VideoFrom Ron Stewart
IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THIS (Week 17 Waiver Wire)
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this video and kept the full transcript here for context.
12 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Dec 23, 2025
Published
Tue, December 23, 2025
12
Player insights
12
Players mentioned
Topics
AJ BarnerBlake CorumBrenton StrangeBrian Thomas Jr.Chris RodriguezDylan SampsonEmanuel WilsonGeno SmithJalen CokerKyle WilliamsMichael CarterParker Washington
Player analysis
Player insights
AJ Barner
PositiveUsage9:38
Streamer recommendation with high route-running volume last week and demonstrated touchdown upside throughout the season; faces Carolina Panthers in a neutral matchup defensively.
Insight pageBlake Corum
PositiveProjection1:44
RB8 since Week 13 and available in 70% of ESPN leagues. Alternates drives with Kyren Williams (the preferred Rams back), but the Rams' strong offense supports Corum as a very strong top 30 running back in any given week.
Insight pageBrenton Strange
PositiveMatchup8:00
Available in ~75% of ESPN leagues; coming off 7 targets, 5 catches, 39 yards, 1 TD. Faces Colts defense that allows significant fantasy points to pass catchers (similar to how George Kittle went off against them). Ron Stewart likes Strange this week given the favorable matchup and recent production.
Insight pageBrian Thomas Jr.
NegativeRole5:49
Drawing Pat Mahomes-level coverage treatment, which opened up target opportunities for Parker Washington in Week 16 against Denver.
Insight pageChris Rodriguez
PositiveProjection2:58
RB1 in Washington with 55% of snaps and 60% of rush attempts as the lead back in Week 16. In Week 17, he faces the Dallas Cowboys, who allow the seventh-most fantasy points to opposing running backs, making him a strong play.
Insight pageDylan Sampson
PositiveBreakout4:28
Hasn't practiced or played in several weeks but could return in Week 17 and be a league winner. Ron Stewart recommends waiting until waiver wires roll to confirm updated news on his status before adding.
Insight pageEmanuel Wilson
PositiveProjection1:08
If Josh Jacobs misses Week 17 due to injury from the Bears game, Emanuel Wilson would be a top 24 start.
Insight pageGeno Smith
NegativeMatchup10:09
Boom-bust QB streamer with two-point floor but all-time ceiling potential; Giants allow fifth-most QB points to opponents in a chaos-filled matchup; viable dumpster-dive option when other QBs are injured.
Insight pageJalen Coker
NegativeMatchup6:45
Has posted 10+ PPR points in 3 of last 5 games and is running high route volume; faces Panthers vs. Seahawks matchup that is not particularly strong for Carolina. Ron Stewart suggests Coker could be a target if seeking a 40-yard TD upside play.
Insight pageKyle Williams
PositiveMatchup7:05
Had big clutch-time play last week against Ravens; has posted 10+ PPR points in 2 of last 3 games. Faces Patriots vs. Jets in Week 17; Ron Stewart speculates on garbage-time upside if Patriots dominate, potentially unlocking Williams for extended fourth-quarter snaps. Profiles as speculative spike-week candidate.
Insight pageMichael Carter
NegativeProjection2:10
Despite split backfield usage in Week 16 (54% of snaps vs. Amari de Marcado 30%, Cory Ker 16%), Carter remains the lead guy. Against the Bengals in Week 17, who allow the most fantasy points to opposing running backs, he projects as a fringe top 25 start—a fine option if in a tough spot.
Insight pageParker Washington
PositiveMatchup5:25
Coming off 10 targets, 6 catches, 145 yards, 1 TD (25+ PPR points) against Denver; faces Colts defense that allows fourth-most fantasy points to WRs and is banged up (missing Sauce Gardner, Travarius Ward). Ron Stewart cautions this was a unique situation with Brian Thomas Jr. drawing Pat Mahomes-level coverage, but the Colts matchup is favorable; profiles as strong boom-bust flex option with momentum.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
0:00What's going on, man? Welcome back to
0:02the basement. I'm Ron and today we're
0:04going to talk through my must add
0:06waiverwire targets for week 17 of the
0:09fantasy football season. If you're
0:12watching this video, you are probably in
0:14the fantasy championship game. Maybe
0:16you're playing for third place. Maybe
0:18you are fighting for your life in the
0:19toilet bowl. This is a video to help you
0:23out in this final week. All of these
0:25players are under 40% owned in ESPN
0:28leagues. I will add as well, we're going
0:29to go through running backs, wide
0:30receivers, tight ends, quarterbacks, uh
0:32some defensive streamers, and I will say
0:34as well,
0:36we're not really looking to stash
0:37anybody. So, we're not really going to
0:38talk through pure handcuffs or rookies
0:41that are going to blow up later. It's
0:42all this week. We are fighting for our
0:45lives. Whether you're in a 16 teamer or
0:47whether maybe you have a running back
0:48who's banged up like Josh Jacobs and you
0:50need a backup plan heading into this
0:54week. As always, if you enjoy, leave a
0:56like, subscribe if you're new, and if
0:58you want the entire Waverwire article,
1:00you can find that over on the Patreon,
1:03patreon.com/ronwer
1:04in the description and the comment
1:05section down below. Now, first up, we
1:08are going to start with the running
1:11backs. We have Emanuel Wilson up top. We
1:13already kind of mentioned Josh Jacobs.
