The words many of us have been waiting for … the fantasy football playoffs are here. For the first 14 weeks of the season, fantasy managers have been putting their heart and soul into building the perfect team in what they hope becomes a championship run.
Injuries can obviously play a huge role in fantasy, and that is the case with the Las Vegas Raiders as well. Running back Josh Jacobs had to leave in Week 14 because of a knee injury. If he is out for an extended period, should fantasy managers consider adding Zamir White off the waiver wire?
Should Zamir White Be a Fantasy Waiver Wire Add in Week 14?
First, if you are even considering picking up White, I need to know if you watched the Raiders game against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. The Raiders lost 3-0 to the Vikings in a game that set football back 25 years. The game was scoreless until the Vikings kicked a field goal to take the lead with 1:57 remaining.
To put that in perspective, there hasn’t been a 3-0 game since Nov. 26, 2007, when the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Miami Dolphins. There have only been three of those games in the last 40 years and seven total in the Super Bowl era.
MORE: PFN’s NFL Playoff Predictor Tool
That alone should make you reject the idea of White being added to your fantasy team, but there are other reasons as well.
It isn’t like White will have a ton of time to take reps in practice and become more familiar with the offense. Las Vegas is back in action on Thursday night, playing their AFC West rival Los Angeles Chargers.
The Chargers are coming off a tough 24-7 home loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday and could be without QB Justin Herbert. Los Angeles’ defense has been playing better, as they held the Broncos to 31 carries for 106 yards on the ground.
Two weeks ago, Los Angeles played an offense similar to the Raiders in the New England Patriots, and they shut them out. The oddsmakers aren’t expecting there to be many points in this game either, with the over/under currently at 34.5 points.
In no scenario should any viable championship contender in fantasy bring White in off the waiver wire. Even if Jacobs can’t play, it’s hard to see any Vegas player being able to put up big numbers for the remainder of the season. That includes Davante Adams, who is as good of a receiver as there is in the NFL.
There’s a reason why you’re in the fantasy playoffs, and it’s because you’ve built a team that is capable of competing for a championship. Even if you don’t like a specific matchup for your running backs, I guarantee another RB on your bench has a higher ceiling than White.
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