspoon/Katherine Heigel rom-com characters, but keep your eye out for THE ONE that could be potential season long difference makers as you look for bye week fill ins and streamers.

Quarterback

Eli Manning – 52%

Remember that you don’t actually have to watch Eli play to accumulate fantasy points. It’s been a rough season for the brother Manning, as he looks more uncomfortable in the pocket than in the back of a Volkswagen.

When he’s not ducking and covering for the sack, he is at least completing his short yardage passes. He has the 6th most completions, 7th best completion percentage, to go along with being 9th in both attempts and interception percentage. Plus, he has great weapons around him with big play ability to take his 4th lowest in the league 10.5 yards per pass completion to the house.

While the Giants are allowing the 3rd most sacks this season, it’s at least the right match-up for them going against a depleted Falcons defense that are tied for the 5th fewest sacks. The Falcons are also allowing the 7th worst net yards per passing attempt. Both of which should help Eli and the Giants passing game.

The Falcons haven’t really been able to stop either side of the ball, but have been more susceptible to the pass as they have given up the most passing touchdowns. If that wasn’t enough, the Falcons defense has allowed the 2nd most total yards, 4th worst yards per play, and 2nd most first downs.

Joe Flacco – 63%

In the passed, you may have been Whacko for starting Flacco, but not this week. Flacco has actually been a fairly useful streaming option at the QB position this year thanks to a generous amount of passing attempts, currently has the 2nd most passing attempts.  Flacco’s fewest passing attempts in a game was 34 in week one during the 47-3 demolition of the Bills. The Ravens offense has become more pass happy, and maybe with reason as they have the 9th most passing yards compared to their 19th place in rushing yards.

Despite the volume, the passing offense as a whole has been pretty middle of the road, but that’s alright in a plus match-up with the number of attempts Flacco has been making. They are 16th in passing TDs, and 12th in yards per game. Flacco himself has been a top 15 QB from a rating perspective as he is 12th in QBR and DYAR (defense-adjusted yards above replacements), and 13th in DVOA (defense-adjusted value over average).  

Plus, he gets to face the, while improving, still pretty awful Saints defense. The Saints defense has performed admirably vs the Giants, Browns, and Redskins, but have allowed 40 or more points to the Falcons and Bucs. They are 8th worst in scoring percentage while creating the 2nd fewest turnovers. They come in at 17 in points allowed, which is not bad, except that they have already had their bye and are giving up the 6th most yards per play.

The Saints offense has the highest scoring percentage in the league as well, which should turn this into more of a high scoring affair opening up the opportunity for Flacco to find John Brown, Michael Crabtree, and company.

Honorable Mentions: Andy Dalton, Dak Prescott

Tight End

Ricky Seals-Jones – 47%

This is not the first appearance on the streaming list for RSJ, but that also doesn’t mean he necessarily qualifies to “put the ring on it” quite yet. Likely more in the keep the number in case of drunken emergency. 16th in both yards and receptions, and is getting the 12th most targets among tight ends.

Last week in a similarly favorable match-up, RSJ had 6 targets with 5 receptions, and I expect the game plan to be similar against the Broncos. The Broncos are giving up the 9th most points to TE while allowing the 6th most yards to the position. The defense as a whole has not been the Broncos defense that carried them to a pair of Super Bowl appearances. This unit is giving up the 9th most points and 5th most total yards. They have not been able to stop the run recently, allowing 548 rushing yards to Gurley, Crowell, and Hunt in the previous 3 weeks.

I doubt the Broncos are excited to be gashed by David Johnson, and while predicting gameflow is a fool’s errand, it’s also part of the player evaluation for the week to some extent. I expect that the Broncos will commit more help in the run game from the linebackers or safeties, which should leave some good match-ups and free starts off the line for RSJ. If the running game does get going for the Cardinals, I can see them utilizing the play action to help out Josh Rosen as he gets adjusted to NFL play.

Chris Herndon – 5%

There is not a lot of tape to watch on Herndon as he spent his time in college playing second fiddle to Njoku, and then suffered an injury costing him a few games to end his senior season, but has some natural receiving skills. He was a converted high school receiver that moved to tight end, and has more work to do on the blocking side of things than on the receiving.