1:17He was banged up in the game against the
1:18Bears. He does get kind of I was going
1:20to say kind of a long week, but he
1:22played on Saturday, so not really. He
1:24was pretty much a game time decision in
1:27that game. He was ineffective. We'll see
1:28if he can go this week. Probably going
1:31to be one of those things where it's up
1:33in the air the entire week. We won't
1:34really know if he's going to play, when
1:37he's going to play, but if he misses,
1:38Emanuel Wilson would be a top 24 start
1:42this week. Then we'll talk about Blake
1:44Cororm. He's still not rostered in
1:45enough places. I assume most competitive
1:48leagues don't have Cororm available, but
1:50he's still out there in 70% of ESPN
1:52leagues. He is the RB8 since week 13.
1:55He's been alternating drives with Kairen
1:56Williams. Kron Williams is definitely
1:57the preferred player, but the Rams
2:00offense is so good that Cororm is
2:03not a top 24 star, but he's a very
2:06strong top 30 running back in any given
2:08week. Uh, then we can talk about Michael
2:10Carter. Now, he was a disappointment
2:11this week, right? No Bam Knight, no Trey
2:13Benson. He was supposed to be the
2:14bellcount and instead we get this split
2:17when we look at the fantasy.com
2:20utilization report where he is in there
2:2354% of the time. You had Amari de
2:25Marcado out there 30% of the time. You
2:27had Cory Ker, a undrafted free agent 16%
2:31of the time, but Carter is still the
2:33lead guy with that usage.
2:36He's probably not available. Maybe he
2:38gets dropped after this week, but he
2:39plays against the Bengals. He's not
2:41going to be a strong start. He's
2:43probably going to do like a fringe top
2:4525 start, but the Bengals allow the most
2:47fantasy points to opposing running
2:49backs, meaning Carter is if you're in a
2:52tough spot, he is a fine option in week
2:5617. Moving on from that, we have Chris
2:59Rodriguez. Should have been picked up
3:01last week, but if he wasn't, he is back
3:03to being the RB1
3:05in Washington. and we saw him take
3:07command with 55% of the snaps, 60% of
3:09the rush attempts last week as the lead
3:12back in this week. He gets to the Dallas
3:14Cowboys who allow the seventh most
3:15points to opposing running backs. Then
3:18we have Jaward Jordan. He ended up being
3:20the lead back. We can see from Ryan
3:22Heath here on Twitter that with Woody
3:25Marks out, Jaward Jordan was the Texans
3:27clear lead back this week, including
3:29receiving the first carry of the game
3:30over Nick Chub. A 68% backfield carry
3:33share, 14.3% target share, 14.8 weighted
3:37opportunities, a top 15 number that
3:39week. Essentially the Woody Marks role.
3:41We'll see if Woody Marks can play this
3:44week. Then we can talk about the Browns
3:47running backs. This one's a little bit
3:48tricky. Judkins now out for the season.
3:53Rocket Sanders is a favorite player of
3:56mine. I love Rocket Sanders. I will
3:57always love Rocket Sanders. Uh but we do
4:00have some ambiguity here where Rocket
4:03Sanders or Raheem Sanders is his
4:04government name, if you will. 77%
4:07backfield carry share, 6.7% target
4:09share, two of two backfield carries
4:10inside the 10 yard line, the preferred
4:12back. Now, Trevon Williams has some PPR
4:14upside. I added him as well. If you're
4:15in a really, really deep league, 20%
4:18target share is no joke. That is
4:20somebody who is
4:22maybe going to be able to rack up, you
4:24know, like eight, nine, 10 PPR points in
4:26a given week. And then you have Dylan
4:28Samson who hasn't practiced in a few
4:29weeks, who hasn't played in a few weeks.
