Week 6 Waiver Wire Pickups || Fantasy Football 2025

Summary

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Footballguys Fantasy Football Show – Week 16 Waiver Wire Pickups (2025)

Hosts: Alfredo Brown & Dave Kluge
Date: December 16, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into Week 16 waiver wire pickups, focusing on late-season roster strategies and the thin options available for fantasy playoff contenders. With classic banter and sharp analysis, Alfredo and Dave sort through the best (and least risky) waiver adds, break down shifting backfields, and debate who’s worth a desperate start in the fantasy semifinals. The show’s tone is fun and self-aware, with the hosts both lamenting and laughing over the brutal reality of “grim” late-season waiver prospects.

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Main Themes

• Managing Late-Season Fantasy Rosters: Navigating unpredictable injuries and depth chart chaos in desperate playoff weeks.
• Realistic Outlook: “At this point, you’re not finding hidden gems—everyone is chasing opportunity from injuries.” (06:05, Dave)
• Tiered Waiver Wire Recommendations: Prioritizing additions based on positional need, upside, and the current playoff landscape.
• Process Over Hindsight: Looking back at season-long decisions, understanding variance, and refusing to let hindsight dictate value.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Should-Have, Would-Have Draft Debate

• Jameson Williams: Open with a tongue-in-cheek discussion of early-season criticism vs. his late surge.
  • "On the year, though, J is the wide receiver 9. He's cracked the top 10 even with a handful. Like, slow start to the year. A couple of zeros in there and he's still wide receiver 9." (00:34, Alfredo)
• Injury Fallout: The guys reflect on how quick judgments (“see, Trey Benson’s terrible!”) often miss context, especially with injuries derailing seasons. (02:16)

2. Trades in Hindsight

• Both hosts recount questionable trades that, thanks to late surges or injuries, now look smarter (or less disastrous) than expected.
  • "I couldn't care less what happened from weeks four through 15. I'm in the playoffs now—a win is a win." (02:37, Alfredo)

3. Late-Season Waiver Realities

• “This Week is Ugly”—No Hidden RV1s: Most waiver hopefuls are injury fill-ins; don’t expect magic.
  • "We've made it through four months of the season. You're not just going to find this hidden gem." (06:05, Dave)
• League Dynamics: With most teams eliminated, mid-December rostership percentages are volatile and irrelevant—only a handful are really left fighting. (08:21, Dave)

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Top Waiver Wire Pickup Tiers

Tier 1 – Priority Adds

1. Luther Burden (WR, Chicago Bears)

• Why: With potential shutdown of top target Roma Odunze, Burden’s route share and opportunity are elite. Sixth in the league in yards per route run (09:03).
• Quote: "Any wide receiver who can be the lead target earner for a Ben Johnson offense, I’m with it. Number one, absolutely." (10:20, Alfredo)
• Caveat: Monitor injury updates for both Burden and Odunze.

2. Jaden Reed (WR, Green Bay Packers)

• Increased opportunity due to Christian Watson’s injury. Not a big target earner, but dangerous after the catch and in the red zone.
• Quote: "If Watson isn’t out there, Jaden Reed comfortably moves into that wide receiver two area." (12:41, Dave)

3. Michael Carter (RB, Arizona Cardinals)

• Volume play—lead back signs were there last week, but real risk Amari DiMercado reclaims touches with health.
• Disagreement between hosts about the security of Carter’s role.
  • "There is a shot that he gets the lion’s share of the workload—I’ll take that chance." (15:30, Alfredo)
  • "Carter feels a little bit like a trap to me." (17:10, Dave)

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Tier 2 – Next-Best Options (Mainly RBs with Uncertain Roles)

4. La’Quint Allen (RB, Jacksonville Jaguars)

   • Most valuable as a speculative stash (especially if Etienne gets hurt). Some standalone value with Bashal Tution out, but likely more valuable in PPR for his passing-down work.
   • Quote: "If something were to happen to Travis Etienne, I know La’Quint Allen is getting the workload." (18:46, Dave)

5. Amari DiMercado (RB, Arizona Cardinals)

   • Contingent play, especially if health is trending up—could overtake Carter quickly.

6. Jacory “Bill” Croskey-Merritt (RB, Washington Commanders)

   • Only valuable if Chris Rodriguez misses more time. Backfield is a mess; upside tied to “what if they just want to see the rookie.”

7. Colby Parkinson (TE, LA Rams)

   • Red-hot, with six TDs in last seven games; most red zone targets after (potentially) Devante Adams being out.
   • Quote: "He’s the tight end 4 since Week 10...I’d go with him over basically everybody in these last two tiers." (27:22, Dave)
   • If you’re streaming TE or have a risky starter, Parkinson’s a strong play.

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Tier 3 – Deep League/Desperate Options

8. Jalen Coker (WR, Carolina Panthers)
   • TD-variant dependent, mildly viable in really deep leagues due to a soft upcoming matchup (vs Tampa Bay).
   • Panthers QB Bryce Young always seems to heat up at the end of the season: "Last year, he was the fantasy QB one over the final month of the season!" (29:49, Alfredo)

9/10. Saints RBs: Audric Estime & Evan Hull - Both incredibly risky; Estime has marginally more upside due to targets last week. - Quote: "My goodness, you would need some pretty strong will to put either of these guys in your Week 16 lineup." (31:47, Dave) - Consensus: Only plug in if you're out of all other options.

