Fantasy Football Streaming Quarterbacks to Target in Week 12

Need a new starting quarterback for your fantasy football team in Week 12? These waiver wire options are great choices.

Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson is the top streaming option this week. / Brad Penner-Imagn Images

It has been an up-and-down season for fantasy football production at the quarterback position, which has seen very few true every-week must-start options emerge at the position. That has made 2024 a quarterback streamer's dream.

Consider that three of the top-10 producers at the position last week were featured in our Week 11 streaming article. It's not always going to be possible to land the QB4 who scores you 28.1 points on the waiver wire, but that highlights just how viable a strategy it has been all season to stream starters on a weekly basis.

Here's a look at the best streaming quarterback options for fantasy football Week 12, who are all available in at least 50% of ESPN public leagues.

Fantasy Football Streaming Quarterbacks Week 12

1. Anthony Richardson, Indianapolis Colts (vs. DET) — 56.4% Available

Richardson is that QB4 from Week 11 that I alluded to above. He burned managers who drafted him earlier this season, and it wasn't even clear early last week whether he would be back in the starting lineup. But he wasted no time proving he does still have elite fantasy football upside.

If you grabbed him last week, keep it rolling this week. And if you didn't, you still have your chance in most leagues.

This Detroit Lions defense has looked really good and has been a pretty tough out for quarterbacks from both a real-world and a fantasy perspective. But considering Richardson's upside is only partially rooted in a small thing like "throwing the ball effectively," a shaky matchup should not scare you away.

We've now seen Richardson make 11 NFL starts over his first two seasons, averaging a little over 7.5 fantasy points per game with his legs alone. If we remove games he left early, we see that mark jump over 8. Despite his struggles early in the year, that keeps him in the conversation as a starting quarterback option every week in fantasy.

2. Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins (vs. NE) — 57.3% Available

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Going back to the well with a Week 11 selection again, Tua Tagovailoa remains one of the most consistent streaming options of the season. It's not that he's some kind of fantasy star who you're shocked to see available, but more that he's a solid high-floor producer in the right matchups. And his upside is limited enough that he stays available on the waiver wire in most leagues.

Tua dropped a season-best 23.5 fantasy points against the Raiders in Week 11, taking full advantage of his soft matchup. Now he finds himself in a similarly favorable spot against the New England Patriots.

The Pats rank four spots ahead of the Raiders in PFF's team defense grade. They don't rank as a great QB matchup in fantasy for the season, but a few really choice spots (like facing Tyler Huntley in Week 5) have skewed that average. Consider they just got torched for 27.8 by Matthew Stafford in Week 11, and the last month has also included spots where they gave up 17.3 to Aaron Rodgers and 18.5 to Mason Rudolph.

Don't expect Tua to light it up, but once again he's a safe bet to not tank your chances of winning for the week.

3. Tommy DeVito, New York Giants (vs. TB) — 99.5% Available

It's a tough week for quarterback streamers, so let's go with a hail mary play that could pay off if you're in a deeper league. With Daniel Jones benched, Tommy DeVito may have a little bit of fantasy football appeal when the matchup is right.

If we look at the five-week Tommy Cutlets run as a starter from last season (removing games he either came in late or didn't play more than 60% of the snaps in), DeVito averaged 171.6 yards, 1.6 touchdowns and 0.2 interceptions on 26.6 attempts per game. Not big numbers (about 13 fantasy points per game), but at least good enough that they don't completely remove him from consideration. Again, I said, "when the matchup is right."

And matchups don't get a lot more right than the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who are allowing the highest fantasy production in the NFL to opposing quarterbacks, at 23.6 points per game. The last quarterback they held under even 23 points was Spencer Rattler.