Week 17 Waiver Targets

These are the top players to consider adding from waivers this week. Unless otherwise noted, all players below are available in greater than 50% of Yahoo leagues (as of Sunday evening). Priorities listed are meant to differentiate between some of the options available and are assuming 12-team, single-QB, fantasy formats.

It’s fantasy football championship week in most season-long head-to-head fantasy leagues, good luck to those still in contention! Many managers will be competing for final league placements, but some others may still be looking to optimize their team’s Week 17 performance for bragging rights or to avoid a last-place punishment or penalty.

While the focus of this week’s column is obviously to suggest some potential spot-starting options to consider. You’ll note that many of these suggestions also double as players to consider adding as a defensive measure to stop your opponent from showing up with them in a matchup against you. Happy Holidays to all of the OWS Daily Dose readers and good luck this week in your championship matchups!

QB Streamer of the Week

Tyler Shough, NO, Week 17 at TEN

• Shough had his first career 300-yard passing game last week in a convincing win over the Jets, feeding star WR Chris Olave for over 100 yards and a TD before Olave caught a late second TD from utility man Taysom Hill once the game was well in hand.

• Shough and the Saints will be road favorites at Tennessee in Week 17 and will be sporting one of their stronger implied team point totals of the Shough era. The Titans shut down a shell-shocked Chiefs team playing their third-string QB this past week but have otherwise been very generous to opposing passing games for much of the season.

• Low-priority add. Shough is my favorite widely available QB streamer to consider for Week 17 matchups.

RB Pickups

Michael Carter, AZ, Week 17 at CIN

• Carter, like the rest of the AZ offense, had an underwhelming performance in a Week 16 loss to the Falcons. The veteran RB maintained a healthy role, seeing half of the team’s RB carries and two of their three RB targets, but failed to catch either pass and finished with 65 scoreless yards on the ground.

• Arizona mixed both Corey Kiner (6-32 rushing) and Emari Demercado (5-30 rushing, one target) into its Week 16 lineup and it’s reasonable to expect more of the same this week. I still think there’s a path to more upside for Carter if he can catch a few passes this week against a generous Cincy defense. Last week was only the second time this season that Carter recorded multiple carries in a game and didn’t also catch 2+ passes.

• High-priority add. Carter seems poised to finish the fantasy football season as a favorite to lead his team in touches in a dream matchup against an extremely generous Bengals defense. This is the type of defensive play to make even if you “don’t need” Carter this week; the game opened with the week’s highest implied point total (53.5), and there should be fantasy points to go around.

Blake Corum, LAR, Week 17 at ATL

• Corum saw a season-best 14 carries in last week’s wild TNF loss to the Seahawks. He found the end zone for a fourth consecutive game but had just 48 yards, his worst output in over a month.

• The Rams have opened as eight-point favorites on the road against the Falcons this week. The Rams have a strong implied team total and seem likely to be missing star WR and TD-maven Davante Adams for another week.

• High-priority add. What began as a premier handcuff option has morphed into a standalone fantasy RB role down the stretch of the year. The second-year runner has an outrageous 328-5 rushing line on 11 carries per game over his four-game TD streak. I think he can be deployed as a Flex option as needed, even in PPR leagues, indoors against the Falcons.

Jawhar Jordan, HOU, Week 17 at LAC

• Jordan led the Texans backfield with 20 more touches last week against the Raiders after his 17-touch NFL debut in Week 15. He didn’t find as much room to operate this week, accumulating 70 scoreless yards in a defensive struggle at home.

• Things won’t be getting any easier on the road this week against a tough Chargers defense but Jordan seems likely to lead the RB room if Woody Marks misses another game with his ankle injury.

• Medium-to-high priority add. I believe Jordan should be added, speculatively, to contending rosters this week. I do prefer Carter and Corum as additions (and plays) this week, but all three make sense to add to benches, even for teams with strong RB and flex options to keep them from an opponent.

WR Pickups

Parker Washington, JAX, Week 17 at IND

• P-Wash had a massive 6-145-1 line on his team-best 10 targets last week, thriving as a third WR option behind/alongside Jakobi Meyers and Brian Thomas Jr. for a suddenly surging Jaguars offense.

• This week, the Jags have a rest advantage against their division-rival Colts, who are coming off of their MNF game against the 49ers. Jacksonville has opened as 6.5-point road favorites in a game with a solid 46.5 implied total.

• Medium-priority add. I don’t think I’d start a tertiary Jags WR with my fantasy title on the line but I do think the matchup and game environment are strong enough here that he’s worth adding to block your opponent from having the option.

Some lower priority / deeper-league WR options to consider ::

• Chimere Dike (TEN) - The explosive rookie slot WR caught his fourth TD of the season to go along with his pair of punt-return TDs in an impressive rookie campaign. His five Week 16 targets were tops among Titans WRs.

• Jayden Higgins (HOU) - The rookie is admittedly struggling with back-to-back one-catch games, but he continues to operate as the Texans’ secondary WR option behind star Nico Collins.

TE Streamer of the Week

Colston Loveland, CHI, Week 17 at SF

• Loveland had a quiet 3-30 receiving game in Saturday night’s comeback win over the division-rival Packers despite several key Bears’ WRs missing the game with injuries. It was, however, Loveland’s 10th straight game with 3+ catches.

• This week’s matchup, at the 49ers, has opened with a solid 50.5-point implied point total, one of the top projected game environments of the week. While he didn’t have his best performance last week, I still think Loveland makes for a fringe fantasy TE starter this week, especially if one, or both, of Rome Odunze and Luther Burden miss another game.

• Medium-priority add. If you need a fantasy TE to pick up off of waivers and start immediately, Loveland is the best widely available waiver-wire option to consider.

DEFENSE (Top pickups for Week 17)

1. Patriots (at Jets)

2. Buccaneers (at Dolphins)

3. Titans (home vs Saints)

4. Chargers (home vs Texans)