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Tier 4 – Mega Longshots

• Matthew Golden (WR, Packers), Jawhar Jordan (RB, Saints), Malik Davis (RB, Cowboys)
  • Even the hosts joke about “not being able to live with themselves” if a fantasy loss comes from starting these guys.
    • "I could not live with myself for the next eight months if I lost a fantasy matchup because I started Matthew Golden." (35:00, Dave)

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Additional Insights and Notable Quotes

• On Late-Season Strategy:
  "Once you get to the fantasy playoffs, just throw out everything else that’s happened throughout the year. It does not matter." (27:22, Alfredo)
• On Streaming TEs:
  "Colby Parkinson... should be the primary addition. He's the tight end 4 since Week 10 and sure, a lot of that's inflated by touchdowns, but... I think I’d prefer Kobe Parkinson ahead of Dallas Goedert this week." (27:22, Dave)
• On Playoff-Eligible Managers Claiming Waivers:
  Both largely agree that, unless there's a payout or punishment for the consolation bracket, eliminated teams should not claim players, "Just go down magnanimously. Let the people who are still fighting be the ones to put their bids in." (28:22, Dave)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:00–02:30: Season-long hindsight chat (Jameson Williams, injuries, and regrets)
• 06:05: The “no hidden gems” rant—why waiver wires are so messy now (Dave)
• 07:43–10:20: Tier 1 waivers discussion begins (Burden, Reed, Carter)
• 15:30–17:10: Debate: Michael Carter or DiMercado (risk tolerance)
• 18:46–22:40: Tier 2—La'Quint Allen hype and Jags backfield breakdown
• 24:51: Colby Parkinson’s weekly case as fantasy’s best late TE add
• 27:22: Streaming in playoffs, TE priorities: Parkinson > everyone else in the “desperation” tiers
• 29:44–33:04: Deep league flexes: Saints RBs, Jalen Coker, late-season TD chases
• 34:23–36:32: Why rolling the dice on “nothing” WRs feels bad…and might actually be necessary

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Final Key Takeaways

• Injuries define late-season value: Every top add is slotting in due to someone else’s absence.
• Stream with courage: Don’t be afraid to bench disappointing "locks" for hot, healthy, or emerging options like Colby Parkinson.
• Don’t chase pure optimism: Even in desperation, focus on players with some plausible path to volume.
• Keep perspective: If you’re starting players outside the top tiers, you’re not alone—everyone is just “going down swinging.”

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Hosts' Recommended Top Priorities by Need

• WR: Luther Burden, Jaden Reed
• RB: Michael Carter (with risk), La’Quint Allen (stash), Amari DiMercado (if healthy soon)
• TE: Colby Parkinson (clear waiver leader)
• Deep desperation: Jalen Coker, Saints RBs (Estime, Hull)—only in most desperate scenarios

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Closing Words

“Congrats on your upcoming championship, everybody. Bam. Bam. Bam.” (36:35, Alfredo)

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Best of luck—set your lineups (on Saturday!), bid strategically, and may your waiver dart throws be fruitful!

Transcript

[A]

You know, we never got people in the YouTube comments letting us know whether Jameson Williams was a good pick or not. That bothers me. I still want to know if he was a good pick. Top 12 wide receiver in six of the last seven weeks. Was he a good pick? I don't. Kind of funny. A lot of people have really anchored to that early season, but man, it's.

[B]

All part of the season, man. Like if you went 06, like, no, he was not a good pick at that time.

[A]

Time.

[B]

And then if you win these six games here you are now 500, which means you were like, what? You know what I'm saying?

[A]

Nothing. Just draft Kyle Pitts. That's all that really mattered. On the year, though, J is the wide receiver 9. He's cracked the top 10 even with a handful. Like, slow start to the year. A couple of zeros in there and he's still wide receiver 9. On the year. That's. It's been fun.

[B]

Like in the context of it, how many games did he actually win you. That's like. That's the thing is like, yes, on the year he's that. But like, let's see, four average games.

[A]

And then 1, 2, 3.

[B]

Yeah, he had like 1, 2, 3 plus.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, it's very much been like a third of the games he's burned you. A third of the games he's been average and a third of the games he's one of your game. Yeah, that's an okay pick. I'll take that.

[B]

Yeah, I think. I think it is a perfectly adequate pick for where he was being drafted. Like, it's a. It's not a bad pick. It is a good pick. I wouldn't say it's like a. He doesn't feel like a top 10 wide receiver.

[A]

I know. Yeah, but I feel it.

[B]

Yeah, but it's. He's been good.

[A]

He's been good. It makes me happy. Even Ricky Pierce all. We finally get like the flash from Ricky Pierce all last season or last week. Immediately re injured again. Water is wet.

[B]

It's so frustrating, man, because that's frustrating because like in a rankings competition, for example, like, that's going to look like a major miss saying that that was a good player when in fact he was a good player that simply got hurt. I just.

[A]

Drake London is another one. Like, you and I were both aggressive on Drake London. The dude was just 100 yards and a touchdown every single week. But then he gets hurt at the end of the season, finishes below his adp and we're the Schmucks for recommending Drake London.

[B]

Well, like, think about it. And it goes the other way, too. It's like all it takes is for that one person that was saying, see, Trey Benson's terrible. He'll never be good enough. James Connor is going to control that backfield. And then everything happens as it does. Connor gets hurt, Benson gets hurt, doesn't play, ends up as, like the running back 80. And it's like, see, here's a perfect example of how.

[A]

How silly all of this is. All right, early in the year, there were some other pieces, but, like, the crux of this trade that I made was me giving up Devonte Adams, in turn getting Brian Thomas Jr. Awful trade. But now through the fantasy playoffs, Devonte Adams is hurt, Brian Thomas Jr. Is healthy. Like, I still got into the playoffs. So at this point, I couldn't care less what happened from weeks four through 15. I'm in the playoffs now. I wouldn't have had Devonte Adams, and now I have Brian Thomas Jr. To me, that's a win. Might not be pretty, but it just goes to show, like, you could have traded Brock Bowers for Kyle Pitts straight up at any point in the season. And if you advance around two of the playoffs, you made the right move.

