Fantasy football free agents: Jaguars lead waiver wire options for Week 17

The 16th Sunday of the NFL season may be best remembered for its stunning finish to the season. Detroit Lions' loss for Pittsburgh Steelers (twice offensive pass interference!), but also praised for a fantastic play Jacksonville Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence, Cincinnati Bengals RB Chase Brown And New Orleans Saints WR Chris Olaveamong others. The Jaguars' victory in Denver was perhaps the most notable result of the day.

Meanwhile, Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen, New York Giants QB Jackson Dart, Dallas Cowboys RB Javonte Williams, Atlanta Falcons WR Drake London And Arizona Cardinals THAT Trey McBride everyone is disappointed with the managers' imagination. Allen scored just 6.9 points. Dart scored 0.02 points – that's not a typo! Injuries removed Cleveland Browns RB Quinshawn Judkins (leg), and later that day New England Patriots RB TreVeyon Henderson (head).

Every Monday until the end of the current NFL weekend, we will identify the players available in minimum 50% ESPN standard leagues worth checking out, from standard formats to deeper options. The NFL is a week-to-week league, and player evaluations and roles rarely remain the same. It doesn't matter how you acquire players for your fantasy rosters, as long as you acquire them!

Defender

Trevor Lawrence, Jaguars (51% of ESPN league players): Plenty of fantasy managers likely avoided Lawrence, who entered Week 16 as the No. 7 QB of the season because he was facing a road game against a powerhouse. Denver Broncos. So naturally, Lawrence scored a position-best 31.16 fantasy points in the 34-20 win. Lawrence has scored 75.46 points (10 touchdowns!) over the last two games. He became a mandatory player in Week 17 against Indianapolis Coltsor managers should at least add him and ensure their playoff opponent can't field him.

Tyler ShawSaints (10.9%): Shaw scored 17.12 points in Sunday's cruiser victory over the dreaded New York Jetsreaching a career-high 308 passing yards. He will face improvement Tennessee Titans at 17 weeks. The Titans were not attacked by various Kansas City Chiefs backups on Sunday, but have generally struggled to contain opposing passers, and Shaw has scored at least 17 points in four straight games. He's a rookie, but he can perform better than your current starter.

Marcus Mariota, Washington commanders (16.2%): Mariota (hand) was unable to finish Saturday's loss to Philadelphia Eaglesbut there is a chance he will be ready to face the rival Cowboys on Christmas Day. Note: Submit your compositions on time! Three games on Thursday and two more on Saturday! Mariota has made eight starts this season instead of Jayden Daniels (elbow) with mixed results, but the Cowboys defense consistently welcomes opposing quarterbacks by allowing the most fantasy points (by far) at the position.

Deep league options/streamers/random thoughts

• Green Bay Packers starter Jordan Love (concussion) left Saturday's overtime loss on the scoresheet Chicago Bears long before this additional period and Malik Willis (0.1%), the Titans' third-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, scored an impressive 13.24 points. Long known for his running ability, Willis rushed for 44 yards, but he also completed 9 of 11 passes for 121 yards and a touchdown. Packers accept the desperate Baltimore Ravensmiddle of the pack in QB fantasy points Saturday night.

• Seattle Seahawks starter Sam Darnold (43.4%) scored 19.5 points in a convincing overtime victory over the team. Los Angeles Rams. He will have to face the underestimated Carolina Panthers at 17 weeks. The Panthers are strong against the pass. Darnold isn't the most consistent fantasy provider, including lately, but if you want a veteran on a good team rather than a rookie, he's available in many leagues.

running back

Blake ChoirRams (29.8%): Corum continues to appear in this space because he continues to put up solid fantasy numbers. He now boasts four straight games with double-digit fantasy points. He averaged double-digit rushing attempts during that period and scored a rushing touchdown in every game. He'll make five valuable plays in a row against the Falcons this week.

Dylan SampsonBrowns (7.4%): The Browns lost rookie Quinshawn Judkins (leg), so someone will have to replace him for the final games against the Steelers and Bengals. Sampson (hand) has not played in the last two games, but the rookie fourth-round pick out of Tennessee has been Judkins' top backup. He even caught eight passes and scored 17.3 points when Judkins didn't play in Week 1. If Sampson sits down, veteran Trayveon Williams (0.1%) and Raheim Sanders (0.1%) will be next. Williams caught four passes for 38 yards Sunday in relief of Judkins, but Sanders saw more opportunities.

