We have reached the fantasy football championship. Hopefully, you don’t need anyone on this list. But even if you don’t, your opponent might, and sometimes, even in fantasy, defense wins championships.
Let’s take a look at the top Week 17 waiver wire targets and pickups that fantasy managers should consider adding to their rosters.
As always, all players are rostered in less than 50% of Yahoo leagues.
There are no FAAB recommendations or aggressiveness ratings this week. It’s the final week of the season. If you need a guy, go get him.
With one week left, all we care about is Week 17 matchups. All four of these names are streamers of varying degrees.
Geno Smith, QB | SEA
Rostered: 53%
What a performance by Geno Smith in a losing effort. The Seattle Seahawks QB battled through a knee injury to throw for 314 yards and three touchdowns. He did throw two interceptions, but fantasy managers will hardly complain.
We just saw Jared Goff absolutely torch the Chicago Bears’ defense for 336 yards and three touchdowns. Smith hasn’t been particularly good for fantasy lately, with this being his first usable outing since Week 11. However, if you’re in need of a streamer — perhaps you lost Jalen Hurts and he doesn’t clear concussion protocol — you can use Smith.
Russell Wilson, QB | PIT
Rostered: 46%
The Pittsburgh Steelers have a good defense, but they are susceptible to giving up points to good offenses. That could result in a negative game script, forcing Russell Wilson to throw.
To Wilson’s credit, he’s looked very good this season. He threw for 217 yards and two touchdowns against the Baltimore Ravens. Wilson has 16+ points in three of his last four, and the Kansas City Chiefs are a pass-funnel defense. You can stream Wilson if necessary.
Bryce Young, QB | CAR
Rostered: 7%
Bryce Young only threw for 158 yards against the Arizona Cardinals. Yet, it was his best fantasy effort of the season, scoring 27 points. How did he do it? Rushing.
Not exactly known for his wheels, Young has been scrambling a lot more lately. This past week, he ran the ball five times for 68 yards and a touchdown. If Young is going to make this a regular part of his repertoire, he can be a viable fantasy starter.
Young gets the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next week. When they last met, he had what was previously his best fantasy outing of the season, scoring 23 points. You can definitely look to Young as a viable streamer in Week 17.
Drake Maye, QB | NE
Rostered: 14%
The Week 17 matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers is not exactly a favorable one. However, Drake Maye has been playing really solid football lately. He’s scored 18+ fantasy points in three straight, including against two bottom-third pass defenses.
The Chargers are decidedly average against quarterbacks. That’s good enough to stream Maye if you need to.
Tyjae Spears, RB | TEN
Rostered: 56%
Although he’s slightly above the roster percentage threshold, I can’t not talk about Tyjae Spears. With Tony Pollard nursing an ankle injury, we’ve seen a bit more of Spears over the past two weeks … and he’s delivered.
This is the second consecutive week that Spears put up 20+ fantasy points. He carried the ball 10 times for 27 yards and two touchdowns while also catching three passes for 39 yards.
Make that 4 touchdowns in two games for @tyjae22
📺: Watch #TENvsIND on @NFLonCBS stream on NFL+ pic.twitter.com/m64UnYPwP5
— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) December 22, 2024
Obviously, the touchdowns played a big role in his huge day, but they could be there again next week against a bottom-three Jacksonville Jaguars run defense. If Spears is out there, even if you don’t need him, do everything you can to get him.
Gus Edwards, RB | LAC
Rostered: 48%
Just like that, Gus Edwards is back on the menu. After failing to reach double-digit fantasy points for the entire season, he popped off for 20.1 against the Denver Broncos. Edwards ran the ball 14 times for 68 yards and two touchdowns.
There’s definitely a world where you can start Edwards next week against the New England Patriots in a game the Chargers should control.
Audric Estimé, RB | DEN
Rostered: 7%
With Jaleel McLaughlin out, the Broncos still implemented a three-man backfield. However, after the game, head coach Sean Payton said Audric Estimé earned more carries going forward.
The rookie already had an impressive 48 yards on nine attempts against the Chargers on Thursday night.
The Broncos get the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 17. There is no better matchup for offenses, in general, than the Bengals. Jerome Ford just torched them for 92 yards on 11 carries. You can use Estimé as a desperation RB3.
