Good morning.

It’s the day before the BIG DAY!

No… not Christmas, not Hanukkah… it’s the day before Championship Week of the fantasy football season!🏆

If you’re reading this, I’m assuming you avoided getting shot in the foot by Josh Allen or Jalen Hurts and survived another week. With that in mind, we’ll fill you in on some waiver wire targets that could fill in for a last-minute injury or slide into a FLEX spot if you need it.

Scheduling note: We won’t be publishing a newsletter this Thursday — partially because of the holidays, and partially because there really isn’t any point to a “Market Trends” type of newsletter when we’ve reached the last week of the season — your guys are your guys. But we’ll be back on Sunday morning with Starts & Sits for our final newsletter of the 2024 season. Then, we go back to talking to our families again for a few months until we rise from the ashes in April for the NFL Draft.

But before we worry about all that, let’s get into some last-minute adds that could help you bring home the hardware…

WAIVER WIRE 🧐

Running Back

Titans RB Tyjae Spears (57%) has 126 receiving yards and four total TDs in his last two games, scoring 21+ fantasy points in each contest. He’ll look to keep it going this week against a Jaguars defense that has allowed the 2nd-most points to opposing RBs, per FFToday’s Josh Tinelli.

Saints RB Kendre Miller (54%) hasn’t been very productive, thanks to the ineptitude of the Saints’ offense. But if Alvin Kamara (groin) remains sidelined, Miller should be the lead back once again — this time in a more favorable matchup against the lowly Raiders.

Raiders RBs Alexander Mattison (56%) & Ameer Abdullah (31%) have formed a true committee in Vegas after Sincere McCormick went on IR. Abdullah is the preferred option in PPR leagues, as he’s carried the ball 10 times for 46 yards and a TD while catching 12 passes for 105 yards and a TD over the last two weeks.

Meanwhile, Mattison led the Raiders’ backfield in snaps and touches in Week 16, carrying the ball 12 times for 27 yards and a TD, adding four catches for 29 yards. They’ll both have a soft matchup this Sunday against the Saints, whose defense ranks 30th in DVOA vs. the run and has yielded the 10th-most fantasy points to RBs, per FantasyPros’ Pat Fitzmaurice.

Cardinals RB Trey Benson (24%) would likely get first crack at the lead role in Arizona if James Conner can’t go, but Benson himself missed last week with an ankle injury. He’s still worth a speculative add in case he heals up, but it might be safer to prioritize the next man up…

Cardinals RB Michael Carter (0%) “took over the RB1 role after James Conner left with a knee injury, and went 5-18-0 on the ground and 5-5-30-0 through the air. If Conner is out and Benson can’t return (he didn’t practice at all last week), Carter should get the first crack at starter reps for the Cardinals against a Rams team that has allowed the 9th-most points to RBs.” — Josh Tinelli

• Chargers RB Gus Edwards (53%) is tempting after his 20-point performance last week and a juicy matchup against the Patriots, but reports suggest JK Dobbins could be returning to the lineup, which would make the Gus Bus turn back into the Gus Bust.
  

• 49ers RB Patrick Taylor (57%) was disappointing as hell last week (3.5 PPR points), but he could still be the lead back against a battered Detroit defense if Isaac Guerendo (hamstring) has to miss another week.
  

• Don’t bother playing Russian Roulette with any of the Broncos backup RBs. Some things in life just aren’t worth the stress.

Wide Receiver

Bucs WR Jalen McMillan (50%) has officially broken out. The rookie has reached 4+ receptions, 57+ yards, 1+ TD, and 16.7+ fantasy points in three straight games. He’s fully emerged as the No. 2 receiver in Tampa, and should continue on this trajectory with Sterling Shepard and Cade Otton banged up, and a soft matchup against Carolina coming up.

Chiefs WR Marquise “Hollywood” Brown (34%) “was targeted eight times in his season debut, making five catches for 45 yards against the Texans. He played just 27% of the snaps, but I like the target volume — he had one more than Travis Kelce.” — NFL.com’s Dan Parr

Ravens WR Rashod Bateman (32%) is averaging 17.1 yards per catch and has scored eight TDs this season, with four coming in his last four games. He remains a boom-or-bust FLEX option, but has some appeal in Week 17 against a Texans defense that has allowed the 4th-most fantasy points and 6th-most receiving yards to WRs, per Pat Fitzmaurice.

• If you’re really desperate, some other decent floor options include Giants WR Wan’Dale Robinson (42%) and Patriots WR DeMario Douglas (34%), while some other boom-or-bust options might still be available as well, like Chargers WR Quentin Johnston (56%), Saints WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling (38%) (if healthy), and Titans WR Nick Westbrook-Ikhine (32%).

QB & TE

Patriots QB Drake Maye (24%) has scored 17+ fantasy points in four of his last five games, producing both through the air and on the ground. This week he’ll be going up against a Chargers defense that's had recent difficulties in containing QBs. LA has given up 19.5 fantasy PPG to the position over the last six weeks, including huge performances from Baker Mayfield (28 points in Week 15) and Bo Nix (21 points in Week 16), per ESPN’s Eric Moody.

