There are only four weeks left in the fantasy football regular season, and some leagues have devolved into real dogfights. If you need some help getting this week going, then I have some help for you! We have three players available in at least 50% of leagues at each position, with one player available at each position available in at least 90% of leagues (with a caveat, as you’ll see below).
QUARTERBACKS
Full Disclosure: I usually pick a player at each position in at least 90% of leagues. Unfortunately, given Brock Purdy’s return destroying Mac Jones, Dillon Gabriel, Cam Ward, and Jameis Winston taking on the excellent Baltimore, Houston & Green Bay defenses, respectively, the Jets (and potentially Tyrod Taylor) playing on TNF, and Tyler Shough’s bye, I can’t recommend anyone under 10% rostered. As penance, I am doing four streaming quarterbacks under 50% rostered that I feel good about this week. You could probably start Davis Mills at Tennessee, but ick.
Aaron Rodgers (40% rostered) versus Cincinnati
There are three constants in 2025: death (though don’t tell Silicon Valley billionaires), taxes (though also, don’t tell Silicon Valley billionaires), and streaming players against Cincinnati. On the quarterback front, they’ve allowed 19.24 or more Yahoo! Points to quarterbacks in six of nine games this season, and three straight, including to Aaron Rodgers back in week seven. You might remember that as the Unc Bowl I, where Flacco and Rodgers faced off on Thursday Night Football, with Rodgers finishing with 249 yards and four scores. Rodgers faced stiffer competition lately, taking on Green Bay, Indianapolis, and the Chargers, who all rank in the bottom ten in fantasy points allowed to quarterbacks. He averaged under 200 passing yards and managed four touchdowns and two picks in those games; he should get back to his top-12 production against a woeful Bengals pass defense.
Jacoby Brissett (21% rostered) versus San Francisco
Brissett is coming off a disastrous week, allowing the Seahawks to get two fumble-sixes off him in the first quarter and destroying any chance the Cardinals had of winning the game. He still finished with 258 passing yards, two touchdowns, and 31 rushing yards. He finished as QB10 last week despite the disastrous turnovers. As for the 49ers, they are suffering from a significant Dude Shortage, and their defense is collapsing, accordingly. They have given up multiple touchdowns to quarterbacks in five of their last six games, and have also yielded 20+ fantasy points to the position in three-straight games. Even if the 49ers win this one, it won’t be because they shut down Brissett.
UPDATE: I wrote this before Marvin Harrison Jr. was ruled out for the game with appendicitis. The 49ers previously held him to three catches for 44 yards this season, and they are weak to tight ends, so this doesn’t appreciably change my feelings on Brissett.
Tua Tagovailoa (20% rostered) versus Washington (Spain)
Start everyone against the Commanders. Even Tua Tagovailoa. The Commanders have given up 22+ fantasy points in four-straight weeks, and have given up at least 18.7 fantasy points to the position in eight of the last nine weeks. The only quarterback to not get at least 14.6 fantasy points against them was Russell Wilson, who is now the third-string quarterback in New York. Tua cratered against Baltimore two weeks ago, but still has six passing touchdowns in his last three games, and is averaging more than 210 passing yards per game in that span.
Marcus Mariota (16% rostered) at Miami (Spain)
The quarterback battle in España will be muy caliente (I’m Spanish; I can say these things —I even said España like “Ethpaña”). These two teams are pure defense-optional, so they’re going to convince some poor Iberian child that Marcus Mariota versus Tua Tagovailoa is the new Tom Brady versus Peyton Manning. Miami allows the eighth-most fantasy points to quarterbacks, and they do it through allowing a ton of production to tight ends (third-most fantasy points to the position). With Terry McLaurin and Luke McCaffrey injured, that leaves tight end Zach Ertz as their second passing game option, which is exactly what Mariota needs to thrive in this one. Mariota should score at least a couple of touchdowns, as he’s done that in three of four games started this season. On top of all the passing game goodness, Mariota also has at least 20 rushing yards in all four of his starts this season, giving him a nice floor.
WIDE RECEIVERS
Parker Washington (45% rostered) versus L.A. Chargers
Parker Washington has become the de facto WR1 for the Jaguars, available without Travis Hunter & Brian Thomas Jr. BTJ is back at practice this week, but his status for this weekend is up in the air. So, I am going back to Washington this week in a not-so-great matchup. This has more to do with his target volume and increase in snap share. There’s been a considerable change in his usage over the last three weeks, as Washington is averaging a route on 91.1% of Trevor Lawrence’s dropbacks. A few weeks ago, the rate sat at 43.1% route participation. His targets also vaulted all the way up to 8.7 targets per game, up from 4.2 targets per game in the first six weeks of the season.