4:31Uh Jerome Ford is on IR. Dylan Samson
4:34could return this week and be a league
4:36winner in week 17. So all three of these
4:38guys are worth adding if they are in
4:40your league. I would prioritize Samson,
4:42then Sanders, but wait until the buzzer,
4:46you know, tonight when waiverss roll to
4:48see if we get any updated news on Dylan
4:51Samson, then we will move on to the wide
4:54receivers. I do have Tai Spears there,
4:56but Ta Spears one probably isn't
4:57available, and two, he he's just a body
5:01like in any given week, he's ranked like
5:02the RB 37. This week, the Titans get
5:07the New Orleans Saints. it it's you know
5:11he he has been a playoff guy before
5:13where last year he was amazing Tony Parr
5:14has kind of had the hot hand recently
5:16but if Spears is out there and you're
5:18desperate there are worse ideas you
5:20could have than starting Tai Spears then
5:22let's move on to the wide receivers
5:24these guys are few and far between first
5:26up Parker Washington
5:29I I I'll be honest here wide receiver
5:31ads are bad this week and two a lot of
5:33them feel like traps kind of just
5:34chasing last week that's what we're
5:35doing with Parker Washington he was
5:37amazing last week. Uh he scores a
5:39touchdown. He puts up like 25 plus PPR
5:42points. But of course, if he was that
5:45good, he would just do that every single
5:46week. It was a unique situation where
5:48the Jaguars were humming against the
5:49Broncos. On top of that, uh Brian Thomas
5:52Jr. is getting the Pat Certain
5:54treatment, and it kind of opened things
5:55up for Parker Washington. Now, I will
5:57say this is a really good opponent
5:59against the Colts. We just saw in the
6:01Monday Night Football game that the
6:03Colts are banged up. No sauce Gardner. I
6:05don't think they have Travarius Ward. Uh
6:08they're just not very good on defense
6:10right now. They were strong in the
6:12beginning, but the Colts allow the
6:14fourth most fantasy points to opposing
6:16wide receivers. And Parker Washington's
6:18coming off a 10 target, six catch, 145
6:20yards, one touchdown game. Maybe he
6:23keeps this momentum going uh as like a
6:25strong boom bust flex option this week.
6:28Uh then look, we're going back to the
6:30well desperation play here with Luther
6:33Burton. Maybe he's back from injury.
6:36Even then, it's going to be tough to
6:37trust him. It's a tough matchup as well
6:39for the Bears going up against San
6:40Francisco, but he's [snorts] a dart
6:43throw. Maybe he has a spike week this
6:45week. Again, we're dumpster diving for
6:46receivers. I wouldn't tell you to really
6:48add one of these guys unless if you are
6:50scratching and clawing to put something
6:52in your flex spot. Uh Jaylen Coker, he
6:54has had 10 or more PPR points in three
6:56of his last five games. He's running a
6:57lot of routes. The Panthers don't have a
6:59particularly strong matchup this week
7:01against Seattle. It's a really tough
7:03matchup, but Coker could be a guy if
7:05you're trying to just get like a 40-yard
7:06touchdown. And then the epitome of
7:09chasing a 40- yard touchdown is Kyle
7:11Williams. Maybe he gets fully unlocked
7:13here. He had a big clutch time play last
7:15week against the Ravens. He's had 10 or
7:17more PPR points in two of his last three
7:19games. Maybe he gets a week 17 spike
7:21week against the Jets. Maybe the
7:24Patriots kill the Jets so bad that
7:25there's garbage time late and we see the
7:28Patriots bring in like a backup
7:29quarterback and Kyle Williams plays the
7:31entirety of the fourth quarter. I don't
7:33know. I'm just I'm trying to dream big
7:35here with Kyle Williams. Again, I'm just
7:37saying this is if you're really down
7:38bad. And I will say as well, if you're
7:39looking for a flex option, this is one
7:41of those weeks where if you are in a
7:44shallower league, like maybe shorter
7:45benches, maybe a 10 team league, uh I
7:48would be looking for like tight ends. I
7:49know it's it feels a little weird to
7:50flex a tight end, but if like a Dalton
7:52Schultz is out there or anybody in that
7:54range, I would be looking there. Uh if I
7:57have to go into like the Jaylen Cook or
7:59Kyle Williams bag, which brings us to
8:01the tight ends. Breton Strange, somebody
8:03who's available in about 75% of ESPN
8:06leagues. He's coming off a game where he
8:07had seven targets, five catches, 39
8:09yards, a touchdown. He also like Parker
8:12Washington gets the Colts this week who
8:14just like of course it's George KD but
8:16the Colts did just like KD go absolutely
8:18nuts against them. This defense isn't
8:21that great. The Jaguars have been
8:22humming. I like Strange this week. And
8:24then we have the trap.
8:27This one is scary and it reminds me a
8:29lot of Kobe Parkinson last week.
