Quarterback Waiver Wire Pickups and Streamers - Week 8

Explosive passing attacks continue to be the name of the game in 2020. In Week 7, eight quarterbacks attempted 40 or more passes. Eight teams surpassed 300 passing yards and 15 quarterbacks with multiple passing touchdowns. Five quarterbacks had three or more passing scores.

Bye weeks continue to chug along and assuming there isn’t any COVID-related schedule shifting, fantasy gamers will be without big-named quarterbacks Kyler Murray and Deshaun Watson in Week 8. Additionally, the consistent performances of Kyle Allen and Gardner Minshew II will also be on bye, leading fantasy teams scrambling to find quarterback depth.

In this article, I will be focusing on players who are under 65% rostered in fantasy leagues while adding a couple of deep sleepers for two-quarterback leagues (less than 20% rostered).

Top QB Streamers and Adds

Teddy Bridgewater, Carolina Panthers

Yahoo: 43% rostered ESPN: 30.6% rostered

Teddy Two-Gloves was back to his old ways in Week 7 against the Saints. Bridgewater completed 23 of 28 passes for 254 yards and two touchdowns against his old team. The first-year Panthers quarterback now has four games with over 20 fantasy points this season. More importantly, he has thrived using the full complement of Panthers pass catchers. There is a chance the Panthers get Christian McCaffery back this week, which will only help Bridgewater given his penchant for checking down to running backs. Regardless, he is poised to explode in a matchup against the Falcons. Atlanta is allowing 29.1 points to quarterbacks this season in fantasy. In their first matchup, Bridgewater threw for 313 yards and two scores.

Baker Mayfield, Cleveland Browns

Yahoo: 32% rostered ESPN: 15.2% rostered

Social media was ready to bench Baker Mayfield after he started the game 0/5 passing with one interception against the Bengals. However, something lit a fire under Baker and he bounced back in a major way, completing 22 of his next 23 passes for 297 yards and five touchdowns, including a game-winning score to rookie Donovan Peoples-Jones in the closing seconds of the game. Things haven’t been great for Mayfield this season, but hopefully, this game could prove to be a catalyst for improved production. The potential loss of Odell Beckham Jr. won’t help matters, but the Browns still have a strong complement of receivers to lessen the blow.

The Browns have a strong matchup against a Raiders secondary before their bye week. Las Vegas was picked apart by Tom Brady to the tune of 369 yards and four touchdowns. After the bye, Baker will face Houston, Philadelphia, and Jacksonville. He is very streamable for the foreseeable future.

Derek Carr, Las Vegas Raiders

Yahoo: 29% rostered ESPN: 25.7% rostered

The game against Tampa Bay wasn’t pretty for the Raiders, but Derek Carr turned in a solid performance once again. Carr just missed hitting the 20 fantasy point threshold for the third straight week, finishing with 19.26 points in standard quarterback scoring leagues. Carr threw for 284 yards and two touchdowns with an interception against a stout Tampa Bay defense. It was the fifth straight game that Carr threw for multiple touchdown passes.

Carr gets an excellent matchup against the Browns in Week 8. Cleveland was picked apart by Joe Burrow in Week 7, allowing 406 yards and three touchdowns to the rookie signal-caller. Carr is worth at least a one week rental in case of bye weeks.

Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins

Yahoo: 28% rostered ESPN: 20.6% rostered

The late-breaking news that Tua Tagovailoa would be named the Dolphins’ starter just missed the release of my article last week, but we still have plenty of time to break it down today. Heading into the bye week, the Dolphins were a middle of the pack offense, averaging 354.3 yards and 26.7 points per game. Most of that was done on the arm of Ryan Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick was completing 70% of his passes for 1,535 yards and 10 touchdowns with seven interceptions. He was playing well heading into his benching, throwing for 541 yards and six touchdowns (with two interceptions) against the 49ers and Jets.

At the very least, Tua should be as efficient as Fitzpatrick with hopefully fewer turnovers. In 32 career games at Alabama, Tua threw for 7,442 yards and 87 touchdowns with just 11 interceptions. The college game is completely different than the NFL, but he has some solid weapons at his disposal in Miami. DeVante Parker and Preston Williams are solid outside receivers and Mike Gesicki and Isaiah Ford have been strong against slot defenders this year. Add in some rushing upside and Tagovailoa is at the very least a solid QB2 with streaming upside the rest of the season.

He will face some stiff competition early (at home versus the Rams, at Arizona, and at home against the Chargers), but should have streaming upside as the season progresses.

2QB League Options and Stashes

Kyle Allen, Washington Football Team

Yahoo: 5% rostered ESPN: 3.0% rostered

Kyle Allen continues to be a steady fantasy performer. Allen completed 15 of 25 passes for 194 yards and two touchdowns against the rudderless Cowboys Defense. It isn’t the prettiest, but Allen has two consecutive weeks of at least 16 fantasy points. He will likely be available on waivers for another week thanks to his Week 8 bye, but he is worth being proactive and stashing. He faces the Giants, Lions, Bengals, and Cowboys’ miserable secondaries in weeks 9 through 12.

With Terry McLaurin operating as WR1, Logan Thomas emerging as a viable tight end producer, and Antonio Gibson is thriving as an explosive option out of the backfield, Allen can sneak into the conversation as a safe-floor play on a lot of fantasy teams making a playoff push.

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