He can run more than just your typical tight end chip and out to the flat routes. The Jets have already showing the willingness to use him down field and he has performed on those opportunities. Herndon also has some decent after the catch ability as he has some speed to him allowing for run after the catch.

In week 6, he had 2 receptions. The first was a terrific grab over the defender for a first down, and the second went for a touchdown on a nice body fake from Darnold that frees up the entire back side of the field, a la Drew Brees record breaking TD.

RSJ had this same juicy match-up last week versus a Vikings defense that has not been the show stopper that we saw last year. The Vikings are giving up the 5th most points to the tight end position this season. They have allowed the 6th most receptions and 4th most yards, and it’s not just to the tight ends. The Vikings are the 9th worst in completion percentage on the season. They are still getting to the quarterback as they are tied for 5th in sacks, but that may play into Herndon’s favor as the Jets will likely want to get the ball out quickly against an aggressive Vikings defensive unit.

Honorable Mentions: David  Njoku, Erik Swoope

Defense/Special Teams

Denver – 65%

I already touched on the Broncos defensive deficiencies in the RSJ spot above. Quick recap, 9th most points allowed, 5th most total yards allowed, most rushing yards allowed. They have been able to get to the quarterback as they are tied for 12th in sacks.

The bad news for the defense is that they get David Johnson this week. The good news for the defense is the overall inept play from the Cardinals “offense”. They are at the bottom of total yards, rushing yards, and scoring percentage. They are second worst in yards per play, passing TDs, and passing yards. They are 12th in most turnovers, but given the lack of offensive plays, they end up 8th worst in turnover percentage. This streaming option isn’t about the ability of the Broncos or that John Elway called them out this week. This is about the nothingness, like in the upside down, that is the Cardinals offense.

Buffalo – 14%

This feels like a hangover from the first 2 weeks of the season when the Bills got smacked around by the Ravens and Chargers. Since then, the unit has performed closer to a top 10 defense than a bottom 3 like we were thinking they may be in week 3.

Even with the first 2 weeks, they are allowing the 13th fewest points and 8th fewest yards. The unit is allowing the 2nd lowest yards per play, 9th fewest rushing yards and 10 fewest passing yards. They are top 10 in both passing yards and passing TDs allowed. It’s not all about the points and yardage either. They are tied for the 3rd most sacks and have created the 6th most turnovers, which are those point boosters you need when streaming a defense.

Usually when you’re looking at a streaming defense, it’s more about the opponent and mitigating the terribleness of a streaming option, but the Bills should likely be owned in more leagues than they are and are a nice play this week versus a fairly strong Colts offense that has scored the 11th most points with the 16th most yardage. However, the offense is lacking in big plays with the 6th worst yards per play, and have given up the 3rd most turnovers.

Honorable Mentions: Dallas, Indianapolis

Follow B_Don on Twitter @DitkaSausagePod

49 Comments
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Benny
Benny
4 years ago

I have been offered several trades from different owners for Michael Thomas. Which of the offers below do you like and which do you hate?

Beckham and Will Fuller for Thomas
Mixon and Baldwin for Thomas and John Brown
Juju and Boyd for Thomas and John Brown
Cooks and Coleman for Thomas

brian
brian
4 years ago

16 team ppr dynasty. in first. start 1 qb, 2 rb, 2 wr, 2 flex, 1 te. roster is qb-deshaun, ben, chad kelly, rb-leveon, conner, white, hyde, cja, jaylen samuels, josh adams wr-julio, tyreek, alshon, baldwin, DT, geronimo, josh reynolds, te-gronk, ian thomas, asj

1. my backup TE is ian thomas who didn’t do much even when olsen was out. so i have a small problem when gronk goes on his bye in a few weeks. not much on wire other than aj derby, nick o’leary, james o’shaughnessy. Would you drop josh reynolds, jaylen samuels, cja, or josh adams for any of those guys or wait until it gets closer to gronk’s bye?

2. reynolds, cja, jaylen and adams – would you drop any for curtis samuel, richie james, or maurice harris,

thanks!

