1074: 15 Transactions for Week 17

**JJ Zachariason** (0:02)
This is The Late-Round Podcast with your host, JJ Zachariason.
What's up, everyone? It's JJ Zachariason. In this episode 1074 of The Late-Round Fantasy Football Podcast, thanks for tuning in. Well, we made it. We made it to week 17 It's Championship Week. It's been a really fun year. And honestly, it's been a good year, which I'm really thankful for. We just got to cross the finish line now. Just remember, this may be the last episode of 2025, but I'm not going anywhere. I do content all off season, and really, that's the content that forms so much of my process during the season. So if you're only an in-season listener, I get it, but don't go away. Don't unsubscribe. There's tons of new stuff to dive into during the off season. And we've got big plans for Late-Round Fantasy Football as a business, too. Make sure you're staying on top of everything by subscribing to that newsletter. Just go to lateround.com, click Newsletter and submit your email address to sign up. But this is it. So without further ado, let's get to the last transactions list of this 2025 season. Add Emanuel Wilson. So after not practicing last week because of this knee injury, Josh Jacobs, he did give it a go on Saturday night, but he hit just a 39% snap share. Emanuel Wilson played the most snaps for Green Bay in Week 16 He carried the ball 14 times for 82 yards. I thought he looked really good too. If Jacobs were to miss this week, which does seem possible, I would expect Wilson to touch the ball a lot against Baltimore. Keep in mind, we saw Jacob sideline earlier this year against the Vikings. Wilson saw 28 carries and two targets. Not only that, but Jordan loves in concussion protocol. If he can't go, I would expect more of a ground game approach for that Green Bay offense. So basically, Wilson is a legit starter in fantasy this week if Josh Jacobs is out. That's why his 37% roster rate needs to be a whole lot higher. Add Dylan Sampson and Raheem Sanders. Quinshawn Judkins had a brutal season-ending injury in week 16 That led to a backfield split between Rocket Sanders and Travion Williams. Both Sanders and Williams played 20 snaps. Williams was more of the pass catcher. He ran over twice as many routes, and he saw four targets to Sanders' one. But Sanders, he saw the early down work. He got the ground game stuff. He carried the ball 11 times to Williams' three. And that's why I would prefer Rocket Sanders to Travion Williams. Not only that, but Sanders was a zap model favorite during draft season. He was someone to me that the NFL just seemed to undervalue. The thing is, Dylan Sampson, he was out on Sunday with a hand injury. Now we don't know if he's going to be able to go this weekend, but if he does, he'd make for a pretty nice play. Back in week one when Judkins wasn't playing, Sampson, and this is with Jerome Ford on the roster and healthy, but Sampson saw a 57% running back rush share and a 19% target share against the Bengals. Now this week 17 matchup against the Steelers isn't amazing, but there could be some usability from this Browns backfield. Hold Michael Carter. So look, Michael Carter's week 16 definitely could have been better. His peripherals weren't quite as good as what I thought they'd look like. That's because the Cardinals mixed in rookie Corey Keiner, resulting in Carter snagging just a 50% running back rush air in that game against Atlanta. But I wouldn't be dropping Michael Carter. He ran 17 routes according to PFF data compared to a combined 13 from the other two Arizona backs. And the Cardinals get the best matchup on paper this week by adjusted points allowed in Cincinnati. That game has a 52.5 point total. Now, the one piece of downside with Carter is that the Cardinals are a 7 point underdog in that matchup against the Bengals. According to PFF, in week 16, Amari DiMarcato played Arizona's 2 minute snaps. So if this game script does get out of hand, you run the risk that Carter is going to lose some snaps. I just wouldn't want to drop a starting running back facing the Bengals on the waiver wire after one mediocre outing. Add Trey Tucker. Now, would I feel really, really comfortable starting Trey Tucker in my league's championship? Probably not, but I do think he's a potential sleeper. He's continued to operate as Vegas' number one wide receiver. He's hit at least a 90% route share every single game this year. There is some stability with his role. Now, he's typically seen a 19% target share or so, but that could come in handy because they get the Giants this week. New York ranks as the 11th best matchup for wide receivers by adjusted points allowed. So if you need someone deep on the waiver wire to throw into a wide receiver spot, maybe Trey Tucker is that guy. I mean, he's shown ceiling games in the past. Back in week 3, he had a 37-point outing against Washington.