Marcus Mariota’s legs may be his saving grace
With more and more fantasy owners opting to wait on the quarterback and tight end positions in drafts, streaming each position has become a viable option. This is made easier by the fact that there are usually solid options on the waiver wire. Each week this column will scour the waiver wire and look for quarterbacks and tight ends who are owned in fewer than 50% of leagues and could be worth starting for your fantasy team.
All ownership percentages come from Yahoo fantasy leagues and all references to fantasy points allowed per game come from the fantasy points allowed (PA) reports on FantasyPros. All references to DVOA (Defense-Adjusted Value Over Average) come from rankings on www.footballoutsiders.com. A detailed explanation of DVOA can be found here.
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Quarterback
Jay Cutler – Chicago Bears (43% owned)
vs. San Francisco 49ers
Cutler is quietly having one of his best seasons as a pro, throwing for 2,510 yards, 14 touchdowns and just six interceptions. He will now get one of the top quarterback matchups in the league as the 49ers come into Week 13 allowing the ninth-most fantasy points to the position at 18.7 per game. With Alshon Jeffery and Matt Forte back at full health, plus the emergence of Jeremy Langford, Cutler should have close to his full compliment of weapons at his disposal for this game.
Marcus Mariota – Tennessee Titans (42% owned)
vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
Mariota gets a rematch with a Jaguars’ team he just faced in Week 11. Mariota had a decent game then, passing for 231 yards and saving his fantasy day with 29 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. He will have Kendall Wright available this week, which was not the case in Week 11. Jacksonville is allowing the sixth-most fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks at 18.9 and their stout run defense usually forces teams to scale back the run game, meaning Mariota should see a high volume of pass attempts. His rushing ability also helps to keep his floor high.
Tight End
Richard Rodgers – Green Bay Packers (41% owned)
@ Detroit Lions
Although not a safe bet for yardage, Rodgers has carved out a consistent role in the Green Bay offense this year. He has seen fewer than five targets only once since Week 4 and has three receiving touchdowns in his last four games. As the Green Bay receiving corps has struggled to get open, Rodgers has benefitted. In his Week 10 matchup with Detroit, he caught five passes for 32 yards and one touchdown. On the year, Detroit has been one of the most favorable tight end matchups, allowing the ninth-most points per game to the position.
Kyle Rudolph – Minnesota Vikings (46% owned)
vs. Seattle Seahawks
Rudolph has seen an uptick in usage over the past two weeks, turning 19 targets into 13 catches for 159 yards and one touchdown. He gets an excellent matchup against a Seahawks’ defense that struggles to limit opposing tight ends. Seattle’s pass defense against tight ends is ranked 31st in the league in DVOA and is allowing 11.5 fantasy points per game to the position, fourth-highest in the league. Look for the Vikings to utilize Rudolph as a chief means of moving the ball through the air against an otherwise stout Seahawks’ defense.
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Matthew Terelle is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Matthew, check out his archive and follow him @supermt.
