Fantasy Football Daily - 2022 Week 17 Waiver Wire Podcast

Episode Date: December 27, 2022

Joe Dolan (@FG_Dolan) and Tom Brolley (@TomBrolley) talk top waiver wire adds for the week. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fantasy-points-podcast/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's time for the Fantasy Points podcast brought to you by FantasyPoints.com. Top level fantasy football and NFL betting analysis from every perspective and angle, from numbers to the film room, with a single goal to help you score more fantasy points. Congratulations, if you've made it this far. I understand that our listenership goes down as the season goes on. That's just natural. Teams get eliminated. but the listenership becomes loyal when it's at this point.

It is the Week 17 WaverWire podcast here at Fantasy Points.com. I am Joe Dolan. That is Tom Broly. First, allow me to apologize that we didn't do our Week 17 or Week 16 recap podcast because Tom was getting stuff thrown at them from nieces and nephews and all kinds of stuff over the Christmas holiday. I didn't travel for the holiday. Tom, you did.

But you were getting stuff thrown at you. It would not have been a very, Well, maybe it would have been an entertaining podcast, but one that probably would have been pretty difficult to listen to. Yeah, it was pure chaos in my house. My mother always hosts over Christmas, and my sister and her family came down. They got an 11-year-old and a 10-year-old, and, yeah, things were flying around the house, soccer balls, and, you know, just all kinds of chaos going on. My uncle also stays over.

So it would have been pretty tough to do. So we decided to nix it anyway. So I hope everybody did have a great holiday. And hopefully, if you're still listening to it, you're either crazy if you are, if you're still listening to this and your teams aren't alive. But thank you if you're still listening anyway. But we're assuming that you've made it to Week 17.

So a big congratulations on top of a happy holidays to everybody out there listening. Yeah. So, yeah, congratulations to make it this far. Tom, this WaverWire podcast, obviously, there's not a ton out there, but I wanted to start by talking at the top of the show about some of the potential playing time issues this week. Yeah, yeah, I think that's important.

We usually, we don't see it too much, you know, two games left to go, but there's some unique situations here this week. Tennessee has absolutely nothing to play for this week. Yeah, and of course they play the Thursday night game too. They play the Thursday night game against Dallas. Tennessee cannot improve nor harm its playoff chances this week. As a matter of fact, the only way Tennessee could probably harm its playoff chances is by guys getting hurt.

So Derek Henry was already on the injury report on Monday, I think it was a hip injury, listed as a DNP. Tom, I mean, I don't know what these coaches are going to do. Mike Vrable obviously was a Belichick guy, and Belichick, we know he's played guys in meaningless games. I remember, oh, it might have been my first year at Fantasy Guru back in the day, maybe 2009, where Wes Welker got hurt in a meaningless Week 17 game towards ACL. So I don't know what Mike Frable's going to do, but Tennessee could be very prudent and could rest people here. Now, of course, that really doesn't affect a whole lot for fantasy because if you're counting on anybody besides Derek Henry for fantasy with the Titans, you're probably eliminated anyway. But,

if you have been counting on Derek Henry, there's a good chance because of his performance the last couple of weeks that you've advanced to this point. So what is the deal with Derek Henry? What are you doing with Derek Henry? What is your read on this situation? I don't know. In terms of a read, I don't really have one. I think they, I think logically they should rest. I mean, he's their entire offense at this point. We got Malik Willis out there. He's not an NFL quarterback at this point. they should honestly take week 17 to try to experiment and get this guy more comfortable, throwing the ball and just try to improve the passing game against Dallas and really work on things.

Use this as almost like an exhibition game. So if I were the coaching staff, that's how I would kind of look at this. I would rest Derek Henry, get him back to full strength. You were going to want to run the ball about 35 times against the Jacksonville, Jaguars with him in week 18 because that's about the only chance they have of winning at this point. I mean, they're saying Ryan Tannihill had a tightrope surgery on his ankle. And I think it was a rabbit worth saying, oh, they're giving him a chance to play in week 18. I would just be completely floored if he was able to heal that quickly in play.

