Dynasty Waiver Wire: Week 16

Derrick Gore

John DiBari Posted On December 27, 2021

For most leagues, it’s Championship week. If you’re scouring the waiver wire at this point, you’re either in trouble due to injuries or Covid, or both. On the other hand, if you’re a savvy dynasty owner, this is your last chance to grab a flier for next year off of the waiver wire before the fantasy season is officially over and waivers are locked until next August. So no matter the reason, it’s time to look at waivers.

In case you are reading this, there is one bit of information to know before you start reading names. Just like last year’s series, we will be utilizing player rostership percentages, courtesy of dynasty rosters from SafeLeagues and the great Scott Fish. Using that data, DLF’s Addison Hayes developed an app to view rostership data from over 600 SafeLeagues dynasty leagues, all using the same format and scoring (2 PPR tight end premium). While this may not be entirely accurate for every individual league, it is very reflective of how managers view who is worthy or not of a roster spot. Now that that is covered, let’s dive into the waiver wire after week 15!

Derrick Gore, RB KC

It’s looking like Clyde Edwards-Helaire will miss time with another injury. Derrel Williams is likely the biggest winner in this situation, but he’s already 99% owned. Pivot to the next man up. Gore has been fantasy-relevant in small doses earlier in the year when CEH missed time, and you could do a lot worse than getting a piece of the Chiefs’ offense.

Isaiah McKenzie, BUF WR

I hate feeling like I’m overreacting and showing a ton of recency bias, but McKenzie is coming off of a monster game (11-125-1) while both Stefon Diggs and Emmanuel Sanders were on the field too. Is he going to repeat that performance? Probably not. However, he’s got some chemistry with Josh Allen, and again, like Derrick Gore, you could do worse than getting a piece of the Bills offense. He also gets to face the Falcons’ abysmal defense next week if that interests you.

Dare Ogunbowale, JAC RB

James Robinson was finally getting meaningful work with the departure of Urban Meyer, then he injured his Achilles tendon, and here we are. After Robinson’s departure, Ogunbowale handled 84% of the snaps. The Jags play the Patriots next week, and I have a hard time believing that Bill Belichick is going to build his defensive game plan around stopping Ogunbowale, giving him some glimmer of hope to be productive.

Cyril Grayson, TB WR

We’re dangerously approaching “are these real people?” territory. Grayson actually has an interesting backstory and path to the NFL if you want to read about it. But for our purposes here, for fantasy, it doesn’t matter. With the Buccaneers’ top wide receivers (Mike Evans, Chris Godwin) missing, and their top receiving option out of the backfield (Leonard Fournette) missing, they had to get other players involved. Enter Cyril Grayson, who was second on the team in receptions and receiving yards in week 15. The Buccaneers play the Jets next week, so they might be inclined to give Evans another week to heal. If Evans returns, Grayson will likely return to being an afterthought, but if Evans misses another game, Grayson is worth a dart throw if you’re looking for a big-play threat.

Rex Burkhead, HOU RB

Running backs are hard to come by. Rex Burkhead is a starting running back. This concludes my TED talk.

Byron Pringle, KC WR

Pringle is a player many fantasy GMs have wanted to break out as the number two in Kansas City for a while. All that needed to happen was Travis Kelce to miss a game and for Tyreek Hill to vanish after a bout with covid. Pringle is coming off of a two-score game against an atrocious Steelers defense but could be in a line for a shootout with Cincinnati next week. Mecole Hardman is already 99% owned, whereas Pringle is only 65% owned and is still lingering out there in some leagues; he’s worth your last few FAAB dollars.

Backup quarterbacks, league-wide

Due to injuries, illness, and Covid, last week, we saw Josh Johnson, Ian Book, Tim Boyle, Nick Foles, Drew Lock, and Jake Fromm all enter the weekend as starters. If you have the room to spare at the bottom of your rosters or on your taxi squads, it can’t hurt to add some backups. This is especially true if you can get your hands on your quarterbacks’ handcuffs. Don’t forget to look for your opponents’ handcuffs too. Imagine playing the Matthew Stafford owner if he were to lose Stafford on Friday, only to find you have John Wolford already stashed away. The only thing worse than losing a fantasy championship is losing it because you didn’t have someone to plug in last minute after your quarterback gets ruled out.

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John DiBari

Contributor at Dynasty League Football

Like a true degenerate, John has over 20 years of fantasy experience across all sports. Nowadays he primarily focuses on dynasty and redraft football, fantasy golf, and fantasy hockey and has written about each across multiple platforms for nearly 5 years. He loves rookie mock drafts and can always find a negative, pessimistic angle on all your favorite players.