The best fantasy QB options to stream for Week 4

Week 3 was another fruitful one for our fantasy quarterback streaming recommendations, with the exception of Jay Cutler who managed to lay an egg against the Jets. We’re now into our final week before scheduled bye weeks start to come into play. Matt Ryan, Drew Brees, Kirk Cousins, and Trevor Siemian are all idle in Week 5. Fantasy owners would be well served to start looking ahead at some available options in order to beat the waiver rush.

Before we get into Week 4, let’s unpack what we learned in the week that was.

*Through Sunday’s games

Notes: Eli Manning’s game plan was to beat Philadelphia’s pass-rush by getting the ball out of his hands quickly, and he led all quarterbacks by averaging a lightning-quick 1.84 seconds to throw. Manning’s 35 completions were the third-most in a regular season game of his career. … Deshaun Watson was 22-of-33 for 301 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions, with another 41 yards on the ground. The interceptions are something fantasy owners will have to live with from the rookie QB, but his rushing ability raises his floor. Watson acquitted himself well despite facing pressure on 41 percent of his dropbacks. … Jay Cutler went into Week 3 with a 137.2 passer rating on play-action, but “Bad Jay” showed up on Sunday and managed only a 51.6 rating on 10 play-action dropbacks. … Another rookie, Deshone Kizer (QB9), proved a worthwhile play in deeper leagues and 2QB formats.

Below are the most attractive options for QB streaming for Week 4 who are either widely available, on your bench, or priced cheaply in daily formats. Each player is listed along with current ownership and start percentages from ESPN leagues as well as FanDuel salary rank. Blake Bortles, for example, is priced too high on FanDuel to make the cut for this piece, but if available in your season-long league, he’s a fine streaming option against the Jets.

Week 4

Carson Palmer (ARI vs. SF) – 18.5% owned/4.3% started/No. 13 QB salary on FanDuel

Palmer entered Monday night’s game with the worst accuracy percentage (62.5) in the league, but he completed 12 of his first 13 passes for 135 yards and a TD against Dallas, not counting a second score that was called back for a holding penalty. However, Palmer cooled off a bit against a Cowboys pass-rush that wound up getting pressure on 42 percent of his dropbacks and sacked him six times. Arizona’s offensive line has allowed a league-high 60 pressures, and that’s a problem considering Palmer has only a 46.1 passer rating under duress so far this season.

But that’s also far below the level of play we’ve seen from Palmer in recent seasons, and it’s worth mentioning the Cardinals did start their season with back-to-back 1 p.m. ET kickoffs. If either he or the O-line improves against pressure, Palmer could be in for a big day against a 49ers defense that has PFF’s worst pass coverage grade after three weeks. He’s been the league’s third-most accurate QB on deep throws (52.4 percent) and trails only Tom Brady with three touchdowns of 20-plus air yards. Of course, a healthy John Brown would certainly help the downfield passing game.

Trevor Siemian (DEN vs. OAK) – 37.2%/12.6%/No. 13 QB salary

Siemian is coming off a lackluster week, but look for him to rebound at home against the division-rival Raiders, who have yielded the fourth-most fantasy points to opposing QBs. Heck, Josh McCown went on the road and posted a 114.2 passer rating against the Raiders as recently as Week 2, and Kirk Cousins had a 150.7 rating against them this past weekend.

When under pressure this past weekend, Siemian was a dismal 6-of-14 with two INTs and three sacks (for a 25.3 passer rating). However, that was against a Buffalo defense that is allowing just 9.6 fantasy PPG to opposing QBs. The Raiders got pressure on Kirk Cousins on only 25 percent of his dropbacks and have yet to intercept a pass this season. Keep in mind, the last time Siemian took the field at Mile High Stadium, he torched the Cowboys for four touchdowns and was fantasy’s No. 2 QB in Week 2.

Jared Goff (LAR @ DAL) – 7.3%/1.8%/No. 19 QB salary

The Cowboys will be coming off a short week, and this young secondary is only a couple of weeks removed from getting lit up by Siemian. If you caught the Monday night game between Dallas and Arizona, it looked like Palmer was headed for that sort of game early on until the Cowboys’ pass-rush started getting home.

We’ve seen Goff impress with time to operate in the pocket, although he’s also gotten the job done under duress. In Thursday night’s wild win over the 49ers, Goff racked up 139 yards (and a 104.2 passer rating) under pressure. Folks, Goff is legit. He owns the third-best passer rating (118.2) and is averaging a league-best 10.09 yards per attempt. He’s taken only three sacks and trails only Tom Brady in deep passing yards, with 304. In fact, Goff has completed 9-of-13 passes downfield, with his 69.2 accuracy percentage and 137.5 QB rating on deep throws both tops in the league. All told, he has averaged the fourth-most fantasy points per dropback (0.6) so far this season.

Two-QB and deep leagues

Deshone Kizer (CLE vs. CIN) – Kizer boasts a very rookie-like 28.6 passer rating under pressure this season, although he’s offered some encouraging signs. Kizer hasn’t had much luck throwing the ball downfield (37.7 QB rating), but only Tom Brady has taken more shots than Kizer’s 21. He has also developed a solid rapport near the goal line with rookie tight end David Njoku, who has caught a TD in two straight games (albeit one from Kevin Hogan). Las Vegas opened this one with a game total of only 40, hence the endorsement for Kizer as an option only in 2QB formats or deeper leagues.

Andy Dalton (CIN @ CLE) – Sticking with this divisional matchup, the Browns own PFF’s worst pass-rush grade and have yielded the fifth-most fantasy points to quarterbacks. Under new OC Bill Lazor, Dalton was 21-of-27 with a couple of TDs against the Packers, and he was accurate on all nine of his passes under pressure. However, he left some meat on the bone against a soft pass defense. Dalton has also completed only 3-of-11 deep throws so far this season. If rookie John Ross can get back healthy, it would help make up for the expected multi-week absence of Tyler Eifert.

Eli Manning (NYG @ TB) – I’m hesitant to go back to the well with a notoriously inconsistent performer like Manning, particularly on the road. However, the Buccaneers are PFF’s No. 29-graded pass coverage defense and have allowed the sixth-most fantasy points to opposing QBs. The offensive line will always be a concern, but Manning may have unlocked the cheat code to utilizing his many weapons with the quick-hitting passing game that he displayed against the Eagles this past week. If Manning doesn’t quite inspire confidence, Sam Bradford’s lingering knee injury looks like it may give Case Keenum another shot after a surprisingly dominant Week 3 performance.