So I think the prudent thing for them to do would be to rest Eric Henry. and that would mean Hassan Haskins would be the ad off the waiver wire. Dantrell Hilliard had a neck injury, landed on the IR, I think, before week 15. So he's out of the picture for the rest of the season. Haskins really hasn't had many opportunities, but he did play 25% of the snaps in week 16. It was his highest snap share since week two when they got blown out by the bills and they were playing all the scrubs for basically the entire second half of that game. So they were trying to get Haskins on the field a little bit more.

He was used more in the Hilliard role in passing situations. But there were as close. There's not many guys that get caught to Derek Henry, but Haskins is a bigger guy who can run out of Michigan. He's kind of out of the Derek Henry mold. So he would be the guy to add here if you've been rostering Derek Henry and you made it to the finals and you need some kind of backup plan. But, I mean, quite honestly, Joe, I mean, I probably might want to look elsewhere for help if I could.

This is a spread that is sitting at 10 points against the Cowboys. We already touched on just how bad this offense has been with Malik Willis at quarterback. The total is sitting around 41 points. So they got an implied total basically right around 15 points or so in this game. And that could plummet even more. if Derek Henry is officially rolled out. So tough to feel very optimistic about this offense if Derek Henry is out of the mix. On the flip side of Tennessee not being able to improve or hurt its playoff standing in week 17,

is the fact that the Jacksonville Jaguars, who are their week 18 opponent, and I kind of buried the lead here, it's really looking like that week 18 game between Tennessee and Jacksonville is going to be a winner take all game. It's going to be the winner wins the AFC South, the loser goes home. That's it. But Jacksonville does have an outside chance to make the playoffs as a wild card with Tennessee also making the playoffs. So here is what needs to happen, Tom. It is a very low chance, but it is possible.

And I wonder if that's going to color Doug Peterson. Now, Doug Peterson, in his time in Philadelphia, he's an Andy Reid disciple. Doug Peterson is a starter rester. He will rest his starters, he doesn't worry about it. But here's what needs to happen for Jacksonville to make the playoffs, even if the Jags lose next week to the Titans. Okay, they need to win this week. They play the Texas.

That's possible, if not likely. Miami needs to lose out. Miami needs to lose to both the Dolph to the Patriots this week and Miami needs to lose to the Jets next week. Okay, those two things need to happen. The Jets need to lose this week to the Seahawks, but again have to beat Miami in week 18. All right. The Steelers need to lose one of their final two games. The Patriots need to beat the Dolphins this week, but lose to the Bills next week. and then, and that's it. And then the, so the Jaguars, if all that happens, they can lose next week's game and

still make the playoffs. It is a very, very, very outside shot of that happening. Yeah, I think that they'll probably want to go all off for this game. But I guess if I was rostering Travis ETIN, you know, not many teams probably made it to the finals if they had Travis ETIM. Unfortunately, he has not been surging down the stretch here. was actually just written up a little bit of his game hub. I think he hasn't scored in four or five games or top 15 fantasy points in that stretch.

But if you did have, if he did make it, maybe a pick-up hasty. This is a great matchup for running backs against the Texans run defense. That's the glaring weakness on this defense right now. So maybe a handcuff yourself. And Travis, at the end, he did have foot issues. who's, you know, it was more back in November. So that's like the one guy I could see. Maybe they take it a little easier on him.

Maybe he doesn't get his full workload. He's been up above 70% of the snaps at each of his five out of his last six games when he's been healthy here. So maybe they take it a little easier on him. But I'm kind of expecting them to try to want to keep the momentum going. This is a young team that's really starting to catch fire here. So I kind of see them wanting to keep the momentum going into that week 18 game. But ETN is the one guy I could see potentially.

Maybe they, I don't think they're going to outright sit on foot. Maybe if I had them, I would pick up hasty tonight use a waiver claim just in case they decide to maybe rest him in that game. The other one that I think is just interesting, although I seriously doubt they're going to rest players. The Chargers clinched a playoff spot last night with the win over the Colts. Cannot win the division. The Chiefs have already won that division. So they can't be any higher than the five seed, but that five seed can be very valuable.

