If you’re reading this, there’s one piece of information you should know before you start reading names. As with last year’s series, we will be using player roster percentages, courtesy of real dynasty rosters from 1,700 MFL leagues. While this may not be entirely accurate for each individual league, it is highly reflective of how managers view who is and is not worthy of a roster spot. Now that that’s covered, let’s dive into the waiver thread after week 15!
Players can double check availability and immediately add:
Gardner Minshew, QB KC
So clearly the biggest injury this week was Patrick Mahomes suffering a torn ACL, which brings an abrupt end to the Chiefs’ season and any hopes of not only making the playoffs, but competing for a Super Bowl. And for many of you, you may have just lost your starting quarterback on your playoff dynasty team, which means you should probably do whatever you can to get Minshew off waivers. The good news is that the Chiefs play the Titans in Week 16 for semifinal games, so there’s a good chance he can give you a solid starting spot to advance to the championship. The bad news is that the Chiefs play Denver in Week 17, which likely won’t be a fun time for Minshew. But hey, this is fantasy football and weird things happen all the time. We’ve seen Minshew perform well in fantasy on multiple teams before and at least this time he has Andy Reid calling plays while throwing to Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy and Travis Kelce… theoretically it could be even worse.
Michael Carter, RB ARI
I mentioned last week that I added Carter last week to handcuff Zonovan Knight for the remainder of the season, and Knight will be carted off the field early in the game this week with an ankle injury. In his place, Carter totaled 94 yards on 18 touches against the Texans’ defense as the clear whistle over Emari Demercado. Assuming Knight is done for the season, Carter is a legitimate flex option for the next two weeks against the Falcons in Week 16 and then the Bengals in championship week. He should get a ton of volume and opportunities, and if he falls in the end zone a week, he should provide a 20-point lead. If he’s still available, he’s the only guy on this list who I feel confident starting and who can legitimately help you win a championship right off waivers.
Evan Hull, RB and Audric Estime, RB NO
The other running back injury this week was to Devin Neal, as the Saints running back room now has their fourth and fifth options in Evan Hull and Audric Estime. Now you’d have to be in trouble to have to start any of these guys in the semifinals, but someone out there might be in that situation. I’m not sure who would be the better addition and start – Evan Hull has been given the backup role behind Neal for weeks, but he’s a smaller back and I don’t think he’d get the main role with Neal out, but he should definitely get work through Estime. Etime is the one I would predict will see 12+ carries, but that might not amount to much yardage, which is a dud for fantasy football, especially if he doesn’t score or catch the ball. So Hull is probably the best choice and then hope he gets more carries if he proves he’s simply the better player (which he probably is), but this is probably an ugly timeshare on a not very good team that you should look elsewhere if you can. But if not, go for Hull.
Olamide Zaccheaus, WR CHI
As for the wide receivers, Luther Burden had a very nice day before leaving with an ankle injury that he did not return from. I haven’t heard anything as of this writing about whether he could have returned or not, because the Bears won by three scores within minutes of him leaving the game, so maybe they didn’t feel the need to bring him back. But if Burden were to miss time, alongside Rome Odunze who is likely ready for fantasy season after re-aggravating his foot injury in warmups, Olamide Zaccheaus becomes the de facto WR2 behind DJ Moore in this Bears offense, and he’s a good enough player to be relevant in fantasy (I would know, I started him in the championship last year and he scored 22.5 fantasy points for me that week!).
Zaccheaus has been productive at times this year for the Bears as a kind of generic version of Wan’Dale Robinson with good PPR production but little actual yardage. But if he were to move into the more full-time role he shared with Burden and see an uptick in targets, he could have some sneaky production to end the year, especially against a Packers defense that was just getting swamped by Bo Nix and Zaccheaus already scoring this year, and then the Niners in Week 17, who were bottom 12 against receivers entering the week. Again, this depends on Burden actually missing games, so if you hear Tuesday afternoon that he’s doing well and practicing, you don’t have to worry about adding Zaccheaus. But if Burden is out, he could provide sneaky flex value right off the waiver wire.
Tutu Atwell, WR, Jordan Whittington, WR, Colby Parkinson, TE and Tyler Higbee, TE LAR
The last thing I want to address this week is the Rams pass catcher situation after both Davante Adams and Puka Nacua went down against the Lions this week, even though Nacua returned at the end of the game. But Adams has been dealing with nagging injuries for weeks that haven’t stopped him from playing, but now it’s a hamstring injury and I hate hamstring injuries because they take time to heal properly – time that LA could have now if they control their own destiny for first place in the NFC and their eyes are on another Super Bowl this decade. It’s also going to be tough for Adams because the Rams play Thursday this week, so a quick turnaround may not be in the cards for him this week and if LA wins that game, they’ll get easier matchups against Atlanta and Arizona to really give Adams some rest heading into a potential bye week in the playoffs.
If Adams were to miss games, it would increase the values of Tutu Atwell and Jordan Whittington as WR replacements on the field with Nacua. But it could also mean a higher target share for the tight end position, especially Colby Parkinson, who has been doing really well for a few weeks since Tyler Higbee was placed on IR, but Higbee is eligible to return this week, so I don’t want to forget about him or the impact he could have on Parkinson. It would be hard to trust either of these guys with Adams out this week. This would be more of a speculative addition for week 17 if you needed someone next week and wanted to gather information about week 16 usage without Adams. If Adams and Higbee are out this week, I think Parkinson is a more than decent start at tight end against Seattle, and then see what happens with Tutu and Whittington if Adams were to miss Week 17 as well.
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