Fantasy Football Daily - Welcome to Championship Week! | Week 17 Waiver Wire Podcast

Episode Date: December 26, 2023

Joe Dolan (@FG_Dolan) and Tom Brolley (@TomBrolley) take a look at a bare but important waiver wire, as they try to help you fill out your roster for your fantasy championship game! SIGN UP FOR FANTASY POINTS IN 2024 AT OUR EARLY-BIRD RATE, INCLUDING OUR NEW ALL-IN PACKAGE: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.fantasypoints.com/plans#/ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fantasy-points-podcast/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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This Black Friday, you've got a whole month to catch all the exclusive offers waiting for you. See your local Nissan dealer or nison.ca for details. Conditions apply. It's time for the Fantasy Points podcast brought to you by Fantasy Points.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. If you are listening to this show, congratulations, you made it. Week 17, the Waverwire is here. Merry Christmas. Happy New Year.

It's a little, it's Christmas is over, but New Year's coming. And I'm sure some of you are still celebrating the Christmas holiday. So I hope you all had a wonderful one. I hope Sandy Claus brought you everything that you wanted. T. Bro. Yes. There, I got some good news and some bad news. Okay.

The good news is if you're listening to this show, you probably made the championship. First and foremost, you and I are facing off in our collegiate league championship. beat chip match up. I haven't won the damn league in 15 years. You got a you got a good one. I had a good week this past week, but I think you've you've had the better team overall for most of the years. I was first in scoring the league. So, hey, look, the way I looked at it was I went and looked up our prize structure and I've already got to pay out for most points. And even if I finish second, I get another payout. So I'm okay with that, you know, and I'm always of the mind before I get to the point here. You know, I had a few teams and said, get me one.

through. You know, like if I have some semi-final teams, get me one through so I have something to care about. Mission accomplished this year. I made a bad decision in one of my other leagues, but the bad decision didn't make, it didn't matter because I would have gotten blown out anyway. So I can wash my hands of some other leagues. But T-bro, that's the good news is if you're listening to this show like us, you're in a championship match. The bad news is if you need somebody on the waiver wire, good luck. I'm not sure there's going to be a whole. lot out there this week Tom um john john hanson is actually as we're as we're speaking is still working on the waiver wire document um and and he said uh he said he said j osborne um is probably going to be

one of the top options and i kind of agree with that so tom let's start with minnesota um jordan addison picked up an ankle injury and it looks like t j hawkinson picked up a pretty serious knee injury um so let's start with with what you guys i'm just a little bit serious knee injury um so let's start with what John was suggesting is one of the top guys on the Waverwire, KJ Osborne. Nick Mullins at quarterback Tom, he threw for 400 yards and I have no idea how. I don't think he made a good throw the entire game. Justin Jefferson bailed them out. The thing is, I think Mullins could end up getting benched at some point during the game. Does that matter with KJ. Osborne? What's your outlook for this passing game outside of Justin Jefferson? Yeah, we got

It didn't sound like Addison's injury was too serious. We'll have to monitor that. But, yeah, T.J. Hawkinson is going to be out of the mix here. Obviously, he's been one of the best tight ends all season, collecting a lot of targets and a lot of catches. So those are going to be spread out a little bit more. As we've seen, even since Kirk Cousins went out of the lineup, they've remained a very pass-heavy offense. They don't have much of a running game anyway. So if Osborne is going to be elevated into a bigger role here, maybe Addison does play,

but maybe he's not at 100%. So Osborne is certainly going to have a little bit bigger role here. And we get, we're down to the nitty gritty here. So we're looking at one matchup, one matchup only, and that's for this week. And he gets a Packer secondary that just got torched again by the Carolina Panthers. J. Tark is going for two touchdowns. Adam Thielen's looked gone for the last six weeks. He has a big game against that Packer secondary.

So especially over the middle of the field, they've been really struggling against slot receivers. So that's primarily where Osborne's going to play. So if you're looking for a little bit of help here off the wide receiver waiver wire, I certainly think Osborne could be, you know, a guy that gets you five or 50 and you just hope that maybe he scores a touchdown. Yeah. So we're going to be digging deep here, Tom.

Let's look at some other injuries. Isaiah Pacheco. You want to go to the tight end? Yeah, Hawkinson is the biggest injury, so I think we should maybe look there. Let's go there as well. Okay, yeah, Tucker Kraft, really coming on strong here. We got to monitor their injury report here. Luke Musgrave is eligible to come off.

You know, reporters last week were saying that he started to work a little bit on the side. So there's a potential that he comes back and kind of nukes this situation. But frankly, I thought Musgrave was playing pretty well earlier in this. this season, but Kraft has been playing better than him the last, you know, five weeks or so since he kind of took over the position. And they're dealing with their own kind of injuries there. Jaden Reed missed last week with a toe injury. Christian Watson can't get over this hamstring issue that he has. Don Tavian Wicks picked up a chest injury. So if Musgrave would miss again, Kraft is a must start for me, especially if, you know, you've been riding Hawkinson here.

