The NFL dealt us some more body blows in recent weeks, with injuries to key players at every fantasy football-relevant position, leaving us with roster holes everywhere. Never fear, we have players available in at least 50% of leagues at each position to stream this week, with one player available in at least 90% of leagues at each position for deep league players.
QUARTERBACKS
Jacoby Brissett (48% rostered) versus Jacksonville
At least for now, Jacoby Brissett qualifies for this article. By the time you read this (or heck, by the time I’m done writing this), he might tick over the 50% threshold. But, as for now, he qualifies for the list. Brissett threw for 452 yards and set the NFL completions record last week against the 49ers, and is up to five starts with multiple touchdowns in all five starts, and 250+ passing yards in all five. The Cardinals have him throwing the ball as much as humanly possible, averaging 42.4 pass attempts per game (721 pass attempts over 17 games). The Jags are a disaster on defense (last week excepted), allowing the fifth-most fantasy points to quarterbacks, and 11 passing touchdowns in the three games before last week.
Bryce Young (18% rostered) at San Francisco
Bryce Young passed for 448 passing yards last week, and the 49ers allowed 452 passing yards last week. So, I’m setting 450 yards as his floor (not really). The Niners are getting rinsed through the air ever since they ran out of defensive linemen to generate a pass rush. They’ve given up multiple touchdowns in four-straight games, and six of seven contests. They’re a sieve, and Young showed last week that he is more than capable of taking advantage of sieves. After back-to-back disappointing games in weeks nine and ten, he posted 448 passing yards and three scores on 45 pass attempts.
Tyler Shough (7% rostered) versus Atlanta
This is a weird week for deep-dive quarterbacks, as five (maybe six, if Aaron Rodgers doesn’t play) quarterbacks rostered in fewer than 10% of Yahoo! leagues will start this week. This was actually a tough choice, but I landed on Tyler Shough. It was more a process of elimination. I ruled out Jameis (can’t trust that psycho), Cam Ward (literally zero passing weapons), Kirk Cousins (apocalyptically terrible), Davis Mills (playing on Thursday Night Football), Shedeur Sanders (see Cousins, Kirk), and Tyrod Taylor (the Ravens are playing better than their middling ranking against quarterbacks would indicate). Shough played well enough in his last game, as he scored two touchdowns en route to the Saints taking down the Panthers before the bye. The Falcons will have no Michael Penix nor Drake London, which means a lot of short fields for Shough in this one. The Falcons are a plus matchup, as well, allowing multiple passing touchdowns in three of their last four games, and five of their previous seven.
RUNNING BACKS
Bhayshul Tuten (38% rostered) at Arizona
Tuten is dealing with an injury so that the Jaguars might limit his reps in week twelve; that makes this one a bit more dangerous than the other two. Tuten was the more dynamic back last week for the Jaguars before leaving with the injury, as mentioned above. He had his most productive game as a professional, notching fifteen carries for 74 yards and a touchdown against the Chargers’ defense. Despite leaving with the injury, it was the most prolific game of Tuten’s career, from a snap, snap percentage, and carry perspective. He is a more dynamic runner than Travis Etienne (who is averaging just 3.8 yards per carry over the last six weeks), and the Cardinals are a defensive sieve, especially against running backs, where they rank fifth in my weekly matchup model. This could be the continuance of a changing of the guard in Jacksonville.
Tyler Allgeier (44% rostered) at New Orleans
Allgeier touched the ball just five times last week, but a Kirk Cousins (without Drake London!) heavy game plan likely means that the Falcons lean on the running game in this one, which means a heavy dose of both Bijan Robinson and Allgeier. Allgeier quietly has four touchdowns in his last four games, and five in his previous six contests, making him a nice touchdown-or-bust upside play. The Saints allow the ninth-most running back touchdowns per game (0.8 TD per game), making Allgeier a good bet to bust a nice run in this one. They’re a good team to go against, ranking sixth in my running back weekly matchup model.
Blake Corum (10% rostered) versus Tampa Bay
The Rams desperately want to diversify their Kyren Williams usage, giving Blake Corum 12 touches per game over the last four games to keep Williams healthy. This game is likely to be a high-flying, up-and-down-the-field affair, as two of the NFC’s offense-first contenders duke it out in Los Angeles. The Buccaneers are first in my running backs matchup model, making them a good team to stream against if you’re in a desperate spot.
WIDE RECEIVERS
Kayshon Boutte (34% rostered) at Cincinnati
The Bengals are an abject disaster on defense, and while they make for a neutral matchup against wide receivers, that is mainly because they haven’t allowed many touchdowns to the position this year. Overall, they’re the seventh-best passing game to go up against on the season, and this one has all the makings of a shootout. That should benefit Boutte, who is boom-bust, but who flashes in games where Drake Maye throws the ball a ton. Boutte has four touchdowns in the last four games, despite getting only one target last week, and not scoring on said target.
Luther Burden III (9% rostered) versus Pittsburgh
I really dig Luther Burden this week. The Bears responded to Olamide Zacchaeus having the worst game a player has ever had on a football field in week ten by moving Burden up the pecking order in week eleven, getting him the third-most routes on the team as he took over the slot role in Chicago. Ben Johnson even said this week that, “you get what you earn,” remarking that Burden clawed his way up the wide receiver room ranks. The Steelers aren’t the best matchup on paper, but they are susceptible to defensive breakdowns and are banged up.
Greg Dortch (5% rostered) versus Jacksonville
It’s a simple syllogism in Greg Dortch’s career: if a member of the Cardinals’ passing game is injured, then Greg Dortch steps up and performs. Marvin Harrison Jr. will miss week twelve; therefore, Greg Dortch will step up and perform. He did the same last week, posting a six-catch, 66-yard, one touchdown effort against the 49ers. The Jaguars are right alongside the 49ers in my matchup model, making them essentially the same matchup this week.
TIGHT ENDS
Colston Loveland (44% rostered) versus Pittsburgh
The Steelers are a disaster against tight ends, ranking third in my tight end matchup model, and averaging the sixth-most fantasy points per game to the position on the season. Loveland is getting more involved lately, playing 75% of snaps or more in three of the last four games, and getting at least four targets in five-straight games. He’s a good floor player, at least, as the Bears try to get him more involved in their passing attack.
Mason Taylor (21% rostered) at Baltimore
There’s no world where the Ravens are a good tight end matchup; they’re 28th in my model, and they’re 24th in fantasy points allowed to tight ends. But this isn’t about a matchup; this is about opportunity. The Jets have nowhere else to go in the passing game. With Adonai Mitchell dropping the entire universe and Garrett Wilson on IR, the Jets will need to give Taylor more targets. He has 8-10 targets squarely in his wheelhouse, which makes him a great streaming matchup, especially since his drop in production from his Blob Tight End 4.6 5 catches for 36 yards from weeks three through eight seems entirely to be Justin Fields-induced. He hasn’t stopped running routes and boasts the second-highest route participation rate on the season among tight ends. Taylor (Tyrod) entering the lineup could mean great things for Taylor (Mason).
Brock Wright (1% rostered) versus N.Y. Giants
Sam LaPorta is on IR, and Brock Wright immediately stepped into a high-volume role last week for the Lions. He had seven targets and ran 25 routes, which represent an 18.9% and 64.1% share, respectively. Those are both perfectly cromulent numbers, and while Wright ran fewer routes, his target share was right in line with LaPorta’s season-long target share (18.6%). The Giants are a slightly-above-average matchup, but Wright quietly had startable volume last week and will be in a beatable matchup this week.
