Week 14 is just around the corner, and that means the majority of our fantasy football leagues will be in the playoffs. Obviously, with our leagues now becoming do-or-die, the process of choosing the correct players to stream is incredibly important.
That is why I’ve compiled the best players to stream at the quarterback, tight end and defense/special teams positions in Week 14.
Quarterback
Philip Rivers, Indianapolis Colts – 40% rostered
The veteran QB has been an average-at-best player in fantasy football circles, registering a QB20 placement thus far with 193 fantasy points in 12 games. The main issue for Rivers is the inconsistency — he looks like a borderline QB1 in one week and a liability the next, but he’s been much more stable as of late.
In fact, since Week 6, Rivers actually ranks 13th among quarterbacks in scoring with 132.8 points. That’s one spot out of a QB1 role, and he did that in seven games — four of the quarterbacks who outscored him during this time frame played in eight games.
Week 14 pits Rivers on the road against the Las Vegas Raiders, and while they aren’t necessarily the best matchup, they aren’t a bad one, either. The Raiders have surrendered the fifth-most explosive plays passing (77) and the ninth-most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks this season.
Daniel Jones, New York Giants – 27% rostered
For a player who was taken in fantasy leagues as high as Jones, he’s been pretty disappointing. If we exclude the past two weeks (injury), the second-year quarterback ranks 23rd among quarterbacks in scoring with only 152.3 fantasy points, producing only nine total touchdowns.
Still, Jones is a decent option this week if he can suit up. He injured his hamstring in Week 13 and has been sidelined since, with the Giants turning to veteran Colt McCoy.
The Arizona Cardinals are a relatively tough matchup, but the quarterback position is not littered with many streaming options this week. Plus, Jared Goff just torched the Cardinals to the tune of 24.1 fantasy points, so they are certainly not a defense to all-out avoid at this point.
Sam Darnold, New York Jets – 8% rostered
As mentioned, the streaming options at the quarterback position for Week 14 aren’t great. That’s why Darnold made this list. The 2020 season has been a forgettable one for Jets fans and Darnold himself, though he is coming off his second-best performance of his season, totaling 20 fantasy points against the Raiders this past Sunday.
Darnold has only topped 12 fantasy points twice this season — last week and again all the way back in Week 4. It may seem like insanity streaming him in Week 14, particularly in the playoffs, and I agree that it's incredibly risky. But he does have a plus matchup in the Seattle Seahawks — they’ve ceded the most explosive plays passing (94) and the second-most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks this season.
While betting on the Jets offense may seem like fantasy football suicide, there aren’t many remaining options this week and Darnold does have one of the best matchups.
Sam Darnold on the QB keeper! #TakeFlight
????: #LVvsNYJ on CBS
????: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/nO8DOddpx2 pic.twitter.com/SWcXrQ1TDp— NFL (@NFL) December 6, 2020
Tight End
Tyler Higbee, Los Angeles Rams – 48% rostered
Like Jones, Higbee has not had a season worthy of his average draft position (ADP). Outside of a monstrous Week 2 when he totaled three touchdowns and 23.4 fantasy points, Hygz has only scored 62.2 total points — 18.2 fewer fantasy points than teammate Gerald Everett.
There are some positives for Higbee, though, as he is coming off his best game since that Week 2 contest with 8.4 points against the Cardinals in Week 13. Even with the massive elbow brace, Higbee looked capable of playing a full complement of snaps and will likely factor into the offense heavily in Week 14.
The New England Patriots are a brutal matchup for tight ends, and Goff has struggled against the pressure packages (Cover-0) the New England defense will deploy. With that being the case, expect him to get rid of the ball quickly as often as possible. The area that is most likely to be targeted in those scenarios is the tight end position.
Logan Thomas, Washington Football Team – 40% rostered
Unlike Higbee, Thomas has been one of the biggest surprises this season, especially at a weak tight end position that doesn’t have many consistent performers. Thomas is a clear-cut TE1 to date, ranking ninth among tight ends in scoring.
Regardless of who is at quarterback, Thomas has been a mainstay in the Washington offense, ranking eighth in red-zone targets (18) targets and 12th in end-zone targets (five) among tight ends this season, while sporting a 16% target share.
Thomas has a tough opponent on the schedule in the San Francisco 49ers in Week 14, but he just faced a top-three defense against tight ends in the Pittsburgh Steelers and put together a 24.8-point performance.
Did you know Logan Thomas was once a QB
— PFF (@PFF) December 8, 2020
Dalton Schultz, Dallas Cowboys – 20% rostered
While the aforementioned names don’t have good matchups but are on the list for different reasons, Schultz makes the list due to his opposition in the Cincinnati Bengals. In fact, the Bengals are so bad against opposing tight ends that they’ve allowed the most receiving yards (822), the third-most explosive passing plays (18) and the third-most fantasy points to the position.
Schultz has a pristine matchup in an important playoff week and could very well put together the most impressive performance of all the players at his position on this list.
Defense/Special Teams
San Francisco 49ers D/ST – 49% rostered
The 49ers' sub-50% roster rate is surprising. They’re currently tied for 14th in D/ST points and just added multiple key contributors back to the defense, specifically in their secondary.
Either way, they’ve got a great opportunity to produce a strong result in Week 14 against the Washington Football Team. Washington has allowed the fifth-most sacks this season and isn't exactly an offensive juggernaut.
Arizona Cardinals D/ST – 20% rostered
Even though the Cardinals haven’t been all that great at producing on the defensive side of the ball (21st in scoring), they have the luxury of playing against one of the worst offenses in football in the Giants in Week 14.
It won’t even matter who’s starting at quarterback for the G-Men, though it would be desirable to get another game of backup quarterback play. It shouldn’t matter much, though, as the Giants have scored the second-fewest offensive touchdowns (20) and are tied for having turned the ball over the seventh-most times this season.
Dallas Cowboys D/ST – 16% rostered
It was tough to select the last streamable defense because there are at least a handful of other potentially good options, but the 32nd-ranked Cowboys is the choice. Obviously, that is a brutal placement and typically not a defense you’d want to target, but their opponent in the Bengals are just that bad.
They’ve surrendered the second-most sacks this season and are now operating with a QB2/QB3 after the season-ending injury to Joe Burrow. The Cincinnati offense looks completely inept, and that should allow even a poor defense like the Cowboys look pretty good.
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