Jeff
Jeff
4 years ago

I’m thinking of trading D.Johnson to upgrade my TE position (I already have O.J Howard) to get Gronk? Would you do it in PPR?

Jeff
Jeff
4 years ago
Reply to  B_Don

@B_Don: Thanks! In that case, would you deal J.Howard for Olsen?

eMCee
eMCee
4 years ago

With Russel Wilson’s bye week, I picked up Trubisky, but I still have Dalton and Flacco available to pick up from FA.

Which one would you use? (sorry, not going eli…not with a 10 foot pole)

Josh Slaughter
Josh Slaughter
4 years ago

Debating whether I should start Kerryon Johnson or Philip Lindsay? It’s a non-ppr league.

Josh
Josh
4 years ago

Start Kerryon Johnson or Philip Lindsay? non ppr league.

Josh
Josh
4 years ago
Reply to  Josh

@Josh: In another league I am also having a tough decision over starting Corey Clement or Royce Freeman.

Brian
Brian
4 years ago

16 team ppr dynasty. in first. start 1 qb, 2 rb, 2 wr, 2 flex, 1 te. roster is qb-deshaun, ben, chad kelly, rb-leveon, conner, white, hyde, cja, jaylen samuels, josh adams wr-julio, tyreek, alshon, baldwin, DT, geronimo, josh reynolds, te-gronk, ian thomas, asj

I have some RBs i’m targeting. my main concern besides depth is hyde going from 15-20 touches down to 10 or so when hue finally gets his head out of his ass and gives duke/chubb more work

RBs i’m targeting – Yeldon, alex collins, gore (obv just depth for this year), breida, ekeler, bilal, duke, drake, crowell. Can you rank them for me or put them into tiers? I’m going to try to trade rookie draft picks for them. As of now I’ll have pick 32, 33, and 48

Thanks!

Scott
Scott
4 years ago

I have a couple wr off this week so I added rogers thinking that hilton would be out. Hilton practiced today and looks like he will play. Do I stick with rogers or add trequan smith or Meredith since ginn may be out. Or kearse, anderson since enunwa is out?. . Last option is albert wilson. Brockweiler starting this week. .5 ppr. I need 1 wr. Thanks

Big W
Big W
4 years ago

Hey there,

Appreciate the advice! Wondering if I could get your take… In a half ppr, who get’s the flex spot?

Marlon Mack or Chester Rogers?

Thanks!

Big W

Big W
Big W
4 years ago
Reply to  B_Don

@B_Don: Thanks!

Break out star
Break out star
4 years ago

Better stash and hold 14 team ppr
Trequan smith
Valdez Scantling
Cameron Brate
Raheem Mosert.
I need to drop one

Bob
Bob
4 years ago

Start calloway this week or do I search for another option? He is getting targets but has not connected on any. Other options are trequan smith, chester rogers, kearse, Beasley, Hogan.. 5 ppr. Thanks

Frank the tank
Frank the tank
4 years ago

Afternoon man! .5 ppr league here! 10 team league. 9 bench spots. 2 IR. 1 Flex (WR/TR/RB).

First I have Geronimo Allison on IR but he’s listed as questionable- in order for me to add any players off free agency or send out any trade offers I’ll either need to drop Geronimo or activate Geronimo & drop either Chris Hogan or kearse.

My rbs are DJ, Melvin Gordon, brieda, ekeler, Ron Jones, Kerryon Johnson, Alf Morris.

My WRs: Hilton, Keenan Allen, amari Cooper, Sterling Shepard, kupp, Geronimo Allison, Tyler Boyd, Doug Baldwin, Hogan , kearse. Kupp is listed in one IR slot he’s listed as “out “.

My TE is oj Howard

Would you float any of these ideas out there?

1.) trade DJ for mixon? Or is that too much of a lateral move that it doesn’t make sense? Plus mixon owner already has zeke, Gurley, mixon, Carson, marlon Mack Hyde to name a few.

2.) deal Hilton + DJ to get zeke?

3.) deal Amari Cooper to get Jordan Howard or Aaron jones or Fournette? The Howard owner has cmc, Powell, Aaron Jones, Fournette, Jordan Howard.