Jayden Higgins (15% rostered)/Jaylin Noel (2% rostered) at Tennessee
I’m splitting these two guys up because one of them will do something this weekend against Tennessee (allowing the ninth-most fantasy points to wide receivers on the season), but who you play between them determines what you are looking for. Higgins is the ceiling play of the two, as he has a touchdown in his last two games with multiple targets, but only nine catches for 76 yards in those games. Noel is a floor play, as the Broncos blanked him (zero targets), but he has been averaging 58 yards on 4.3 catches in his last three non-Broncos games. He is the floor play of the two.
Tyler Lockett (2% rostered) versus Dallas
Pete Carroll seems hellbent on turning the Raiders into the Seahawks by time travel or magic, as he has his former quarterback, Geno Smith, throwing to his recently acquired former wide receiver, Tyler Lockett. Lockett has one complete game with the Raiders, against the worst pass defense to go against (the Broncos), and he finished with five catches for 44 yards. With the leaky Dallas Cowboys defense on the schedule (who allow the second-most fantasy points to wide receivers), Lockett is set up for a good game this week.
RUNNING BACKS
Emari Demercado (41% rostered) versus San Francisco
The aforementioned Dude Shortage in San Francisco, mostly due to tariffs that have driven ACL prices up exponentially, is why I like Demercado in this one. The 49ers aren’t getting obliterated by running backs, mainly because teams choose where and how they want to attack Robert Saleh’s unit lately. This doesn’t have as much to do with San Francisco as it does with Demercado, to be honest. In his last three games with multiple touches, he has 81 yards, 78 yards, and 104 yards. Everyone is trying to figure out who the lead back is in Arizona, while Demercado keeps hitting doubles.
Sean Tucker (17% rostered) at Buffalo
I am operating under the assumption that despite appearing at practice, we don’t see Bucky Irving on Sunday. That gives Sean Tucker a chance to show once again that he is a better runner than Rachaad White. Tucker is yet to get a full workload, but has 21 carries over the last two weeks, and has been getting increasingly involved, thanks to averaging nearly a full yard per carry more than Rachaad White in the previous four weeks. Over the last three weeks, the Bills have become one of the worst run defenses in the entire NFL, allowing the second-highest missed tackle rate on runs, the eleventh-highest yards per carry, the second-most rushing touchdowns, and the third-highest yards after contact per rush attempt in that span.
Chris Rodriguez Jr. (6% rostered) at Miami (Spain)
Jacory Croskey-Merritt has been mostly a mess lately, and Chris Rodriguez took over as the lead back last week, totaling sixteen yards on six carries, but most importantly, scoring a touchdown. The Commanders are allowing an incredible 5.31 yards per carry over the last three weeks, which ranks fifth in that span. They’re allowing the ninth-highest missed tackles and the seventh-most yards after contact per attempt in that span, as well.
TIGHT ENDS
Colston Loveland (46% rostered) at Minnesota
Colston Loveland didn’t follow up his huge game with another huge game last week, but he had a great floor game (four catches, 44 yards). Floor games make blow-up games possible because they give teams confidence in their players to go back to them. Loveland is taking on a Vikings team that has been getting gouged by tight ends lately, allowing touchdowns to the position in three-straight, and 77+ yards to a tight end in two of the last three. He should have a good game in a sneaky bozo potential matchup.
Harold Fannin Jr. (40% rostered) versus Baltimore
Fannin is nursing a hamstring injury, but is expected to play. I don’t understand this roster rate, to be honest. The Browns have given him at least seven targets in three of his last four games, and he has double-digit fantasy points in three of his last five games, with his floor in that span dropping down to only 7.6 PPR points. The Ravens are rounding into shape defensively, but are still susceptible to tight ends on defense, allowing at least 8 PPR points to five of six tight ends to get at least five targets against them. No TE has more than six targets, so their middle-of-the-pack ranking against the position likely stems from volume, not skill level.
Noah Fant (3% rostered) at Pittsburgh
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a top-five tight end matchup, and one that Fant has already exploited this season. If you recall the wild and woolly Unc Bowl I, Fant finished with the classic Blob Tight End line: four catches, 44 yards, and a touchdown.
