In fantasy football weekly redraft leagues, streaming is a strategy many managers use when drafting their teams. Streaming essentially means spot-starting certain positions on a week-to-week basis. This could involve relying on late-round picks or heavily using the waiver wire for weekly adds and drops.
A few positions are ideal for streaming, mainly kickers and defenses, though some managers also apply this approach to tight ends and quarterbacks. As a result, managers who use this strategy often prioritize running backs and wide receivers in the early rounds. They may then choose to draft a few mid-to-late round quarterbacks and tight ends and play favorable matchups each week.
Top-tier quarterbacks will cost you an early-round pick, and while they are reliable weekly starters, selecting one may mean sacrificing a valuable running back or wide receiver. The benefit of players like Josh Allen (Buffalo Bills), Lamar Jackson (Baltimore Ravens), Jayden Daniels (Washington Commanders), and Joe Burrow (Cincinnati Bengals) is their consistency, but they typically require a top-five round investment.
Waiting until the middle rounds can yield solid streaming options such as Dak Prescott (Dallas Cowboys), Brock Purdy (San Francisco 49’ers), Justin Herbert (Los Angeles Chargers), Jordan Love (Green Bay Packers), or C.J. Stroud (Houston Texans).
For those who wait even longer, late-round options might include Drake Maye (New England Patriots) J.J. McCarthy (Minnesota Vikings), Trevor Lawrence (Jacksonville Jaguars), Tua Tagovailoa (Miami Dolphins), Michael Penix (Atlanta Falcons), or Bryce Young (Carolina Panthers).
If you choose to stream quarterbacks, make sure your selected players have different bye weeks. Each week, start the quarterback with the softer matchup. Your second quarterback should ideally face a weak opponent during your primary QB’s bye.
Tight end is another position that can be streamed, as some defenses consistently struggle to cover tight ends. Elite options, such as Brock Bowers (Las Vegas Raiders), Trey McBride (Arizona Cardinals), George Kittle (San Francisco 49’ers), and Sam LaPorta (Detroit Lions), are typically selected within the top six rounds. While there’s nothing wrong with investing in one of them, some managers prefer to wait and stream the position.
Several mid-round tight end pairings offer value, such as Tucker Kraft (Green Bay Packers), Tyler Warren (Indianapolis Colts), Colston Loveland (Chicago Bears), Jake Ferguson (Dallas Cowboys), Dallas Goedert (Philadelphia Eagles), and Zach Ertz (Washington Commanders). As with quarterbacks, pay attention to bye weeks, and target matchups against defenses that are weak against tight ends.
Additionally, the waiver wire often produces weekly tight end options who go undrafted. Names to monitor for favorable matchups include Brenton Strange (Jacksonville Jaguars), Cade Otton (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), and rookies Mason Taylor (New York Jets), Elijah Arroyo (Seattle Seahawks), and Harold Fannin Jr (Cleveland Browns).
The final draft selection should always be a kicker. There’s generally less strategy here, as field goal opportunities are hard to predict, especially with the league-wide trend of going for it on fourth-and-short in plus territory.
The streaming approach for kickers is simple: target those playing indoors or in favorable weather conditions. Avoid kickers facing wind, rain, or snow, especially later in the season. You never need two kickers on your roster, making weekly streaming a popular and effective strategy.
Before applying a streaming strategy to team defenses, it’s important to understand your league’s scoring system. In leagues with light scoring settings, where defenses average 4–8 points, streaming can be a viable approach.
However, in leagues that award points for yards allowed and penalize heavily for points surrendered, defenses carry more weight. In such formats, a poor outing can cost you points, while a strong unit can earn 12+ points. In these cases, it’s wise to select at least one top-tier defense on draft day.
For leagues with minimal scoring differences between defenses, streaming is low-risk and often effective. But in high-defensive scoring formats, investing in a quality unit can pay off significantly.
Source link