Because if you presume that the status quo holds and the bills win the AFC East, obviously with two and now being injured, that's, that's, the bills have already won the AICS. I'm going to say, I think they've already clenched. The Chiefs have already won the AFC West. And the Bengals have not yet won the AFC North, but are favored to do so, obviously, with the way the Ravens have been trending. There's a lot of value in avoiding one of those three teams in the first round of the playoffs

and just getting the AFC South winner. Now, I know the Jaguars whipped the Chargers ass earlier this year, but I'd still much rather get a rematch against the Jaguars than have to play one of those three teams in my first matchup. Yeah, so I do think that they'll continue to play it out. The guy, you know, obviously Austin Echler had a little bit of an injury, shoulder arm in that week 15 game. Joshua Kelly's snaps have been on the rise here a bit in the last month or so

since he came back to the lineup. They've been trying to establish a running game. But I kind of see them going all out here. It's a game they want to win too. They're battling for that Los Angeles market a little bit, and they're playing the Rams who won the Super Bowl. So I think it's kind of a, you know, for as meaningless as that game, potentially is with the charge it already clenching and the Rams out of playoff contention.

I think they do want to win that one a little bit. So I do expect them to go all out, but maybe Echler. But Kelly might be a little bit of an ad for, you know, because we're not, we're not, we don't have specula. You know, we're not looking down the road here at this point on the waiver wire. So maybe, maybe Kelly's an ad for anybody that's been riding Echler off his two touchdown performance in week 16. So, but I see them playing to win that game.

just to see where it all stands here going out. Because they honestly, maybe they want to play. If the Ravens would somehow sneak into that three seed, maybe they'd much rather play them. As you said, they've beaten them. They have some confidence in that. So maybe they, you know, we'll see how it all kind of plays out. But I think they'll be going all out to win again.

All right. Let's start at the quarterback position and guys who are viable this week if you need a starter. Tom, I think there's a chance, Jalen Hertz plays this week. I wouldn't, I wouldn't go to print saying that he's going to, but I think there's a chance Jalen Hertz plays this week. But Gardner Minshu, if you started him, you have got to be thrilled with what he gave you in that game against out. A couple of turnovers. I think you can make the argument that at least one of his interceptions was all, all on Quest Watkins. But I think Gardner

Minchu with those weapons that he has are, I mean, he's, and Philly's in a must-win spot, not a must-win this week, but you want to lock up that number one seat as soon as possible so they can rest starters. Gardner-Minschew, if he goes this week, once again, we'll be on the QB1 radar against the Saints. Yeah, I'm totally there with you. I'm with you. I think Hertz could play this week, but I also think they're, they're at the point that, you know, they have, They want him to be 100% before they take him off the bench and back into the lineup. So if he's not even, if he's like a 90%, I think they might hold him back still. Munchu, I thought he played very well.

They weren't afraid to throw the ball with him in the lineup. They were still very aggressive. All the receivers got it done with him in the lineup here. So we got the Saints and we got the Giants to finish the season. I would expect, you know, Minchu would probably. probably be, he's going to be like a low-end QB-1 again if he would play. The Saints are also fighting for their lives, but this is a game that the Eagles have a little extra incentive to win, seeing as they get the Saints draft pick next year. So they want to make sure they get

clenched that, you know, NFC East here with a win this week while they also improve a future draft pick. So we'll monitor this situation, but hopefully if you had hurts last week you went out and picked up Gardner Moonshu as your replacement. I would continue to rule that way if you have hurts in your lineup. Even if the Eagles lose this week, by the way, the Giants, if the Giants beat the Colts, the Giants are basically locked into the six seed in the NFC. So the Giants will probably have nothing to play for next week. So that's another interesting kind of wrinkle there.

