Field of Streams: Week 11

Austan Kas

streams

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 10, using standard PPR scoring. The weekly average through 10 weeks is in parenthesis.

QB — Matt Cassel, 6.64 points (17.79)

WR — Dwayne Harris, 20.2 points (14.29)

RB — James White, 2.1 points (8.68)

TE — Jared Cook, 5.5 points (11.57)

K — Connor Barth, 6.0 points (8.8)

D — Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 12 points (7.5)

Cassel laid an egg in an enticing matchup with Tampa Bay while White was unable to turn his increased snaps into many touches. Harris blew up for six catches, 82 yards and a touchdown. He now has an 18-point effort and a 20-point game over the past three weeks, sandwiched around a one-point outing. Cook had two grabs for 35 yards. Barth cashed in on a 52-yard field goal but also missed a kick. The Buccaneers turned three sacks and a pick into a solid day.

Here are the streaming picks for Week 11.

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Quarterback

Mark Sanchez, QB PHI

(owned in 11.4 percent of leagues)

With an unusually large amount of injuries at the quarterback position this season, it’s really cut into the streaming pool. I’ve struggled to find good plays recently as three of my five lowest-scoring weeks of the year have come in the past three weeks. In Brock Osweiler and Sanchez, we have a couple new options this week, both of whom get decent matchups. I’m going with Sanchez, because he’s less of an unknown. Philadelphia should be able to move the ball well this week against Tampa Bay. Sanchez came in and passed for 156 yards and a pick after Sam Bradford injured his non-throwing shoulder. Osweiler has an enticing matchup with Chicago’s poor pass defense, but I’m afraid to pull the trigger on him with so little to go off of in his limited action thus far in his career. If the game was in Denver, I may have went with him.

Honorable mention: Osweiler (at CHI).

Wide receiver

Jamison Crowder, WR WAS

(28.3 percent)

Crowder is likely (or should be) owned in more than 28 percent of dynasty leagues, so this may be an instance where using MFL ownership rates doesn’t mesh well with the dynasty format. Crowder is having a really nice rookie season, and he finished Week 10’s thrashing of New Orleans with 60 yards and a touchdown. Carolina boasts a nasty pass defense, but Crowder will avoid stud cornerback Josh Norman and could be a more focal point of the game plan with Norman eliminating either DeSean Jackson or Pierre Garcon. Dontrelle Inman has a nice matchup against Kansas City, and with Malcom Floyd (shoulder) likely sidelined, he’s in line for a big boost in volume. In the Chargers’ last game, Inman saw five targets after Floyd went down in the first half. I like his chances to have a productive outing against a Kansas City defense allowing the 10th-most points to opposing wideouts.

Honorable mention: Inman (vs. KC).

Running back

Dexter McCluster, RB WAS

(25.8 percent)

Antonio Andrews appears to have a firm grip on the early-down role in Tennessee, but McCluster has been a fairly consistent producer in his pass-game role. He’s seeing 8.6 touches per game over the last six games. He totaled 52 yards and a touchdown on seven touches (three of which were receptions) a week ago. The Jaguars have a decent defense, but they can be had through the air. They’re allowing the eighth-most points to opposing wideouts. Chris Thompson may have seen Matt Jones eliminate him from Washington’s third-down role, but he was still productive with limited touches in Week 10. This week’s matchup against Carolina isn’t great for the wideouts, meaning the Redskins may have to use their backs more than normal in the passing game.

Honorable mention: Thompson (at CAR).

Tight end

Scott Chandler, TE ATL

(11.3 percent)

With Dion Lewis and Julian Edelman both sidelined, Chandler is a sneaky option to replace some of that production. I don’t like him as a season-long pickup, since he’s basically been a short-yardage red-zone weapon all year, only seeing more than three targets in a game once. I really like him this week, though. Facing Buffalo’s stout run defense, New England didn’t even pretend to care about running the ball in their week two meeting earlier this season, letting Tom Brady chuck it 59 times. The one game Chandler saw more than three targets? You guessed it — against the Bills. I think they’ll take a similar approach this week, and Chandler may be able to capitalize. Cook isn’t a bad play again this week as the Rams take on the Ravens. Crockett Gillmore’s ownership number is inching back down towards 30 percent. If you need tight end production, pick him up. With Baltimore’s depleted weapons, Gillmore should be a good play the rest of the way.

Honorable mention: Cook (at BAL), Gillmore (vs. STL).

Kicker

Greg Zuerlein, K CIN

(27.4 percent)

Zuerlein and the Rams are on the road at Baltimore in Week 11. St. Louis doesn’t have a good offense, but the Rams should be able to move the ball decently well against a weaker Ravens’ defense. Much like the Dallas-Tampa Bay game last week, I see this being a low-scoring contest where the kicking game will be a premium. Zuerlein has hit six field goals over the past two games, including kicks from 53 yards and 61 yards. Dan Carpenter and the Dolphins have a home matchup with the Dallas Cowboys. Carpenter hasn’t missed a kick since week four, although he’s only made seven kicks in the last five weeks.

Honorable mention: Carpenter (vs DAL).

Team defense

Tennessee Titans

(7.6 percent)

It took a while, but I’ve finally picked some winners these past four weeks. After a painfully slow start, my defenses have averaged 10.2 points per game over the last four weeks. I’m going with the Titans for their Thursday matchup at Jacksonville. Tennessee has 12 sacks over the past three weeks, and sacks lead to turnovers. Blake Bortles, despite showing a lot of improvement this season, is still prone to turnovers. Bortles and the Jaguars have given up the second-most fantasy points to opposing defenses this season. I considered picking Atlanta for their home clash with Matt Hasselbeck and the Colts, but the Falcons couldn’t take advantage of a pristine matchup with Blaine Gabbert and the 49ers in their last game. Still, getting to face a backup quarterback in a home game makes the Falcons a solid play this week.

Honorable mention: Falcons (vs. IND).

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