3 Fantasy Football Quarterback Streaming Options for Week 13

Hi, hello, welcome back. With Thanksgiving in the rearview, we are full steam ahead on making it to the fantasy football playoffs.

It's time to look at quarterback streaming options for your season-long lineups.

Quarterback streaming isn't for everyone, but if you're in a standard league -- like a 10- or 12-team league that features just one starting signal caller -- grabbing potentially productive quarterbacks in good matchups off the waiver wire is often doable. For some roster constructions, it can even be optimal.

Sure, you won't have the luxury of setting it and forgetting it with Patrick Mahomes as your quarterback, but when the top-end signal-callers draw a tough matchup, their upside can oftentimes be matched by a waiver-wire option in a more favorable situation.

Throughout the season, this column should, will, and must be your go-to resource for identifying quarterbacks to stream in a pinch. I'll recommend quarterbacks rostered in fewer than roughly 50% of Yahoo leagues who are in solid spots this week.

Week 12 Recap and Situations to Monitor

The process still feels right, but the results just weren't there for Week 11's column. Cam Newton scored a rushing touchdown but was awful through the air and was eventually benched. Tyrod Taylor delivered the QB14 performance of the week, which we'll definitely take, but Jimmy Garoppolo didn't keep his multi-touchdown streak going. I'll try to be better this week.

Thankfully, there aren't many injury situations to monitor at quarterback this week. Jalen Hurts, Zach Wilson, and Teddy Bridgewater were all banged up to various degrees, and they're all worth monitoring throughout the week, namely Hurts. Should Hurts be ruled out (and the Philadelphia Eagles do have a bye the following week), Gardner Minshew will have some deep-league streamer appeal in a great matchup against the New York Jets.

It's not guaranteed, but signs are pointing to Kyler Murray finally returning from his ankle injury coming off his bye week.

We'll be missing Aaron Rodgers, Ryan Tannehill, Baker Mayfield, and Cam Newton to byes this week.

Let's aim for more streaming goodness in Week 13!

Taysom Hill, Saints

Roster Percentage: 6%

Aaaaaand, we're back. Taysom Hill was a recommended streamer the first week post-Jameis Winston, and then Sean Payton had Trevor Siemian start four games. For the lulz, I'm assuming.

But the Siemian experiment appears to be over, at least for now. Per Ian Rapoport, Taysom is taking the first-team reps this week in anticipation to start.

Last year, Hill started for a four-game span while Drew Brees was injured. Over that stretch, he averaged 21.6 fantasy points per game, throwing for two passing touchdowns in two of those starts and rushing for two touchdowns in the other two. He was the QB8 over that span.

It's that rushing value we care so much about. As a starter, his per-game averages were 9.8 carries, 52.3 rushing yards, and 1 rushing touchdown. Holy Konami code.

As we've seen with Jalen Hurts, it's possible Hill's rushing ability makes him matchup-proof to an extent. Still, it doesn't hurt that Dallas enters the week with the 24th-ranked schedule-adjusted run defense, per numberFire's metrics. We know the Saints want to run the ball, and with Alvin Kamara (knee) and Mark Ingram (knee) both dinged up, it's possible we see some extra rushing volume on Hill's plate.

It doesn't hurt that Dallas has allowed four rushing touchdowns to quarterbacks this year, tied for second-most, despite facing a schedule of mostly pocket passers.

Our projections have Taysom as the 13th quarterback this week, the best among streaming options. I'm playing Hill with confidence.

Taylor Heinicke, Football Team

Roster Percentage: 35%

Apparently a staple of this column this year, we've had plenty of success streaming Taylor Heinicke in 2021. By points per game Heinicke is the 14th-best fantasy quarterback this year, and that includes Week 1 when he only played 71% of the team's snaps after Ryan Fitzpatrick left the game. He's closer to a fringe QB1 than his roster percentage suggests.

At a macro level, this game has sneaky shootout upside. It enters the week with a 48.5-implied point total, the third-highest on the week. Heinicke's opponent, the Las Vegas Raiders are a top-10 team in terms of neutral pass rate, which should speed the game up. That feeds well into the matchup; per our schedule-adjusted metrics, Washington's defense grades 10th against the run but just 30th against the pass.

So while we can project passing success for the Raiders to help push Heinicke, he's also facing an ideal pass-funnel matchup. Similar to Washington, Las Vegas grades as a top-five run defense but just 26th against the pass, per our schedule-adjusted metrics.

It also helps the Raiders have allowed the 9th-most rushing yards to quarterbacks (20.9 per game). Heinicke is 7th in rushing yards per game among quarterbacks (25.4).

At 17th among quarterbacks in our projections this week, Heinicke is a rock-solid QB2 with QB1 upside in this potential #badteamshootout.

Tyrod Taylor, Texans

Roster Percentage: 11%

I won't quibble with anyone who prefers Tua Tagovailoa, who we love dearly in the streaming streets. But let's get weird and recommend Tyrod Taylor for the second week in a row.

There's a ton to like about Tyrod's matchup. While his recent performances on the field haven't exactly been inspiring, Taylor has been a quietly solid fantasy asset this year. We don't have a large sample size, but among the four games he's played start-to-finish, Taylor has been the QB14 or better three out of four times, with two QB1 performances in there. He's essentially been a streamer's delight.

A lot of that production has come with his legs, which is what we want in our quarterback streamers. Even though he only played the first half of his Week 2 game, Taylor averages 27.2 rushing yards per game, fifth among quarterbacks. And what do you know, the Indianapolis Colts have allowed the eighth-most rushing yards to quarterbacks. Despite that, they've permitted zero rushing touchdowns to the position, which feels bound for regression.

Tyrod's rushing projection boosts his floor, while the matchup aids his ceiling. Indianapolis sports the 11th-best schedule-adjusted run defense, per numberFire's metrics, but rank just 27th against the pass.