Jauhar Jordan, Houston Texans (5.2%): Woody Marks (ankle) was a late scratch on Sunday vs. Las Vegas Raidersand Jordan easily outshone the veteran Nick Chubb for volume and production, receiving 12 points for imagination. Perhaps Marks will return this week against Los Angeles Chargers.

Taija SpearsTitans (30.7%): Spears and colleague Tony Pollard totaled 154 yards and 31.7 points in Sunday's win over the eliminated (and it showed) Chiefs. Next they will face a Saints defense that has been playing well lately. Spears is the preferred choice due to his pass-catching work, although Pollard usually gets the nod in fantasy leagues.

Deep league options/streamers/random thoughts

• Michael Carter (39%) is Arizona's leading running back through the end of the season. He averaged 5.9 yards per pass in Sunday's game against the Falcons, but the game script allowed him to have 11 touches. He should have more points in Week 17 against the Bengals.

• Packers Reserve Emanuel Wilson (36.4%) beat the starter Josh Jacobs against the Bears, turning 14 carries into 82 yards. Wilson was used quite a bit in place of Jacobs (knee) in the second half after Jacobs fumbled the ball. We're guessing Jacobs won't miss Week 17 against the Ravens, and let's face it: No one knows how much volume Wilson might get. He is not confident in himself.

• Leading running backs continue to be free agents in most leagues, including starters. Chris Rodriguez Jr.. (29.9%). Rodriguez returned from a one-game absence and scored 13.9 points in a loss to the Eagles as a rookie. Jacorey Croskey-Merritt (47.5%) scored 8.5 points. Rodriguez saw more volume. The Cowboys don't do well against the run either.

Wide Receiver

Parker WashingtonJaguars (12.8%): We still like his teammates Meyers And Brian Thomas Jr.. more, but those guys combined for just 12.4 points against the Broncos, while Washington took advantage of the matchup/reportage to score 23.1 points. Of course, the Broncos paid more attention to Meyers and Thomas, but Washington still mattered this season. This is his third game with double-digit targets, but his first with over 100 receiving yards. He'll have a chance to do it again next Sunday against the Colts.

Deep league options/streamers/random thoughts

• Titans Rookies Chimera Dam (20.1%) and Elik Ayomanor (8.9%) combined for 21.8 points against the Chiefs, although they only hit nine combined targets, which is a risk. They face the Saints this week, but chances are if you've made it to Week 17 of the playoffs, you won't have to rely on any Titans.

• Steelers star DK Metcalfe the numbers will be paused for at least week 17, leaving the veteran Adam Thielen (6.2%) with a chance for volume against the Browns. Thielen only saw two targets in his first two Steelers games after signing, but he then caught all four of his targets for 49 yards against the Lions.

tight end

Brenton StrangeJaguars (27.3%): Strange scored 14.9 points against the Broncos, including a stunning one-handed touchdown catch. Strange only caught one pass in Week 15, but overall he was a big part of the offense. The Jaguars face the Colts in Week 17…and the Colts are one of the easiest defenses to score TE points against.

Deep league options/streamers/random thoughts

• We've discussed the Bengals all season long in this thread because their defense allows for the most fantasy chances in tight situations. Cardinals star Trey McBride should be a fun week 17. However, let's also discuss the Bengals TE since Mike Gesicki (3.2%) has scored touchdowns in two of the last three games.

• You probably won't be broadcasting a tight end this late in the season, but the Saints starting lineup Juwan Johnson (53.6%) and Seahawks starter AJ Barner (15.6%) are also reasonable options.

Defense

• Chargers D/ST (35.9%) the streak of consecutive games with double-digit fantasy points ended in Dallas, but the unit still scored 4.0 fantasy points for managers. The Chargers host the Texans (one offensive touchdown on Sunday against the Raiders) in what should be a fairly defensive battle.

• pirates D/ST (31.9%) is not a top 20 unit in fantasy, scoring double-digit fantasy points only twice, but third place could be this week against Miami Dolphins and QB backup Quinn Evers. On Sunday, the Dolphins struggled to score against a rough Bengals defense.

• Saints D/ST (57%), Vikings D/ST (49.2%) and Panthers D/ST (6.1%) are also reasonable streamers in week 17.