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- A Sneaky Championship Stack
Championship week has arrived … unless you play in one of those byzantine leagues that insist on torturing the best teams with Week 18 chaos.
And if you’ve made it this far, I honestly hope your start/sit decisions are relatively straightforward.
But on the off chance that you dragged a lame duck team to the finals—or have a hole or two to plug before going to battle—I have a sneaky angle for you on the final waiver wire run of the year.
Tyler Shough + Taysom Hill vs. the Titans.
I know, I know, but hear me out …
Shough has basically turned into Jacoby Brissett-lite over the last month, having not dipped below 16.4 points during that four-game span. The ceiling isn’t great, but the floor is sturdy, and that might be exactly what you need with a championship on the line.
Tennessee has given up the eighth-most fantasy points per game to opposing QBs, which should ensure another solid performance from the Shuckster (I dunno, just roll with it).
But let’s get to the fun part of this stack—Taysom. I somehow didn’t connect the narrative dots that Sunday was likely his last home game with the Saints (my bad!), which clearly led to additional touches. He rushed 12-42 yards, caught 4 balls for 36 yards and threw a 38-yard TD to Chris Olave. That’s legitimately great (and hilarious) usage.
The best part? He’s still listed as a TE on Yahoo. His positional designation might vary depending on what site you play on, but he’s back to being a cheat code on sites where you can slot him in at TE.
As always, consult our ranks—you aren’t starting him over the top guys—but he’s very much in play this week as a volatile streamer with legit upside if Alvin Kamara misses again. He’s the perfect Hail Mary option if you think you are a big dog to your opponent.
For more Saints propaganda, check out Dwain’s write-up on Olave below …
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Fantasy
About Last Night …
If you needed Christian McCaffrey or Brock Purdy to deliver Monday night comebacks, you’re probably smiling right now. If Philip Rivers was your Hail Mary that got answered, well, let’s just say Al Michaels isn’t the only one who believes in miracles. The 49ers punched their ticket to the playoffs with an entertaining 48-27 victory over the Colts. Here are the highlights:
Ol Man Rivers still had enough juice to connect with Alex Pierce twice for TDs. Rivers finished 277-2-1.
Purdy to George Kittle, who went 7-115-1 on a big night. Beware, he ended his night with an ankle injury.
Jauan Jennings with a Grinchy move. Psyche!
Even at 79 scrimmage yards and a score, JT left fantasy managers hoping for more.
Purdy to CMC for TD #5. Purdy finished with 30.9 fantasy points. CMC posted 146 scrimmage yards and 2 TDs.
Fantasy
The #1 Utilization Takeaway From Week 16 Is …
1. Chris Olave is finishing the fantasy season strong.
If you have read this column much this year, you know that no other player has been called out more often as a candidate for positive regression than Olave. In fact, last week, he headlined the underperformer section.
In Week 16, Olave registered his best fantasy performance of the year with 36.8 points, following up a strong Week 15 performance with 20.5 points. He is now the WR8 overall in fantasy points per game (PPG) with 16.2. His Utilization Score of 85 ranks sixth.
Olave ranks strongly in multiple data points that drive the Utilization Score.
Target share: 29% (11th)
Targets per game: 9.3 (fifth)
Catchable targets per game: 6.7 (sixth)
Catchable air yards per game: 66.7 (sixth)
In seven games with Tyler Shough as the starting quarterback, Olave has averaged 17.7 fantasy points with an 85 Utilization Score. His historical comparisons have averaged 17.4 points with 41% finishing as top-six WRs.
WR1 to WR6 performers: 41%
WR7 to WR12 performers: 47%
WR13 to WR18 performers: 12%
Olave is a low-end WR1 with high-end WR1 upside.
» For the rest of Dwain McFarland’s Utilization Report ahead of Week 17, click below!
Fantasy
Early Week 17 Rankings: Chose Between Kyren & Corum?
Sometimes the offensive environment is just so good on a team, that even players in a timeshare are attractive for fantasy and can be starting targets even in the championship. Case in point the Los Angeles Rams RBs Kyren Williams and Blake Corum. Both are getting enough work and doing big things with even occasionally limited usage that they each are startable this week. Ian Hartitz broke it down in the Week 17 Early Rankings piece:
“Overall, Williams (RB12) and Corum (RB8) have both returned RB1 production on a per-game basis during the last month of action. The former still deserves the weekly nod due to the superior volume (70 touches vs. 46), but credit to Corum for making the most out of his opportunities. The second-year back looks as healthy as he has since before his unfortunate season-ending knee injury back in 2022.”
Ian runs through each of the four skill positions, featuring his rankings with notes and analysis on players who could be going off in your championship lineups.⤵️
Fantasy
Around the Watercooler
The latest fantasy nuggets, silliness, and NFL gossip from our merry band of football nerds.
🎯 Who are you targeting on the waiver wire for championship week?
💰 How much progress did everyone make on their 2025 contract incentives? Updates ahead of Week 17 to monitor.
👀 Which DSTs offer championship-winning streaming appeal? The Brady Cook effect, for sure.
😆 The Swifties are still hitting the polls. Pretty funny.
🥊 An update on the DK Metcalf/fan altercation. He said/he said now.
🥵 Don’t let Cam Ward get hot? Many are saying …
🍋 Is anyone as hot as Trevor Lawrence? Just like we saw it happening.
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