FANTASY FOOTBALL ADD/DROPS

Week 15 working the waiver wire: League winners

Dec 10, 2019, 4:40 pm

Congratulations if you're reading this because that means you're in the playoffs. Adding free agents should be easier with many teams already done for the season. Also, be aware that other owners that are in the playoffs will be looking to block you from picking up any players that can help you, so go all-in if you need a certain player this week.

Keep in mind the owner % mentioned is for 10-team standard ESPN PPR leagues. Some of these players below are good for this week, while others could help you in Week 16. You have to make the call on what your team needs. Immediate help to start this week, or a player to stash for next week.

QB

Carr's matchup this week is beautiful. Photo via: Raiders/Facebook

Ryan Tannehill: I had him as the No. 1 option in this article last week, and that certainly paid off with him throwing for 391 yards and 3TDs against the Raiders. He gets the Texans at home this week, so the matchup is good. He might also have to throw a little more with Derrick Henry playing through a hamstring injury. Tannehill is still available in about 60% of ten team leagues.

Derek Carr: Just typing this makes me sick, but you could do worse this week. The Jags have quit on the season, and Carr faces them at home this week. He's terrible in cold weather historically, so being at home really matters for Carr. The Jags on average are giving up over 20 points per game to QBs over the last 4 weeks. He's owned in about 38% of leagues.

Philip Rivers and Mitchell Trubisky: Both of these guys have put up good fantasy numbers lately, but their matchups are ugly this week. Over the last 4 weeks the Vikings and the Packers have been tough on QBs, but they haven't played many good ones. Rivers is rostered in 43% of leagues and Trubisky is more available being rostered in 19% of leagues. Trubisky should at least give you some rushing production, so I would probably choose him over Rivers.

RB

DeAndre Washington: If Josh Jacobs doesn't play, you have to like Washington's chances this week. He's playing the Jags who were ripped apart by the Chargers' RBs last week, and Jacksonville looks like they've given up on the season. He's available in 90% of leagues.

Raheem Mostert: It's hard to know which RB to start in this backfield, but Mostert's huge game against the Saints makes me think he's the best back to use. He's rostered in 24% of leagues.

Adrian Peterson: He's back... I know, he's hard to trust in a PPR league, but he has a good shot at scoring a TD every time he takes the field. And with Guice out of the picture, you could do worse. He's out there in 55% of leagues. He has a tough matchup against the Eagles, but he should get volume.

Patrick Laird: You never hope to start a Dolphins RB in the playoffs, but he's getting a lot of work, and he has a good matchup against the Giants if you need him. He's available in 90% of leagues.

WR

A.J. Brown: He recorded over 21 fantasy points in 2 of his last 3 games, and he gets the Texans this week. Tannehill is on a roll and Brown is his main weapon. He's only rostered in 31% of leagues, and he should continue his production against Houston.

Zach Pascal: He rostered in 30% of leagues and has recorded a TD or 100 receiving yards in 2 consecutive games. Over the last 4 weeks, the Saints are giving up massive production to WRs, so the matchup is great. He should continue to be involved with Hilton still dealing with an injury.

Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton: They face Miami this week, so there is that. Also, Slayton is coming off a huge game against the Eagles in Week 14. I'd pick Slayton if I had to choose between the two.

TE

Tyler Higbee: If Gerald Everett doesn't return to the lineup, you have to like Higbee's chances to keep racking up fantasy points. If you haven't been watching Higbee, he's recorded over 100 receiving yards two weeks straight and caught a TD. He's out there in about 90% of leagues.

OJ Howard: It feels weird even typing his name, but he should see an uptick in targets with Mike Evans done for the year. Also, he has over 61 receiving yards in two straight games and has a great matchup against the Texans in Week 16. He's rostered in 39% of leagues.

Okay, that will do it. 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. Good luck this week!

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THE PALLILOG

How early evidence points to early Astros heavyweight main event

The Astros face the Mets this Saturday! Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images.

