There are plenty wide receivers out there that even those available in more than 40% of fantasy football leagues might be available in your leagues. You should be seeking out whatever particular receiver has fallen through the crack in your league, but if you need to dive a little bit deeper, we are here to help. All streaming candidates in the All Stream Team articles are owned in fewer than 40% of Yahoo! Leagues, with one player being owned in fewer than 10% (for you deep divers).
Victor Cruz versus New Orleans (35% owned)
Señor Salsa returns to MetLife for the first home game since October 2014. The Giants made zero effort to ease Cruz back into play, utilizing him on 88% of their offensive snaps last week against the Cowboys. He was tied for third on the team in targets with rookie Sterling Shepard with a paltry four targets. He turned that into a score. This week’s much more wide open game should see the Giants passing with a much greater frequency, meaning that four could easily double.
The Giants are going to zone in on Cruz in the red zone, trying to get him a score in his first home game in nearly two years. Given his playmaking ability, he may not even need the red zone to get a touchdown. Cruz’s 35% ownership is greatly below where it should be, given his ceiling. Now 23 months removed from his patellar tendon tear, he could potentially be fully back to being Victor Cruz, and roughly 1/3 of leagues think that potentially isn’t worth their time.
And let’s not forget what happened the last time New Orleans and the Giants went head to head…
Eli Rogers vs. Cincinnati, 24%
In an exercise for Victor Cruz in how much targets can open up when a wide open game script demands it, Eli Rogers was also tied for third with Jesse James last week with seven.
That may not continue this week as the Steelers and Bengals tend to have a more drag-it-out game than most when they meet. Still, he was a slot machine last week, doubly so in PPR leagues. His 6/59/1 line would have been streamers’ gold last week and given his role as a Ben Roethlisberger release valve; he should see somewhere in the 5-7 target range. If he gets that many targets in an offense of the Steelers’ quality, he should hit pay dirt for your fantasy football squad.
Deep Dive
Cole Beasley @ Washington, 9%
If I told you that the guy who was tied for fourth in targets week one was available on the waiver wire? And those targets came from a rookie QB who will continue to lean on him? And that he was taking on a team that gave up 6/59/1 to a rookie slot receiver in his first game? And that he’s available in nine-of-ten Y! Leagues?
Then you would have Cole Beasley. Beasley is a desperation play, but if you’re this deep, you’re desperate. With Beasley, you’re banking on week one’s targets, not his underlying talent, continue. You’re also hoping that you can manage at least 50 and a score like Washington’s week one tight end was able to pull off.