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Special to ESPN.com- Jim McCormick is a fantasy football and fantasy basketball analyst for ESPN.com.
Each week of the NFL season we sift through the deeper options at each position with an eye on identifying streaming fantasy commodities with valuable matchups to consider.
As bye weeks enter the scene and injuries mount, the need for replacement options grows. We have some choice names to consider for those seeking widely available options at each position.
Quarterback
Jameis Winston, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
How effective the Buccaneers offense looked under Ryan Fitzpatrick should not be overlooked when it comes to evaluating the fantasy potential of Winston. One reason for that success is the elevation of Todd Monken from passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach to solely offensive coordinator. That move has resulted in an increase in yards per pass attempt from 7.6 in 2017 to 10.0 in 2018. Over 25 pass attempts per game, that change yields another 50 passing yards per game. Taking that into account, along with Winston having a juicy matchup upcoming against the Atlanta Falcons, makes Winston a top-15 quarterback this week. Still not convinced? Consider how devastating the loss of Keanu Neal has been for the Falcons' secondary. In Neal's first two seasons, the Falcons' defense allowed a completion rate of 64.9 percent. Without Neal this season, that number is up to 69.8 percent. Don't be surprised to see Winston to post more than 300 yards and multiple scores. --Daube
Mitchell Trubisky, Chicago Bears
It's not often you can reasonably plug-and-play a quarterback fresh from a six-touchdown showing, but welcome to 2018, the year of video game box scores. What most helped keep Trubisky widely available is the fact the Bears had an early bye week, thus the market didn't chase shares after his opus against the Bucs. Now another reeling Florida team awaits in Miami, with the Dolphins ranked just 21st in pressuring opposing passers. Trubisky, meanwhile, has the league's seventh-best touchdown rate (6.7 percent of attempts) and ninth-best completion percentage (73.3 percent) from a clean pocket this season. We've seen some low-floor outings from the second-year signal-caller this season, but with time to operate against an exploitable defense, Trubisky makes for a solid streamer or superflex option. --McCormick
Running back
Pete Carroll firmly established on Sunday that draft pedigree won't determine playing time, as Rashaad Penny found himself on the playing field only during special teams snaps. While the highly touted rookie watched, Chris Carson and Davis produced against the Los Angeles Rams' defensive front. Carson isn't available in almost any league, but Davis is a free agent in more than 80 percent of leagues. With two consecutive solid games under his belt, the only question about Davis is whether he will get enough touches to warrant starting. The best indicator for that is the past production of the Oakland Raiders, who have allowed at least 26 rushing attempts in four of their five games. Assuming the Seahawks hit that mark, you can predict at least 10 rushes for Davis, making him a good bet for at least 45 rushing yards, which is a safe play this deep on the waiver wire. --Daube
Ronald Jones, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
It's been an odd year for several top picks at the tailback position, with both Penny and Jones playing fringe roles or even being wholly ignored on the depth chart to begin the campaign. Yet while Penny didn't see the field last week, Jones finally proved active in Week 4 before Tampa's bye. The results -- just 28 scrimmage yards on 11 touches -- weren't so inspiring, but maybe they don't have to be for the second-round pick to ascend on the depth chart, as Peyton Barber rates 44th out of 48 qualified running backs with a meager 2.96 yards per carry. The Falcons, meanwhile, just allowed James Conner to tally the most yards after contact in a game since Adrian Peterson in 2015. There is clearly some risk in deploying Jones before he's truly claimed a featured role, but with dwindling competition and a savory matchup on deck, he merits attention as a streaming option for those fantasy managers dealing with injuries and underperformance at the position. --McCormick
Wide receiver
When Bruce Ellington went on injured reserve, not many of us thought there'd be a wide receiver not named DeAndre Hopkins or Will Fuller V on the Houston Texans worth rostering in fantasy, but Coutee has changed that quickly. After missing the first three games of the season, Coutee has 17 catches for 160 yards and a score over the past two weeks. That's a season-long pace of more than 1,200 yards and eight scores. That pace means he should be rostered and started, not just streamed, but since he's rostered in just 19.6 percent of ESPN leagues, grab him if you need a bye-week fill-in. You'll likely wind up with a solid performance this week against the Buffalo Bills and then have trade fodder for the rest of the season. --Daube
