The best under-the-radar fantasy QB options for Week 3

Recapping the quarterback streaming options featured in Week 2, let’s just say I failed to duplicate the positive results from Week 1’s piece. Then again, guys like Drew Brees, Eli Manning, Andrew Luck, Russell Wilson, Matthew Stafford and Marcus Mariota all failed to crack the top-20 fantasy QBs.

In any case, the goal in this space is to uncover the top fantasy options who are either widely available, on your bench, or are priced cheaply in daily formats. Bye weeks and injuries will play a bigger role as the season progresses, so we’ll keep pressing on for those QB streaming gems.

Notes: While I didn’t account for the steady downpour in Pittsburgh (in my defense, Mondays are a tad early in the week to count on weather reports), Andy Dalton still managed to post one of the week’s highest yardage totals. He just didn’t get the touchdowns to help his fantasy day… After tossing four TDs in the opener, Jameis Winston was pretty dreadful with three interceptions, as he and Mike Evans connected on only 6-of-17 targets… If you caught the Monday night game, you saw a pretty impressive display from rookie Carson Wentz in his first road start in primetime. You also saw him victimized by yet another Jordan Matthews drop on a would-be long touchdown, plus a couple more costly drops by Nelson Agholor; one on a deep bomb and another on a red-zone fade that bounced right off his hands.

Philip Rivers did post a top-three fantasy week as an honorable mention, although I can’t say I envisioned such an elite performance minus Keenan Allen. Moving on, let’s look at the top options for QB streaming in Week 3, along with ownership and start percentages from ESPN leagues and Week 3 FanDuel salary.

Week 3

Joe Flacco (BAL @ JAX) — 26 percent owned/14 percent started/$7,600

Flacco’s fantasy numbers to this point might look rather pedestrian, but he is completing two out of every three passes with an average depth of target (10.2 yards) that ranks fourth among 29 qualifiers. The catalyst has been new addition Mike Wallace, who has not just been a deep threat but a go-to option, with three touchdowns through two weeks.

After falling behind early at Cleveland on Sunday, Flacco led the Ravens to 25 unanswered points to pick up the improbable victory. The offensive line gave him plenty of time to operate, particularly tackle Ricky Wagner, who did not allow a single pressure in 48 pass-blocking snaps. This week, Flacco faces a Jacksonville defense that currently grades out in the bottom-third of both our pass-rush and pass-coverage grades after giving up four passing scores on Sunday. We still haven’t even seen much from the likes of Kamar Aiken, Breshad Perriman or Steve Smith.