🏈 Injuries...

Week 15 Waiver Wire Pickups, along with every injury update you should know about...

Good morning. 49ers QB Brock Purdy’s parents bought a ticket to the Bucs game to see Tom Brady, long before they knew their son would be starting. To see their son outplay Brady yesterday must’ve been surreal. They must've been so proud.

Then there's my parents after learning the Morning Huddle added 30 new subs:

And to answer all of your TY Hilton Fantasy questions: No.

But here's a short list of the best coaches in the NFL, confirmed because Dan "Coach of the Year after the Lions make the playoffs" Campbell is included:

Today's newsletter covers all the critical Waiver Wire talk you need to win your league, along with key D/ST stashes.

Together with The Athletic

NFL & Fantasy Football = Playoffs

Here's just a short list of what we read from The Athletic today, the partners who make this newsletter possible:

NFL playoff picture after Week 14: Vikings loss helps Eagles’ No. 1 seed odds. The Lions (6-7) have a 43.3% shot of making the playoffs after beating the 10-2 Vikings.

Dan Campbell is that guy who throws a tennis ball to a neighbour's dog until the dog gives up. He famously says good morning with a Venti Starbucks coffee with two shots of espresso, followed by another, for a total of 820 milligrams of caffeine (one cup of coffee has 95 mg). Full profile on the Lions HC here.

The Football Scientist: A case for Russell Wilson. Before leaving with a rough-looking concussion, Russ was cooking. If healthy, he faces the most favorable pass defense schedule of any quarterback in the playoffs. Denver faces Arizona, the Rams, and Kansas City in Weeks 15-17. The Cardinals place last in passing points allowed per game since Week 11, and the Rams and Chiefs rank 26th and 22nd, respectively, in that metric.

Week 14 fantasy risers, fallers: Bam Knight is a league winner, D’Andre Swift falls short again and more. Zonovan Knight. Tough. Shifty. Super explosive. He’s your 2023 fantasy football playoffs league winner — Jets play a trio of terrible run defenses the next three weeks.

The Athletic subscription gives us access to the best reporters in the world, every day. Check out The Athletic here.

WAIVERS

First, if Zonovan (BAM) Knight and Damien Harris are available, they are priorities.

RB: ZAMIR WHITE

This time of year it's all about upside. Here are four RBs who hit must-start status if opportunities open their way.

Josh Jacobs is running wild in Vegas, but his enormous workload has translated into calf and finger injuries. With the Raiders out of playoff contention, FA-to-be Jacobs banged up and rookie RB Zamir White waiting in the wings, it's worth stashing the second-most talented RB on the team.

  • Jordan Mason is one CMC rest game away from the 49ers starting RB gig. Mason isn't startable with CMC playing, but has averaged 5.3 YPC and fills the Elijah Mitchell-lite role.

  • Chubba Hubbard quietly had 17 touches both of the last two games, while D'Onta Foreman is battling foot and rib issues.

  • Khalil Herbert: He's on IR right now, but you could add him and stash for his Week 16 return. If anything happens to Montgomery, Herbert becomes a league winner.

  • Keaontay Ingram remains a James Conner injury away from 15-20 touches/game.

After Rhamondre Stevenson went down, snag Patriots RB Pierre Strong Jr. (14 YPC) or Kevin Harris. If Damien Harris can’t return yet & if Rhamondre can’t go… wheels up vs the Raiders run D in Week 15.

WR: You Know Who

The past few weeks we've highlighted DPJ (15+), Zay Jones (17+) and Richie James (15+) - all were top 15 WRs this week.

Evan Engram somehow scored 39 fantasy points today and now sits as TE4 in total fantasy points scored. Engram had 50% of his TDs, 29.6% of his yards, 20.8% of receptions, 20.3% of his targets on the season yesterday, per @nickercolano. His 15 targets weren't a fluke, dude can ball. Grab where you can.

Speaking of TEs, Titans TE Chig Okonkwo is now the 5th highest rated TE in the NFL, per PFF. Since week 8 (minimum 60 snaps), Okonkwo ranks:

  • 2.95 YPRR (1st in NFL)

  • 13.7 ADOT (3rd in NFL

  • 23.6% TPRR (7th in NFL)

  • Jameson Williams caught his first NFL pass for a 41-yard TD. Sign of things to come for the first-round speedster.

  • DJ Chark posted season-highs in catches (5) and receiving yards (98) and continues to impress whenever healthy.

  • Tutu Atwell led all Rams players in targets (9) and had a season-high 5 catches. His snap share (61%) should grow, making him an intriguing dart throw.

  • Alec Peirce put up elite numbers against the Cowboys: 18.6 PPR points, 8 targets and 24.2% target share.

Elijah Moore: I know you're sick of hearing his name, but Moore really needs to be stashed. He burned Tre'Davious White for an easy TD (video), Corey Davis (concussion) is out and the Lions have struggled against slot WRs.

Moore led the Jets in targets at a 21.2% share and ran 47 routes on 51 QB dropbacks, per @AdamLevitan.

This is the week.

QB: MIKE WHITE

Mike White has a great schedule (Det, Jax, @Sea), strong supporting cast (G. Wilson, E. Moore, BAM Knight) and has already shown upside as a QB2. He's the Jets starter for 2022 and is the toughest QB in the NFL right now.

D/ST

Defense Wins Championships

Sneaky add before waivers run - Green Bay Packers DST. Coming off bye and only 34% rostered on Yahoo. Plays Baker Mayfield and the Rams next Monday in Green Bay. Weather forecast: high of 20 with 50% chance of snow, all per @DrakeFantasy.

This 1-2 Punch could win you your leagues:

  • Week 15: Chiefs vs Texans

  • Week 16: Titans vs Texans

  • Week 17: Chiefs vs Broncos

If you’re in the playoffs and streaming defenses, go pick up the Panthers and Chargers D/ST:

  • Panthers Week 15: PIT

  • Chargers Week 16: @ IND

  • Chargers Week 17: LAR

QUICK SLANTS

  • Eagles CB Darius Slay says he’s going to WR and can get 1,500 yards with Jalen Hurts as his QB (video).

  • @CoopsFB xFP chart highlights expected fantasy points for WRs in Week 14. Chris Olave is slowing a bit from his torrid pace (still playing extremely well), while the ideal sell window on Jaylen Waddle probably closed.

  • "We’re gonna play for him. We’re gonna play our ass off." Panthers' players have bought in to Steve Wilks' message (article).

  • 3 years ago, in a case of mistaken identity, his house was riddled with 70 rounds of bullets. Today he's the youngest play-caller in football. Parks Frazier on the good and the bad 4 games in (article).

Remember: if Adam Gase can build a net worth of over $4 million, you can do anything. Get after it today!

We'll be back tomorrow with all the injury updates you don't want to hear (but need to).

Jake, Eddie, Matt

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