The Fantasy Defense, Kicker, QB & TE To Stream In Week 6: Add Colts, Evan McPherson & Taylor Heinicke

Editor's note: The following story was written early in the week, so rostership percentages listed below are stale.

"Streaming" quarterbacks, defenses and kickers has been a fantasy football strategy I've successfully used for years.

I've parlayed that success into a series of weekly recommendations of the top streaming options at those three positions as well as tight end — a position I don't recommend streaming week-to-week, though still offer recommendations for fantasy players who may need a short-term rental.

Note that these players are rostered in fewer than 50% of Yahoo! leagues, but that these recommendations do not mean that they are the best streamer play for your league — be sure to check my up-to-the-minute rankings to see who the best available player is in your league.

Washington QB Taylor Heinicke vs. KC (16% Rostered)

Heinicke has a juicy matchup this week against the Chiefs and opens the week as my QB11. QBs who face the Chiefs right now get a massive upgrade for two key reasons:

1) Opposing teams have to be aggressive and pass-heavy to keep pace with the Chiefs offense.
2) The Chiefs defense ranks dead last in DVOA this season.

Fire up Heinicke this week, but there is a chance Ryan Fitzpatrick can return in Week 7 and take back his starting job. This should motivate Heinicke to prove that he deserves the starting job even once Fitzpatrick is back.

Colts Defense vs. HOU (49%)

The Colts are a no-brainer streamer play this week against the Texans. Davis Mills is coming off what will likely go down as the best game of his entire career. I expect him to come back down to earth this week, and the Colts D should benefit. If the Colts are already taken in your league, check my updated weekly rankings later in the week to see the best available defense in your league.

Bengals K Evan McPherson @ DET (5%)

The Packers' win over the Bengals in Week 5 was rough, going so far as to feel like the Bengals lost the game a few times with all the missed kicks. The real icing on the sadness cake for Cincinnati was McPherson prematurely celebrating what would have been a game-winning field goal … had it not missed inches to the left.

Despite the Swaggy P-like showing from McPherson, his FG% this year is just 62.5%, but all of his misses have been inches away. I'm still projecting him to make ~84% of his FGs in the future. The Bengals should provide him with plenty of scoring chances against Detroit this week.

Eagles TE Zach Ertz vs. TB (37%)

Dallas Goedert was placed on the COVID list, so there is a good chance he will miss Week 6 considering the Eagles play on Thursday Night Football. Ertz is tentatively ranked as my TE10 as a result and makes for an excellent one-week rental for people desperate at TE or needing a bye week fill-in for Kyle Pitts. This week, David Njoku, Dan Arnold, Ricky Seals-Jones and Evan Engram are also good streaming options. Arnold offers the most long-term value as he's shaping up to be a top-three target for Trevor Lawrence the rest of the season.