The best fantasy QB options to stream for Week 10

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - OCTOBER 16: Eli Manning #10 of the New York Giants throws a pass against the Baltimore Ravens during the first half of the game at MetLife Stadium on October 16, 2016 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

We’ve arrived to Week 10, and our look at streaming fantasy quarterbacks for the upcoming week of games.

After navigating a dozen byes over the last two weeks, we’re down to four byes this week and then the final four in Week 11. However, Week 10 will take the season’s top two fantasy quarterbacks out of play in Carson Wentz and Alex Smith, along with Derek Carr and Jameis Winston, who is out for at least two weeks with a shoulder injury. Most debilitating, however, is the season-ending knee injury to rookie Deshaun Watson, who entered Week 9 on a historic pace as the top-scoring fantasy QB.

As always, before we get into this week’s top QB streaming options, let’s look at how things played out for last week’s recommendations.

Week 9 Fantasy Points Fantasy Rank PFF Passing Grade
SHALLOW (8-10)

Matthew Stafford

 

Kirk Cousins

 

 

22

 

10

 

 

QB7

 

QB21

 

 

2nd

 

14th

STANDARD (10-12)

 

Derek Carr

 

Tyrod Taylor

 

 

15

 

29

 

 

QB18

 

QB1

 

 

1st

 

16th

DEEP/2QB (12+)

 

Jared Goff

 

Jacoby Brissett

 

 

28

 

22

 

 

QB2

 

QB7

 

 

5th

 

9th

Notes: Kirk Cousins was sacked six times, although he did complete 7-of-9 passes for 100 yards under pressure. Ultimately, his fantasy day was sabotaged by a couple of Rob Kelley touchdown plunges from 1 yard out… The fantasy output wasn’t quite there, but Derek Carr earned PFF’s top overall grade on Sunday (90.4) with a razor-sharp 82.1 adjusted completion percentage… Tyrod Taylor racked up some garbage-time production to become the weekend’s top fantasy QB, as two of his three TDs came in the final four minutes with the Bills trailing 34-7. The sooner Buffalo gets Kelvin Benjamin up to speed, the better things will be for Taylor… Jared Goff averaged a ridiculous 1.27 fantasy points per dropback, which was nearly 50 percent better than the next-closest QB (Carson Wentz) on Sunday… Jacoby Brissett was 3-of-6 for 86 yards and a score on passes beyond 10 yards, and he finished Sunday with an 82.1 adjusted completion rate against Houston.

Below are the most attractive options for QB streaming for Week 10 who are either widely available, on your bench, or priced cheap in daily formats. Each player is listed along with current ownership and start percentages from ESPN leagues as well as FanDuel salary rank.

Week 10

Shallow leagues

Matt Ryan (ATL vs. DAL) – 95.7% owned/53.8% started/No. 9 QB salary on FanDuel

Those who invested a mid-round pick in Ryan have likely moved on to other starting options. Perhaps you’ve even found a streamer or three in this weekly space. While he remains highly owned, Ryan was benched in nearly half of ESPN leagues this past week, only to turn in his best fantasy performance of the season with 313 yards and a pair of scores against Carolina (plus a third would-be touchdown that a wide-open Julio Jones was unable to haul in).

The Falcons return home after a three-game road trip, during which Ryan averaged 19 fantasy points and was the QB9 in that span. He’s also been accurate on 60 percent of his deep throws over the last two weeks, up from a league-worst 17.4 percent in his first six games. Las Vegas oddsmakers are expecting a shootout when Atlanta takes on Dallas, as the Falcons opened the week with an implied total of 27 points.

Matthew Stafford (DET vs. CLE) – 90.6%/53.9%/No. 6 salary

Cleveland has been one of the league’s more fantasy-friendly defenses to opposing QBs thanks largely to an ineffective pass rush that is graded dead-last by our analysts. Stafford has been pressured on 37.3 percent of his dropbacks (ninth-most-frequent pressure rate), whereas 11 of his 13 touchdowns this season were from a clean pocket.

