1065: Mailbag - Jakobi Meyers' Outlook, Cam Ward's Dynasty Value, and More

**JJ Zachariason** (0:11)
What's up, everyone? It's JJ Zachariason, and this is episode 1065 of The Late-Round Fantasy Football Podcast.
My voice is still jacked up, so I'm going to save it as much as I can for these mailbag questions. I mean, I even had my son do the thanks for tuning in. So, let's get right to it. The first question this week is from Patreon. It's from David. It says, Is there a standard approach to limiting waiver wire slash free agent activity for teams that are not in competition for a league championship? In our league, we have a mildly embarrassing reward for the team that comes in last place, so technically, everyone still has something to play for, even if they're not in the championship bracket. Thoughts? So, I talk about this each year, but I got this question a few times this week. So, let's just talk about it again so that we're all on the same page. I also think it's an interesting discussion. I think the common take for this from fantasy analysts is to say that only teams in the actual playoffs should be able to make moves off the waiver wire. And while I understand that stance, here's the counterpoint to that. Why should playoff teams have an easier time getting players off the waiver wire? To me, the best team should win the fantasy championship. I know we play in these single-elimination tournaments, and it's not always going to be that way. That's fine. It's the same deal in the actual NFL. But I at least want those single-elimination tournaments to be fair. And to me, the best teams, they're the ones who are most prepared for that stretch run. It's the teams who have the best rosters going in, not the ones who luck into a couple of running back injuries and get the handcuffs off the waiver wire going into week 17 Now, I know the other side of this argument is that the team should just plan ahead. Stash all the handcuffs. Make sure you're blocking your opponents. And that's all fair. I'm just saying, as a counterpoint, that I don't think this is as black and white as people make it seem. I see both sides of the argument. And that's especially true if the non-playoff teams are playing for something. Like if there's a punishment involved. Yeah, I would want to be adding players off the waiver wire if I was playing for last place. How is that any different than the championship bracket? You're still playing for something. Generally, if my teams are out of the playoffs, and there's nothing on the line, I'm not adding players to my teams. There's no reason to. It's kind of freeing knowing that there's one fewer league that I have to deal with, if I'm being honest. And that's probably the way that most leagues should act. If you're not playing for anything, then don't add anyone. If you are, then you should be able to add during the regular waivers. Now, if you're in a situation where maybe people are playing for something small, don't allow them to add players during the waiver period, but allow them to get guys in free agency once that period ends. But I did want to introduce the devil's advocate to all of that, because I think there's something to be said about having an easier time getting the hot waiver ad for that week. And it's not talked about enough. It's at least something to think about.
This next question is from Jeff H. It says, What do we do with Lamar Jackson? His potential upside is still leading to consistently high weekly rankings, but he just doesn't look right. For teams that have managed to make the playoffs or are on the cusp despite rostering Lamar, where do we go from here? I'm legitimately considering benching him for Jacobi Berset for the rest of the season. So one thing I'll say, and maybe this isn't relevant, I don't know, but I'll often get questions like this where it's like, should I play this fringe player rest of season? And my answer is, why give yourself that problem to answer right now? Fantasy football is a weekly game. Take it week by week. I have no issue if you're worried about Lamar Jackson and you'd rather just use Jacobi Berset this week, even in a tougher matchup, because he's been giving us really good fantasy production. But what if Lamar Jackson blows up this week against Pittsburgh? You're just going to start Jacobi Berset rest of season because you said you would in week 14? If the question is about dropping Lamar Jackson, I would not do that. But I agree with you, he's not totally looking right. But Jackson could have had a much, much better outing last week in fantasy, if not for a couple of things happening. Like the Isaiah likely fumble or the past interference call that doesn't always get called on Zay Flowers. What was good to see was that Lamar Jackson had two design rush attempts after having just won in the two prior games combined. And he was scrambling a little bit more, too. The problem is that Pittsburgh has historically played him pretty well. So I think this week, there's just a ton of volatility. You have to ask yourself if you can handle that, and if your team needs that. But I can tell you that I would not be dropping Lamar Jackson right now, even if he still hasn't looked 100% himself. And they get the bangles and the Patriots in weeks 15 and 16 You wouldn't be very happy if someone else had Lamar Jackson in your fantasy playoff, because you dropped him, and then Lamar Jackson just goes off. Because those are two very good matchups. So if you want to bench him this week, if you want to wait and see, I totally get that logic. I understand. But there's no chance that right now I would be dropping Lamar Jackson.