As bye weeks and quarterback injuries pile up, fantasy football owners can be left scrambling. With Andy Dalton, Tom Brady, Carson Palmer, and Kirk Cousins all down for the count, as well as Jay Cutler and Brock Osweiler, we are left with almost a fourth of the league being out, and some viable streaming options. However, there are still good matchups out there to exploit this weekend if you need to stream a quarterback. Here are three sleeper quarterbacks (owned in 50% of leagues or fewer for two, and in fewer than 10% for the third, for you deep divers). All figures are based on Yahoo! ownership percentages as of Saturday.
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Ryan Tannehill versus New York Jets (38% owned)
Tannehill isn’t the greatest of quarterbacks, but his deep ball accuracy has greatly improved under head coach Adam Gase, and he has seen an increase in big plays recently because of it. I’ve made it a hobby of picking on the Jets and their predilections for giving up big plays. Last week Josh McCown hung 341 and 2 on these Jets, and Tannehill is much better than McCown. And for big plays, McCown had six passes of over 20 yards. Tannehill could do that and chip in a couple scores. The only worry is if Jay Ajayi goes for 200+ yards again and steals all the production.
Colin Kaepernick versus New Orleans (16% owned)
Everyone in the fantasy football community is waiting for Kaepernick to break out and drop 30 points on someone under Chip Kelly’s offense. The Niners had a bye week to re-evaluate their strategy with Kaepernick and to figure out the Saints’ weaknesses. Kaepernick’s running ability means in fantasy football he can overcome his limited passing ability (don’t forget, a 10-yard rush is one point, same as 25 yards passing). The Saints give up the tenth-most fantasy points to quarterbacks, and yielded at least 300 yards passing or two scores to every quarterback this season except a hobbled Russell Wilson last weekend. If Kaepernick doesn’t blow up against the Saints, it’s probably time to give up on him as a streamer candidate.
Case Keenum versus Carolina (5% owned)
This may be Keenum’s last ride as the Rams’ quarterback. Jared Goff looms on the horizon, but a great matchup against the Panthers secondary also looms. Keenum isn’t a great quarterback by any means, and he’s coming off a 4-interception game against the stingy Giants defense. He was able to carve up the questionable Lions’ secondary, and if the Los Angeles offensive line can keep him upright, he should be able to carve up the Panthers, who have given up the most fantasy points to wide receivers on the year. He’s not a great option, but if you’re diving this deep, you may be desperate enough to roll the dice.