Ideally, you wouldn’t need a fantasy football waiver thread column at this late date. Here’s hoping you find yourself in the semis, coming out of a playoff bye with a healthy and loaded roster. However, not all of us are in this situation. For those of you who have various imaginary problems to solve, we have potential solutions. Each player featured below is available in the majority of Yahoo leagues and approved for immediate use. Let’s move on to championship week.
Running backs on the wire
Tyler Allgeier, Atlanta Falcons (37% registered)
Allgeier ran with a remarkable purpose Sunday violence in New Orleans, setting a new career high with 139 rushing yards, with a killer 5 yard score included:
In the first game of Desmond Cavalier In the quarterback era, Atlanta ran the ball 39 times and attempted just 26 passes despite trailing several points early. We should expect exactly that kind of run-to-pass ratio in the final weeks of the season.
Allgeier split engages fairly evenly with Cordarelle Patterson, edging the vet by 84 yards from scrimmage. Each back caught a pass from Ridder. Allgeier is now averaging 3.52 yards after contact per attempt — eighth-best in the league — and he spent his Sunday freaking around and through various Saints defensive players. The BYU rookie earns 5.0 YPC over the season. He also gave himself a chance to hit the 1,000-yard plateau. He is a viable flex in the final weeks.
Recommended bid, assuming a $100 budget: Listen, we’re in the playoff semifinals. Empty the wallet if necessary. These false funds are not carried over to next season.
In the somewhat unlikely event that you make the fantasy playoffs after being drafted Jonathan Taylor first overall…well, thanks for playing this season. Great effort.
Your luck ran out in the quarterfinals when Taylor suffered an ankle injury in Indy’s first savage losing streak against the Vikings. Just an abrupt break in a game where the Colts took a huge lead, a scenario that would have ensured a monster performance for a healthy Taylor.
With JT sidelined, Deon Jackson soon found the endzone:
You may recall when Taylor missed time earlier in the season in Weeks 5-6, Jackson gained 212 scrimmage yards on 39 touches, catching 14 balls and delivering a score. He finished with 14 touches and 56 total yards against Minnesota on Saturday, though he also lost a crushing fumble late in the game, accelerating his team’s freefall.
Moss passed Jackson and touched Jackson, carrying 24 times for 81 yards. He also got knocked off the goal line several times during the Colts’ first series after Taylor’s exit, and he wasn’t exactly hyper efficient on the field. But he dominated the rushing work after Jackson’s fumble, which probably tells us something about this advancing backfield hierarchy. Moss and Jackson’s next match against the Chargers is spectacular, so these backs are both on the radar with Taylor is expected to sit out the remainder of the season. The preferred option here is Moss, the favorite for early keys.
Offer: $18 and $9
Other RB adds: Chuba Hubbard (it’s broken Onta Foreman on Sunday, 29-14, and functioned as Carolina’s primary receiving option in the backfield), Khalil Herbert (he’s a good bet to return for Week 16 and he leads all qualified running backs in yards per carry at 6.0), Jaylen Warren (The rookie had a season-high 11 carries on Sunday, plus he reached the end zone; he and Najee Harris get a friendly match with Vegas this week), Joshua Kelly (he runs as a clear number 2 behind Austin Ekeler and he broke the plane against the Titans).
We should probably also mention that Royce Freeman and Dare Ogunbowale leads the Texas backfield on Sunday, but these two are tied to an underperforming offense and the upcoming game against Tennessee is unusually tough. These two do not receive an official endorsement.
Wide receivers and tight ends to prioritize
At this point, it’s never a surprise to see Dotson find the end zone for the Commanders – the rookie scored again on Sunday night, his sixth peak in nine games this year. Dotson also hauled in that groundbreaking contested deep ball, a catch that seemed, for the moment, like it would change the trajectory of Washington’s season:
He delivered his first 100-yard performance on Sunday and he’s now seen 15 targets over the past two weeks. The next game with San Francisco is clearly a little tough, but Dotson is a rising talent earning a bigger share of his team’s pass attempts. If he continues to see six or more targets per game, he is undoubtedly a fantastic starter.
Supply: If the receiver is your greatest need, spend what it takes.