[B]

See, now you're making me go back and look at my trade that I did early in the year. This one actually worked out for me well, and it looked really bad at first. This was the one where I traded Isaiah Pacheco, Jordan Mason, Ameka Ibuka, and Travis Hunter. And just simply by process of elimination, Pacheco, Hunter, Mason and Ibuka has been like, rough over the last. Was it four or five games?

[A]

Oh, rough. Does it even.

[B]

It's been. I was being nice. I was being nice. I was being nice.

[A]

He's been awful.

[B]

But then Chase Brown up on his game, Brian Thomas, it's back to being relevant. It looked like a terrible, terrible, terrible trade. And guess what? I still lost this last week and it doesn't matter. And I lost to the guy that, like, doesn't. Doesn't always set his. I mean, he sets his lineup now, but he's. Yeah, Dallas Goddard got him 25 points in the Titan spot, crushing it.

[A]

I mean, this is. I feel like it's the same thing as last year. All of those top seeds are falling to those scrappy six seeds. The teams that got through with JSN and devonte Adams and Jonathan Taylor are all just like, you know, sputtering through the playoffs right now, while that guy who you Know, got nothing from Trayvon Henderson for the first half of the year and has been waiting for Kyle Pitts to break out and you know, pick Trevor Lawrence up off of waivers in week eight is now just dominating the league.

[B]

Ashton Genti got me a cool eight points.

[A]

Oh, Ashton. Jinty discourse. This off season is going to be nauseating.

[B]

Is he the worst pick?

[A]

Lad McConkey was going like a few picks after him and he's been pretty awful. Justin Jefferson was going before Ashton. I think Justin Jefferson.

[B]

I think it's Justin Jefferson. Yeah, it's Justin Jefferson. Ah, fantasy football. You're awesome. Thanks for everything. You make us so happy. Well, it's time for the Week 16 waiver wire pickups. I'm Alfredo Brown joined as always by Dave Kluge here on the Football Guys Fantasy Football show. And like we do at this the week, we're going to take all of the top waiver wire candidates, we rank them together, we put them into a tier, and then we tell you guys, player by player, who we like the most and how they're going to help your fantasy football team. Dave, I'm not going to lie. This was the week as we were putting it together. I think it texted you like four times of just, this is ugly. This week sucks. I don't like this guy. Oh, I kind of like this guy. No, I really don't like any of them. Give me some, some sort of shining light here that it's all going to be okay.

[A]

I mean, I don't know what people expect at this point. Like, we've made it through four months of the season. You're not just going to find this hidden gem. Like, oh, my goodness, there's been this RV one in hiding all season and now we found him in the semifinal. No, that's not how this works. I mean, like, there's a few. Everybody that we're talking about today is being talked about because of injury. There's like maybe two or three guys that it's just like, yeah, you know, they've been getting some extra work, but most of what we're talking about, this guy's injured, which means this guy should get more opportunities. And really it's as simple as that. This late in the year, we kind of, we're past the discovery phase. We are just reacting at this point.

[B]

We're not dating anymore. We're not in the honeymoon phase. We are, we're in the chain smoking. We've been married 30 years, Faze and we're arguing about bills. Right. We're Looking at the credit card statements, and you're like, What'd you spend 15 bucks on here? Huh? Huh? Joe R. Jordan. Yeah. That's what we're doing here in week 16.

[A]

Jaw Jordan. Yeah.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And hey, before we jump into the show, I want to real quickly thank the podcast listeners. I don't know if you saw this, Alfredo. We just hit a million downloads.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So that's huge. A million downloads. That is a huge, awesome number. Would not have been able to do without everyone taking the time to listen. So thank you so much, as always. If you're listening, help us out with a review. That's the best way to help this show grow. But a million downloads, that's a. That's a big, big number.

[B]

Won't be satisfied till it's a million reviews. So everybody, yeah, get to work. All right, let's do this. Let's get into the waiver wire pickups for the week. As always, we've got our tiers. Let's start with tier number one, Dave. At one, we've got Luther Burden. At two, Jaden Reed. And at three, Michael Carter. So that's the first tier here. There's a little bit show how bad.

[A]

Waivers are, that our top guy might be hurt.

[B]

Yeah, like, the top guy might. I was just gonna say might be hurt. This might sound stupid by the time people actually listen to it or watch it, because we might find more news, but lucid Burden has been one of the top three waiver wire ads on these shows for us. I want to say, like, six weeks in a row. Like, we just keep putting him up here, and the roster ship percentage is not changing enough. Is that more of an indictment on Luther Burton or people being uneasy about Ben Johnson or just the overall vibes around the Chicago offense because there's so many games where they look great and there's other games where it's not so much.

[A]

I think this time of year, rostership percentages get skewed because you've got half your league just isn't more than half your league is eliminated at this point. So, like, even though, like, there's four managers that are really still fighting in fantasy football, so a lot of times you do see these guys like Luther Burden. Like, if Roma Dunze went down in week nine and Luther Burden led the team in targets, receptions, and receiving yards like he did last week, he would immediately be rostered in 98% of leagues. But they. This late in the year, these guys do kind of slip through the cracks, and they're. You're not you're not bidding against a full slew of league mates. It's just you and a few other guys fighting for him. But you know, it's more than just the opportunity. Like he has been good. We're seeing that route share start to grow a little bit. And I've talked a lot about his yards per route run. He is sixth in the league in yards per route run. Right now. The only guys ahead of him, Jackson Smith, Jigba Pukinakua, CD Lamb, Drake London, Amon Ross, St Brown and Tyreek Hill. And it's not like he has been like a super part time player. He's run just as many routes as guys like Trey Harris and Kavante Turpin, Devonte Adams, Isaac Tesla, other guys that we're talking about on the fantasy radar. So this has been a guy who has been very, very involved as of late, is giving us elite production. And now for Roma, Dunes is out, which they're talking about potentially shutting him down for the season. Burton is definitely a guy that you can get in your lineups.