Teddy Bridgewater, he's available in every league. I mean, probably in all but the deepest of two QB leagues he's available in. And I have to imagine Tua is out this week with another concussion. Yeah, the one thing is they haven't announced a starter. We did see Skyler Thompson get a start earlier in the season, whenever Bridgewater was healthy enough to play. We'll see. I think they should go to Teddy Bridgewater, though.

He's the experienced guy. This is a must-win game here going up to New England, going against Belichick. I don't think you want to try it out Skyler Thompson. to play in that game. So Teddy Bridgewater should be the guy. We've seen it. If you have Tyreek Hill and you have Jane Laudel at your disposal,

you can certainly put up production. So if you've been rolling with Tua, it was a brutal performance there in Week 16, but we might have some more information why he was so bad in the second half there because it looked like it was a hit in the first half. So I'm with you, Joe. If they're going to err on the side of caution with him,

I know this is a must-win game and their playoff lives are at stake here, but it's one of their players' lives at stake. So they're probably going to err on the side of caution here, but Bridgewater, I think, would be the guy. We'll continue to monitor it here, but Mike McDaniel was, he was non-committal on Monday, but I would think that they would go back to Bridgewater in this must-win game in Week 17 up in New England.

I don't think they want to throw him to the wolves against Bill Belichick, scholar Tomlin, that is. Any interest in Carson Wentz? I do. I would have some. I don't think that this is a matchup against the Cleveland Browns, and they've been the worst run defense in the league.

That would probably keep me. He would knock him down the list for me, because I think we're going to probably see a healthy dose of Brian Robinson, maybe not Antonio Gibson. We saw Jonathan Williams playing a lot at the end of that game in week 16. But, Wince, I mean, he's shown some really,

high highs and some really low lows. I mean, it's the story of Carson Wentz's career. But he has Jahan Dotson back. We can touch on him shortly. He's got a full receiving course. So he's set up to put up a spike week. Maybe if I'm really hurting at the position and it's a two-qb league and I'm coming in as an underdog and I'm looking for a guy with a little bit higher ceiling than most, Carson Wentz can give that to you. Well, let's go to the running back position. Not much out there. No, there's, I mean, I think the most intriguing guy is Chuba Hubbard. I mean, but like, here's the thing with the Panthers.

And I totally mean this. Deontay Foreman runs for either 197 yards or two in any given game. You know, Chuba Hubbard went for 125. The cult situation's a disaster. I mean, if you started Dion Jackson or Zach Moss in that game, freaking Jordan Wilkins is out there. I mean, what a disaster that game was. Absolute disaster, Tom.

I mean, I could not believe how bad it was. Yeah, I don't. There's not a whole lot out there running back. I'm with you. Maybe you go with Askins. I think he's probably going to be the top option. If Derek Henry doesn't play, but that's a situation.

I don't really want to get into either in that bad offense. Moss does get. They did, I'll give Moss. I don't think he looked terrible last night. He was probably their best offensive player in that game. And it's not saying much because Nick Foles was a disaster. They couldn't get anything going in the passing game. Moss was having some success on the ground.

I'm surprised they didn't actually, you know, with Jeff Saturday head coach. I'm surprised they didn't stick with the run a little bit more in that game. So they do get a nice match up against the Giants. And we got at least further confirmation that Zach Moss is the lead guy here in this backfield with Dion Jackson having like, yeah, exactly, yay. So, but that's the say to the running back position this week. Maybe you go a little deeper. Maybe Gus Edwards is out there.

The Ravens had some success against the Steelers running the ball a couple of weeks ago. It was mostly J.K. Dobbins, but we've seen the Ravens really rotate these backs heavily. They've been kind of using a hot-hand approach with them, and Edwards got it last week. He had 99 yards on 11 carries. So maybe he's the play. If he's sitting out there on your waiver wire, he's 41% owned. But, yeah, there's just not a whole lot out there running back. Hopefully, you're all set.

And fortunately, I don't think we had many big injuries at the position. We just have the Derek Henry situation that we're really monitoring this week. Going a wide receiver, you talked already about Johan Dotson with Carson Went. Man, he's a stud, isn't he, too? Holy crap. He's ruining it for us, though. I mean, I wanted to draft him like 100 plus picks into drafts next year. And he's ruining that with his performance the last three weeks, unfortunately.

