Fantasy football managers who rely on QB streamers are walking a fine line, and with six teams on a bye next week, there will be more competition on the waiver wire than normal. Who are the top names you should be considering?
Top QB Streamers for Week 13
Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers (vs. Chiefs)
We’ve seen this before, so it goes without saying that you need to be careful, but Love looked put together on Thanksgiving and now gets extra time to prepare for a showtime showdown with Patrick Mahomes.
Over the past two weeks, Love has completed 68.1% of his passes for 590 yards, five touchdowns, and zero interceptions. The most encouraging part of his Turkey Day wasn’t the raw numbers; it was the fact that he funneled half of his targets to either his presumed WR1 (Christian Watson) or his favorite budding star (Jayden Reed).
Love had been spreading out the targets all season, and that has its positives, but it also requires an experienced QB to be on the same page with numerous players. If this is the start of Love ironing out his target hierarchy, he could develop some sustainability in our game.
You’ve been warned — we did see Love turn 29 completions into 396 yards and six touchdowns. We’ve seen peaks like this before, something that makes Love a risky roll of the dice, but we do have proof that the ceiling is enticing.
Kenny Pickett, Pittsburgh Steelers (vs. Cardinals)
The upside is limited, but this is a better matchup than what Pickett faced last week in Cincinnati, a game in which he recorded season highs in passing yards (278) and completion percentage (72.7%).
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Normally, I wouldn’t weigh one game too heavily, but it is worth noting that the strong performance came in the first game following the firing of Matt Canada as the offensive coordinator.
Pickett falls just outside of my top 15 this week due to the low ceiling, but if you’ve built a solid team in a deeper league and are just in search of a decent floor while you deal with a Josh Allen/Lamar Jackson bye, you could do worse.
Gardner Minshew, Indianapolis Colts (at Titans)
Sometimes, there is elite production to chase, and other times, you try to get ahead of the play-calling. The Minshew play is certainly the latter, but we aren’t shooting from the hip on this one.
In Week 12, Minshew faced a pass funnel Buccaneers defense, and he had thrown 20 pass attempts through five drives against just six RB rush attempts from the Colts. While I don’t expect to be their game plan for very long, it could be for one more week against a defense with similar strengths/weaknesses.
The floor is obviously a low one, but with three games of over 40 pass attempts, we at least have proof that this offense is willing to cut him loose in a fantasy-friendly way.
Week 13 QB Rankings
Come back for our full Week 13 QB rankings as we sort through updated data and health news throughout the week!
1. Patrick Mahomes | KC (at GB)
2. Jalen Hurts | PHI (vs. SF)
3. C.J. Stroud | HOU (vs. DEN)
4. Dak Prescott | DAL (vs. SEA)
5. Brock Purdy | SF (at PHI)
6. Kyler Murray | ARI (at PIT)
7. Trevor Lawrence | JAX (vs. CIN)
8. Tua Tagovailoa | MIA (at WAS)
9. Jared Goff | DET (at NO)
10. Justin Herbert | LAC (at NE)
11. Sam Howell | WAS (vs. MIA)
12. Russell Wilson | DEN (at HOU)
13. Gardner Minshew | IND (at TEN)
14. Derek Carr | NO (vs. DET)
15. Jordan Love | GB (vs. KC)
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