[B]

That was just an incredible slew of names that you said there. Trey Harris, Kevante Turpin and then Devonte Adams. And you were just.

[A]

Sorry, Devonte Hop. Oh, I meant DeAndre.

[B]

DeAndre Hopkins. Okay. I was like what stats just involve Devonte Adams and Cavante Derp. I get it. It was the Cavante DeAndre.

[A]

Yeah, so. So he's not a full time player. He hasn't been this year. And, and that was the thing. Like we. He was behind Olapade Zacchaeus. Okay, More Roman dudes, we know this, but now Roman dudes, they might not play again this year. And we saw DJ Moore had the two touchdowns, but Luther Burden was the primary receiver out there. So this if A Dunes A has to miss time, you know, I don't feel great about it, but Luther Burton's going to be inside my top 30 this week. If A Dunes is not out there.

[B]

Man, I'll say this, and I was crying about it early in the season, but keeping Luther Burden behind alameda zakias for 10 weeks seems kind of messed up. Now Ben Johnson, this is, it's the full Jameson Williams treatment, right? Like it's a guy who wasn't getting a lot of play, wasn't getting a lot of touches. And now when he's out there, I mean, dare I say he's the most electric offensive player they have on the team or at least he can develop into that. And that was sort of the Hope here. He's been leading the Bears and targets since week 11 and now you've got some decent matchups coming up. I wouldn't say they're smash matchups or tough ones, but they're like kind of like average to above average. Got Green Bay, San Francisco over the next couple weeks. But honestly, any wide receiver who can be the lead target earner for a Ben Johnson offense, I'm with it. So yeah, Luther Burton, if he's available. Number one. Absolutely. Number one. Priority wafer wire ad this week. All right, let's go to the other guys here because we got another wide receiver, Jaden Reed from the Packers. Dave, last couple weeks target shares have been. Not exactly. We haven't seen them be huge target shares 19, 17, but nine catches on 10 targets for 86 yards. Got some decent slot friendly matchups here, Chicago and Baltimore. The Christian Watson injury is really the big thing here and that's what boosts him up. And so I think had this been six weeks ago, we're really excited about guys like Matthew Golden, Romeo Dobbs, but with Jaden Reed back in the mix, I think this is the guy that we need to be excited about from the packers offense.

[A]

And you talk about the 19 and 17% target shares not being great. Well, he had a 16% target share last year and he had a 17% target share over the full season as a rookie. That's who he is. He's never been a target earner. He is a guy who garners manufactured touches in the red zone, a guy who can create after the catch, a guy who works when he's on the field, he draws targets. But he's always been a part time player. Like this guy cannot play out wide. He is completely glued to the slot. So I don't know what's going on with Christian Watson. At first it looked bad. I thought there was like an SC joint sprain, maybe a broken collarbone or something like that. But they're saying that he avoided serious injury, that he should be good to go. This is another one of those contingent ones. I think that, you know, if Christian Watson is out there, you can start Jaden Reed as kind of a desperation wide receiver. 4. If Christian Watson isn't out there though, then I think Jaden Reed kind of comfortably moves up into that wide receiver two area.

[B]

Yeah, I mean the packers offense has been so up and down, but they do have to. They. Sorry. They do seem to be playing a lot better as of lately. I mean a lot of that too has just been having a healthy Josh Jacobs that's able to go out there. Even though we've, it's been weird every week we're like, ah, he might not play. Make sure you have Emmanuel Wilson. And then it's like, ah, alas, Josh Jacobs plays and we're, we're totally fine. But packers offense has looked a lot better. Uh, Jaden Reed coming back, man, has given him the boost they need, which is odd considering not having Tucker Kraft. Let's go to the final guy here that's on this tier and it's. If you're looking for a running back, it's Michael Carter. And it's funny, Dave, because we have said this about both wide receivers, Luther Burton and Jaden Reed, that they are part time players. Well, pretty much everyone here is going to be a part time player. And it's no different with Michael Carter. He's probably the lead back for the Arizona Cardinals, but he's not getting the full allotment of carries here or touches here. We're still going to get a dose of Amari Di Mercado out there on passing downs. But Michael Carter 78 rush share, 80% snap share. We could see a guy who's somewhere around a 60, 70% rush share. A couple targets. He's a volume guy. He's a volume guy. That's going to be a low RB2 flex kind of play here. Some decent matchups. Atlanta Cincy so out of the running back spot. I think you and I both agree. Oh, no, we don't agree. Oh man. Okay, let's talk about this then. Michael Carter, let's, let's stay on him then. What has you a little more apprehensive about him not being your top running.

[A]

Back ad just Amari Damarcato. And you know, I was just on with Chris Harris earlier this morning doing his waiver show and we were talking through a lot of these same players and he is, you know, he had Michael Carter as his top pickup of the week and he's of the mindset this is just Michael Carter's backfield. And I think when looking at last week's usage, you know, we see this all the time. These players coming back, especially from an injury like a, like a high ankle sprain like that is going to zap that explosiveness. We see that ramp up game. So I think that they were kind of backed up against a wall. Donovan Knight went out with the injury. DeMarcado. They had limitations to his game plan. So I think they were kind of forced to lean on Michael Carter. I think that if Day Mercado is back near 100 going into this Week 16 matchup, I don't know exactly how touches are going to get split, but it wouldn't surprise me if Day Mercado ends up being the lead guy because we did see Michael Carter got the opportunity. He was the first lead back when Trey Benson went down. Lost that role after just one week. So you can make the argument that the volume is going to be there, but I think my fear is that the volume ends up actually going DeMarcato's way and Michael Carter ends up being the RB2. And that's just a lot of risk to take in the semifinals of your fantasy matchup that you could potentially be plugging in the RB2 for the Cardinals there. So I think there's a little bit of risk with Michael Carter, but even if the touches are split 50, 50, I think they can both kind of volume their way into an RB3 workload.

