By Chet Gresham – @ChetGresham
Follow @walterfootball for updates.
Below are players I’ll be targeting on the waiver wire this week. As usual, I’m using the 50(ish) percent ownership threshold at Yahoo to determine who is allowed on the list.
Players are listed in the order I would assign waiver priority. A need at one position could trump that priority.
First off, let’s look at which teams are playing meaningful games in Week 17.
The Carolina Panthers need to win to get the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. They play Tampa Bay and could get out to a big lead and rest earlier than normal, but they’d have still put up a bunch of fantasy points.
The Arizona Cardinals need to beat Seattle and have the Panthers lose to get the No. 1 seed. That does seem unlikely, but Bruce Arians says the Cardinals will play their starters, and at least, there is a chance Arizona could get home-field advantage.
The Green Bay Packers will take on the Minnesota Vikings for the NFC North title. Both teams have clinched a spot in the playoffs, but a win gives Green Bay the division and more time playing at home. Both teams will go all out.
The Pittsburgh Steelers need to win and the New York Jets need to lose for the Steelers to make the playoffs, while the Jets just need to beat the Buffalo Bills to make it in. Both games are at noon, so there will be no way for either team to know their fate ahead of time.
The Seattle Seahawks have clinched a playoff spot, but could get the No. 5 seed if they beat the Arizona Cardinals. It’s not a huge leap though. If the Seahawks get the No. 5 seed, they’ll either play at Minnesota or Washington, but if they lose and get the No. 6 seed, they could go to Lambeau, which is always a tough place to play. Seattle isn’t in a must-win situation, but the Seahawks should play their starters coming off a home loss to the Case Keenum-led Rams.
The Washington D.C. team has nothing to play for, other than the pride of not winning the division with a losing record. Will that be enough to push coach Gruden to play his starters? I really can’t say, but I’d be a little more hesitant to use Washington’s starters this week.
The New England Patriots need to beat the Miami Dolphins to secure the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage. If the Patriots were to lose and the Denver Broncos beat the San Diego Chargers, Denver would get the top spot.
The Denver Broncos need to win to keep atop their division and even have a shot at the top seed and home-field advantage throughout. If the Broncos were to lose, they could drop to a fifth or sixth playoff spot and play all their games on the road.
The Cincinnati Bengals still have a shot at a first-round bye if they beat the Ravens and the Broncos lose to the Chargers. Cincinnati could also lose and still get the No. 2 seed, if the Oakland Raiders beat the Chiefs and the Broncos lost.
Kansas City could still win the AFC West with a win over the Raiders and a Denver loss to San Diego.
After Denver won on Monday night, there is still a slim chance the Indianapolis Colts could sneak into the playoffs over the Houston Texans, who will now need to win, to keep those sneaky Colts from sneaking.
These scenarios are all pretty darn good for Week 17 fantasy football. Washington is really the only team with absolutely nothing to play for, while the teams out of contention don’t need to worry about saving their players for the playoffs.
Bilal Powell, RB, Jets (29 percent)Powell continues to outplay Chris Ivory and all hands will be on deck in a must-win game against the Bills’ poor rush defense.
Cameron Artis-Payne, RB, Panthers (43 percent)With Fozzy Whittaker out, I like Artis-Payne to get funneled plenty of work as long as the Panthers continue to hold out Jonathan Stewart.
DeVante Parker, WR, Dolphins (33 percent)The Dolphins have given up, but will at least throw the ball to Parker a lot, even if he’s still raw and inefficient. The Patriots should put a hurting on Miami, but I expect them to try to take Jarvis Landry out of the game, which will leave Parker open for plenty of targets while the Dolphins trail.
Mike Gillislee, RB, Bills (10 percent)Gillislee continues to find his way into the end zone, despite not being the main ball-carrier. Karlos Williams fumbled last week, and Ol’ Gill hit on a nice 50-yard TD run. I expect a fairly even split in touches as Rex Ryan tries to keep his old team out of the playoffs.
Markus Wheaton, WR, Steelers (43 percent)Wheaton needs big games by the Steelers’ passing offense to put up numbers. That has been happening recently, but not against the Ravens last week. I expect that to turn back to normalcy against the Browns in a must-win game.
Zach Miller, TE, Bears (37 percent)Miller has a safe floor in this offense right now, and if Alshon Jeffery is out again, Miller’s upside gets a nice boost.
Sam Bradford, Eagles (35 percent)Bradford hasn’t done much in real football this season, but he has passed for 741 yards in his last two games. Add on a nice matchup against the Giants and I think he’s a wildcard for a big game.
Brian Hoyer, Texans (15 percent)Hoyer will get the start as long as he’s cleared of his brain injury, and it will be a choice matchup against Jacksonville’s pitiful pass defense.
Over 50-Percenters:
Zach Ertz – 58 percent ownership: Has been the Eagles best receiver of late. Add on a matchup with the Giants, who are easy targets for tight ends, and he makes for a must play.
Rashad Jennings – 61 percent ownership: Has won the bulk of the work lately, while playing well. He will face a poor Eagles defense this week.
James White – 57 percent ownership: Takes on the Miami Dolphins, who have all packed their bags and are waiting for this season to be done with.
Willie Snead – 53 percent ownership: Faces the Atlanta Falcons, who just won their Super Bowl last week and will be primed for a butt whipping.
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