Michael Carter, RB | ARI
Rostered: 0%
I will preface this by saying that I hope you have a better option than Michael Carter in Week 17. But if you have James Conner, there’s a good chance you won your Week 16 matchup. With the Cardinals’ season over, there’s an equally good chance Conner doesn’t play again.
After Conner left, Carter was the lead back. He handled five carries and five targets, catching all of them for a combined total of 48 yards.
If Trey Benson returns from his ankle injury next week, he will likely be the lead back. If not, Carter is the guy you want.
Hollywood Brown, WR | KC
Rostered: 33%
Making his regular season debut, Hollywood Brown was unsurprisingly eased back into action. He only ran 15 routes. However, he was targeted eight times; that’s a target-per-route-run rate of over 50%.
You have to figure Brown sees an uptick in usage next week. If he’s already doing this on limited snaps, he could be a viable Flex play in Week 17.
Wan’Dale Robinson, WR | NYG
Rostered: 31%
The ultimate PPR scam, Wan’Dale Robinson is the quintessential “won’t get you zero” guy. Against the Atlanta Falcons, he caught seven passes for 62 yards. He saw 13 targets. He’s now seen 9+ targets in three straight games.
The New York Giants may be the worst team in football, but that also means they’re constantly trailing and throwing.
The game environment against the Indianapolis Colts may not quite be as good, but Robinson has proven to have a decent floor.
Olamide Zaccheaus, WR | WAS
Rostered: 0%
Are you really about to start Olamide Zaccheaus for the first time all season in your finale? Probably not, but he’s worth discussing just in case you desperately need a wide receiver.
Noah Brown is done for the season, and Dyami Brown injured his hamstring this week. That forced Zaccheaus into the WR2 role, and he thrived, catching five of eight targets for 70 yards and two touchdowns.
COMMANDERS. 49-yard TD to Zaccheaus for the lead!
📺: #PHIvsWAS on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/7F2CXf7QvT— NFL (@NFL) December 22, 2024
Will he do it again? Probably not, but if Brown can’t go next week, Zaccheaus should at least be in line for 6-8 targets.
Kayshon Boutte, WR | NE
Rostered: 3%
We often see rookie WRs come on strong in the second half of the season. It’s a bit late for Kayshon Boutte, but perhaps this is the start of his ascent.
Boutte caught five of seven targets for 95 yards and a touchdown against the Buffalo Bills. It was easily the best game of his young career.
The matchup in Week 17 against the Chargers isn’t ideal, but it’s yet another game where the Patriots are likely to see a negative game script and have to throw the ball. Nevertheless, Boutte is still only worth a look if you have no alternative in deep leagues.
Chig Okonkwo, TE | TEN
Rostered: 6%
After the 1:00 games, Chig Okonkwo was the highest-scoring tight end on the week. That’s now back-to-back games with 10+ targets. I guess we can use him if we need to.
Okonkwo has taken advantage of favorable matchups and posted 13.9 and 19.1 fantasy points over his last two games. Perhaps there is a connection with Mason Rudolph.
Next week, Okonkwo gets the Jaguars’ bottom-10 tight end defense. Okonkwo is definitely on the streaming radar.
Tyler Conklin, TE | NYJ
Rostered: 11%
Tyler Conklin reached double-digit fantasy points for the first time since Week 8. So, I would not go out of my way to stream him. But our options are limited this late in the season.
The Jets are in Buffalo next week, which should mean a negative game script and a lot of throwing. Maybe Conklin can get to 10 points again.
Hunter Henry, TE | NE
Rostered: 49%
Hunter Henry caught four passes for 49 yards and a touchdown against the Bills. He has now caught at least four balls in five consecutive games.
Since Week 6, Henry has scored 9.4 fantasy points or more in all but two games. With Drake Maye playing well and the Patriots constantly trailing, the potential is there for Henry. His nine targets against the Bills matched the second-highest total for the season. He’s now seen 8+ targets in four of his last five. You can certainly do worse.
Noah Fant, TE | SEA
Rostered: 18%
Since returning from injury, Noah Fant hasn’t exactly lit the world on fire. He’s resumed his role as the Seahawks’ primary TE, but just barely, averaging around a 60% snap share.
Over the past two weeks, Fant has seen a respectable 13 total targets. Unfortunately, he hasn’t done much with them. His three catches for 50 yards marked his best outing since Week 7. I would consider Fant only a truly desperation streaming option.