Dede Westbrook, Jacksonville Jaguars
Available in well over half of ESPN leagues, did you know Westbrook is pacing for 77 catches and 1,117 yards? You likely do now. It's also easy to miss the fact Westbrook is just two years removed from being a Heisman finalist with an awesome college dominator rating (high market share of offense). Which is to say, maybe the NFL overlooked Westbrook a bit in letting him fall to the fourth round in the 2017 draft? While there is a good bit of competition for meaningful targets on a busy receiver depth chart in Jacksonville, it's notable that Blake Bortles has posted his highest yards per dropback (10.5) and highest QBR (93.3) when targeting Westbrook among the team's wideouts. Per the matchup this week, Dallas has struggled to contain receivers this so far, ceding 14.3 yards per reception to them, sixth most in the league. --McCormick
Tight end
C.J. Uzomah, Cincinnati Bengals
Whether it's been Tyler Eifert or Tyler Kroft, the Cincinnati Bengals' tight end position has been a steady producer of fantasy points since the beginning of 2016. In fact, the TE position has scored at least six fantasy points in 28 of their 33 games. Further, they were almost twice as likely to score 15 or more fantasy points than putting up six or less. With Uzomah being the last man standing at the position, it's a safe bet to project at least 10 fantasy points, especially considering they are facing the Pittsburgh Steelers, who have allowed at least 16.7 fantasy points to opposing tight ends in each game since Week 1. --Daube
Cameron Brate, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
I recently joked maybe it's time to give Hunter Henry a chance as a streamer given how shallow and fickle the tight end position has proved this year for fantasy purposes. A wave of injuries and lack of success for young tight ends the past few seasons has felled the market at the position to date, thus we'll need to be willing to overlook significant flaws when sifting through options. I'm turning to another Buc as a spot-start option, with Brate likely to net a rewarding batch of routes and targets with O.J. Howard sidelined due to a knee ailment. The Bucs lead the NFL so far in air yards per target by a wide margin, setting up Brate with serious upside as a threat down the seam and in the red zone. --McCormick
Defense/special teams
Seattle Seahawks
This deep on the waiver wire, you are just looking for the D/ST that plays one of the worst offensive teams, and the Seattle Seahawks make a fine selection this week. Their opponent, the Oakland Raiders, has surpassed the 20-point mark only once this season and Derek Carr has already thrown eight interceptions. Factor in that Carr has been sacked more than twice a game, and it's obvious that the Seahawks are a great streaming choice this week. --Daube
Reputation suggests we shouldn't go near the Colts given a lack of defensive star power on the roster and unquestionably poor performance last season. This season, however, the Colts have the 12th-highest pressure rate and sixth-highest sack rate in the league. Pressure and sack rates represent two of the stronger correlations for positive fantasy performances from teams, which makes sense when we consider how turnover rates spike when quarterbacks are under duress. Speaking of this tendency, rookie Sam Darnold has completed just 42 percent of his passes with a paltry 1.55 yards per dropback when pressured, rates that rank well below league average. Look past the reputation and instead focus on the encouraging advanced metrics and the inviting quarterback matchup. --McCormick
Individual defensive players
Defensive line
Jerry Hughes, Buffalo Bills
With three sacks in the past four games and a meeting with a porous Houston line that has allowed Deshaun Watson to be pressured on a league-high 41 percent of his dropbacks (league average is 28.2 percent, for some context), Hughes is in a great spot to exceed value a streaming option this week in Houston. -McCormick
Linebacker
Every-down inside linebackers are often key IDP commodities, especially those who are sent as blitzers on 12.5 percent of passing downs, as Bynes has this season. This isn't a call to chase last week's awesome performance, but rather an appreciation of Bynes' opportunity rates and upside this week for a defense that could be on the field all day in Minnesota given the league-worst struggles of Arizona's offense. --McCormick
Defensive back
Damontae Kazee, Atlanta Falcons
We're going back to the Kazee well this week given he's still available in roughly every ESPN IDP league and just produced an awesome two-turnover outing in an otherwise ugly outing for Atlanta's defense. Much like Bynes, Kazee could be on the field a ton for a reeling Atlanta defense that seemingly can't end opponents' drives lately. Feel free to stream Brate at tight end and let Kazee, now in an every-down role, get some tackles in coverage against him while we're at it. --McCormick