Bjorn Yang-Vaernet examines which players on the waiver wire are worth prioritizing for Week 17.

Merry Christmas! I hope everyone was able to eat some good meals and spend some quality time with friends and family — between all the football games, of course. Beyond the holidays, we are also heading into the final week of playoffs for the majority of leagues. Congrats to those who made it to the finals and good luck.

With the majority of leagues finishing after next week, this will be the last waiver wire article of the year. It has been a pleasure writing this column and I hope I’ve been able to help some of you pick up the right players throughout the season.

Last, this article will not have a “stashes” section because there is no reason to pick someone up unless they can help your lineup (or block your opponent from helping their lineup) right away. In other words, I will only be writing about players who can be inserted into lineups right away and have enough ceiling to contribute to a championship lineup. 

With all the formalities out of the way, let’s get into the players.

The waiver wire is one of the most important pieces of season-long draft leagues. It is the easiest way to acquire new players and every year there are gems to be found. The goal of this article will not only be to highlight which weekly breakout players to prioritize but find others to preemptively pick up before the breakout happens.

This article will only reference players that are less than 50% owned in ESPN leagues. The players are categorized by position group and within each group is the order of how I would prioritize them. 

Quarterback

Derek Carr (Available in 78% of ESPN leagues)

Derek Carr is my waiver-wire QB streamer of the week. Carr has had somewhat of a resurgence during the past two weeks, posting back-to-back games of more than 20 fantasy points. The main difference between his last two weeks and the rest of his season was that he passed for three TDs in each game. Those two weeks were Carr’s only two games with three TDs or more.

I think Carr’s recent TD production is sustainable because the Saints have cut down on Taysom Hill’s role during the past two weeks. Hill played on 19% and 17% of snaps in Weeks 15 and 16, respectively, a sharp decrease from his 40% snap rate in Weeks 1 to 14. Hill was often subbed in for Carr near the goal line and was one of the reasons why Carr did not have games with more passing TDs.

The Saints play the Buccaneers in Week 17. The Buccaneers are one of the defenses I looked to play offensive players against throughout this year’s waiver wire series. First, opposing offenses typically want to attack the Tampa Bay defense through the air; the defense faces the fourth-highest neutral situation pass rate. Second, offenses are successfully attacking through the pass; the Buccaneers allow the most pass yards per game (264 yards) and fifth-highest yards per attempt (7.6). 

Altogether, Carr should have a decent floor/ceiling range of outcomes in Week 17, making him a quality streaming option.

Running Back

Clyde Edwards-Helaire (Available in 72% of ESPN leagues)

Clyde Edwards-Helaire is the last RB remaining for the Kansas City Chiefs. Jerick McKinnon was placed on injured reserve in the lead-up to Week 16 and Isiah Pacheco left the game in the third quarter with a concussion. Edwards-Helaire was the only other RB to touch the ball outside of Pacheco prior to his injury and was the only RB to touch the ball afterward. 

Pacheco’s injury will be key to monitor, as Edwards-Helaire’s role shifts dramatically when he is unavailable. In Week 14 and 15, Edwards-Helaire played on 48% and 60% of snaps and took the majority of the RB rush attempts with Pacheco inactive with a shoulder injury. In Week 16, prior to Pacheco’s head injury, he only received four of the 15 RB rush attempts and had 0 targets.

If Pacheco is out, Edwards-Helaire should get the majority of the RB opportunities for the Chiefs. He also gets a good matchup against the Bengals. The Bengals have allowed an RB to gain more than 75 total yards and score a TD in four of their last five games. Additionally, the strength of streaming app ranks the Chiefs RB matchup as the sixth-best in Week 17.