Streaming Quarterbacks: Week 8 Fantasy Football Targets

Oct 24, 2017

Steve Andress

It was another satisfactory week for those incorporating a QB streaming strategy into their pursuit of a fantasy championship, especially if you took the options suggested in this column last week.

Tyrod Taylor - 20 points (QB7)
Jared Goff - 18.7 points (QB9)
Blake Bortles - 16.3 points (QB13)

These don’t even include a fourth streaming option that finished top-five last week, that we are pulling the trigger on in Week 8 for the first time this year.

In the words of the great Larry David, that’s pretty, prettttttty, pretty good. But no time for a stop and chat and no time to try to elevate small talk to medium talk. We don’t just think of nice things, we act on them.

Our streaming picks have done well for teams this season. The average points scored so far for our top streaming option is 24.1 fantasy points per game. That’s better than Dak Prescott, the current QB1, who is averaging 23.0 FP/G. The average of all of our streaming picks this season is equivalent to QB12.

Our standard for this exercise will always be to select only quarterbacks owned in fewer than 40 percent of Yahoo! leagues. We will use that standard as not to be accused of stretching the definition of “streamer” (plus, we like a challenge). It will also allow for similar potential on other sites.

We’ll focus on factors such as QB points per game, the opponent’s schedule-adjusted fantasy points allowed to quarterbacks (aFPA), and the Vegas implied team totals.

Remember! It’s a big bye week, with six teams on a bye, so be proactive in getting your QB streamer. Don’t assume he won’t be claimed on waivers. Here are your QB streaming candidates for Week 8, a tougher week than usual to find candidates:

Note: Andy Dalton is 55% owned on Yahoo! and does not qualify by our QB streamer standards; however, if available, he would be the first choice in Week 8, against the miserable Colts defense.

Josh McCown (NYJ) vs. ATL

Josh McCown has averaged 22.4 points over his past two games against the Patriots and Dolphins. This shocked me, but he is the #1 QB in fantasy football in that short span. He’s ballin’. Now, he faces a Falcons defense that is outside the top-20 in our aFPA vs. QB rankings and allowing 15 fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks, a stat could be higher if Atlanta didn’t get to face miserable Mike Glennon and Jay Cutler. This game also has the third-highest over/under in Vegas for Week 8.

McCown is owned in 12% of Yahoo! leagues.