He's 19% owned. So he should be. be out there in most leagues, at least in, you know, 12 team leagues. So it's, you know, it's not the greatest matchup, but I do think we could have a little bit of back and forth in this game between the Packers and, and the Vikings here. So craft would be my number one option, but we do got to watch the Musgrave situation this week. Tom, going down the board at tight end, Chica Conquo is actually, he's been kind of a start worthy tight end here over the last month. He caught the touchdown pass from Derek Henry this past week. We'll see if Ryan Tannanhill starts again.

But he's come on at the end of the season just like you did last year. Yeah, he has a mental block, I guess, for the first two months of the season. But he's been steadily coming on here. Hadn't scored since last year. That's kind of been the one thing that's really held him back. It's been putting up pretty steady production here over the last four to six weeks. But finally broke through with the touchdown score. Had to come from Derek Henry.

on a trick play. But we get another matchup here against the Texans team that has given up a lot of production to tight ends. Had 36 receiving yards and three catches in this matchup in week 15. It does look like it's sounding a little bit positive that C.J. Stroud could be back for the Texans. So maybe that lifts up the scoring potential in this game, a little bit more passing potentially in this game if C.J. Stroud plays.

So if you're going to go to Chiguaquo, you want to see a little bit of more back and forth here and looks like it could happen. So Chig has been coming on and hopefully maybe we can make it back to back back to back weeks with touchdowns. Tom, Isaiah Pacheco picks up a concussion in week 16. They obviously put Jerich McInnan on IR because they played on Monday. It's a short week for Pacheco. So if he doesn't get clear, dare we start Clyde Edwards a lair? in a league in week 17. You might have to.

It's a good matchup. We got the Bengals this week. You know, everybody's been running on them. Edwards-Hillair. It was a good matchup against the Raiders last week, and they had very little success running the ball. But I did make up for it a little bit in the passing game.

He's been, you know, relatively active in the passing game. I'm looking at it, you know, two for 29, a week 14, had the receiving touchdown in 64 yards against the Patriots in week 15. and three for 42 as a receiver in week 16. If we're going to take Jerich McKinnon out of the mix, not getting a whole lot out of the receiver position for the Kansas City Chiefs anyway, outside of Rishi Rice and Travis Kelsey.

So at the very least, maybe he can give us a little bit of receiving production. You're never going to be super effective as a runner. That's just not his game at this point. But with McKinnon out of the mix, Maybe he can at least lift his fantasy production this week as a receiver. So at the very least, he could at least get you 15 to 20 touches. We'll see how effective it is with that. But we like the matchup and we like the potential for a bell cow role this week for Clyde Edwards Hilar.

Chase Brown, Tom. We've been talking about him on the podcast. Remember a few weeks ago, I mentioned that I thought he could be next year's Rashad White. He's looked really good down the stretch here. available in like 80% of leagues. And he just looks better than Joe Mixing to me. But it's potentially that he looks better because he simply has fresher legs. Yeah.

But at this time of year, we'll take it. And they have been putting a little bit more work on his plate, especially as a receiver. They were, you know, kind of hesitant at first. But every week now, they're coming out with these little design screens for him to, you know, potentially make a big playoff of them. And couldn't get much going last week, but 38 fantasy points over the last four weeks. And Bengals are still in the mix here. But this could be another week with Jamar Chase gone.

So they need another playmaker outside of T. Higgins. And Joe Mixing really isn't that guy anymore. So Chase Brown, it's not a whole lot of work, but at least probably get in the 8 to 10 touch range here. And hopefully it gets a couple catches against the Chiefs this week. Tom Justice Hill, he got 13 opportunities against the 49ers in week 16, obviously a good defense. The Ravens with an impressive performance in that game. If you're desperate, Justice Hill, as we mentioned, somebody who's at least going to get chances in a good offense. Yeah, 10 carries last night, three for 31 receiving.

So, you know, solid usage. We get another matchup with the dolphins this week, another game that should be competitive. We worry in other scenarios where it might be a blowout city. and Gus Edwards is getting a lot of touches, but should be a relatively competitive game. And maybe this starts to go a little bit back and forth. And, you know, Lamar Jackson and the Ravens have to go a little more pass heavy. That could certainly help him out.

But not a whole lot of Melvin Gordon last night. So that was one thing I was kind of watching. It was mostly a two-man back feel. Yeah, Melvin Gordon didn't even get a touch. I don't even know if he played any snaps in that game. So it was a two-man backfell, which was good to see in Baltimore, if we're really looking for some running back help, at least as a two-man rotation right now.

Let's go to quarterback, Tom, because I know there's going to be people streaming the position this week. My wife has a championship matchup, and she picked up both Nick Mullins and Joe Flacco. She went with Mullins this week, which ended up being, I mean, it was a fine call. But, I mean, if you watch the game, if you watch the game, Mullen's turned up, he had, what, four interceptions and he tried to throw about five more. He had got his receivers killed.

She, I know Joe Flacco's got the Jets this week, but Cleveland cannot run the football. They just cannot do it. They had to put Flacco back in the game because they couldn't put them away. I mean, now that's also on the defense, not being able to stop Davis Mills, but they couldn't. They can't run the football. So against the Jets, I still think Joe Flacko is going to have to drop back 50 times, Tom. I'm with you. They have just can't get anything going with Jerome Ford and Kareem Hunt and Pierre Strong.