Panthers QB Bryce Young (14%) gets a good Week 17 matchup against a Bucs defense that has allowed the 3rd-most fantasy points to QBs. He had 298 passing yards and a TD against them in Week 13, while also adding a rushing TD run and finishing as the QB8 in fantasy scoring for the week, per Pat Fitzmaurice.

Jets QB Aaron Rodgers (43%) has thrown multiple TDs in nine of his last 14 games and has thrown for 259+ yards in three straight. He’ll go against the Bills this week, whom he completed 23/35 passes for 294 yards, 2 TDs, and 1 INT against in Week 6, per Fantasy Points.

• If Colts QB Anthony Richardson (58%) is somehow still available in your league, grab him and start him against a Giants D allowing the 8th-most fantasy PPG to opposing QBs, per Eric Moody.
  

• Same goes for Bears QB Caleb Williams (63%), who has put up 22+ fantasy points in three of his last five games and will take on a Seahawks D that has allowed a top-10 fantasy QB each of the last three weeks, per Dan Parr.

Titans TE Chig Okonkwo (8%) posted career-highs in targets (11), receptions (9) and receiving yards (81) last week, while adding a 2-point conversion for 19.1 fantasy points. He has a 29% target share and has been targeted on a ridiculous 37% of his routes over the past two weeks, per Fantasy Points, so don’t be afraid to stream him this week in a soft matchup against the Jags.

Patriots TE Hunter Henry (57%) has finished as a top-10 TE in 6-of-10 Drake Maye starts, per NBC Sports’ Kyle Dvorchak. He’s a boring, but safe option if you need to plug somebody in.

D/ST

The Miami Dolphins (33%) currently rank top-10 against both the run and the pass, per Yahoo’s Andy Behrens, and will travel to Cleveland to face Dorian Thompson-Robinson, a young QB coming off a 5-sack, 2-INT performance against Cincinnati. DTR has now thrown one TD pass and nine INTs over 13 career regular season appearances, completing only 52.8% of his throws.

The Indianapolis Colts (38%) will take on Drew Lock and the New York Giants, who have scored 14 points or fewer in four of their last five games.

The Las Vegas Raiders (9%) are a deep streamer this week, as they’ll take on Spencer Rattler or Jake Haener and the New Orleans Saints. Rattler has taken 17 sacks in his four starts, and the one thing Vegas has been able to do this year is rush the passer — they sacked Patrick Mahomes five times in Week 13, Baker Mayfield four times in Week 14, and Kirk Cousins three times in Week 15, per Pro Football Network’s Jason Katz.

DEEP DIVES 🤿

Rudolph Can Guide Your Sleigh

Stash these players on your bench before they blow up. Last week, the perfect pickup was Chig Okonkwo.

Titans QB Mason Rudolph (4%) has averaged around 15 fantasy PPG over the last two weeks, with a pair of passing TDs in each contest. While HC Brian Callahan remains non-committal, Rudoph is likely to start once again this week against a Jags D allowing the most fantasy PPG to opposing QBs. If you lost Jalen Hurts in a 2QB league, Rudolph could be your fill-in.

Patriots WR Kayshon Boutte (7%) is coming off the best performance of his career with five receptions on seven targets for 95 receiving yards, a TD, and 20.5 PPR fantasy points — leading the team’s WR corps in every category. He’s averaged nearly six targets per game over the last two months and, based on his Instagram activity, appears pretty locked in:

Commanders WR Olamide Zaccheaus (0%) stepped up big-time for the injured Dyami Brown, catching five passes on eight targets for 70 yards and two TDs. If Brown misses next week, Zaccheaus is worth streaming against an Atlanta Falcons defense that has surrendered 30.9 fantasy points per game to WRs — one of the highest averages in the NFL, per FantasyPros’ Mike Fanelli.

Steelers WR Calvin Austin (13%) has hit double-digit PPR fantasy points in four of his last five games, mostly thanks to George Pickens being out. If Pickens remains sidelined, Austin should be the de facto WR1 again on Christmas Day against the Chiefs.

Jags WR Parker Washington (9%) has reached 6+ targets and 54+ yards in three of his last four games since stepping into a bigger role with Christian Kirk and Evan Engram each out for the season. While he’s a tempting add, his matchup against Tennessee this week is rough. He had just two catches for 15 yards against them in Week 14.

POLL 📊

QUICK SLANTS 👀

📖 Read NFL DFS Picks: Christmas Main Slate from FanDuel’s Skylar Carlin for a breakdown of the best daily fantasy plays at each position. It’s perfect for those of you looking to throw together a few DFS lineups to make the Christmas games even more interesting.

📖 Read 2025 NFL Draft Stock Watch from FantasyLife’s Thor Nystrom, where he dives into 11 different NFL Draft risers from Round 1 of the College Football Playoff.

📖 Read Three Up, Three Down: Week 17 from Footballguys’ Dave Kluge, where he notes three players trending up and three players trending down this week.

🎙️ Listen to The Ringer Fantasy Football Show’s Week 17 Waiver Wire Pickups episode, where they use hilarious trivia to decide which of the three hosts get the rights to the top add at each position.

📺 Watch the inspiration behind the Lions’ fake fumble play against the Bears on Sunday:

TWEET OF THE DAY

Happy Holidays!🎅

See you Sunday.

- Marcus