Among wide receivers, where was he drafted? He was, I think he might have been fourth among wide receivers. In this year's draft, he was 16 overall. Yeah, he was after a while. So I think London, Wilson, no, I think he was fifth among wide receivers. London Wilson-Alave and James and Williams were all drafted ahead of him. I think based on what I've seen from the eye test this year, the only one of those guys I take over him right now is Wilson. Yeah, I also think I might take a lot of it. He was, he's been playing really well.

I think Carmichael and Dennis Allen are completely moron. So, and that quarterback situation hasn't been totally ideal. But, I mean, Washington got some crap for that that was kind of called a reach pick whenever. Yeah, everybody kind of had Dotson as that second round pick or the late first. Yeah, late first, yeah, because I think Packers were a very popular destination for him at the end of draft. So he's certainly shown here. And he's going to get his boy. I mean, he was playing well at the beginning of the season before his hamstring injury. And that was with Carson Wentz in the lineup.

And we can remember back to training camp, that was the daily camp reports about how Doughtson was lighting it up with Carson Wentz. So he's going to, he has a real chance to finish this season strong here if he's sitting out there. And he is. I mean, he's only 15% owned. Had a tougher matchup against the 49ers last week and came through again. I mean, this guy's an absolute stud. He should probably be a wide receiver three in some lineups this week if you're hurting a wide receiver. One, I absolutely love this week.

And with Christian Watson potentially out in a great matchup with the Minnesota Vikings, the suddenly live Green Bay Packers have Romeo Dobbs back. Yes, and they get the Vikings, the matchup of all matchups. And even if you're one of those lunatics that plays into week 18, then he gets the lions. So, I mean, it doesn't get much sweeter than that to finish the season. We'll see about the Watts and stuff. They're calling him day-to-day. I think he was mouthing on the sideline to Aaron Rogers that he had a hip flexer in that Sunday game.

So we'll see if he's able to play or not. I probably would lean towards not playing him if Watson does play. He was clearly the third option among the perimeter receivers. But if there's any, we have some doubt at this point. So it might be worth at least a waiver claim. You can always drop him later in the week if Watson is declared that he's going to play. But if Watson is out of the lineup, the Packers are starting to hit their stride a little bit here. It took until December, but they're starting to hit their stride offensively here, going into the final week.

So Dobbs is in a position to potentially blow up here. I mean, the next guy on the list, Isaiah Hodgins, I mean, he blew up in this Vikings matchup. So, you know, we're targeting receivers that are going against the Vikings every week at this point. Yeah, and also Richie James for the Giants. Indianapolis is the matchup this week. No Kenny Moore, the slot corner. That is where KJ Osborne had himself a career game. Keenan Allen caught 11 passes on Monday night.

So if Kenny Moore is not out there again, I think it's a potential big game for Richie James. I would not blame anybody at all for starting him. And the Giants have everything to play for this week. If the Giants win this week, Tom, they basically lock up the number six seat in the NFC. So what they're essentially playing for is not just clinching a playoff spot and they're seating, but you get a mini-bought because then they wouldn't have to play anybody in week 18,

and they've been one of the more injured teams in the NFL. Yeah, this is a spread that keeps growing here with the Colts issues here, up to three and a half four in some spots. Yeah, this is certainly a game that they're going to go all out for. So Hodgins has been coming on strong up over 15 fantasy points with a, touchdown in three of his last four games. And Richie James has been more of the PPR guy. He's had three catches in five of his last six games.

So certainly both of those guys are coming on strong here. Daniel Jones is playing at a pretty high level, considering the dire circumstances he's faced at receiver. But he's finally had some receivers kind of step up here with these guys behind Darius Slayton. So I think that they're both in play again here with a pretty nice matchup. I mean, this Colts matchup was a little bit more of one that you would probably avoid just a couple of weeks ago, but this team is quickly falling apart.