4.) do you think Keenan or Hilton is enough to get cmc or should I aim higher? His rbs I mentioned #3, his WRs however are woods, Ridley, jordy, funchess, Devante Parker

5.) deal Keenan or Hilton to get mixon? His rbs I mentioned are at #1. However his WRs are golladay, Crabtree, Landry, demaryius, Allen Robinson, Keke .

** would dealing Keenan or Hilton for a RB kill my WR depth or do I have the depth to pull it off?

Either I wanna do a bigger deal or a small deal by dealing away amari to get a RB

Currently I’m 5-1, just seeing if I should make a move to set myself up for the second half or stand pat? Heck would you look to acquire Fournette as a buy low? Or Dalvin Cook?

Thanks man!!

Frank the tank
Frank the tank
4 years ago
Reply to  B_Don

@B_Don:

What about this my Keenan (Or Hilton) + brieda for mixon + golladay?

I’ll see if I can make any deals ! Thanks for the insight!

Nightpandas
Nightpandas
4 years ago

16 team std

Got offered Chris Thompson and M Thomas for my Bell and Conner …what ya think

Start 2wr 2 Rb 2 flex

Other rb Henry Hines Duke and Foreman
Other wr Baldwin Golloday Gordon Stills

southside dom
southside dom
4 years ago

10 team, standard scoring. Who do you like at the flex spot?

Breida vs LAR
Godwin vs CLE
Peyton Barber vs CLE

jason batteiger
jason batteiger
4 years ago

martin over one of m.davis/mostart in 14 team PPR? i have
QB luck
RB (2) crowell, mixon, montgomery, davis, mostart
WR (3) jeffery, baldwin, AB, kearse, a.wilson, goodwin
TE (1) watson, vance (on bye)
1 flex
IR (2) burkhead, doyle

jason batteiger
jason batteiger
4 years ago

@jason batteiger:

2. PPR, i had dropped callaway for ratley, what about meredith here with ginn out? i already have shepard (but engram seems back), k.allen, jeffery, sanu, ratley. that luck i was begging for about 2 weeks ago for my RB’s has come in though, i nabbed barber when his value was just about to pump back up (had been just dropped), then freeman’s out all year (have coleman), now my chubb stash is looking damn good, in fact chubb probably plays the flex this week and shepard is the bench.

Mr. A Knife
Mr. A Knife
4 years ago

my guess is you just wanted to point out that BUF’s D has been pretty good for about a month, but IND’s isn’t close to as awful as they were probably expected AND are at HOME vs BUF with a QB nobody wanted for the whole year till BUF realized starting peterman isn’t a good idea. so i’m guessing you, like probably everybody elsee would say IND over BUF this week for D streaming

meanwhile might as well make the rounds on a survivor pool opinion. pretty good sized pot (had allowed 1 rebuy up till end of week 4, and week 1 you could lose and be ok, it was a “gimme” week if you threw in an extra 25% of the buy in, so effectively you picked a team that you never wanted to use again), i’ve gone

week 1: TB (won this one anyway, fitzmagic in full at least 400 yd effect)
2: DEN vs OAK (was losing the entire game, we start to remember who keenum is, won last second)
3: CHI @ ARI (in which we see how bad trubisky can be, but it ain’t close to bradford bad, was losing whole game, win in last minute(s))
4: SEA @ ARI (biggest money line gamble made, figured i could rebuy for last time here anyway, wouldn’t have even been close, jankow misses 2 easy kicks in 1st half only to make a very not easy kick with seconds left to win. SEA also didn’t really try too hard to move the ball, figuring they didn’t need to)
5. NE vs IND (only easy win and only time using an “elite” team)
6. HOU vs BUF (this really should’ve been easy, HOU’s line collapses for entire 2nd half EXCEPT exactly when HOU needs a drive, then they get stuffed at the 1 on 1st and 1, but peterman turns back into himself just in time)

now, for this week which you like best:
7. -IND -7 vs BUF (this has the benefit of little IND ROS value but tons of people are picking them)
– JAX -4.5 vs HOU (JAX little future value and almost nobody is picking it this week and JAX is probably ready for a bounce back week, and watson/HOU o-line might be in for real trouble in this game, i saw that last week with HOU at home vs BUF where i almost lost)
– LAC -6.5 vs TEN (lot of LAC future value though)
– ATL -4 vs NYG (this seems risky though)
-KC -5.5 vs CIN (but in future weeks KC is likely much more needed)
– LAR -9.5 @ SF (but even more than KC LAR have tons of probably needed future value)

future ideas without scouring every matchup
8. LAR vs GB
KC vs DEN
PIT vs CLE
CIN vs TB

