Fantasy Football Quarterback Streaming Week 1: Baker Mayfield Has a Chance To Start Off Strong

Sep 03, 2024

Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

You’ve drafted your fantasy football squad. You decided to pass on the likes of Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, and Jalen Hurts when selecting your squad. You even avoided the next tier of options like Lamar Jackson, C.J. Stroud, Anthony Richardson, and Kyler Murray. Some fantasy managers likely even passed on the likes of Dak Prescott, Joe Burrow, and Jordan Love.

For those who decided to load up at running back, wide receiver, and tight end, streaming quarterbacks is a viable strategy to help make up for missing out on the top names at the position. Playing the waiver wire and taking advantage of quarterbacks with favorable matchups can be key.

For streaming purposes, 4for4’s Schedule-Adjusted Fantasy Points Allowed (aFPA) is a metric we rely heavily on to determine weekly matchup strength. As the season progresses and more data is available, aFPA becomes more and more reliable, using rolling 10-week data. Targets and efficiency metrics are also considered when choosing weekly streamers.

To provide advice you can implement, candidates for streaming must be rostered in no more than 40% of Yahoo! fantasy leagues.

More Week 1 Streaming: TE | DST | K

Preseason Recap

Normally in this section, we’ll recap our picks from the previous week. Since we’re just starting the season, let’s highlight three quarterbacks who won quarterback battles on their teams and have now entered streamer status.

Despite a late push from rookie Drake Maye, Jacoby Brissett has been named the Week 1 starter for the Patriots. While his upside isn’t great, he is at least a capable veteran who should provide them with an upgrade over Mac Jones. Still, it would not be surprising to see Maye starting games under center at some point during the season.

The Broncos didn’t have a reliable veteran like Brissett in the fold, so they have decided to give their rookie, Bo Nix, the starting quarterback job right out of the gate. Backing him up will be Jarrett Stidham and Zach Wilson. Nix closed out his colligate career by throwing for 4,508 yards and 45 touchdowns last year.

The Steelers made significant changes at quarterback during the offseason, bringing in both Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. Wilson is the more proven commodity, while Fields is a younger option with upside. Fields can destroy teams with his rushing ability, but there are still plenty of question marks regarding his passing prowess. The Steelers have decided to give Wilson the first shot, naming him their Week 1 starter.