Week 17 QB Waiver Wire Pickups & Adds: Stick With Jalen Hurts Once Again

Lineups.com is your all-in-one fantasy football shop! Check out our stats, projections, offensive, and defensive rankings. For our daily fantasy players, check out our DFS projections as well. The final week of the regular season is upon us. For those still searching for a good quarterback streamer in week 17, look no further. Here are five quarterbacks that you can plug into your lineup with confidence.

Jalen Hurts

Despite the tough matchup, don’t hesitate picking up and playing Hurts if he is available in your league. While Washington is allowing the fourth-fewest points to opposing quarterbacks, Hurts’ tendency to run gives him a solid floor in any matchup. Over his three full starts, Hurts is averaging just shy of 80 rushing yards per game. That, in addition to his six total touchdowns over that time, and the fact that he’s thrown at least 300 yards passing in each of the last two games, makes him a must start in all matchups. Hurts is owned in just over 50-percent of leagues. All signs are pointing towards this being the last time his ownership is that low for quite some time.

Kirk Cousins

When it’s all said and done, Cousins has put together another solid season statistically. At the moment, he’s on the verge of finishing as a top-12 fantasy quarterback in 2020. Currently, he’s QB11 in standard NFL scoring formats, and shouldn’t lose any ground as he finishes out the season against the Lions, who are allowing more points-per-game to opposing quarterbacks than any other team. While Minnesota is eliminated from playoff contention, expect Cousins to play at 100-percent trying to finish the year strong and squash any talks of the Vikings drafting his replacement in April. Since week nine against Detroit, Cousins has scored at least 17.1 fantasy points in eight straight games, cracking the 20-point threshold in five of those games. The truth is, Cousins leads a strong offense with plenty of weapons and is facing the league’s best matchup for opposing quarterbacks.

Philip Rivers

Since week six, Philip Rivers has played 10 games and has finished with at least 16.32 points in eight of those games. The only two he didn’t were duds against Baltimore and Pittsburgh, two tougher matchups. This week, Rivers does not have a tough matchup. In fact, he has one of the best, Jacksonville. Even better is Indianapolis is in a must-win situation, meaning you can expect all hands on deck for the Colts. Most recently, Jacksonville has allowed an average of 22.68 points per game over its last four against Kirk Cousins, Ryan Tannehill, Lamar Jackson, and Mitch Trubisky. There’s no doubt the scoring opportunities should be there, making Rivers a solid streaming option.

Derek Carr

One way or another, Derek Carr is sitting just outside the top-12 range on the season for fantasy quarterbacks. If it weren’t for one major dud, and leaving another game due to a groin injury, he might be in the top 12. In his last six games, Carr has surpassed 20 fantasy points four times. On the season, Carr has surpassed the 20-point mark in seven of his 15 games (an eighth game he finished with 19.26 points). His matchup against Denver is what really makes Carr intriguing. On the season, Denver is the 23rd-ranked team against opposing quarterbacks in fantasy. Additionally, Las Vegas’ poor defense continues to give up points, keeping the passing attack necessary for the offense. While Las Vegas and Denver may both be eliminated from playoff contention, Derek Carr certainly doesn’t want to leave the taste of a poor performance and a sub-.500 record in the mouths of the Raiders organization. A solid quarterback in a good matchup is about as much as you can ask for from a quarterback streamer.

Matt Stafford

Provided he plays, Matt Stafford should get the job done in week 17 against Minnesota. Over their past four games, Minnesota is giving up an average of 33.75 points per game. They have been playing without star linebacker Eric Kendricks in recent weeks, and are unlikely to have him back for the final week of the season. If you were watching football on Christmas, you saw a glimpse of the defense Stafford will be facing this weekend. The scoring chances will undoubtedly be there, and he has has proven he can get the job done for fantasy purposes. If Stafford plays, you should feel comfortable playing him if your options elsewhere are slim.