9. MIN @ NYJ (seems risky though)
DAL @ WAS (similar to MIN)
KC @ CLE
CAR vs TB (might have a winner)

10. KC vs SF
LAR vs SEA (week 10 is much easier than 9 if i don’t use either of LAR/KC in weeks 7-8)
NYJ vs BUF (this seems fine if i DID use KC and LAR earlier)
GB vs MIA
LAC @ OAK

11. LAC vs DEN (this week 11 is the thinest i’m looking at)
NO vs PHI
BAL vs CIN (but BAL is best served in week 12)

so it mostly comes down to IND/JAX (or LAC, but i’d need them more later) or one of KC/LAR this week

Mr. A Knife
Mr. A Knife
4 years ago
Reply to  Mr. A Knife

@Mr. A Knife: holy crap, BUF’s D is now 3rd best in entire league (FO outsiders, best data in universe), so maybe not on it being “easy to play BUF over IND D this week”, albeit luck vs a guy who is only owned due to injury to allen and peterman being peterman on road still makes this seem up in the air. it really DOES start to scare me on playing IND in a survivor though this week, even if they are 7 pt favs, other than all the other teams i’d want to start have big time future value.

I got $100 for groceries, $1400 for liquor, and 6,000 for you to go bail a couple of shit puppets out of jail
I got $100 for groceries, $1400 for liquor, and 6,000 for you to go bail a couple of shit puppets out of jail
4 years ago

12 teamer PPR with return yards worth same as scrimmage. a guy who probably already had the worst RB’s in the league lost skittles, and i have richard. he came to me first due to that, but he’s also willing to move thielen (maybe, but expensive) or lockett (has more value than any other league here). right when i begged for RB luck i got it 3 times in a matter of less than 2 weeks on barber (dropped and not waivered by anybody), coleman (freeman out for way longer, he’s turning into football tulowitzki), and chubb today.
QB wentz
RB (2) barkley, coleman, chubb, barber, royce, richard
WR (2) k.allen, shepard (but benched now with engram back), jeffery, sanu, ratley, cobb
TE (1) RSJ (bye week)
1 flex
IR (1) doyle

trade possibles, tried k.allen + richard for thielen, he came back with
1. theilen for my k.allen + coleman
also, might be able to do this:
2. lockett for richard
obviously i’d not do both, it’d lower my RB depth too much, plus i simply couldn’t use all of: lockett/thielen/jeffery/sanu/cobb/ratley/shepard anyway

somebody is going to be dropped for wentz’s bye week here coming up (cobb/ratley spot probably)

I got $100 for groceries, $1400 for liquor, and 6,000 for you to go bail a couple of shit puppets out of jail
I got $100 for groceries, $1400 for liquor, and 6,000 for you to go bail a couple of shit puppets out of jail
4 years ago
Reply to  B_Don

@B_Don: this seems to be my tipping point too, the coleman vs richard difference (and depth argument). RB get hurt all the damn time (royce is, after his job got stolen). variety of responses
1. MB loves thielen so much coleman+allen is his fav option
2. dynasty guy says keep allen (i forgot to mention this isn’t dynasty though)
3. another, like you says don’t give coleman but would give richard + allen

losing michel is going to hurt me bad, was dominating in the 4 leagues i have him.

Mordacious Levator
Mordacious Levator
4 years ago

hilton or landry in half PPR. i know how far they are gapped in FP’s rankings, but hilton should have immense target share this week, and landry surely has not since mayfield took over, but is still being ranked very high (WR 13, 25th overall in half PPR FP top 30 guys rankings right now). maybe some of this was hilton’s questionable tag and being hurt for weeks, but 67th overall, WR 33 seems very out of wack. could also bench michel in the flex for hilton, but that doesn’t seem right at all.

