965: 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, 965 of The Late-Round Fantasy Football Podcast, sponsored by Underdog. Thanks for tuning in. We've made it. This is the last 15 Transactions episode of the season. And because of Christmas being right in the middle of the week, this is the last Late-Round Podcast episode of the year. Now, as I said at the start of the season, my goal with this show each week wasn't to bat a thousand. That's impossible in this game. Instead, I just kind of wanted to be a week ahead. I wanted to give you insights that your league mates may not have had. Most importantly, though, I just wanted you to learn. This game of fantasy football has tons of variants. Wild stuff is going to happen. But, over the long run, you can be a winning player. You don't have to get everything right. You just have to get more right than your league mates, with a little luck along the way. So thank you for another great year. I hope the fact that you're listening to this means that you're fighting for a championship. So let's finish the job. Let's get it done. Now, before getting to the Transactions, of course, I have to remind you to check out Underdog. It's the best place to play in fantasy sports. And there are snake draft playoff contests you can join right now for the NFL playoffs, for all different entry points. When you sign up, make sure you use promo code LATEROUND for a nice deposit offer. The fantasy football season doesn't have to end after this week. There's plenty more to do over on Underdog. So check it out, underdogfantasy.com, promo code LATEROUND. This last Transactions episode always goes quicker than the other ones during the season. Because it's just a quick ads and drops episode. But for one last time, let's get to these Transactions.

Add Trey Benson and Michael Carter. So James Connor was on his way to a monster day before suffering a knee injury in the third quarter against Carolina. I mean he did have a monster day, it just could have been amazing. Now the status of that injury is currently unknown. But if he's out, you have to look to the other backs in this Arizona backfield. Now hypothetically, Trey Benson would be that player, if he was healthy. He's been dealing with an ankle injury, so his status is up in the air. If he goes though, Trey Benson, he's your man. If both Connor and Benson are out in week 17 though against the Rams, then Michael Carter is probably your best bet. After James Connor's injury, Carter played almost three quarters of Arizona's offensive snaps. DJ Dallas was the third down back. Carter wouldn't be an awesome play because of the split backfield, but plenty of waiver wires are pretty thin right now, so he should be added. Add Audrick Estimé. So the Broncos were without Jaleel McLaughlin in week 16 That led to Audrick Estimé seeing a 53% running back rush air. That was his second highest total of the season. He carried the ball nine times for 48 yards in a touchdown. Now, Andrew Mason, who covers the Broncos, he asked Sean Payton if Estimé earned more work after that game. And this is what Payton responded with. Quote, Yeah, I think he has. I think he played well. I was encouraged with the physicality he ran with, and I think they'll only get better. So I was encouraged. The Broncos get the bangles this week. Cincinnati is a top 10 matchup for running backs by adjusted points allowed. And Denver has an early implied team total that's close to 23 points. So Estimé could be a sneaky play. Drop Najee Harris. Look guys, the schedule got to Najee Harris. This is exactly what I was afraid of. He's been brutal over the last two weeks. He scored 3.1 and 4.2 PPR points. He didn't see higher than a 50% running back rush share in either game. His target shares have been lower than 5%. The Steelers of course have faced two tough matchups against Philadelphia and Baltimore. The problem though, they get Kansas City this week. The Chiefs have been the absolute best team against running backs this year by adjusted points allowed. I think in 10 and 12 team leagues, Najee Harris can probably be dropped. He's more than likely just a touchdown dependent asset here in week 17 And really, that's been the case for the majority of the 2024 season. Add Chig Aconquo. So over the last two weeks, the Titans have faced the Bengals and the Colts. The Bengals are the second best matchup for Titan ends by adjusted points allowed. The Colts, they're the absolute best matchup. Aconquo has seen target shares of 27% and 33% in those two games. He scored 33 PPR points. He scored double-digit PPR points three times this year. Two of those three instances have come over the last two weeks. Now, you might be hearing that and you're thinking, oh, he's just going to regress. Well, here's the thing. Tennessee gets Jacksonville this week. They rank as the seventh best opponent for Titan ends this year by adjusted points allowed. So Chig Aconquo is a strong streamer once again. Hold Marvin Harrison Jr. So, look, I talked about this on last week's mailbag episode. It's been a tough year for Marvin Harrison Jr. And again, in week 16, he underperformed. It was a decent enough matchup too. He scored 7.9 PPR points. Harrison has now failed to reach double digit PPR points in four of his last five games. You might be ready to drop him, but I wouldn't drop Harrison Jr. Because this past week, he had a 27.6% target share against the Panthers. He gets the Rams this week and the Rams have struggled a little bit against perimeter-wide receivers this year. In fact, Marvin Harrison Jr.'s best game of the season came back in week two against this Rams defense. So even if he can't find your lineup, I wouldn't want my opponent to have access to Marvin Harrison Jr. Because he is capable of having some spiked weeks. Add Jalen McMillan. Look, it's the last 15 Transactions episode of the season. I gotta talk about Jalen McMillan because he is on a heater. He's averaging over 19 PPR points over his last three. He's had target shares during this time of 25%, 23% and 16%. Now he's definitely had some touchdown luck, but it does seem like things have clicked a little bit. Week 17, he gets Carolina. The Panthers have been far worse against running backs than wide receivers this year. But McMillan is seeing solid enough volume and he's playing well. So he might find your lineup this week. Add Bryce Young. So in that same Panthers-Buccaneers game as Bryce Young, he's been playing much better over the last month, month and a half of the season. He's averaging 18.8 standard fantasy points over his last four. And most importantly for fantasy purposes, he's running the ball a lot more. He's averaged almost 30 rushing yards per game over his last six. Tampa Bay is the second best matchup for quarterbacks this season by adjusted points allowed. And the Panthers, they have an early team total over 20 points. That's not always a given for them. So I think Young is probably the top streamer of the week. Drop Michael Pittman. Guys, the Indianapolis Colts in week 16, they had 11 pass attempts.