[B]

Well, that's the thing, though, is, like, there's not a running back available where there isn't a decent amount of risk. And there's a lot of these guys where we look at them and we say, you are most definitely, like, indisputably the RB2 on that team. The reason I like Carter better here is because there is a shot that he is getting the lion's share of the workload here, and he is the RB one for this team. I'll take that chance. Like, I mean, what are we waiting for if. If he. If he fails and bombs? Like, if there's no getting a running back next week, I kind of have to go for it this week, especially if I need that. That desperation RB2, which I know is crazy, by the way, guys, like, I get it. We're going into week 16. It's the playoffs. People's rosters are good. We've gotten comments before of, like, there's no way you're picking up this player and starting him if you're in the playoffs. Yes, you are. Or we're not getting. We're not getting away over wire articles. We're not getting these players added. We're not having people watch these things. Absolutely. It's happening.

[A]

Yeah. My. My only fear, and this is just, I don't know, maybe me overthinking it a little bit, is that the. The Carter thing ends up being a little bit of a trap that, like, you put him in your lineup this week and maybe there's like a 50, 50 split. And then going into that, like, smash week 17 matchup against the Bengals. Then if it leans more towards, towards damarcato. I just don't know if there's good weekly.

[B]

Good Freudian slip there. Good Freudian slip. More turds.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, yeah, really? But I think that's like my, my fear is that you end up putting him in your lineup and getting one of those weeks where he gets like three points. And that is the, the, the, the major fear here. Of course, there's upside too. You know, he's a pass catcher and there's a team that just loves playing in garbage time where you could end up with six to eight receptions on any given week. But Carter feels a little bit like a trap to me.

[B]

See, I feel like you're. I mean, I guess, but I, I kind of feel like you're seeing fantasy playoff ghosts right now.

[A]

Yeah, maybe. I just think that the team likes Dame Ricado. I think that DeMarcado is the most explosive back of the bunch. And I worry that last week was just that ramp up game. And then at some point, whether it be in week 16 or week 17, they give the full workload to Dame Mercado. And then you're sitting here saying, why is Michael Carter in my lineup with three carries in one target?

[B]

I mean, I'm not going out and grabbing Audric Estimate. Instead I'm just Jawar Jordan. Also, I will disagree with you. I don't think they like any of those running backs. Just probably not.

[A]

They like Dame Mercado before he fumbled the ball at the goal line and now they don't.

[B]

You see how tricky that is? They don't like any of them. All right, let's go down to the next tier. This next tier tier, number two has four players in it. We've got three running backs and a tight end. So if you are interested in running back, but not quite so much Michael Carter, pay attention. This is for you. So at number four, we've got Laquint Allen at five, Tamari Di Mercado at six, six, Jaquori Koski Merritt and seven Nicole Parkinson and the five, six, seven, they are all same consensus rank for us, just kind of the numbers are all jumbled around a bit. So D. Mercado, Crosby, Merritt and Colby Parkinson, we've got them all ranked the same. So let's start with the guy we have at the top, which is Laquint Allen, running back for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Dave, I think this could be the time. I think this is it. This is stand up Laquint Allen hive. There's dozens of us. We are ready. We're going to be putting on some pass blocking highlights. We're going to just dim the lights down low, light a candle and get ready. It's the Quinn Allen week, baby.

[A]

Yeah. And I've got Laquin Allen ahead of Michael Carter because I think that the Jacksonville Jaguars offense is much better. If something were to happen to Travis ctn, I know Laquin Allen is getting the workload there. There's nobody else to touch it with. And I also think that there could be some potential for standalone value here. It sounds like Bashal Tutin is going to be out for the next two weeks at a minimum. You know, they're hoping that he can return for the playoffs. But as far as what we care about from a fantasy lens, Bashal Tutin is just out of the equation at this point. So we have seen that they have used a secondary back all season. And Laquin Allen, we know he's got pass catching upside. We know this Jacksonville Jaguars offense is red hot right now. I think that he makes for a desperation flex. Like if you are really, really desperate out there and you need somebody, there could be some pass catching upside. But the, the big thing, you know, would be that, God forbid something happens to Travis ETN this week, then you are putting Lequin Allen in your lineup. Is a top 15 running back going into week 17.

[B]

I would reach full nirvana if La Quint Allen, league winner Le Quint Allen happens. Oh, yes.

[A]

That matchup against the Colts, it's not bad. I mean, it's tough. No, it's not the Broncos. But week 17, if he gets a, you know, a full workload against the Colts, that, that would be, that would be fun.

