This week’s article is going to be an abbreviated one. Not because I lost Jonathan Taylor with my team on a first-round bye but because there is not much more we have to discuss. If you have been following this column, you should have your handcuffs in place and your two playoff defenses set. You have made it this far. Now it is time to bring home the hardware and a year’s worth of bragging rights.
Heading into Week 16, you should only need to make minor tweaks. If you held Dameon Pierce or Kyler Murray just in case or lost Jonathan Taylor early on Saturday, you need to focus on those holes on your roster. Maybe, you can use the roster slots the players mentioned above are occupying to add that second defense you neglected to pick up last week.Â
The bottom line is you need to ensure every player on your roster is healthy and can produce points. This is not the time to get cute. Grab players who are playing vice holding out for a miracle that one of your injured players comes back to save your season.
Another area to consider that we have not discussed before is kicker. Think about how Chase McLaughlin and his 22 points would have looked to all of you that lost by double-digit points. Look to kickers kicking in domes and those specifically kicking for high-scoring offenses. If you are hemming and hawing between two kickers, take the one playing in the game with the highest implied total score (Vegas lines).
OK, folks, let’s get to it!
NOTE: Rostered percentages and scoring system are based on Yahoo! PPR league scoring.
Waiver Add of the Week: RB – Zack Moss & Deon Jackson (IND, 4% & 7% rostered) – It has come to this. Every owner that took Jonathan Taylor at 1.01, me included, can finally put a fork in Taylor’s lackluster, disappointing 2022 fantasy football season. The Colts RBs are looking at a smash matchup against the Chargers’ run defense. Temper your expectations as the Chargers team appears to be getting healthy at the right time, and the defense is playing better. Either way, you need healthy players with defined roles and Moss out-touched Jackson 2-to-1 in the rush game and had the only reception for the two players on Saturday. Your guess is as good as mine as to who will be the lead dog for Indianapolis. I am placing my FAAB money on Moss. I dry-heaved after typing that line.
QB: Mike White (NYJ, 21% rostered) was limited in practice on Monday. Do not place any FAAB on White overnight but do keep an eye on his ability to get back after it at practice this week. We want to own White for the final two games if he is healthy and playing.
QB: Brock Purdy (SF, 21% rostered) might be the safer add at QB but faces a tough Commanders’ DST in Week 16. The silver lining for Purdy is his Week 17 Championship Week matchup against the Raiders, who simply cannot stop the pass. This is a pure gut add and start and should only be done if the QB1 that brought you this far goes down to injury or has a matchup you cannot stomach. Remember, this time of year, you should not subscribe to the ‘always start your studs’ philosophy for all players all the time.
QB: Kenny Pickett (PIT, 11% rostered) & Mitchell Trubisky (PIT, 1% rostered) – The only reason these two are listed is because they face off against the Raiders defense mentioned in the Brock Purdy section above. Pure swing for the fences; my team has no other choice. Please let me win this game move; it will take big stones to make it happen.
RB: Chuba Hubbard (CAR; 39% rostered) – This guy could have been the Waiver Wire Add of the Week, but I do not feel he is the best RB on the Panthers’ roster. What I think clearly does not matter to the interim head coach in Carolina as Hubbard appears not only to be the lead dog (most CAR rush yards in Week 15), but he is also hauling in the most passes. I hope you do not need to dive this far into the waiver dumpster, but if you do, suck it up and add Chuba, hoping for positive results.
RB: Marlon Mack (DEN; 6% rostered) – Yes…I am serious. Mack has put up back-to-back 15+ fantasy points for a Broncos team that has started to score a little bit. Mack is an absolute bottom of the barrel add, but it needs to be mentioned since the only thing between him, and the starting role is 74-year-old Latavius Murray.
WR: D.J. Chark (DET; 51% rostered) – The Lions survived their matchup with the tough NYJ DST and came out with a win. These are not the Lions we remember. This team is solid on both sides of the ball and travels to CAR in Week 16 and finishes up at home, in the dome, against CHI. Both are awesome matchups for Goff and his WRs. Add and play Chark with full confidence!
WR: K.J. Osborn (MIN, 5% rostered) – Out of nowhere, Osborn lit up the Colts’ secondary to the tune of 30+ fantasy points and looked tough doing so. It is possible he is the WR2 for MIN, but do not count out Adam Thielen just yet. The Vikings get a fading NYG DST in Week 16 and end the season at Lambeau with a chance to stick it to the Packers for the first time since the Randy Moss era.Â
WR: Elijah Moore (NYJ, 36% rostered) – This guy just keeps hanging around. I like him better with Mike White under center, but I can see starting him with Zach Wilson throwing the rock, too. Again, another emergency add/start option. That is where we are at this point in the season. We want healthy and volume. Moore brings health and just enough volume to make us pay attention.
TE: Evan Engram (JAX; 72% rostered) – Volume. That is it. That is the end of the analysis. Need a little more data? Trevor Lawrence is playing good football right now. The Jaguars end the season at the Texans. You’re welcome!
We discussed some of the following defenses in last week’s column, and they beg repeating. These are teams lining up against offenses that are not good right now. In my humble opinion, the two potential league-winning DST plays below are LAC and DET.
DST:  Los Angeles Chargers (21% rostered) – @IND, LAR
           Arizona Cardinals (25% rostered) – TB, @ATL
           Los Angeles Rams (32% rostered) – DEN, @LAC
           Minnesota Vikings (41% rostered) – NYG, @GB
           Detroit Lions (3% rostered) – @CAR, CHI
If you followed Razzball and the waiver wire column this year, there is no doubt you survived the first week of the playoffs or are coming off your bye! Do not allow all that work to be for nothing. Do not throw away the hard work to this point. Make the small roster adjustments and bring home the title!
Reply to this article, and I will address all questions now and throughout the week. I am here for you!
Best of luck heading into Week 16, and may the wire be with you!