Seattle was stomped at home by the Niners on Thursday night and, sadly, the team lost Tyler Locket has a fractured index late in the game. So it was just a generally miserable night for the Seahawks. Lockett, of course, is one of the most talented receivers in the NFL, a gifted road runner who cannot be easily replaced; His loss is an insoluble problem for his team.
But without Lockett in the mix, 7-9 targets per game are up for grabs and Goodwin is likely to claim a few. He’s one of the fastest men in the league and just a week away from a 5-catch, 95-yard performance in which he delivered his fourth touchdown of the season. Seattle is definitely going to have to get the ball in the air against the Chiefs in Week 16, so Goodwin has a clear path to fantasy relevance. If you just lost Lockett from a playoff roster, Goodwin is a reasonable replacement option.
Offer: $8
Johnson returned from his ankle injury in Week 15 and immediately resumed his relentless touchdown:
It just won’t stop. Johnson made two home visits on Sunday, giving him seven for the year on just 35 catches. We may have the TD regression conversation next summer during draft season, but, for now, let’s just enjoy these spikes. The Saints will end the fantasy season with road dates against Cleveland and Philadelphia.
Offer: $7
Osborn saw 16 outrageous targets in most unlikely comeback in NFL history Saturday, catching 10 for 157 yards and a score. It also had another long gain erased by replay. We’re certainly not about to guarantee he’ll produce another stat line like Saturday’s this season (or maybe ever), but the man has reached the end zone in back-to-back games. He is obviously a receiver of the circle of trust for Kirk Cousins, for what it’s worth. We can’t completely ignore a 16-target game. Osborn got into deep league conversation. It is not difficult to put together a file at least as interesting as Adam Thielen these days.
Offer: $4
Additional receivers and tight ends to store: Mecole Hardman (he looks likely to be activated for the Week 16 game with Seattle; we’ll remind you that Hardman had become a key red-zone weapon, scoring five touchdowns in three games before going down with the abdominal injury) , Russell Gage (he is healthy again and comes out of a week at two or twelve targets), Noah Brown (in the past two weeks he’s been targeted 15 times, delivering 134 yards and two points), Rashid Shaheed (he actually didn’t see more than four targets in any game, which is an obvious concern, but the speedy Weber State rookie continues to make plays; he actually led the Saints on the roads traveled on Sunday) , mac hollins (he remained heavily involved, even with the Raiders receiving the body almost at full strength, shooting eight targets and crossing the goal line), Taysom Hill (he rushed 30 yards and made 80 with a score, obviously not functioning as a tight end *shrug*).
Quarterbacks to target
Whatever your opinion of Purdy in particular or the future of the quarterback job for the Niners in general, this is certain: the Iowa State rookie produces exactly as Jimmy Garoppolo would have fantastic purposes.
Jimmy G is the unmatched master of the 200-yard, 2-TD game and Purdy is averaging 204 and two scores over the past three weeks. Kyle Shanahan’s offense creates so many layup pitches for his quarterback and Purdy didn’t miss any. Thursday night, San Francisco dove into the archives for the first of George Kittleboth affected by:
Kittle’s second score was somehow even more ridiculously open:
This offense is rolling right now, despite having a third-string quarterback in charge and Deep Samuel is set aside. San Francisco has the weapons to bolster defenses at all levels, and Purdy is in absolute command of the offense. You can trust him against Washington and Vegas in the money weeks if you need QB.
Offer: $7
Whether Jalen hurts is actually unable to go in week 16 against Dallas due to his right shoulder injury, Minshew is certainly competent enough to lead a playmaker-laden offense. He made two starts for Philly last season, completing 67.2 percent of his attempts for 428 yards, four touchdowns and a pick. He clearly doesn’t have any of Hurts’ running skills, but he’s a capable passer.
As a playoff replacement option at QB, you can definitely do worse than the guy who can throw at A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goodert. The Eagles have obviously played their way to a place where they don’t need to rush Hurts into regular season action and Minshew is a great plan B.
Offer: $6
If you stream D/ST
Los Angeles Chargers (24%)
The Chargers get a date with matt ryan Monday night, which honestly should be all you need to know. At this point, Ryan is a still, highly sackable quarterback who remains a volume passer despite going over one interception per game. Even LA’s flawed defense should be able to deliver us in this game.
Offer: $2
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