[B]

Well, I, I haven't seen a report yet, but we'll have to see also who the Jaguars bring up because I don't think they're going to go into this game with just two running backs. A lot of what laquint Allen has been doing and what he likely will be doing is just going to be a lot of pass blocking. So, like, I do want to get that out of the way. If the snap shares are going up, it can still end up being a lot of pass blocking. But Dave, what you pointed out is baseball Tootin being out for multiple weeks. Yeah, we could be looking at anywhere from like six to 12 touches per game. Now, 12 touches in a Jaguars offense with Laquin Allen catching passes is huge. But if we still kind of sit around the six to eight touches and, and he's not catching as Many passes because he's so valuable as a blocker. That's where I start to get a little bit more nervous. Right. It's like, even if they're going split back sets and they're having him block and having ETN go out or whatever they end up doing, we haven't seen La Quint Allen, as much as I love him, get the carries between the tackles like I want to see. So maybe that changes here with Tutin being out. I will say this week does make me pump the brakes a little bit. And because they're going up against Denver, who just fewest fantasy points allowed to running backs right this season, it's not a great matchup. They've actually only had one running back all year, catch more than three passes, and that was Amari and Hampton back in, like, week three, who caught six passes. But other than that, it's just. There hasn't been a lot of catching passes. There hasn't been a lot of scoring touchdowns. It's been rough on running backs. So as much as I love Laquin Allen and I like the Week 17 matchup, I think that's more of what it is. I think it's more of a stash than a start this week. It would be a very, very desperate start, for sure.

[A]

But then also we could see that, like, hey, you know, Laquin Allen got six targets in this game against Denver, and then we have a little bit more confidence going into week 17. Yeah. So I think that's it. Like, pick him up and kind of see what happens this week, and then you can decide if you need to use him in week 17. I had to look it up. Alfredo, do you know who the other running back on this roster is that they've had on the pract squad all year?

[B]

I. I honestly have no idea.

[A]

You might remember this from putting together the rookie guide, Jaquinden Jackson out of.

[B]

Oh, yeah, Arkansas. Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. So they. They've got another guy there who's been on the practice squad that might get called up. But, yeah, I'm not overly concerned about jaquinden Jackson coming in to take in much of the work here.

[B]

Yeah, my scouting report on him was not great, but, yeah, that's like, when.

[A]

You'Re at the slog, you're like, player 150 in the rookie guide, and it's just like, this guy could take the ball from the quarterback and make some yards with his legs.

[B]

Certainly is one of the running backs in this draft class. Yes.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. Look at us sitting from our chairs behind our Microphones. We're so tough. All right. The other running backs that are in this tier and I think we can just kind of. We, we discussed the mari di mercado a little bit. Dave. I don't think we need to add anything there, but Jakori, Crosky merit is the interesting one because if Chris Rodriguez misses this week, I think Bill becomes flex worthy. But it does not sound like Chris Rodriguez injury is super serious. He was a late scratch. It does seem like he's expected to be back. Jecori, Crosky, Merritt. Man, this has been, it's been just the microcosm of the fantasy season. There's like, you'll get the big games, but then kind of just slinks back into a whole lot of nothingness later on. It's. It's hard to get too excited about him on the waiver wire.

[A]

Yeah, it's got a cool nickname. I mean, that's, I think that's why he picked up so much steam in the preseason. People love, love them some Bill. But yeah, Chris Rodriguez sounded like he was almost ready to go last week. And it's very rare that we see a game time decision miss the next week. So I expect Chris Rodriguez to be back, and that's why I've got crossing pretty far down my rankings. You know, we've had a whole season for the Commanders to show us their cards, and their cards have shown us that they prefer Chris Rodriguez of the bunch, of course. Now, though, with Jacqui Cross looking pretty good last week, I have a little bit less faith about putting Chris Rodriguez into week 16 lineups. So now this is just like, cool. The whole Commander's backfield. They're shutting Jaden Daniels down for the year now too. They're talking about potentially Shutting down Terry McLaurin like, the commander season is over. This is just a disaster.

[B]

Yeah. The only kind of silver lining I have here is what you said where it's like, you don't have as much faith in starting Chris Rodriguez, but maybe after a big game they're saying, okay, you know, season's pretty much over. Jaden Daniels is out for the year. Let's see what we got with the, with the Crosky merit kid. Right. And like, let's just keep getting him some more touches. He gave us some juice last week and let's keep Chris Rodriguez healthy. I don't know. I don't know what reasoning they would have for that, but if anything, I'm more worried about Chris Rodriguez not having value than value than Jakory Crosby, Merit having a ton of value.

[A]

100.

[B]

That's that. That's where it is for me. Last guy in this tier, Colby Parkinson, who has just been on an absolute heater. Six touchdowns in his recent games of. Six touchdowns.

[A]

Six games.

[B]

Six touchdowns in six touchdowns. Seven games. Yeah.

[A]

Six games.

[B]

Yeah. Crazy, man. Crazy.

[A]

He's averaging 13 has been insane too over those 68. Over the last seven games, he's had 14 red zone targets. The guy is averaging two red zone targets per game.

[B]

Yeah, it, it's just. I don't know what it is. I guess it's there. There's so much attention on Devonte Adams and Puka Nakua and Kobe Parkinson and also the Rams. We've known this throughout the season is they're using multiple tight end sets more than anyone else in the league. They're out there running with three tight ends half the time. It's just, it's nuts. But 13 and a half PPR points per game since week 10 for Kobe Parkinson, this is our favorite tight end of the week. And it's a good matchup too. Seahawks. This is a top 10 tight end matchup for fantasy.

