Last week I made the mistake of bad mouthing Brock Osweiler, who finished as a QB1 and a top-10 performer at the position. I also did not consider Joe Flacco, who was on par with Andrew Luck as the top fantasy quarterback of the week. Meanwhile, the suggested streamers of Ryan Fitzpatrick and Matt Barkley were benched and snowed in, respectively. Having put all of that aside, I’ll dust myself off and focus my efforts on targeting streamers for the looming fantasy playoffs.
Quarterback
The snow made things even more brutal for Colin Kaepernick, who struggled to grip the football prior to being benched in fourth quarter. His removal appears to have come out of mercy rather than any temptation to start Blaine Gabbert to close out the season. The opposing New York Jets have allowed four quarterbacks throw three or more touchdowns against them this season. Six QBs have thrown for more than 270 yards when facing the Jets, who have now gone four games without an interception. Kaepernick has been dropped in 13 percent of Yahoo public leagues and cut by nearly nine percent on ESPN. Big mistake. Kaepernick is a top-10 quarterback play in this week’s PlayerProfiler Weekly Player Rankings; perfectly suited as both and streamer and DFS Contrarian GPP play.
Back in Week 6, Brock Osweiler had one of his best fantasy performances this season against the Colts. He completed 25 of 39 passes for 269 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. Lamar Miller went off for 149 yards on 24 carries in that game, but has since been struggling mightily through ankle and rib injuries. Will Fuller was active in the first meeting with Indy, but did not play because of a hamstring injury. Despite a tight cap on his ceiling, Osweiler is a very serviceable streamer.
Fueled by the second-most pass attempts in the league, Joe Flacco is currently eighth among the leaders in passing yards. Even after throwing four touchdowns a week ago, Flacco has only 15 passing scores to show for all of his efforts. That mark is only one more touchdown pass than Brock Osweiler. Positive touchdown regression should continue in week 14. New England has faced limited quarterback competition this season, yet gave up multiple touchdown passes in three consecutive games prior to exploiting rookie Jared Goff last week.
Joe Flacco Advanced Stats & Metrics Profile
Choosing between Osweiler in a premier matchup and Flacco with assured passing volume is a difficult call for those streaming this week. The PlayerProfiler Weekly Player Rankings agree and project similar fantasy output from the two.
Wide Receiver
Last week there was a plethora of low-owned wide receivers to consider and many of those names remain in play this week:
Malcolm Mitchell (49% Y!, 47% ESPN)
Will Fuller (42% Y!, 43% ESPN)
Taylor Gabriel (37% Y!, 37% ESPN)
Pierre Garcon (35% Y!, 44% ESPN)
Anquan Boldin (34% Y!, 36% ESPN)
Cameron Meredith (35% Y!, 27% ESPN)
Dontrelle Inman (23% Y!, 26% ESPN)
Among the holdovers, Will Fuller and Malcolm Mitchell should be long gone in competitive leagues. But the play that really stands out here is Taylor Gabriel. Atlanta’s explosive gadget receiver could be the team’s top target this week against the Rams. Mohamed Sanu (groin) has been ruled out. Julio Jones (turf toe) has occasionally served as a decoy when injuries have hampered him in the past. Add and start Gabriel, then get him in your DFS lineups.
Here’s a new batch of wide receivers also worthy of a plug and play:
Corey Coleman (Y! 45%, ESPN 40%)… Heading into an interesting boom-or-bust snow game with fellow Baylor alum Robert Griffin III making his first start since Week 1.
Corey Coleman Advanced Stats & Metrics Profile
Brandon LaFell (Y! 32%, ESPN 25%)… Targets over the last three games: 9, 9, 7. Coming off a season-high 95 receiving yards last week. Monitor the weather due to the possible snow and fog in Cleveland.
Ted Ginn (Y! 27%, ESPN 21%)… Ginn has scored in three straight games while Kelvin Benjamin continues to fade away. Ginn trails Benjamin by only nine receptions despite seeing 28 fewer targets.
Breshad Perriman (Y! 2%, ESPN 2%)… The Monday night desperation special. Perriman hasn’t seen more than four targets in a game since Week 7, but has caught a touchdown on three of his last last six receptions.
Breshad Perriman Advanced Stats & Metrics Profile
Robby Anderson (Y! 1%, ESPN 1%)… After Ryan Fitzpatrick was benched against the Colts, Bryce Petty peppered Anderson with a dozen targets. Only four were reeled in, resulting in 61 yards and a touchdown. Facing San Francisco, Anderson makes for a dirt cheap tournament punt in DFS.
Running Back
After vulturing two touchdowns away from LeSean McCoy last week in Oakland, Bills offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn confirmed that Mike Gillislee is an option that he’s looking to use in the red zone. Over his last four games, Gillislee has carried the ball at least eight times while reaching double-digit touches on three occasions. As a team, the Bills rank first in rushing yards and second in rushing attempts. Gillislee is among the top stashes as the fantasy season winds down.
Mike Gillislee Advanced Stats & Metrics Profile
Other RB considerations for streaming/stashing: Wendell Smallwood, Chris Thompson, Rex Burkhead, and Zach Zenner.
Tight End
The waiver wire has produced quality streamers all year. Several of which that evolved into weekly plays: Cameron Brate, C.J. Fiedorowicz, and now Ladarius Green. If you missed out on all three the likes of Jermaine Gresham, Lance Kendricks, and Vance McDonald (and McDonald’s crisp new contract extension) are widely available.