The next major sign post on the road to the Astros’ regular season arrives Saturday with the spring training opener. If predicting the 2023 World Series matchup you could do a lot worse than casting your lot with an Astros-Mets Fall Classic. The Astros will meet the Mets in a decidedly lesser matchup Saturday at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. As fun as it might be to have just-turned-40 years old Justin Verlander throw his first pitch as a Met against the Astros, he won’t be making the bus trip south. In fact, the minimum number of legit Mets required to be in West Palm Beach figure to be on hand since the Mets are splitting their squad for the day with more notables certainly staying in Port St. Lucie for their home preseason opener.

So no Verlander mound sighting Saturday at the Astros game. Of much more significance, no Lance McCullers Jr. sighting on the mound at an Astros game for some time to come. This is not a surprise given Lance’s injury plagued career, but it’s still a bummer. Unless you’re Hunter Brown that is, since Brown now has a clear runway to fly in the Astros’ starting rotation out of the gate. McCullers is in season two of the five year 85 million dollar contract extension he signed in March 2021 that kicked in last season. Simple math tells you that’s 17 million dollars per season. Last season he made eight starts. They are calling it a mild elbow muscle strain, but the Astros have been publicly overly optimistic re: injuries in the past. We shall see. If McCullers can be healthy to join the rotation by May 1 that would be fine. He’s obviously just not built to be a durable workhorse. Only once in his career has McCullers answered the bell for more than 22 starts in a season (2021), only once has he thrown 130 innings in a season (also 2021). And that workload wrecked the majority of his 2022.

Hunter Brown flashed phenomenally in his first taste of the big leagues. Albeit over just 20 1/3 innings, a 0.89 earned run average seems decent. The simplest factor that will determine Brown’s ceiling is his ability to throw strikes. His stuff is unquestioned, but walking 45 batters in 106 innings (his numbers at AAA Sugar Land last year) is a tough ratio with which to be elite. There’s a good chance you saw the side-by-side clip in which Brown’s windup looked like a carbon copy of Justin Verlander’s.

Hunter Brown vs. (his idol) Justin Verlander, Mechanics. pic.twitter.com/x8AKa1Q90C
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 6, 2022

There is a virtual zero chance Brown becomes Verlander. Brown has never shown the command of Verlander which has helped JV ascend near the level of Roger Clemens and Tom Seaver, two of the greatest power/control pitchers ever. Still, even if Brown peaks as a mid-rotation starter, the Astros have tremendous multi-year value with Brown ineligible for salary arbitration until the 2026 season.

Hunter Brown is 24 years old. When Verlander was 24 he went 18-6 for the Tigers and made his first All-Star team. In Clemens’s 24-year-old season, he won 20 games and his second consecutive Cy Young Award. When Seaver was 24 he won 25 games and led the Miracle Mets to the 1969 World Series title.

Slim and trim

Good to hear Martin Maldonado dropped about 15 pounds in the offseason. He won’t be stealing bases or legging out many infield hits, but if it helps him be a little more mobile behind the plate, that’s a good thing. Maldonado led the Major Leagues in passed balls last season. Along with age and playing through a hernia that was surgically repaired in the offseason, carrying extra weight didn’t make Maldy’s job any easier. In what is likely not entirely a coincidence re: the weight loss, Maldonado is in the last year of his contract. He turns 37 in August. If there is more juice to be squeezed from his career beyond 2023, being in better shape can only aid the cause.

Bad to hear Yordan Alvarez’s left hand is bothering him some, though it seems much more minor than McCullers's situation. The Cuban Missile Launcher had an issue with each hand during the course of last season.

Can't get enough Astros coverage?

Stone Cold ‘Stros is the weekly Astro-centric podcast I am part of alongside Brandon Strange and Josh Jordan. On our regular schedule it airs live at 3PM Monday on the SportsMapHouston YouTube channel, is available there for playback at any point, and also becomes available in podcast form at outlets galore. Such as:

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