[A]

Yeah, and I think this is one that like, you know, it's so hard to put linear rankings on waiver wire pickups because you might be flush with running backs and wide receivers and you don't need a tight end. But like if you are searching for a tight end, you've just been streaming all year. Haven't really found anybody sticky yet. Colby Parkinson should be the primary addition. He's the tight end four since week 10 and sure, a lot of that's inflated by touchdowns, but now with devontae Adams, I'm hesitant to believe that devonte Adams is going to come back this week. He's been nursing this hamstring injury for a long time and the way that it just like seemed to pop on him in this game and he just like went down. He thinks that he's going to be back, but with a short Turnaround, I'm expecting Devonte Adams to be out at least one game, potentially two more weeks. And that makes, you know, Devonte Adams has 32 red zone targets this year, by far the most of any Rams player. With their number one red zone weapon out of the equation, Colby Parkinson, who has been their number two red zone option, is now the number one guy. And we know like Matthew Stafford's gutting for an MVP right now. He's trying to pat his stats as much as he can. We've seen Those fades to Devonte Adams at the one yard line. Now we're probably going to see some fades to Colby Parkinson at the one yard line. So this is one where, you know, I don't want to like put you on the spot here, Alfredo, but like looking at some of the other guys, like Dallas Goddard has been so boomer bust, like coming off of a big, big game. But like I prefer Kobe Parkinson ahead of Dallas Goddard this week. Ronda Gadson has completely dried up. I think I would prefer Colby Parkinson there. I mean, there's a lot of people that I think are being held onto as plug and play tight end ones that if I've got some of these guys, I'd happily go to the waiver wire, pick Colby Parkinson up and get him in my Week 16 lineup instead.

[B]

Yeah, my favorite thing that I talked about with Andy Barons on the Pretend GM podcast is that like once you get to the fantasy playoffs, just throw out everything else that's happened throughout the year. Like it does not matter. You know, you mentioned like a Rondi Gadsden and how that's dried up. He probably shouldn't even be rostered at this point. Like there's not much that could change that. All of a sudden you're going to see a ton of volume going his way. It would have to be multiple injuries. So it's like right now.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Even if you haven't been in love with Colby Parkinson throughout the year, you can and should be starting him this week. And there's some other guys even too. Like Darren Waller, I think becomes a guy you can throw, you know, a dollar a fab on as well. It's like if you're really desperate at tight end and let's say Colby Parkinson's not available in your league, Darren Waller is another guy. Or you know, throw bids on both. See what you can get. Especially if you're just hungry at tight end, man, like there shouldn't be. By the way, Dave, what's your take? Teams out of the playoffs, should they be allowed to bid?

[A]

It comes down. Is there a punishment in the league? Like if you've got to go, you.

[B]

Know, does the consolation bracket matter?

[A]

No, no, no.

[B]

I'm saying like in the league, if that bracket matters, like there's a payout. Last place.

[A]

Yeah. Like sometimes it's like first place in the consolation bracket gets their buy in back or something like that, then play to the end. Or if you've got a league punishment where you know you've got to go put on a wedding dress and get cars to honk at you or something like that. Yeah, go set your waivers. But if it's just a league where, like, there's no punishment, there's no prize in the consolation back, just. Just go down magnanimously. Let. Let the people who are still fighting for a playoff spot be the ones.

[B]

To put their bits in the wedding dress thing. I'll just do for fun. I like to feel pretty. All right, let's go to tier number three, where we've got one wide receiver, two running backs. We got Jalen Coker, wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers, and then the pairing of these Saints running backs. Audric Estimate, Evan Hull. Welcome to week 16, everybody. This is where we are. We are on the running back four and five, and if we want to call Taysom Hill a running back, we're technically on the running back six and seven for the New Orleans Saints. Guys who were not on this roster at the beginning of the year, and here we are considering adding them. Jalen Coker. I think we can just make it pretty simple. He's been having some good touchdown variants over the last few weeks. The Panthers don't look totally awful. It's a friendly pass defense going up against the Bucks. Jalen.

[A]

Bryce Young could be if he just pretended every game was in the last month of the season.

[B]

He's weirdly good at that.

[A]

Like, last year, he was the. He was the fantasy QB one over the final month of the season. And now here we are again, late in the year, Bryce Young, just looking like a superstar again.

[B]

He's like the assistant manager that's just really good at not getting fired. Like, he'll be really, really bad. And it's like, all right, guys, end of the year numbers are coming up. Let's. Let's make sure we got everything in line to turn into the bosses. And he just shows up, throws a couple touchdowns, wins four games, and it's like, all right, we'll see you guys again next quarter. See you then, Bryce. Yep, everyone's got one. Everybody's got one. But let's talk about these running backs, these Saints running backs, because I think these are the more important ones, because everyone's, like, jonesing for a running back at this point. And this is especially for our deeper league people that are trying to decide between Evan Hull and Audric Estimate. You and I both have Audrey Estimate higher, but by just one spot. I have them, like, totally out of the realm of even wanting to have them on a fantasy team, but I get it. There's Desperate, desperate times call for desperate measures. Audric estimate, what has you ranking him higher than Evan Hall?

[A]

Dave, he saw the targets, which is weird because, like, that is not what he did at all in Denver. But, you know, he was just a ball that only got early down work in Denver. But apparently the Saints are like, hey, you can catch the ball. Get out there and. And do that.

[B]

You have hands.

[A]

Go. Yeah. So, you know, I don't feel great about either of these guys. I do have them ranked a little bit higher than you do just because estimate had more. More snaps, more targets, more route run. More routes run. But it was pretty close to a 50, 50 split. I mean, I don't feel great about either of these guys, but again, like in deep leagues, I will kind of pick them up. And hopefully what happens in week 16 is we get a little bit of a clearer picture where it's like, whoa, aldrich estimate got 85% of the touches. And then you feel good putting him in your Week 17 lineup. But my goodness, you would need some, some, some pretty strong will to put either of these guys in your Week 16 lineup.

[B]

Today is when we start to put together our rankings. Do you have any inclination of where you're going to be putting guys like Estimate Hull as you do?

[A]

I mean, it's a decent matchup. I'll have Aldrich estimate is probably going to be right around tight end or right around running back 36 for me. And I'll have Hull probably right around running back 45 or so.

