Week 5 Fantasy Football Quarterback Streaming: Relying on the Broncos

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 each week -- grabbing productive quarterbacks who have good matchups off the waiver wire is often doable.

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

If you're looking for some options from the waiver wire -- regardless of league size -- then we have you covered.

We had another solid week in Week 4 as Brian Hoyer, our top option, scored 19.78 points to finish as the week's QB7. It was the third time in four weeks that our top streaming pick ended up being a top-10 quarterback for the week. Overall, if you played our top streamer each week, you would have scored 74.92 points at the quarterback position. That would be good enough for QB8 numbers for the year, in front of Ben Roethlisberger, Carson Palmer, and Russell Wilson and fewer than 2 points behind Andrew Luck.

Let's check out the streaming options for Week 5.

Trevor Siemian, Denver Broncos

ESPN Ownership: 27.5%

Whoever the Denver Broncos go with under center in Week 5 will be in a nice spot as the defending champs host the Atlanta Falcons. Atlanta has allowed the most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks, and Denver is a 5.5-point favorite with an implied total of 26.5 points, which is currently the fifth-highest clip of the week.

Atlanta's defense may have stymied Cam Newton last week, but they're not a very good unit. The Falcons rank 31st in Adjusted Defensive Net Expected Points (NEP) per play, and they sit 27th in Adjusted Defensive Passing NEP per drop back.

Siemian (shoulder) was removed from last week's game, but he may be able to play this week, although it sounds like we won't know for sure until later this week. If he is healthy, he will start, per Denver coach Gary Kubiak.

Siemian has been solid for the Broncos, giving them better quarterback play than they got last year from Peyton Manning and Brock Osweiler. Among passers with at least 50 drop backs, Siemian ranks 15th in Passing NEP per drop back.

If Siemian sits, rookie Paxton Lynch would be a viable play. Lynch came on in relief in Week 4 and completed 14 of 24 passes for 170 yards and 1 score.

Brian Hoyer, Chicago Bears

ESPN Ownership: 3.9%

Similar to the Broncos' situation, this is a placeholder for whoever the Chicago Bears start at quarterback in Week 5. Per our metrics, that should be Brian Hoyer, but even if it's Jay Cutler, the matchup against the Indianapolis Colts is one to exploit.

So far this season, the Colts have allowed the 12th-most points to quarterbacks and rank 28th in Adjusted Defensive Passing NEP per play.

Vontae Davis, Indy's top corner, is back, and this game is at Lucas Oil Stadium, but the Colts are the first team to not get a bye week immediately after playing in London. While in London, Indianapolis' defense put on a dismal display, playing some of that blooper reel defense on Allen Hurns' 42-yard score this past week as Hurns shed one tackle and then beat four Colts with one not-all-that-sharp cutback.

As for Chicago, the Bears' passing offense hasn't been too bad through four weeks, ranking 20th in Adjusted Passing NEP per drop back. They've been significantly more efficient with Hoyer at the helm. Among the 34 passers with at least 50 drop backs, Hoyer checks in sixth in Passing NEP per drop back while Cutler ranks dead last.

Alshon Jeffery will likely see plenty of Davis, but even if Kevin White (ankle) isn't healthy, Zach Miller and Eddie Royal have been uber-efficient this season. Among wideouts with at least 20 targets, Royal ranks fourth in Reception NEP per target, boosted by a 111-yard, 1-score game in Week 4. Among tight ends with at least 16 looks, Miller slots in fifth in Reception NEP per target.

As an added bonus, Jordan Howard took over for the injured and struggling Jeremy Langford last week and finished with 132 total yards. The arrow on this Bears' offense is pointing up, and their quarterback won't see many matchups more favorable than this the rest of the way.

Ryan Fitzpatrick, New York Jets

ESPN Ownership: 27.5%

Ryan Fitzpatrick has thrown nine picks over the last two games. That is the epitome of #notgood.

With that said, for streaming purposes, all we care about is his matchup this week, and with a road game at the Pittsburgh Steelers, things don't look that bad. The Steelers rank 20th in Adjusted Defensive Passing NEP per drop back and 24th in overall Adjusted NEP per play. And that's with Pittsburgh playing 75% of their games against Kirk Cousins, Alex Smith, and Carson Wentz.

The emergence of Quincy Enunwa -- a wideout with at least 6 grabs and 50 yards in three of the New York Jets' four games -- somewhat softens the blow of losing Eric Decker, who is expected to be out again this week.

Among signal callers with at least 50 drop backs, Fitzpatrick ranks 29th in Passing NEP per drop back. However, just a year ago, he was a much more respectable 13th in Passing NEP per drop back among passers with at least 100 drop backs.

Through two weeks, Fitz-magic's stock was rising, especially after he torched the Buffalo Bills for 374 yards in Week 2. His poor outings in Week 3 and Week 4 came against the Kansas City Chiefs and Seattle Seahawks, two of the best pass defenses in the league both this year and last season, per our metrics. He'll be in a better spot this week.