FANTASY FOOTBALL ADD/DROPS

Week 14 working the waiver wire: Playoff time

Week 14 working the waiver wire: Playoff time
The Texans defense has a nice matchup against the Broncos. Photo by Getty Images.

For many leagues the playoffs have already arrived. This means that it might be easier to add free agents with many teams already done for the season. Keep in mind the owner % mentioned is for 10-team standard ESPN PPR leagues. Some of these players below are good for the short-term, while others have more long-term value. You have to make the call on what your team needs. Immediate help to start this week, or a player to stash on your bench and hope he breaks out soon. Let's get started!

QB

Mike Nowak/Chargers team site

Ryan Tannehill: He plays the Raiders this week, so the matchup doesn't get much better. I like him a lot better than the other options this week. Owned in 23% of leagues.

Jared Goff is coming off a great game, but his matchup against the Seahawks concerns me. Only two teams have been tougher against QBs over the last 4 weeks. Owned in 58% of leagues.

Sam Darnold: Darnold was running for his life last week, and even a great matchup against Miami is a little scary. Owned in 33% of leagues.

Philip Rivers: Proceed with caution! Rivers could get benched during his game against the Jags, and that's the last thing you want this time of year. Owned in 43% of leagues.

RB

Photo by Getty Images.

Rahaad Penny: He's owned in just 41% of 10-team leagues and scored twice this week. He's in a time-share so it's hard to know when he'll have a big game. He plays the Rams this week, which is a below-average matchup. Owned in 41% of leagues.

Bo Scarbrough: He's had at least 14 rushing attempts for 3 straight weeks and had 21 rushing attempts against the Bears on Thanksgiving. You have to love his workload. He gets the Vikings this week who are the 8th best matchup for RBs over the last 4 weeks. Rostered in 46% of leagues.

Derius Guice: He looked great this week, but you still have to deal with Adrian Peterson getting touches. He's out there in about 50% of leagues.

Alexander Mattison: If Dalvin Cook is out with the shoulder injury, Mattison could be a league winner. Cook says he intends to play this week though.

Duke Johnson: He had a great game against the Patriots, but his usage is so inconsistent. 2 weeks ago against Indy he had only 6 touches. Owned in 58% of leagues and get the Broncos this week.

WR

Robbie Anderson: He's had 2 great games in a row and gets the Dolphins this week. Pick him up. He's rostered in 48% of leagues.

James Washington: He's been awesome in 3 of his last 4 games. He's only rostered in 23% of leagues and has a great matchup against the Cardinals.

Darius Slayton and Sterling Shepard: It's hard to know which guy to start but if you're desperate, you can give one of them a shot. Shepard has the better pedigree.

TE

Kyle Rudolph: I've been saying it for weeks, add him! He has 6 TDs over his last 6 games.

Jack Doyle: He just had a huge week, so pick him up if you need a TE. He's available in 50% of leagues and plays the lowly Bucs this week.

Ryan Griffin: He gets the Dolphins this week and has been pretty decent if you're desperate. He's available in 75% of leagues.


DEF

If you need some help on defense, the Texans and Vikings have decent matchups.

Be sure to check out my show MoneyLine with Jerry Bo on ESPN 97.5FM. We're on every Sunday morning from 10-noon, and we'll talk a lot of fantasy football and NFL gambling getting you ready for kickoff every Sunday.

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How latest Astros news reveals puzzling path forward for Houston

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The future is bright! Composite Getty Image.

Now that spring training is officially underway, we're able to make some observations about how the Astros 2025 roster is taking shape.

Houston's starting rotation is basically set, but we got to see Hayden Wesneski make his first start in an Astro uniform. Wesneski pitched two innings against the Mets on Tuesday, allowing one run with three strikeouts.

He's working on a curveball that's a new pitch for his repertoire, and he saw some success with it. Hopefully, adding this pitch will help keep batters off balance (especially left-handed hitters) and help elevate his game. Which is nothing new for the Astros, who have a history of helping pitchers get to the next level.

Forrest Whitley also looked good, pitching a clean inning and finishing off his final hitter with a 97 mph fastball. Whitley finally realizing his potential in the big leagues could be a huge deal for the Astros, as they're looking to lighten the workload for Bryan Abreu and Josh Hader this season.

Hader in particular could benefit from this adjustment, as he was much worse when pitching in non-save situations last season. An easy fix with Hader could be trying to limit his workload to mostly save situations. That way, you get the most out of him and achieve the goal of him pitching less innings this year.

The Houston Chronicle's Matt Kawahara wrote about Hader's struggles pitching when games were tied or Houston was trailing.

“Hader converted 34 of 38 save chances but faced more batters in non-save situations (142) than in save situations (136), a sharp pivot from his previous few seasons. Opponents slugged .271 against him in save situations and .411 in non-save situations, while his ERA was more than two runs higher (4.98) in the latter.”

And while it's easy to say “suck it up, you're getting paid a fortune to pitch,” if he's not having success in those situations, and you're looking to back off his workload, this seems like an obvious way to pivot. He's under contract for another four seasons, so the Astros are right to want to be careful with him.

Astros plate discipline

Manager Joe Espada has made it very clear that he would like his offense to see more pitches this season. And we're seeing a stark difference in the approaches from the newly acquired players (Isaac Paredes, Christian Walker) and Houston's returning hitters.

Keep in mind, Paredes was first in pitches per plate appearance last season, and Walker was 10th.

So it shouldn't come as a surprise that Paredes and Walker both worked a full count in their first at-bats on Tuesday, while Mauricio Dubon, Yainer Diaz, and Chas McCormick swung at every pitch in their first at-bats.

Hopefully the new blood in the clubhouse will rub off on the rest of the Astros lineup, which is full of free swingers, especially with Alex Bregman now playing for Boston.

Which is why we're so excited about Cam Smith's early results. While we're super pumped about his two home runs on Tuesday, we're equally impressed that he walked in his first two at-bats this spring. If anyone would naturally be jumping out of their shoes to make a strong first impression, you would think it's the guy that was traded for Kyle Tucker. But Smith was patient, and he was rewarded for it.

What is Dana Brown saying privately?

Just last offseason, Brown was talking about extending Tucker and Bregman while also signing Hader to a shocking 5-year, $95 million deal. Plus, the team signed Jose Altuve to a whopping $150 million extension. Fast-forward one year and Tucker has been traded, Bregman left in free agency, and Ryan Pressly was dealt in a salary dump. Safe to say, his vision for the ball club has changed drastically in one season. Welcome to baseball economics under Jim Crane!

We're just scratching the surface on everything covered in the video above. Be sure to hit play to watch the full conversation!

The countdown to Opening Day is on. Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!


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