[B]

Yeah, I'm taking a look at where football guys has it started right now.

[A]

It's the worst version of the Cardinals.

[B]

Yeah. So football guys projections has estimate and haul around running backs 37 and 39. So let's just call it running back 38 as a, as a single entity if we're doing that. So yeah, it, that doesn't surprise me. It's kind of where we're at. So if you have. You'd have to have like three running backs that are hurt or not playing well for, for me to want to go and get Audrick estimate.

[A]

But listen, guys, I'll say I liked estimate last year. I thought there were like, there was a little window there where estimate looked pretty good in Denver, but this Saints offensive line isn't nearly as good. Estimate's fun though. Like he's got that, that bowling ball to his game. That, that, that's fun doesn't always lead to a lot of fantasy points, but if he's getting, you know, three to five targets per Game. That does give him a decent floor.

[B]

See, I've got to change this about me because I do this almost the same way I do with, like, people or restaurants where I'm just like, it's not really worth it to me. You know, someone's like, hey, we're gonna go have dinner at this place. And I'm like, I don't like that place. So probably not. And it's like kind of like me with Audrey Estimate. I'm like, I don't think he's very good and the team's not very good.

[A]

So I didn't think Devin Neal was very good either, but he was getting volume and he was productive with it.

[B]

And this is also fair.

[A]

This is Zemir White. We know he's not good, but he won these two years ago.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

All right.

[B]

You win, you win. All right, final tier. These are some names that might be a little bit more familiar. We got Matthew Golden.

[A]

These names might be more familiar. Jawar Jordan, you know that undrafted guy from last year that's never taken an NFL snap before last week.

[B]

Him.

[A]

Just a common household name. George.

[B]

He was, he was the backup running back in Louisville.

[A]

Yeah, like, he wasn't even like the backups. Backups. Backup last year in Houston.

[B]

Yep, yep. Good times, fantasy football. Good times. So Matthew Golden, Gerard Jordan, Malik Davis, Dave. I assume we're gonna have the most to say here about Matthew Golden. Yeah, he's your lowest ranked player out of this tier. I will, like, just add that context to it.

[A]

Yeah. Maybe this is just me, like, being a little bit spiteful with my waiver rankings, but, like, I just don't see it happening. Like, come on, maybe if Christian Watson misses time, you can get lucky and Matthew Golding can catch a 60 yard touchdown. But is that really, is that really how you want to go down in your fantasy matchups is with Matthew golden, the guy who's done nothing all year in your lineup? No. And that's it for me. Like, I could not live with myself for the next eight months if I lost a fantasy matchup because I started Matthew Golden. So I'm just not going to do it.

[B]

Well, first of all, you need to talk to somebody if that's. If that's going to ruin your next eight months.

[A]

Oh, it would. I'd just be thinking, like, why Matthew Golden? Like, what about Matthew Golden? Did I think he deserved to be in my lineup? I can't do it at this point.

[B]

Like, is there much difference between starting Matthew golden versus, like, grabbing Marquez, Valdez, Scantling on the Steelers with Aaron Rodgers.

[A]

Like I think I'm prefer mbs just got released from the Jets. We should be talking about him out of Matthew golden today.

[B]

You know, you know, you do this, you do this at least two, three times a year. How can we work out Lazard into the most mundane fantasy conversations and make it mundaner? We did. Yeah, we did it. Everybody click that.

[A]

Like, I'd rather go down swinging with a Audrey estimate my lineup than a Matthew. That's where I'm at.

[B]

What are we talking about?

[A]

We're.

[B]

It's like this is the same thing. They're the same picture. Corporate needs to you to identify the difference between these two. It's the same picture. You're going down swinging. It doesn't matter how you're going down swinging if you're starting Arch estimate and or Matthew Golden.

[A]

I put Colby Parkinson in my flex before I think.

[B]

Yes. Oh, yes. 100%. Thank you for establishing that. By the way. Colby Parkinson over. Colby Parkinson over Jalen.

[A]

Darren Waller. Colby Parkinson and Darren Waller. I'd go with them over basically everybody in these last two deers.

[B]

Okay, so Colby Parkinson and Darren Waller in the flex over Jalen Coker. Audrey estimate, Evan Hull, Matthew Golden, Joao Jordan, Malik Davis.

[A]

We did it.

[B]

And just for. Just for good measure, like Jahliel McLaughlin too.

[A]

Yes. There's the actionable advice.

[B]

There it is. We did it. Congrats on your upcoming championship, everybody. Bam. Bam. Bam. All right, Dave, that's it for us, man. The Week 16 waiver wire episode is done. We're gonna be back, as always on Thursday for our starts and sleepers of the week. And then we're back again for the last waiver wire episode of the year going into week 17, Dave, it's gonna be December 23rd. That's gonna be the Christmas week. So I think that might be our last episode of the season for everybody. Just wanna.

[A]

I think so. Be sure to get your lineup set. We have Saturday games this week. This is. I feel like it catches us by surprise every single year where it's just like, wait, Saturday. I have to watch football on Saturday now. And it's always right around the holidays when we, like, want as little football as possible, but Saturday games, so. So get those set. We've of course, got Thursday Night Football, but some big, big games. We got the Eagles and Commanders and then the Bears and Packers. A lot of fantasy, impactful players in there. So don't put your commissioner in a bind because you didn't check your lineup on Saturday. Be an adult. Set your lineups. Thanks for coming.

[B]

Go pick up Padick Estate and Matthew Gold and start them all. There you go. Go down swinging, everybody. That's how we do it. All right, that's going to be a wrap for us. As always, I want to thank everybody for watching or listening all the way through. For myself, for Dave. We'll see you next time. Adios.