595: 15 Transactions for Week 15

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Speaker 1: This is the Lab Podcast with your host JJ zacher Retha j J zacher reson What's up everyone? It's JJ Zacharyese and the editor in chief at fandle and at Number five dot com in this episode five hundred and ninety five of the Late Round podcast. So many shows that are part of the Fandel podcast network. Thanks for tuning in once again. The focus of the fifteen Transaction show this week is the Waiver Wire, not just for Week fifteen, but beyond Week fifteen as well, or through the Fantasy football playoffs since that's where we're at the season now. It's playoff time now. Before we get into the waiver Wire focused transactions this week, I want to remind you that Fandal is giving you a free way to get in on some NFL action. The Fandel NFL High Low is a free to play fantasy football contest. All you have to do is build your scorecard with the teams that you think will score highest or lowest in four stack categories. The closer you are to being spot on, the more points you'll get. Players with the most points each week split the prize pool, and a perfect scorecard will win the jackpot. So head over to fandel dot com today and play the FanDuel High Low for free. Eligibility restrictions apply. Go to fandle dot com or download the Fandel app for more details. Add Rashadpenny. So, for those of you who listened to the show last week, Rashad Penny was the sixteenth transaction on the fifteen Transaction show. And after that episode was released, we got more word from Pete Carroll himself saying that Rashad Penny was going to be utilized a little bit more in that backfield this week. And that's exactly what happened. In Week thirteen, Penny saw forty one point seven percent of Seattle's running back rushes. He had ten rush attempts. In Week fourteen. This past week, that running back rush here number jumped to sixty four percent. He had sixteen rush attempts, and he turned those sixteen rush attemps into one hundred and thirty seven yards and a pair of touchdowns. Now, as good as Rashad Penny's Week fourteen was, his peripherals still weren't like amazing. A sixty four percent running back rush hairs, fine, it's something that we should go after off the waiver wire, but he only saw one target through the air. And as we know, the Seahawks aren't going to face the Texans week in and week out. But like I said in my column, each game is a stepping stone. Penny saw his workload in week thirteen to fourteen increase, it got better, and considering he did very well in week fourteen, that could continue into Week fifteen and beyond. Add Justin Jackson and Joshua Kelly. So, Austin Eckler hurt his ankle against the Giants on Sunday. He missed a lot of that game, and unfortunately the Chargers have a short week this week. They're playing Thursday night against the Chiefs. That gives Austin Eckler less time to heal up. Now, before you all panic, head coach Brandon Staley did come out and say that Eckler was quote fine, but you never know what can happen with this sort of thing. I would be proactive off the waiver wire this week, especially if you have Eckler, and my preference between these two Chargers running backs would be Justin Jackson because he's been getting more run than the other backs in this Chargers off the other non Eckler backs, that is Joshua Kelly. In that game against the Giants, he did have ten rush attempts versus Justin Jackson's nine, but Jackson was finding the field earlier than Kelly was in that game. He was seeing work on the team's second drive, and I would also expect Jackson, given his profile, to be the pass catching back out of that backfield if Austin Eckler's out, But overall, both guys deserve a look off the waiver wire this week. I think Kelly would play more of an early down role and Justin Jackson being a more all around back. But again, hopefully Austin Eckler just plays ad Rashad Bateman. So in week thirteen, the Ravens thought it would be a good idea to play Devin Duvernet and Sammy Watkins ahead of Rashad Bateman, but fortunately things changed. In Week fourteen, Bateman ran the second most routes for Baltimore according to Pro Football Focus. He ended up catching seven of his eight targets for one hundred and three yards. Now, it's going to hurt a little bit if Lamar Jackson does miss time, but at the time of this recording, they do sound optimistic about Jackson. That's good. Regardless, Bateman should once again be on your waiver wire radar drop Courtland Sutton. I mean, I've been talking about Courtland Sutton a lot on this show since Jerry Judy returned because things have been bad. And even if Sutton at this point has a turnaround, are you really gonna start him? Like? Are you ever gonna feel confident playing Courtland Sutton in the Fantasy playoffs? He's now scored six or fewer PPR points in each of his last six games. That coincides directly with when Jerry Judy returned from his injury. Sutton's target shair per game over this time eleven point eight percent. And not only is the production not there, but Denver's Week sixteen and seventeen matchups are against the Raiders and Chargers. Those are two teams that rank as bottom five matchups for wide receivers and adjusted Fantasy points allowed. So if you're not gonna use Sutton this week, which you probably shouldn't given his