Don't underestimate the value of streaming in fantasy.
Streaming quarterbacks, kickers and defenses each week allows you to take advantage of the best available options. And if you missed out on a high-caliber tight end in drafts, you can even stream that position with some success.
Each week I highlight the best streaming options at all four of those positions. Here's how those recommendations would rank with each position through three weeks:
- Quarterback: QB6 (83.44 points)
- Tight End: TE15 (26.9 points)
- Kicker: K5 (42 points)
- Defense: DEF3 (44 points)
Now let's dig into my top fantasy streaming options at QB, tight end, kicker and defense for Week 5.
Note: All ownership data via Yahoo Fantasy and as of Monday.
Week 5 Fantasy Football Streaming Targets
QB: Jacoby Brissett
Matchup: at Chiefs
Ownership: 35%
Brissett has been surprisingly productive in the scoring department as he's thrown for multiple touchdowns in each of his four starts. A lot of this has to do with the variety of pass catching weapons the Colts have, along with their coaching.
He gets a matchup against the Chiefs, in which he'll be forced to throw a bit more, which raises his floor/ceiling. As of writing, it appears T.Y. Hilton is questionable.
If it looks like Hilton is more likely to play come Tuesday night, I would add Brissett.
If Hilton looks to be on the wrong side of questionable or announced out, I'd turn to Andy Dalton (only 36% owned) as your Week 5 streamer instead. He has a great matchup with the Cardinals and has the ability to put up useful numbers when we expect them most of the time.
TE: Tyler Eifert
Matchup: vs. Cardinals
Ownership: 15%
Piggy backing Dalton as a potential streamer at quarterback, Eifert makes as a purely matchup based tight end streamer this week.
We can never really bank on much yardage from Eifert at this point in his career as he is very much a touchdown or bust type of tight end. That’s essentially the life of a tight end streamer is chasing touchdowns.
I think Eifert has as good a chance as ever to score this week against a defense that has allowed six touchdowns to the position in four games.
Kicker: Randy Bullock
Matchup: vs. Cardinals
Ownership: 1%
The Bengals have the sixth-highest team total this week at 26.5. It's very much a matchup based boost all Bengals get for their dream matchup against the Cardinals this week. Bullock is available in 99% of leagues, so he'll be an easily accessible kicker to stream this week.
Don't be too turned off by his 71.4% field goal made percentage so far this year. That’s a stat that can easily be misinterpreted in small sample sizes and will regress towards Bullock’s mean of 82% make percentage.
Defense: Philadelphia Eagles
Matchup: vs. Jets
Ownership: 38%
I’ve been hearing frustration over some of the Week 4 defense streaming options I highlighted.
I think we need to take a step back and realize what defensive streaming is all about:
- It implies that we do not waste any draft capital by drafting a defense at the draft.
- It implies that we do not waste any bench space by having a long term defense we need to stash during a BYE or when they face a high scoring offense.
We're ultimately just taking advantage of the position is because of its extreme week-to-week variance. There will for sure be some "duds," but you would get that even if you drafted the top defense in the draft. Looking at the position overall, we have been able to stream the No. 2 overall defense so far.
Admittedly, Week 4 was a bit wide open as there were so many options and not one stood out too much above the rest. This week, however, the Eagles stand out a ton. It doesn’t matter whether Sam Darnold or not returns this week, you want to get the Eagles as your Week 5 defense rental.
