Alex Smith has another great streaming matchup this week
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 our fantasy points allowed (PA) reports here on Fantasy Pros. 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
Alex Smith (KC): 38% owned @ Indianapolis Colts
Smith’s run of favorable matchups continues in Week 8 as he gets to take on the weak pass defense of the Indianapolis Colts. While the Chiefs’ optimal gameplan is to build a lead and run the ball to kill the clock, that may be difficult against a dangerous Colts offense. Andrew Luck and company should be able to score enough to keep this game close and force Smith to throw the ball around the field with regularity. Before Week 7’s action, the Colts pass defense ranked just 29th in the league in DVOA according to Football Outsiders. Smith is the top streaming option on the slate this week.
Sam Bradford (MIN): 17% owned @ Chicago Bears
Bradford struggled against a tough Eagles pass defense in Week 7, but he should find smoother sailing against the Bears in Week 8. Chicago’s defense has surprisingly been playing well this the season, but they still employ a very burnable secondary, which was exposed by Aaron Rodgers last week. With Stefon Diggs a week healthier, Cordarrelle Patterson coming on, and Kyle Rudolph operating in the red zone, Bradford should have his pick of weapons to deploy against the Bears in Week 8.
Tight End
Jack Doyle (IND): 31% owned vs. Kansas City Chiefs
It is time to start taking Doyle seriously, especially with Dwayne Allen sidelined with an ankle injury. Doyle has become a full-time player in Allen’s absence and responded with a huge game in Week 7. Doyle was a favorite target of Andrew Luck’s against the Titans, leading the team in catches with nine in Week 7. Look for him to remain heavily involved going forward and he should be worth a stream, even in a tough matchup against the Chiefs.
Cameron Brate (TB): 31% owned vs. Oakland Raiders
Brate has cooled off some over his past two games, but he has a chance to post a big game against a Raiders defense that has struggled against tight ends since the 2015 season. With Vincent Jackson sidelined, Brate could theoretically see an uptick in usage going forward, even though that wasn’t the case in Week 7 against San Francisco. Keep in mind, Brate drew 18 targets combined in Weeks 3-4, so the possibility for him to see a big workload does exist.
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Matt Terelle is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Matthew, check out his archive and follow him @supermt.
