How many times have you heard someone telling you to “stream” a position? Whether it be quarterback, tight end, or defense, the idea of streaming is great, provided you get the players you want off the waiver wire. The issue with streaming week-to-week is that everyone knows who you’ll be targeting in those good matchups and you might have that player swiped from underneath you, or even worse, your opponent that week may snag a player just to ensure you don’t get them.

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We started this article so you don’t have to worry about that anymore. Each Saturday morning, you’ll head over to your waiver wire and snag the players who are lined up for good matchups the following week. They may have a brutal matchup for that current week. Great, even better. That just means they’re more likely to be available for you. By snagging them a week prior, you eliminate the need to spend a lot of FAB dollars on the top tier defense that everyone is chasing. Here are the players who have solid Week 2 matchups on tap, or have breakout potential in Week 1, and are less than 40 percent rostered.

Quarterbacks

Drew Lock (DEN) at ATL in Week 9
*Search for who plays the Falcons, immediately puts them in the streaming article* Seriously, this is a recurring thing, but we know who the Falcons are. Did Teddy Bridgewater put up big points against them on Thursday night? No, but it was raining throughout that game and affected both passing games. Did you know that was the first time a quarterback didn’t score at least 18.4 fantasy points against them? Lock isn’t someone I’ll recommend very often, but against the Falcons, I’m willing to take the plunge, especially in the dome.

Kirk Cousins (MIN) vs DET in Week 9
It’s always a rough ride when recommending Cousins as a start, but the waiver wire isn’t great for streamers in Week 9. However, the Lions have allowed at least 15.5 fantasy points to each quarterback they’ve played despite just two of them totaling more than 36 pass attempts. The emergence of Justin Jefferson and Irv Smith has given Cousins a few more outlets than he had at the start of the year, and we know his defense is going to allow points.

Last-ditch option: Kyle Allen (WAS) vs NYG in Week 9

Running Backs

Tevin Coleman (SF) vs GB in Week 9
I was surprised to see him available in 67 percent of leagues, and it was close to JaMycal Hasty, who’s available in 59 percent of leagues. They’re expecting him back for their Week 9 game against the Packers, who’ve allowed more fantasy points per opportunity than any other team in the league. In fact, the Texans are next, and they’re a full seven percent behind the Packers. We’ve heard Kyle Shanahan say they held back Jerick McKinnon due to big early-season workload, so given the fact that Coleman will be fresh should mean at least a dozen touches against the league’s worst run defense.

La’Mical Perine (NYJ) vs NE in Week 9
It seems that some haven’t realized Perine out-snapped Frank Gore 40 to 16 in their most recent game, including triple the routes that Gore ran. All you’re looking for when streaming running backs is guaranteed touches, and Perine has totaled 24 opportunities over the last two weeks. Based on weighted opportunity, the Patriots have been the eighth-worst defense against running backs.

J.D. McKissic (WAS) vs NYG in Week 9
If you play in a PPR format, McKissic is one of the better bye week fillers out there. He’s already gotten his bye out of the way (in Week 8) and has totaled at least 7.1 PPR points in five straight games. He only had seven touches in their last game, but that was due to the Cowboys failing to create a competitive game, which led to a lot of work on the ground. McKissic hasn’t topped eight carries on the ground, but before that game, he’d received at least six targets in three straight games.

Could work out: Duke Johnson (HOU) at JAX in Week 9

Might pop in Week 8 leading many to the waiver wire: DeeJay Dallas (SEA)

Wide Receivers

Sterling Shepard (NYG) at WAS in Week 9
Taking away the game he needed to leave against the Bears, Shepard has now seen at least six targets in each of his last 18 games. Guys like that aren’t on the waiver wire. Sure, Daniel Jones has been playing pretty badly, but that didn’t stop Shepard from totaling 6/47/0 and 6/59/1 in the two full games he’s played this year. Washington has been tough on receivers this year, but you cannot pass up Shepard’s value as a waiver pickup, as I have him ranked as a top-45 receiver for the remainder of the season.

Tim Patrick (DEN) at ATL in Week 9
If you just started wide receivers against the Falcons every week, you’d be doing pretty dang good. They’ve allowed 13 different wide receivers to post 12-plus PPR points and finish as top-38 receivers against them through eight games. Patrick is dealing with a hamstring injury that may cause him to miss Week 8, but he should be back for this contest.

Keelan Cole (JAX) vs HOU in Week 9
This one is tough because we don’t know who the Jaguars quarterback will be for this game, as Gardner Minshew has apparently been playing through multiple fractures and a sprained ligament in his throwing hand. We could see rookie Jake Luton or veteran Mike Glennon, which are both downgrades from Minshew, but Cole has been such an important part of the offense. You could decide to go another direction of this, but the Texans have allowed the sixth-most fantasy points per game, and Cole is the No. 29 receiver on the season.

Randall Cobb (HOU) at JAX in Week 9
We’ve heard whispers about Cobb potentially being on the trade block, which could cause him to gain value. And if he doesn’t get moved, it’s possible that Will Fuller and/or Brandin Cooks do, which again, would give him more value. The Jaguars are a team he was able to rack up six catches for 47 yards against them the last time they played, and that was with both Fuller and Cooks in the lineup. I’d be shocked if that were the case again in this game.

Poor Week 9 matchup but should be rostered: Corey Davis (TEN)

Roster him right now: Allen Lazard (GB)

Tight Ends

Eric Ebron (PIT) at DAL in Week 9
Ever since Week 1, Ebron has been a big part of the Steelers offense, averaging 6.0 targets per game, including a season-high eight targets in Week 7. The Cowboys have allowed 2.06 PPR points per target to tight ends, which ranks as the ninth-highest mark in the league. Sure, teams are running a lot against the Cowboys, but they’ve still allowed the 10th-most fantasy points per game to tight ends.

Logan Thomas (WAS) vs NYG in Week 9
Remember when it felt gross to play Thomas, but we kept doing it because the targets were there? Well, the targets haven’t been as gross with Kyle Allen under center, as Thomas has caught seven of his last eight targets for 102 yards and two touchdowns, which included 3/42/1 against the Giants in their Week 6 matchup. We should see his targets start to rise again now that he’s become more efficient with them.

Targets are there: Trey Burton (IND) vs BAL in Week 9

DSTs

Washington Football Team vs NYG in Week 9
Going into their bye week, Washington had 22 sacks, which ranked as the fifth-most in football. Daniel Jones has been sacked 20 times through seven games, which ranks as the fifth-most in football. We can all do the math here, right? Jones has been under pressure on 43.8 percent of his dropbacks, which is the highest number in the league, while Washington has pressured the opposing quarterback on 48 percent of dropbacks over the last two weeks.

Houston Texans at JAX in Week 9
Getting the news about Gardner Minshew having fractures and a sprained ligament in his throwing hand likely has him out against the Texans. Sure, they’re a bad defense, that’s fine. But if we see Mike Glennon or rookie Jake Luton under center, the Texans defensive line will be pinning their ears back. They have generated three-plus sacks in three of their last six games, and I’d suspect them to get there in this game. There should also be a good chance for turnovers.

Desperation option: Tennessee Titans vs CHI in Week 9

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Mike Tagliere is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @MikeTagliereNFL.