Field of Streams: Week Nine

In this weekly series, we narrow the focus to just the current week and give you some streaming options for the upcoming games. The goal is to identify a player at each offensive position, as well as a team defense, who is owned in less than 30 percent of leagues and may be in line for a productive outing.

You can read more about this series here. We use MFL rates for the ownership percentages.

Let’s take a look at how things went for our top picks in Week 8, using standard PPR scoring. The weekly average through eight weeks is in parenthesis.

QB — Brian Hoyer, 17.3 points (19.9)

WR — Nate Washington, 17.4 points (14.0)

RB — Branden Oliver, 5.4 points (10.3)

TE — Jacob Tamme, 26.3 points (12.2)

K — Andrew Franks, 1.0 points (9.3)

D — New Orleans Saints, 1.0 points (4.6)

Well, there was some good and bad in Week 8. For the bad, after two shaky weeks, Eli Manning showed up against New Orleans and torched the Saints’ defense. Franks was done in by a woeful Miami performance, and Oliver wasn’t able to do much with his six targets. For the good, Tamme erupted for 10 catches, 103 yards and a touchdown. Washington continued seeing a good amount of volume and turned it into 74 yards and a score. Hoyer was serviceable, tossing for 235 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Here are the streaming picks for Week 9.

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Quarterback

Geno Smith, QB NYJ

(owned in 12.4 percent of leagues)

I’ll just get this out of the way now: I’m a Geno Smith truther. I don’t think he’s nearly as bad he’s made out to be. In emergency fill-in action in Week 8, Smith went 27-of-42 with 265 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Assuming Brandon Marshall (toe, ankle) plays, Smith has two legit weapons at wideout along with a good running game for a tasty Week 9 matchup against Jacksonville. Matt Cassel has been awful. There’s no way around it. However, the matchup is decent, and Dez Bryant has a full game under his belt. Kirk Cousins and the Redskins may get demolished at New England, but it could result in a ton of garbage time action. Then again, Ryan Tannehill didn’t do much with his garbage time against the Patriots in Week 8.

Honorable mention: Cassel (vs. PHI), Cousins (at NE).

Wide receiver

Justin Hunter, WR TEN

(18.28 percent)

Gambling on a big play, Justin Hunter is a shot in the dark this week. With Kendall Wright and Harry Douglas not expected to play, Marcus Mariota has to throw to someone on the outside. The Titans haven’t shown any real interest in giving Dorial Green-Beckham an expanded role, so Hunter should get a decent amount of snaps and targets this week against a bad Saints defense. Chris Hogan is a decent option since Sammy Watkins and Percy Harvin don’t play in Week 9 against the Dolphins. Miami ranks third against the run, which means the Bills will likely have to go to the air. A.J. Green usually struggles with Cleveland corner Joe Haden, who may not play because of a concussion, so Mohamed Sanu could see a couple extra passes thrown his way on Thursday. If Haden is out, leave Sanu on the wire.

Honorable mention: Hogan (vs. MIA), Sanu (vs. CIN).

Running back

Orleans Darkwa, RB NYG

(28.4 percent)

Darkwa was hobbled by a back issue in the Week 8, but he was operating as the Giants’ lead back when he was healthy. New York plays at Tampa Bay in Week 9. It’s hard to find a back slated for double-digit carries who fits under our 30-percent ownership barrier, but Darkwa should provide nice returns this week. After missing Washington’s last game, Chris Thompson is supposed to play this weekend. With a slaughter at New England on the docket, it’s not hard to picture Thompson, the team’s pass-game specialist, out-snapping Alfred Morris and Matt Jones. Mike Davis or Kendall Gaskins, whoever starts for the 49ers, is a good play. Carlos Hyde and Reggie Bush are out. It sounds like Davis’ hand injury may be serious, so Gaskins will likely be the lead back.

Honorable mention: Thompson (at NE), Gaskins (vs ATL).

Tight end

Jacob Tamme, TE ATL

(22 percent)

Tamme got the perfect storm in Week 8. Leonard Hankerson missed the game and the Falcons got down, leading to 12 targets, which were more than the 11 he had over the past two weeks. While I feel safe in saying Tamme won’t make 10 catches in Week 9, he still shapes up as a serviceable streamer once again, even though his ownership rate is likely to jump this week. The 49ers rank 31st against the pass. Matt Ryan and the offense should have a field day. Jared Cook is super boring, and it’s not exciting to put him in the lineup. With that said, he is averaging five targets per game at a thin position, although the Vikings have a solid defense. Heath Miller is owned in just over 50 percent of leagues, disqualifying him from being selected, but if Miller is available in your league, pick him up. He’s a top five play this week against an Oakland team allergic to covering tight ends.

Honorable mention: Cook (at MIN), Miller (vs OAK).

Kicker

Mike Nugent, K CIN

(15.2 percent)

Nugent and the Bengals have a great matchup with the Cleveland Browns. Cincinnati, after struggling to move the ball for most of its Week 8 game at Pittsburgh, should find much each sledding against the Browns on Thursday. Nugent is 10-for-13 on field-goal tries this season, including a 3-for-4 showing in week eight. He’s hit 22-of-23 extra-point attempts. Pittsburgh’s Chris Boswell is a perfect 8-for-8 on field goals this season since being signed by the Steelers. With Le’Veon Bell out, it could result in more Pittsburgh drives stalling out in the red zone. Caleb Sturgis and the Eagles get to play inside at Dallas in Week 9. Sturgis has 37 points over his last three games, including hitting a 50-yard try in Week 7.

Honorable mention: Boswell (vs IND), Sturgis (at DAL).

Team defense

San Diego Chargers

(3.6 percent)

The Chargers get a home tilt with the Chicago Bears on Monday night. While Jay Cutler hasn’t been too bad this season, he’s likely going to be without safety valve Matt Forte, who does so much for the Chicago offense. The Chargers don’t have a good defense, but they’re going to have a great chance to produce turnovers facing a Bears team leaning more on the pass. For fantasy purposes, turnovers are all that matter when it comes to defenses. The Bengals are just over the 30-percent mark at 33.7, but they get a Thursday home game against the Cleveland Browns. Josh McCown is expected to play, but if he was out, forcing Johnny Manziel to start, the Bengals would be a surefire top-five defense play this week.

Honorable mention: Vikings (vs. KC), Jaguars (vs HOU).

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