recent production, there's no need to keep him on your roster. And as it currently stands, he's rostered in almost eighty percent of Yahoo leagues, that number needs to drop. Add Jamison Crowder. So both Corey Davis and Elijah Moore are now out in extended period of time. That leaves the Jets with not great wide receiver options maybe outside of Jamison Crowder. Now, Crowder didn't lead the Jets and targets on Sunday, Braxton Barrios did, but he ran twice as many routes as Barrios did according to PFF, and Crowder played eighty two percent of his snaps from his typical slot position. That could come in handy in Week fifteen against the Dolphins because the Dolphins have allowed the highest target share to that area of the field this season. I think, overall, the peripheral's favorite Crowder over any other Jets receiver right now sell Aaron Jones. It was a really weird Week fourteen for Aaron Jones. On one hand, he scored twenty one and a half PPR points. On the other, he carried the ball just five times and he only saw three targets. Now, the Packers offense is better at scoring touchdowns than other offenses, clearly, but if you have Aaron Jones, I think his Week fourteen is a little bit scary. AJ Dillon out touched him fifteen to five on the ground, and while most of you are probably sitting there assuming that it's because of a positive game script, keep in mind that both running backs carried the ball three times in the first half. Dylan did close the game, but that's also a problem. If the Packers get out to a big lead in any of these games upcoming, what's gonna happen to Aaron Jones? That at least puts that doubt in your mind. And not only that, but Green Bay's schedule over the next three weeks. It's not necessarily very good, it's not terrible, but they get Baltimore, Cleveland in Minnesota. The Ravens are the third best team against running backs and adjusted points allowed, the Browns are top ten. Jones is one of the most talented running backs in this league. He's capable of turning things around. It just depends on how the coaching staff wants to utilize him. And with AJ Dillon in that backfield, and AJ Dillon's really good too. With AJ Dillon in that backfield, there's an obvious red flag for Aaron Jones from a usage perspective. Ad Gabriel Davis. So Emmanuel Sanders suffered a knee injury against Tampa Bay on Sunday that allowed Gabe Davis to get more action in the Buffalo offense. Up until Week fourteen, Davis's highest snapshare in a single game this year was just fifty point six percent. On Sunday was eighty three point three percent, and he produced. He saw fifteen point seven percent of Buffalo's targets. He converted his eight targets into five catches for forty three yards in a touchdown. He now has back to back weeks ranking as a top thirty PPR wide receiver. Now it sounds like Sanders is gonna miss at least Week fifteen, But honestly, it makes sense for Buffalo to keep utilizing Davis regardless. He's been effective when he actually gets playing time. Ad Kadarius Tony, So this take, this transaction is a little less quantitative than most of the transactions. We haven't seen Kadarius Tony on a football field since Week eleven. Every every week that he doesn't play, he's available in more and more leagues because people are sick of rostering him, And just to be transparent, there's a chance that he doesn't even go this week because he tested positive for COVID on Monday. But think about it this way. How many players are on your waiver wire that have shown the ceiling that Tony has already shown? In Week five against Dallas, who he happens to be playing. In Week fifteen, he caught ten balls for one hundred and eighty nine yards. As a rookie with limited action, He's seen nine or more targets three separate times. And remember, guys, targets are earned. And you're right, we don't know exactly how he'll be used when everyone's healthy in this Giant's offense. But what we do know is at our benches this time of year, really all year, they should be filled with players who can give us these spiked weeks that have the kind of upside that Kadarius Tony has. I think it's reasonable if you want to use your bench for high end handcuffs or handcuffs in general, that's totally fine, But don't forget about Kadarius Tony either. Add kJ Osborne. We talked about kJ Osborne last week, but I want to talk about him a little bit more this week. Clearly he came through in week fourteen, and that was without Adam Thielen. Against Pittsburgh. He caught three passes, but his target share in that game was twenty nine percent, and he obviously had that big touchdown too. A twenty nine percent target chair is awesome. In this week, the Vikings get a good match up against the Bears, so Osbourne could be usable. He's definitely worth an ad if he's still out there. Sell Chuba Hubbard. I feel like what Chuba Hubbard did in Week fourteen was sort of expected. He saw ten of a possible fourteen running back rushes, He found the end zone on the ground, but he didn't get any of the receiving work Amir Abdullah did. Abdullah had an eleven point four percent target chair. Tuba Hubbard had a zero percent target chair. He's a one dimensional running back given how they're using him in Carolina in a mediocre offense, and that's not something that you won for fantasy purposes. And what's worse is that the Panthers schedule, as