Stafford had also increased his yardage total in three consecutive outings heading into Monday night, and then shredded the Packers by completing 26-of-33 passes for 361 yards and two scores. Green Bay dialed up blitzes on 21 dropbacks, and Stafford responded with 254 yards and a TD on 65-percent passing. What’s more, rookie Kenny Golladay has a chance to return from his hamstring injury this week. Golladay shined throughout camp and caught two TDs in the opener but has been sidelined since Week 3.

Standard leagues

Ben Roethlisberger (PIT @ IND) – 69.0%/(Bye)/No. 12 salary

The Steelers come out of their bye to face a Colts defense that owns PFF’s second-worst pass coverage grade on the season. Surely you’ve noticed the “@” symbol above denoting that this is, indeed, a road game, where Roethlisberger’s career QB rating is 10 points below his home mark. Acknowledging it’s a small sample size, this season the tables have flipped and he actually has a better passer rating as a visitor (88.1) than at Heinz Field (75.1).

While admittedly not a feel-good streaming option, the Steelers opened the week with an implied game total of 27 points. In six career regular-season games against the Colts, Roethlisberger has completed 70.3 percent of his passes while averaging 314 yards, three TDs and one INT. Along with having the bye week to get recharged, he also welcomes Martavis Bryant back to the lineup. Roethlisberger previously stated wanting to get the ball to Bryant more, as there have been opportunities on deep balls that were just missed.

Jared Goff (LAR vs. HOU) – 48.7%/26.5%/No. 7 salary

The Rams opened this week with a healthy implied total of 29 points against a reeling Houston squad. Ravaged by injuries, the Texans have allowed the fourth-most fantasy points to opposing QBs and own PFF’s third-worst pass coverage grade on the season. Three of the last four QBs they’ve faced have put up 20-plus fantasy points, with Cleveland being the lone exception.

Goff will look to build off a 311-yard, four-touchdown effort (on only 14 completions) against the Giants. Goff threw a perfectly placed deep ball to Sammy Watkins for a long score and ranks inside the top-10 this season in both deep-ball accuracy (42.4 percent) and QB rating on passes targeted 20-plus yards downfield (104.7). All in all, the Rams’ offensive turnaround really is quite remarkable when you consider they went from the lowest scoring team in the league a year ago (14.0) to the highest this season (32.9). Along with Todd Gurley, the former No. 1 overall pick has been a driving force.

Two-QB and deep leagues

Eli Manning (NYG @ SF) – 48.7%/26.5%/No. 21 salary

Giants coach Ben McAdoo said on Monday that the team could “look at” Geno Smith or Davis Webb under center at some point. His uneven play withstanding, that possibility alone makes Manning a risky streaming option this week. Still, there’s plenty to like about the Giants’ matchup this week. Only the Patriots and Giants have allowed more fantasy points per game to opposing QBs than the 49ers, owners of PFF’s worst pass-coverage grade on the season.

Even though he’s minus a few key weapons on the outside, Manning has tossed multiple TDs in four of his last six games, with Denver and Seattle the exceptions. A career-year in the red zone is behind that scoring success, and Manning has also grown more comfortable with the quick passing game, as his average time of 2.41 seconds to throw is the third-fastest this season. It’s not always pretty, but the 49ers are a team that Manning can pick apart in this fashion.

Josh McCown (NYJ @ TB) – 35.9%/20.8%/No. 14 salary

Tampa Bay owns our fourth-worst pass coverage grade this season and is yielding 19 fantasy points per game to opposing QBs. Enter McCown, who somewhat quietly is the No. 9 fantasy QB on the season. Despite a so-so cast of perimeter weapons, McCown has flourished in the deep passing game this season, ranking second in touchdowns (six), third in passer rating (117.6), and sixth in adjusted completion percentage (46.4).

On the other side of this matchup, Ryan Fitzpatrick carries some streaming appeal against his former squad, which has surrendered a league-high 19 passing scores and owns one of PFF’s lowest-graded pass rushes on the season. The Jets also just gave up Sunday’s top fantasy output to Tyrod Taylor, which came two weeks after Miami’s dreaded tandem of Jay Cutler and Matt Moore hung a combined 28 points on them.

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