The two-part Byepocalypse, wherein twelve teams are on bye within two weeks, is upon us. After this, it should be much smoother sailing for us fantasy football owners. For right now, we have to work with what we have, and what we have is a week with many top wide receiver options unavailable, including A.J. Green, Alshon Jeffery, DeAndre Hopkins and all the Arizona guys. However, there are still good matchups out there to exploit this weekend if you need to stream a wide receiver. Here are three sleeper wide receivers (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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Sammie Coates at Baltimore (42% owned)
Coates blew up a few games ago against the Jets, going for 139 and two scores on 11 targets. He also injured his hand in that game and has four yards on five targets since then. This week he should be getting fully healed, and the Steelers are getting Ben Roethlisberger back (maybe). The Steelers are also set to take on the Ravens and their third-worst defense against opposing wide receivers. They’ve let receivers routinely burn their questionable secondary, and with everyone focusing on Antonio Brown, expect Coates to get one or two behind the defense.
Tyreek Hill versus Jacksonville (12% owned)
The rookie Hill is a speedy downfield threat and a monster in the open field. That’s why the Chiefs have him as their return man. He hasn’t gotten a lot of burn this year as a viable option thanks to Alex Smith’s pop gun arm and the ball control offense that Andy Reid built around it. With Smith shelved this week with a not-a-concussion “head injury,” Nick Foles takes over. Foles isn’t a good quarterback, but in the right system, his big arm can produce good fantasy numbers. He popped up last week for 98 and a score, and he won’t exceed that, but don’t be surprised if the rookie builds on his breakout with Foles under center.
Kenny Stills versus New York Jets (9% owned)
In the quarterback streamers piece, I outlined how Ryan Tannehill should be able to take advantage of a secondary that gave up six big plays to Josh McCown of all people. With Stills as the primary deep threat in Miami, Tannehill will have that day by busting a couple deep ones to stills. It wouldn’t be surprising to have his line end with 2/75/1 on 5 targets, but if you’re starting Stills, all that matters are those 75 yards and a touchdown. Anyone who fears the Jets these days hasn’t been paying attention to the fact that Revis Island has become a popular tourist destination, and he’s taken the rest of the Jets secondary with him.