QB Streamers: A Week 1 Darkhorse, Two Rookies To Watch, and More

Months of preparation with all the time in the world boiling down to a sleepless 11th-hour cram session. Ah, fantasy football—a tradition like no other!

Before we kick off today’s little thought experiment, let me send out a big thanks to everyone in the Fantasy Life universe for the positive feedback all draft season—it’s such an honor to be back for 2025.

Tasked with a weekly quarterback streamer article (strap in, folks!) without the Week 1 injuries or byes to necessitate one, I figured we may as well have a little fun with it. Asked the wife to dust off my old crystal ball to help me find the best quarterback streamers (and dreamers) for the coming weeks/months. But I have a Week 1 Special for everyone anyway, below!

Hopefully, this winds up as actionable on digital paper as it is in my head for anyone leaving fantasy drafts with a question mark under center.

How to Stream a QB

As easy as it is to hand-wave the nuts and bolts of execution, defining terms and process matters. Streaming refers to the short-term rostering of a player. Easy enough.

With that in mind, let me add a caveat—while quickies sure are fun, we’re looking for a long-term relationship. For example, in the past I’ve sacrificed a dip in comparative single-week projections for a QB who could stick around—Mr Right over Mr. Right Now... or something like that.

Picking players on good teams sounds intuitive, but let’s face facts… all the quarterbacks on good teams already have a home. If we can’t find a quality team, the next best thing’s identifying a plus matchup to play against. Also, make sure to prioritize QBs who run while keeping a hairy eyeball on weekly projections.

🎶Put ‘em together and what do you got? Bippity boppity boo! 🎶

Week 1 Streamer: Spencer Rattler, Saints

For the lone wolf out there who managed to leave his or her fantasy draft without a starting quarterback, there’s always New Orleans. Three different Saints’ skill position players get drafted inside the top-125, yet Spencer Rattler’s Week 1 rostership sits around 2% universally. Something’s gotta give.

The bull case? Rattler’s a second-year player at the game’s hardest position. And newsflash—the NFL’s incredibly hard. In his five unshared starts last year, Rattler never once finished outside the QB2 range, and that’s with some of the league’s worst supporting cast by talent. Plus, at a +5% scramble rate he’s going over 25 rushing yards regularly for that built-in fantasy floor we love so much.

Fifth-round quarterbacks fail at a pretty high rate for a reason, I get it. However, we shouldn’t disclude Rattler playing league-average ball as an outcome—in which case he’s viable weekly in SuperFlex or as a one-and-done bye replacement down the line. Definitely better to be one week early than one day late here.

Week 5 Streamer: Jaxson Dart, Giants

The date is September 28th, 2025. New York’s American Football Giants just lost their fourth straight game to start the season—and Big Blue’s faithful are irate. At the center of their bottom-5 offense, predictably lies Mr. Unlimited. Russell Wilson’s year-over-year degradation continues, as his inaccuracy and sack-taking reach intolerable levels.

Head Coach Brian Daboll’s finally had all he could stomach. With the hapless Saints upcoming on the schedule in Week 5 and a chance to win for once, the Giants capitulate to the seething masses, dialing up rookie Jaxson Dart. New York’s first-round pick out of Ole Miss briefly showed us the ceiling to dream on this preseason—a +0.36EPA/Dropback, 68% Completion Rate, 113.2 Passer Rating, 9.5 Yards/Rush, and 0 INT are the hallmarks of a breakout.

Week 10 Streamer: Dillon Gabriel, Browns

Winless heading into their Week 9 bye (yikes), the Browns want nothing more than to dress up like a winner for Halloween. Old and very slow, Joe Flacco’s served his veteran duty—buying enough time for Cleveland’s rookies to get themselves game-ready.

The Browns' selection of QB Shedeur Sanders in the fifth round (144th overall) really seemed to overshadow Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel, who went exactly 50 picks prior in the same draft. Known for an innate ability to process information at the line of scrimmage, Gabriel could eventually fit perfectly into a timing-based Kevin Stefanski system.

Gabriel’s all but assured a sustained look at some point in 2025, especially if at the mid-way point, Cleveland’s within striking distance of the NFL’s worst record. The Browns need to know what they have on the roster before investing further. It’s also entirely possible Gabriel proves himself a competent quarterback, given the surrounding weaponry, and helps carry a 0-QB squad to fantasy glory.

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See you all next week, same bat time, same bat channel, as we digest Week 1 results and get into more QB streamers for teams struggling at the position.