Mordacious Levator
Mordacious Levator
4 years ago

@Mordacious Levator: sorry, i have that wrong, landry’s still had 10 targets every game during mayfield’s tenure, but mayfield just isn’t good at throwing the ball AT him as good as every other QB ever in landry’s history.

Mordacious Levator
Mordacious Levator
4 years ago

@Mordacious Levator: AND hilton’s matchup is horrible (t.white likely) vs @ TB for landry.

For An Armenianless Vacation Come to Akron
For An Armenianless Vacation Come to Akron
4 years ago

like mentioned above, michel out, i had richard till somebody dropped baldwin, so i nabbed him. but i have too many WR’s to use here and if michel is hurt i’ll need another RB far more than WR.
12 team half PPR
QB RW3, flacco (this week)
RB (2) gurley, mixon, michel, clement
WR (2) landry, hilton, jeffery, allison, baldwin, kupp,
TE (1) rudolph
1 flex
IR (1) doyle
so i’ll have flacco to drop shortly anyway, but should i drop a WR (and which) to try to get 2 of: barber (just dropped, again), richard, and which of those you’d rather have? i really shouldn’t have dropped mack a bit ago here, got clement when doing so. will also set up a post to try to trade one of i’d guess allison/baldwin for a RB.

For An Armenianless Vacation Come to Akron
For An Armenianless Vacation Come to Akron
4 years ago

@For An Armenianless Vacation Come to Akron: also these out there:
hines, mostart, gore, m.davis,ivory

For An Armenianless Vacation Come to Akron
For An Armenianless Vacation Come to Akron
4 years ago
Montezuma's Revenge ... right now
Montezuma's Revenge ... right now
4 years ago

14 teamer PPR with yet more injury issues, probably my most injured team in like 4 years or so (mckinnon (overbid on morris, dropped for mostart), baldwin, doyle, burkhead, mixon, goodwin, a.wilson, can’t count jeffery as i drafted him knowing that)

QB (1) luck (good injury luck here though)
RB (2) mixon, crowell, mostart (good luck here too if breida misses time), m.davis, montgomery
WR (3) AB, baldwin, goodwin, jeffery, kearse (probably still a hold though), a.wilson
TE (1) watson (obtained with vance on bye), vance
1 flex
IR (2) burkhead, doyle

doubt wilson gets the “out” tag before tonight when i’d need to input waivers to make sure doyle’s tag doesn’t come off before i do.
1. drop vance or watson first for a RB or WR here?
2. drop burkhead or a.wilson first if wilson DOES get that out tag in time?
3. drop one of the TE’s or a.wilson if no out tag by tonight (or a TE and a.wilson) for what order of: barner, ivory, gallup, sharpe, richardson, gio B (would seem back shortish), moncrief

Montezuma's Revenge ... right now
Montezuma's Revenge ... right now
4 years ago

14 teamer PPR with yet more injury issues, probably my most injured team in like 4 years or so (mckinnon (overbid on morris, dropped for mostart), baldwin, doyle, burkhead, mixon, goodwin, a.wilson, can’t count jeffery as i drafted him knowing that)

QB (1) luck (good injury luck here though)
RB (2) mixon, crowell, mostart (good luck here too if breida misses time), m.davis, montgomery
WR (3) AB, baldwin, goodwin, jeffery, kearse (probably still a hold though), a.wilson
TE (1) watson (obtained with vance on bye), vance
1 flex
IR (2) burkhead, doyle

doubt wilson gets the “out” tag before tonight when i’d need to input waivers to make sure doyle’s tag doesn’t come off before i do.
1. drop vance or watson first for a RB or WR here?
2. drop burkhead or a.wilson first if wilson DOES get that out tag in time (he got it just now)
3. drop which one of the TE’s for what order of: barner, ivory, sharpe, richardson, gio B (would seem back shortish), moncrief

i need an extra DB for this week anyway (so that’s wilson dropped)