Any interest in these jet receivers now that Mike White is back in the fold? The guy I would have more interest in is Rashid Shaheed if he's still out there. 8% owned, so he probably should be. I'm just tossing out that week 16 game. But he did have 41 receiving yards. his player prop was set around 27 and a half, 28 and a half. So he easily exceeded expectations last week, and he's been exceeding expectations for the last month.

So we'll keep an eye on Chris Olavie and Jarvis Landry. Oh, Jarvis Landry is already out. He's on the IOR. Chris Olavé, we'll see if he plays or not. Saints do have a glimmer of hope. So if Alave is anywhere close to being healthy, he'll probably play. The only problem is this is a brutal matchup against the Eagles this week. You're not, you're going to, difficult time producing much in this matchup.

But Shaheed's the kind of guy. I mean, he's a big play waiting to happen. So if he can hit one deep shot, that's all he needs to really come through for fantasy. But he's a certainly guy on the rise here a little bit. Again, and then at the tight end position, you know, Juan Johnson. Yeah, it's really. bad at tight end. I'll just say, Juan Johnson, that was another game. We'll throw out the result with week 16.

Maybe he gets dropped a little bit, but yeah, it's the Eagles matchup again. Hayden Hurst might be back. He practiced all week, and then they rolled him out. Do have a big game against the bills. He was pretty good in turn, you know, it wasn't big plays or many touchdowns, but he did have four receptions in seven, of his first 12 games. So lower PPR option and then maybe a guy going deeper with Mike White coming back in the lineup. Tyler Conklin, he's been splitting time with CJ Usoma, but Seattle is, you know, right behind the Arizona Cardinals in terms of being a tight end target. So maybe Conklin has a spike week here in a really good matchup. All right, T, bro. That'll do it. We had a lot more than I

thought we were now. Yeah, well, we talked a lot about, like, the potential playoff scenarios and whatnot. We'll see what happens, Tom. There could be a lot, there could be a lot just kind of wrapping up here and guys getting locked into their spots, getting locked into their seating. And week 18 could be a bloodbath. You have to wait to see how things play out. But I think this year is going to be one of those years that shows you why most fantasy

leagues ended week 17. Yeah, there's certainly a lot of scenarios where things could be locked up before week 18. So I hope you're not a lunatic and played a week 18. You know, save that for doing the betting, doing the DFS. That's what that's what week 18 is meant for. Not finishing your fantasy league with a fantasy final in week 18. That's, that's crazy. But if you're one of those crazy people out there, we'll still have content. We'll still do a WaverWire article. I don't know. Do we usually do a WaverWire podcast week 18 i think we usually take that off this might be the last one of the year joe yeah this might this might well be the last one of the year tom one thing i want to do though is like throughout january and stuff i want to start you and you maybe sitting down kind of like recap in the year

previewing the next year you know just things like that i think that'll be a lot of fun to do oh absolutely just have some chats like that i know you people if you have if you finish strong you look to next year because you're like man i really want to get back after it if you finish if you finish week and and maybe you peter out, you're like, man, I really want to get back out there after it and rebound. So I think we'll do that. Go to FantasyPoint.com, subscribe to the Super Early Bird Special. I'm a terrible salesman, by the way. I probably should have mentioned that at the time.

Yeah, I was setting you up there, Joe, with the gambling and the DFS talk going into Week 18. Oh, no, yeah. So, like, by the way, if you subscribe to the Super Early Bird Special, you get all of 2020, plus the rest of 2022, including our playoff content, and it's 30% off, okay? like 30% off no promo code needed it literally is just there for you our super early bird special that special runs throughout the super bowl so you'll want to get in on the ground floor for tom brawley at tom brolly on twitter i am joe dolan at fg underscore dolein on twitter thank you everybody for listening to this edition of the waver wire podcast i hope we served you well this year and have a

great great week 17 good luck in your championships this edition of the Fantasy Points podcast. Remember to subscribe, rate, and review on your favorite platform, and come join the roster at FantasyPoint.com.