I've noted on this show over the last couple of weeks, it sucked. In Week fifteen, they get the Bills, that game could very quickly go south and if it goes south, a Mire Abdullah is going to be the back in that backfield. They're gonna lean on Abdullah as opposed to Hubbard. In Week sixteen, they get Tampa Bay. Not only can Tampa Bay stop running backs, but you also have the negative game script thing too, that's an issue. And then in Week seventeen they get the Saints. The Saints are the worst matchup for running backs in all of football according to adjusted fantasy points allowed. It's really, really really tough to trust Shuba Hubbard, especially in the fantasy playoffs. Add Malcolm Brown. So last week, Miles Gaskin and Savon Ahmed tested positive for COVID nineteen, so it meant that there was a chance that we'd see Phillip Lindsay as the Miami lead back in week fifteen. In their Week fifteen game is against the Jets, a team that's allowed the most adjusted fantasy points to running backs this year. But then on Monday, Philip Lindsay also tested positive and it sounds like Malcolm Brown could return from his injury this week. So if the other backs in that backfield happen to not be back in time, Malcolm Brown could get a shot to be the lead back. Now, I'll say this, in most cases, I probably wouldn't care that much about this backfield in this situation, But because of this opponent, there's a chance for usability from the backfield, and as a result, if you're using a free agent budget, I think it's worth throwing a dollar or two at Malcolm Brown this week. Let's just see how this thing shakes out. Add Justin Fields. So over Justin Field's last three completed games, because remember he got hurt against Baltimore, he scored twenty five point three, eighteen point one and eighteen point four standard fantasy points. And what's boosting his numbers finally is his rushing. He's doing more work on the ground. Across his first five starts, Fields was averaging four point six rush attempts in twenty one point two rushing yards per game. Over his last three finished starts, his rush attemps per game rate has increased to nine. His rushing yards per game is seventy four. Now he gets a Viking secondary that ranks in the top five and adjusted fantasy points allowed to quarterbacks, I think that Justin Fields this week is the top streamer. Add Jimmy Garoppolo. I like Jimmy Garoppolo a lot too. The forty nine ers get the Falcons, and cording to Fandels Sportsbook, San Francisco has an implied team total above twenty seven points. Garoppolo has scored fifteen or more fantasy points than six of his last seven games, and the Falcons are the top team and adjusted fantasy points allowed to quarterbacks this year, so he makes Hiss a decent streaming option. Add the Philadelphia Eagles defense, So the Eagles are available in a lot of leagues after their Week fourteen by and they have one of the best schedules for the fantasy playoffs across the board. In Week fifteen, they get the Football Team. It's a team that ranks in the top half of the league as an opponent and adjusted fantasy points allowed, and Taylor Heineke is also banged up. That's not a bad thing for the Eagles. And then they get Washington again in Week seventeen, and then sandwiched him between the New York Giants, another plus matchup. You know, I'm not one who typically just plugs and plays defenses throughout the playoffs, but maybe you're in a league with limited waiver acquisitions. Maybe you need a defense throughout the entirety of the Fantasy playoffs. If that's the case, Philadelphia does work. Hold the Los Angeles Chargers defense. Now, a lot of you listen to this show have the Chargers defense because of their Week fourteen matchup against the Giants, and you might be looking to swap them for another defense this week because the Chargers get the Chiefs and you don't want to play them against the Chiefs, but do your best to hold on to them. In Week sixteen, they get the Texans, and as we know, Houston's one of the best matchups for opposing defenses. They're the sixth best offense for a defense and adjusted Fantasy points allowed. So if one of your league mates ends up dropping the Chargers because of this upcoming matchup against the Chiefs, grab them. Transaction this week that you can't get my fifteen transactions column over on number fire dot Com is to add aman Ross Saint Brown. The reason I didn't put Saint Brown in my column this week is because I don't know how sustainable this is gonna end up being. The running backs in Detroit didn't play this past week. TJ. Howkinson's been banged up as well, and let's be honest, it's the Lions. It's hard to rely that heavily on a Lions receiver, especially with the season on the line. But amanas Saint Brown now has a thirty two percent target share over his last two games, and he scored twenty five and fifteen PPR points in those two contests. Honestly, that type of usage is really hard to ignore. So if you need some wide receiver help, he makes plenty of sense. That's gonna do for today's show, though. Thanks to all of you for listening. If you get to subscribe to the Late Round podcast, make sure you are by starching for it pretty much anywhere podcast can be found it. Follow me on Twitter at Late Round QB. Thanks for listening. Everyone really appreciate it. I'll talk to you tomorrow. Two