*Week 4 byes: Arizona, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Denver, Seattle, St. Louis
With six teams on a bye our streaming options at the QB2 slot for the week have been diminished, but there are still a few decent options we can look to. Before we head into the streaming options for a week let’s quickly recap last week…
Ryan Tannehill – 13.10 fantasy points (QB22), Geno Smith – 14.64 fantasy points (QB21), and Austin Davis – 20.98 fantasy points (QB6) were my QB2 streaming recommendations last week.
Tannehill was primed for a good outing vs. Kansas City, but wound up not living up to our expectations. Geno Smith’s 316 passing yards was great, but his two interceptions were not. Austin Davis, the iffiest of the three streaming recommendations, wound up outperforming any expectations we had, finishing as the sixth-highest scoring fantasy quarterback for the week.
When it comes to streaming the QB2 position you want to shoot for the moon. Getting QB2 production from your QB2 is fine, but when your QB2 finishes the week as a fantasy QB1 there’s a good chance you might have won your week. We hope that our QB2s can perform like Austin Davis did in Week 3, but that’s not always the case.
Onto this week’s QB2 streaming recommendations…
Week 4 QB2 Streaming Circle of Trust
Eli Manning @ Washington
I’ve tried my best to avoid recommending fantasy quarterbacks playing on Thursday Nights so far this year, but this matchup provides a streaming opportunity that might be too good to pass up. Of course, when we say that, the opposite happens, and we just wish we had stayed away in the first place.
Kirk Cousins will be getting a lot of streaming love this week, and rightfully so after throwing 677 passing yards and 5 TDs (only 1 INT) his last two games. I have Cousins ranked at QB12 for the week so I wouldn’t fault you for wanting to start him.
But for this matchup I want to focus on Eli Manning. Discounting Week 1, Manning has been the QB13 in standard scoring leagues the last two weeks. He’s thrown for 511 yards, 4 TDs, and 2 INTs, and has done so in a precise manner, compiling a 72 completion percentage during that span.
Washington has been much better at stopping the run than the pass this year, allowing the second-fewest fantasy points per game to opposing running backs. Running backs facing Washington this year have only ran for 51.7 yards/game (second only to the New York Jets). Their defense is middle of the road vs. the quarterback position, but recently lost CB DeAngelo Hall for the rest of the season.
Ryan Fitzpatrick was able able to throw for 206 yards and a 1 TD vs. Washington in Week 1, the recently demoted Chad Henne put up 193 passing yards and 1 TD (1 INT too), and Nick Foles shredded the Washington secondary for 325 yards and 3 TDs (zero INTs) last week.
The matchup is prime, and hopefully Eli can take advantage of it.
Teddy Bridgewater vs. Atlanta
It might seem odd to see Teddy Bridgewater’s name here. The Atlanta Falcons are giving up the ninth-fewest fantasy point per game to opposing quarterbacks this year, and Bridgewater is making his first ever NFL start this week. He’s also doing so without the services of Adrian Peterson and Kyle Rudolph.
Ignoring the Atlanta-Tampa Bay game from last week, where Mike Glennon had to come in for a banged up Josh McCown, we find a Falcons defense that can be thrown on. Drew Brees passed for 333 yards and 1 TD in Week 1, while Andy Dalton was able to throw for 252 yards and 1 TD in Week 2. The Falcons only have 1 INT on the year.
The small amount of playing time Bridgewater had in Week 3 showed glimpses of promise, as he threw for 150 yards and completed 60 percent of his passes. He also had six rushing attempts for 27 yards. Glennon ran for 19 yards last week against Atlanta.
Trusting a rookie in his first start isn’t easy, but Bridgewater comes into a situation versus a pass defense that isn’t all that intimidating, and in a game where the Vikings might have to play catch up vs. Atlanta’s offense. It’s potential recipe for QB2 streaming success.
Ben Roethlisberger vs. Tampa Bay
Ben Roethlisberger has gotten off to a slow start this year, as he’s only QB20 in standard scoring fantasy leagues. The Steelers signal caller put up a respectable 17.4 fantasy points in Week 1 vs. Cleveland, and was able to score 15.94 points vs. Carolina last week. His 6.68 fantasy points in Week 2 vs. Baltimore is what has dragged down his cumulative season totals.
A Week 4 showdown vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers should see Big Ben continue with a second straight week of double digit fantasy production.
The Bucs, who are coming off a 56-14 shellacking at the hands of the Atlanta Falcons, have had two bad showings vs. opposing fantasy quarterbacks this year.
Subtract Austin Davis’ Week 2 stat line of 235 passing yards/0 TDs/0 INTs, and the Bucs have given up an average of 258 passing yards and 2.5 passing TDs in their other two other games. They also have not intercepted a single pass this year.
Two games is a small sample size, but we’re still in the early part of the 2014 season. Small sample sizes is all we have.
*Stats used in this article from FantasyData, Yahoo, ESPN, and PFF