8:33If you're down bad at tight end and
8:35you're streaming guys like AJ Barner and
8:36Mike Gaseki every week, then sure, throw
8:39Taesm Hill in your tight end spot and
8:41see what happens. We got the classic
8:43Taesm Hill usage in what's probably
8:45going to be his last home game in New
8:47Orleans. He had 19 routes run, six
8:50targets, 12 carries. He had a 38-yard
8:53touchdown pass to Chris Olive. Four
8:55catches, 36 yards receiving, 12 rush
8:57attempts for 42 rushing yards. With no
8:59Deon Neil, he's kind of the RB1. He
9:02might mix in for a pass attempt here and
9:03there. He's going to play some receiver.
9:05So, he's definitely kind of a cheat code
9:07and he is the ultimate boom bust guy. He
9:09could give you a 30 piece or he give you
9:10a zero spot uh in your tight end or flex
9:13because there is some downside that this
9:15was just a homecoming thing. Let's just
9:18do the Taesm Hill thing at home in a
9:20game against the Jets who are awful.
9:22We'll see what happens. They do get
9:23Tennessee this week. So, they could just
9:25kind of stomp the Titans again because
9:26the Saints kind of look good. I maybe
9:29not good, but you get what I'm saying.
9:30They look they they don't look like a
9:32team uh jockeying for position to get
9:34the number one overall pick is what I'm
9:36trying to say. Uh then we have AJ
9:38Barner. We're just talking streamers
9:40here. Uh he ran a ton of routes last
9:43week. He has had games all over the
9:46place this year where he scored a
9:47touchdown or put up a decent fantasy
9:48performance and he gets the Carolina
9:51Panthers. That's like a neutral matchup
9:52in terms of defenses. Then we'll talk
9:54about quarterback streamers. Tyler Shuck
9:57against the Titans. The Titans allowed
9:58the eighth most points to opposing
9:59quarterbacks. Tyler Shuck has been the
10:01QB12 since week 10 and nobody really
10:04seems to care. You could absolutely pick
10:05him up and start him if you're in a
10:07tough spot. Uh then we can also talk
10:09about Gino Smith. Now this is where
10:10we're dumpster diving. It's tough
10:11because we'll see if a guy like JJ
10:13McCarthy plays. A lot of these
10:14quarterbacks got hurt. Like is Mariota
10:16going to play? Uh of course I don't know
10:19cross league it just feels like
10:20everybody's hurt. Uh Gino Smith is a guy
10:22that
10:24he could give you like two points in
10:26your quarterback spot, but this could be
10:28an alltime, you know, fight for the
10:30first overall pick. Gino Smith versus
10:32Giants. A chaos-filled game. The Giants
10:34allowed the fifth most quarterback
10:35points, two opposing quarterbacks. You
10:38know what I'm saying? The most fantasy
10:39points, two opposing quarterbacks.
10:42And the Raiders look decent against a
10:43really strong Houston Texans defense
10:45last week. So, we'll see. Maybe they
10:47could carry that over. If not, that's
10:49why I have uh the Giants on the other
10:52side of this game as my number one
10:54streaming defense.
10:56Gino Smith could implode. The Giants
10:58have been the fifth highest scoring
11:00defense over the last two weeks. They
11:01actually looked pretty strong last week
11:02against the Vikings.
11:04They're decent. They're available out
11:06there in like 90% of ESPN leagues. Then
11:07you have the Bucks. The Bucks get Quinn
11:09Us. And that's kind of all that has to
11:11be said. They're fighting for their
11:12playoff lives right now. Quint Us threw
11:15two picks against the Bengals. Didn't
11:16really look all that great. So, I do
11:18think the Bucks are a fine streamer. But
11:21that's going to do it for us today. I
11:23will mention again, we mentioned it on
11:25the uh 10 lessons learned video. Make
11:27sure you check out Underdog. They have
11:29some really cool promos going on. The
11:30Underdog unwrapped promo with boosts and
11:33gimme picks and promos that are I think
11:36they're like literally gifts on the app.
11:37I I'm saying that because in Jersey we
11:40don't have the pickums, which is a
11:42bummer. I would like to see what the
11:43heck this promo is about. It looks
11:45really cool. uh when you play $5, you
11:47get $75 in bonus entries when you use
11:48promo code Ron on Underdog. I'll put
11:50that in the comments section and the
11:52description down below as well. But with
11:54all that being said, good luck to all of
11:56you guys out there still alive in week
12:0017. And I will see y'all in the next
12:04one.
12:11>> [music]
12:15>> Leave me [music and singing] stones like
12:17this froze.
12:22I like frozen.
