


Fantasy Football
Need a fill-in fantasy QB?
To find a replacement, think outside the box
With six teams having a bye in Week 8, searching for a top-notch quarterback to stream is the equivalent of looking for a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. Good luck.
So why not live dangerously?
Ryan Fitzpatrick looked competent in relief of Geno Smith (torn ACL) on Sunday. The Jets and FitzMagic — can we still call him that? — now face the woeful Browns, a team that's given up at least 25 points in every game.
Look for Fitzpatrick to tie a homing beacon around Brandon Marshall and target him early and often against a Cleveland pass defense that's tied for last with 18 touchdowns allowed.
Beard or Brock?
Not into Harvard grads with massive beards? That's fine. There's another overpaid and underperforming signal-caller with streaming upside — Brock Osweiler.
Osweiler, after looking pathetic against Denver, flies home for a dome showdown with the buttery-soft Lions. It's a matchup worth exploiting.
If you're thinking there's no possible way you'd start Osweiler, just remember paper-arm Case Keenum torched the Lions for more than 30 fantasy points in Week 6.
That was the second best QB performance that week behind Drew Brees.
The Lions have allowed top-5 QB performances in four of seven games. That's abysmal.
Osweiler should be able to connect with DeAndre Hopkins and Will Fuller, but if he turns in another dud, there are 72 million reasons to be upset if you're a Texans fan.
In a Jeffery
I've been high on Chicago's Cameron Meredith the last few weeks. But with Jay Cutler set to take the reins against Minnesota, I'll take a wait-and-see approach before I start Meredith again.
This is good news for Alshon Jeffery, though, who's been a fantasy bust after being drafted in the second round. It's never fun to start someone against Lockport grad Mike Zimmer's defense, but Cutler loves throwing it up to Jeffery, and it won't be a surprise if the Bears play from behind and Jeffery sees double-digit targets.
Three Downs:
Streams of the Week
If Doyle isn't there, Houston's C.J. Fiedorowicz has at least four catches in each of his last four games and now gets the woeful Detroit defense.
Anderson still looks like the lead back, but Denver is fond of a committee, as evidenced by Ronnie Hillman eating into Anderson's touches the previous two seasons. Booker is a decent option against San Diego and a stash moving forward.