Doing your weekly waivers in fantasy football can be more stressful than performing life-saving surgery on a loved one without any professional tools or medical knowledge. While that might be a slight exaggeration, deciding which players to add off the waiver wire each week can be stressful.
Finding and adding the right guys in shallow leagues is simple, as there are plenty of appealing options, and the waiver wire is full of talent. Unfortunately, making your waiver wire claims in deeper leagues can be a massive pain in the neck.
However, I’m here to help by giving fantasy players six waiver wire targets they should add in deeper leagues in Week 17.
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Deep League Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Targets
All the players in this article are rostered in under 25% of ESPN leagues.
Tyler Shough (QB – NO): 10.9% Rostered
At this point, I feel like I’m beating a dead horse. Shough has been the ideal streaming option over the past month, especially in deeper leagues. He has averaged 240.8 passing yards, a touchdown, and 18.5 fantasy points per game over the past four weeks, totaling 17 or more in every contest. Last week, the rookie completed 69.3% of his career-high 49 pass attempts for 308 yards, a touchdown, and 17.1 fantasy points against the New York Jets. Shough has a fantasy-friendly matchup against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.
Dylan Sampson (RB – CLE): 7.4% Rostered
Unfortunately, Quinshon Judkins suffered a significant leg injury in Week 16, ending his rookie season. With Jerome Ford on injured reserve, Sampson will be the next guy up in the backfield on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Hopefully, the rookie can play after missing the past two games with hand and calf injuries. However, Raheim Sanders (0.1% rostered) is an appealing deep league target if Sampson misses his third consecutive game. Whichever rookie running back starts for the Browns on Sunday should see enough volume to put up flex-level production.
Jawhar Jordan (RB – HOU): 5.2% Rostered
Despite returning to practice on Friday, Woody Marks missed the Week 16 contest with an ankle injury. While Nick Chubb was a factor, Jordan was the Texans’ lead running back with Marks sidelined. He had 15 rushing attempts for 53 yards while catching all five targets for 17 receiving yards, totaling 12 PPR fantasy points. Furthermore, the sixth-round rookie accounted for 69% of the backfield touches. Houston has a short week, facing the Los Angeles Chargers on Saturday. Jordan would be a solid low-end RB2 option if Marks can’t play.
Chimere Dike (WR – TEN): 20.1% Rostered
While the Titans’ offense has been far from elite, they have played significantly better than at the start of the year. Furthermore, Dike has stepped up since Calvin Ridley initially got hurt in Week 6. He hasn’t been the most consistent player. Yet, Dike has averaged 5.2 targets and 10.8 PPR fantasy points per game since Week 6, totaling 13 or more in 55.6% of the contests, including on Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs. More importantly, he should have solid flex production against the New Orleans Saints this week.
Parker Washington (WR – JAC): 12.8% Rostered
Many were shocked to see the Jaguars’ passing attack mostly have their way with the Denver Broncos defense. While Jakobi Meyers and Brian Thomas Jr. combined for 12.4 PPR fantasy points, Washington stepped up for Trevor Lawrence. He had six receptions on 10 targets for 145 receiving yards, a touchdown, and 26.5 fantasy points. Furthermore, Washington has scored 17 or more fantasy points in every game with more than three targets since the team’s Week 8 bye. He could have another impressive performance on Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts.
Taysom Hill (TE – NO): 1.4% Rostered
Hill is a do-it-all star. He had a season-high 15.3 PPR fantasy points in Sunday’s win over the New York Jets. Hill had four receptions on six targets for 36 receiving yards while throwing a 38-yard touchdown pass to Chris Olave. Yet, his value comes on the ground. The veteran had 12 rushing attempts for 42 yards, leading the team in both categories. Hill is a borderline top-12 tight end in Week 17 if the Saints don’t have Alvin Kamara for a fifth consecutive game because of a knee injury.
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Mike Fanelli is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @Mike_NFL2.