That was a tough matchup against the Texans. But I think this, I mean, we look at the numbers, 42 passes in four straight games. This is a pass heavy offense. And Joe's playing a really high level here. You know, he's surging up to like the comeback player of the year award. and he's certainly an awesome story here. Quick turnaround to week 17. They play on Thursday night,

but I'm with you if I got to choose between like a flaco and Mullins. Like Mullins, I'd be worried. He could get the hook after the first series and he throws if he throws another interception. So Kevin O'Connell looked pretty distraught at some of those interceptions that he had. We might even hear later today that they could be going with Jaron Hall or I don't know if they go back to Josh Dobbs yet,

but I wouldn't be surprised. But Flacco, we're going to get some volume from him. You got to take the turnovers that you're going to get as well. But certainly getting a lot of volume and a lot, a chance to throw some touchdown passes. But we'll see if this Jets, you know, this is a, not, you know, they were kind of, they really, it seemed like they really wanted to win that game on Sunday.

They were pretty fired up. We'll see how much energy they still have here. Got to travel to Cleveland. short week. Maybe we could have a little bit of a blowout situation, potentially, if the Jets don't show up. So I do think Flacco, it's not a ton of great options out there for streaming quarterbacks, but just the way he's playing and how much they're throwing it,

he's got to be the top option. Yeah. And here's some of the other streaming quarterback options. The matchups are difficult. Jake Browning plays the Chiefs. Now, the Chiefs are terrible offensive. But, what, Aiden O'Connell is, what, 9 of 21 against them? Like, he was so freaking bad.

Oh, he was so bad. So Browning's got a tough matchup. We'll see if he gets Jamar Chase back. You mentioned Mullins. Mullins is at a risk to get benched at any time. So that's not a great option. Jacoby Brissette might get the start this week for the commanders, but they play the 49ers, a pissed off 49ers team.

Have fun with that. Gardner Minchus got the Raiders, just, you know, got after Patrick Mahomes. And we saw what he did without Michael Pittman. I mean, it was, I mean, no way. I'm not, I would not go anywhere near Minchu if Pittman's even questionable to play in this week. Easton Stick plays the Broncos, which I think is somewhat appealing, especially if they

get Kenney, uh, if they are able to get Keenan Allen back, Tom. So I look, I look at Joe Flacko and I say, yeah, the matchup against the Jets is tough, but who do you trust more? Like I don't, none of these streaming options. Yeah, Joe, Derek Carr is, I mean, yeah, we're going to get real excited here about their car, but they do, they, out of these guys that have, you know, that we could potentially stream, he gets the Buccaneers this week, which is a, a solid match. They have been thrown a little bit more.

He's actually put up his two best games, you know, the last couple of weeks here. So he has a little bit of hope. He's 39% on. So he might not even be out there. but I'm with you. There's not a lot of great situations here this week for these streaming quarterbacks. So I would turn to Joe Flacco again. He's around 33% owns right now.

So he could be out there still. He would be the number one guy for me once again this week, even in that matchup against the Jets. And like, objectively, the best matchup for these quarterbacks is Mullen. But the risk is just, I mean, that's something I think you do indeed. F.S, right? Like, if you're mass entering a tournament, hey, make a Mullins Jefferson KJ Osborne stack, given Bryce Young just through for what, 3.30 against them, you know, but in your season long league, I think you've got to play more of a baseline option. To me, that's Flacko. Yeah, you could be leaving the game with negative points if you start, Nick Mullins.

So, and I think it's going to be a quick hook this week. If he has any kind of struggles early in that game. I don't see him playing very long. So O'Connell was kind of seething on the sideline. And we saw just a couple of weeks ago with Dobbs that they weren't afraid after struggles the week before to pull the quarterback. So I think O'Connell will have a very, very, very, very short lease for Nick Mullins this week.

T-Bro, welcome. Welcome to Championship Week. We made it. At this point, the good news is I think every. team even in the playoff hunt has a motivation this week. After this week, though, the picture becomes clearer. I think there's a chance multiple teams are resting starters next week. So if you're playing, have fun with that. The waiver wire is about as bare as it gets right now, but you've made it to championship week. Congratulations. I hope we helped you in some way, if not on this

program, this season. And I want everybody to remember if we did help you, go check out FantasyPoint.com. We have our early bird special. including our new all-in package. You can get it for the lowest rate for 2024. We're going to offer all year. And if you use code Santa points 24, I'll throw 10% on top of that. So I think-

If you're listening now, yeah, take advantage of that. And, you know, maybe you'll, your winnings as well. If you win your leg, you save a little bit of money as well on the subscription. So you're just, you know, making out like a bandit here this week. All right, T-Bro. Merry Christmas to you. Happy New Year. We're going to be at each other's throats later in the week for our championship clash.

And I hope you're at your buddy's throat for your championship clash. Thanks, everybody, and we'll talk to you later. Thanks for tuning in to 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.