Byes: New Orleans (Drew Brees), Kansas City (Alex Smith)
Last week I joked around that since all three Week 4 QB2 streaming options yielded such a high return on investment that the QB2 streamers for Week 5 would all put up dud performances. My prognostication skills were close.
Here’s a quick Week 5 QB2 Streaming Recommendations recap:
*Drew Stanton had to leave the game vs. the Denver Broncos because of a concussion and finished the week as the QB30.
*Eli Manning‘s final numbers were respectable: 200 passing yards and two touchdowns, but his 15.70 standard fantasy points saw him finish the week as QB16. However, the difference between Eli and QB12 (Andy Dalton) was only 2.06 fantasy points.
*Our final Week 5 QB2 streamer salvaged the day though, as Austin Davis was fantasy’s QB3 in Week 5. The Rams signal caller ended his day passing for 375 yards and three touchdowns vs. Philadelphia. He also tacked on 30 rushing yards. Only Russell Wilson (34.24 fantasy points) and Peyton Manning (30.96 fantasy points) scored more than Davis’ 26 fantasy points in Week 5.
With our Week 5 recap out of the way let’s take a look at some QB2 streamers for Week 6…
Week 6 QB2 Streaming Circle of Trust
Eli Manning @ Philadelphia
It might seem boring to list Eli here every week as a potential QB2 streaming option, but with his recent play and the favorable matchups it’s hard not to.
Eli’s been playing more like a Top-12 fantasy signal caller since Week 2, rather than one that was being written off after the first week.
From Week 2 to Week 5, Eli is the fifth-highest scoring fantasy quarterback. During that span he’s completed 71 percent of his passes for 1,011 yards, 10 touchdowns, and five interceptions.
With a matchup vs. the Philadelphia Eagles on deck in Week 6, Eli looks to continue the hot start to his season. The Eagles are allowing the second-most fantasy points/game to opposing quarterbacks (22.68), and during the past three games have allowed a combined 1,020 passing yards and 8 touchdowns to Kirk Cousins, Colin Kaepernick, and Austin Davis. They have forced only three interceptions on the year.
One other factor to consider this week in Eli and the Giants’ favor is game flow:
Third straight week an #Eagles opponent ran 76 snaps. All five opponents have run at least 71 plays. #volume
— Pat Thorman (@Pat_Thorman) October 5, 2014
The more plays the Giants run, the more chances Eli will have to put up fantasy points.
Joe Flacco @ Tampa Bay
Minus Week 2, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense has allowed opposing fantasy quarterbacks to score at least 18 fantasy points against them. The average fantasy points allowed/game minus Week 4 is 20.99.
Tampa Bay’s defense has also allowed two back-to-back 300+ passing yards and multiple touchdown performances the last two weeks to Ben Roethlisberger and Drew Brees. Matt Ryan would have made it three straight, but he fell 14 passing yards shy of hitting the 300 passing yards mark.
It’s Joe Flacco’s turn to face Tampa Bay this week, and once already this year Flacco has put up Top-10 fantasy points at the position, when he was QB6 in Week 4. He also has two other Top-15 fantasy quarterback scoring finishes this season.
The rotoViz Game Level Similarity Projections App paints a pretty picture, as it has Flacco projected for a median of 14.7 fantasy points in standard scoring leagues and 18.2 fantasy points in leagues that award 6 points/passing touchdown.
Brian Hoyer vs. Pittsburgh
Brian Hoyer is coming off his best fantasy performance yet in Week 5, where he threw for 292 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception vs. the Tennessee Titans. He finished with 21.88 fantasy points, which was good enough for QB4 on the week.
In Week 6, Hoyer faces a Steelers defense that already saw Hoyer throw for 230 yards and one touchdown against them in Week 1. But the Steelers have been banged up on defense recently, and will be without the services of LB Ryan Shazier and SS Shamarko Thomas. They most likely will be missing CB Ike Taylor as well.
Mike Glennon recently threw for 302 yards, two touchdowns, and one interceptions vs. Pittsburgh in Week 5. Other than Blake Bortles‘ zero touchdown performance last week, the Steelers allowed two passing touchdowns/game from Week 2 to Week 4.
*Stats in this article from Pro Football Focus, FantasyData, rotoViz, and Yahoo!