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. Luckily, this week is bye-less, but unluckily, 25% of the league has already played. 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 you deep league players.
QUARTERBACKS
Trevor Lawrence (49% rostered) at Tennessee
This one likely tips over 50% rostered before Sunday’s games, but I am making this list on Wednesday after waivers run, so Lawrence qualifies. To be clear, Trevor Lawrence hasn’t been good this year, and questions are mounting if he ever has, or ever will, be “good at football.” Maybe one more OC will do it? Lawrence has actually performed astonishingly well lately, given that he mostly flails around on the football field. In the four games since his bye, he has finished as a top-twelve quarterback three times, while taking on three bottom-ten matchups for quarterbacks.
This week, everything opens up for Lawrence as he gets the league’s slump busters, the Tennessee Titans, on the schedule. The Titans are the second-best quarterback matchup per my matchup model, and provide little to no resistance to any position.
C.J. Stroud (38% rostered) at Indianapolis
Stroud missed the last three games with a concussion and left the game before that early due to it, which likely tanked his roster rate as folks tried to shed him to make the bye weeks less painful. Well, he is back this week and is taking on the Colts. While Stroud started the year slowly, he was cooking in his four games before injury, averaging 256 passing yards, 2.3 touchdowns, and 0.5 picks per game, while rushing for 24 yards per contest. He finished top-12 in two of those games and top-15 in all four. This week, he gets a Colts team that is wildly inconsistent, but has struggled against mobile quarterbacks, with Bo Nix, Jacoby Brissett, and Justin Herbert all dropping 20+ fantasy points on them, thanks to their rushing.
Kirk Cousins (9% rostered) at New York Jets
Speaking of little resistance, the New York Jets! The Jets have just one takeaway this year (none in America), and the Falcons got a little Kirk Cousins play action going last week, with Kirk Cousins throwing nine passes off of play action, for 117 yards (13 yards per attempt) and a touchdown. His QB rating was a near-perfect 155.8 on those throws. The Jets are particularly susceptible to those throws, giving up the eighth-most yards per game on play action, and the most touchdowns in the league (13) on such throws. They are also allowing a league-high 137.3 passer rating on such throws. Even without Drake London, Kirk Cousins will thrive picking apart this defense.
RUNNING BACKS
Bhayshul Tuten (44% rostered) at Tennessee
Tuten didn’t come through for us last week, posting just seven carries for 17 yards coming off of an ankle injury he suffered at the end of his breakout game in week eleven. Despite Travis Etienne bouncing back lately, since week five, Tuten has a higher explosive run rate, a higher touchdown rate, and a higher success rate. He also boasts a higher missed tackles forced per rush attempt, as well as more yards after contact. The Titans are the third-best running back matchup of the week, which makes Tuten a great bet to break off a long one to make your week.
Chris Rodriguez Jr. (22% rostered) versus Denver
This isn’t so much about the matchup (in fact, he could likely have a not-great game against a top-ten running defense). This has more to do with the fact that Rodriguez is the RB1 in Washington, but everyone clutched onto their Jacorys Croskey-Merritts and the like, so they can’t see the switch. Rodriguez has at least 80 yards or a touchdown in three-straight games, and four of the five games since the Commanders’ bye. This is a great move to get ahead of the waiver wire, as the Broncos are the last difficult rush defense on Washington’s schedule.
Michael Carter (5% rostered) at Tampa Bay
Emari Demercado and Trey Benson both will not play on Sunday for the Cardinals, and Bam Knight has been limited in practice all week after leaving last week with an injury. So, we turn to the last healthy guy available in this Arizona running game, as they get the fourth-best running back matchup this week per my matchup model. Knight was the lead back last week, but Carter finished as the more efficient of the two. With Knight banged up this week, the Cardinals will likely lean more on Carter and give him a chance to build on his efficiency from last week.
WIDE RECEIVERS
Jayden Higgins (33% rostered) at Indianapolis
Jayden Higgins is quietly becoming a target monster for the Texans, as he has had the same quarterback start and finish a game four times in Houston’s last five contests. In those four games, Higgins is averaging 7.75 targets, 4.25 receptions, and 42.25 yards per game. But he’s also scored three touchdowns in those four games, and he has finished as a top-36 quarterback in all four contests. The Colts are a beatable defense, and they have given up the eighth-most fantasy points to wide receivers on the season.
Chimere Dike (20% rostered) versus Jacksonville
Dike is one of the most explosive young players in the NFL, as evidenced by the fact that he leads the NFL in all-purpose yards. Granted, a ton of that is from his usage as a return man, but he is also starting to click with fellow rookie Cam Ward in the passing game. Last week saw an uptick in Dike’s usage, as he finished with seven targets, five catches, 44 yards, and a score. It was his third game in the last four that he topped 90% route participation, after not crossing 61% all year. The Jaguars are a league-average matchup, but one that Dike will take advantage of moving forward.
John Metchie (9% rostered) versus Atlanta
Metchie, like Dike, has thrived lately; after running just 14 routes through week 10, he has 24 routes (83% participation) and 31 routes (100% participation) in the last two games. This has allowed Metchie to become a fantasy viable asset, finishing inside the top-eighteen at wide receiver in each of the previous two weeks. The Falcons are a tough test for Tyrod Taylor, but wide receivers have thrived against them, as they represent the eighth-best matchup of the week for the position.
TIGHT ENDS
Dalton Schultz (46% rostered) at Indianapolis
Before last week’s debacle against Buffalo (one catch for eight yards on four targets, Schultz finished top-eight at tight end in three-straight games, notching 28 targets across those three contests, and catching an average of six catches for sixty yards per game in those contests. Schultz should shake off last week’s dud match with a strong contest against the Colts, who have seen only two tight ends get more than six targets against them, with both finishing with 100+ yards and a touchdown.
Brenton Strange (29% rostered) at Tennessee
Flashback to week four, and Brenton Strange was one of the better streaming tight end options in the league. He had three top-sixteen finishes in the first four weeks, but an injury took all of that from us. He had at least five targets in three straight before his injury, and he returned to get five targets last week, which he turned into 93 yards and a TE4 finish on the week. The Titans are the eighth-worst matchup on the season in total fantasy points, but my per-target model makes them the ninth-best matchup this week.
Colby Parkinson (2% rostered) at Carolina
The Rams are spending way too much time in 13 personnel, which means a lot of snaps for their tight ends. For some reason, they are giving a ton of touchdown opportunities to Colby Parkinson. Parkinson has the ideal streaming tight end line (4/41) in two of his last three games, and he has a touchdown in three-straight.
