Congratulations, everyone! You did it! If you’re reading this, that means you have a stake in your league’s championship game, and if you’re in a money league, that likely means you’ve already secured a prize that makes you feel somewhat good about the work you’ve put in this season. But you all don’t want that. You know that history doesn’t remember the runner-ups. You want the grand prize, and we’re in the same mindset. So, let’s dot our ‘I’s and cross our ‘T’s and make sure your roster is in tip-top shape for the final weekend.
As I discussed last week, if you’ve made it this far, you’ve got yourself a pretty good team. That’s why you really should take a good look at your team and decide if waivers are even worth it, because you’re likely in good shape already.
Now, there may be a few of you who are like Desmond the Moon Bear, wondering how you got here, and you think that your luck is about to run out. For those of you who think you’re in that camp or you’re looking at some of your matchups and grimacing a little bit, I have a full guide today on where you should be looking.
To finish off the season, I’m not doing any full features on new guys. Firstly, because there are few new guys to discuss. Secondly for a week like this week, I want to make sure you’re aware of all options, and that includes guys I’ve discussed in the past. In today’s column, I’m briefly touching on every player I think is potentially worth adding and I did my best to rate them in the order in which I personally would prioritize them this week, within each position.
With all that being said, let’s look at who you could be grabbing off the waiver wire to enhance your playoff runs! Most players mentioned are rostered at a sub-30% rate in Fantrax CFF leagues.
Quarterbacks
Robby Ashford – Wake Forest – Ros: 6%
Consistency isn’t what you’ll find with Robby Ashford or this Wake Forest offense. However, Ashford has put together solid consecutive games over the last two weeks, including the monster four-TD game against Delaware. Obviously, that was a G5 opponent, but Ashford pulls one of the best matchups a waiver QB could ask for in Duke, which is a bottom-five team against the pass. Should be a high scoring matchup that once again can for Ashford to play hero-ball and score 25+ points.
Caden Creel – Jacksonville State – Ros: 14%
It’s been a minute since I’ve discussed Creel. Partially because he had an injury scare in the latter half of the season that made me wonder what his value would be going forward. The other part is that there wasn’t much to add with him. He’s had three straight games of 100 yards rushing and had he started the full year, he’d be on pace to outrush Tyler Huff’s record-breaking rushing total. He gets Western Kentucky this week who is 93rd against the run. Seems like a another great matchup where both Creel and Cook can eat, getting you 24+ fantasy points almost locked in.
JC French – Georgia Southern – Ros: 18%
Yes, French put up an absolute stinker against Old Dominion last week, finishing with less than six fantasy points. The whole of the southern offense was smothered and Old Dominion never let up. Thankfully, for championship week, Southern and French have a much more favorable matchup against Marshall, who is a bottom 10 team in FBS against the pass and can be had against the run too. My projections have French has the highest projected QB among the QBs listed here today at 25.8 FPTS.
Broc Lowry – Western Michigan – Ros: 7%
Similar to Creel, I got bored bringing Lowry up over and over again because there wasn’t much to add. He’s a rushing threat QB who gets a ton of carries and is almost locked in for 80 yards a game on the ground. All year he’s been a guy that when he faces MAC competition, he’s going to get you 20-25 fantasy points. Never a weekly winner, but never one to lose you the week either. He gets matched up with Eastern Michigan this championship week and while some might be worried about EMU being 21st against the pass, the more important number is EMU being 133rd against the run, giving up 228.2 yards per game. I wouldn’t be shocked if we get another safe performance out of Lowry to finish the year and potentially get his second 100-yard rushing game in a row.
Roman Gagliano – Middle Tennessee State – Ros: 2%
I was scared MTSU would go back to Vattiato, especially because it was senior day last week, but Gagliano seems to be holding onto this job and given his last two weeks, I’d be shocked if he somehow didn’t start this week. Two weeks in a row, we’ve seen Gagliano put up 30+ fantasy points, a lot which has to do with his rushing threat that Vattiato never had. He’s had 60+ rushing yards in both of his starts and managed to score two TDs on the ground this past week. One might point to his matchups being Western Kentucky and Sam Houston and say, correctly, those are two bad defenses he faced. Good thing he’ll be facing New Mexico State this week who is 88th against the pass and 92nd against the run. Should be one more good week of Gagliano.
Mark Gronowski – Iowa – Ros: 9%
Never thought I’d see the day where I’d be recommending an Iowa QB for college fantasy. While Gronowski hasn’t been the CFF relevant QB some people thought he’d be before the season started, the Iowa offense, and really just Iowa as a team, has been much better than folks thought. I’m looking at the matchup against Nebraska and I see an opponent that is struggling to finish the year and is heavily vulnerable defensively against the rush (100th in FBS). Gronowski does a lot of dirty work against teams like this, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Hawkeyes put an exclamation point on their season with a solid performance against the Cornhuskers, led by Gronowski on the ground.
Joe Pesansky – Florida International – Ros: 0%
Like Gagliano, I was pleasantly surprised to see Pesansky get another week and given FIU’s major upset of Jacksonville State in the Sun Belt, I don’t know how FIU can bench him this week. While his fantasy performance against Jacksonville State wasn’t great or anything (sub 20 fantasy points), he’s got an excellent matchup against Sam Houston here to close out the season. Sam Houston is one of the worst all around defenses in FBS, being bottom 15 against both the rush and the pass. For those of you who love relying on matchups, it’s hard to cook up a better one for a QB who can threaten the defense in both ways.
Jacob Clark – Missouri State – Ros: 9%
Now we’re getting in the QBs where I’m only recommending these guys if you’re somehow in dire straights at the position. Not that they’re bad players, but there are certainly some things you’ll worry about with these two and in a championship setting, you want to limit red flags as much as possible.
Jacob Clark has been solid the last three weeks, putting up 23+ fantasy points in his last few games, each. That feels like a another safe QB to plug into your lineup to limit your team’s variance, right? Well, I’m not as big of a fan of his matchup against La Tech, who is solid for a CUSA team on defense. In addition, Clark is a definitional statue at the position, so his floor will remain lower than some of the other QBs I’ve recommended today. That being said, I could see him try to put up one last hurrah as a senior and once again hit 20+ fantasy points.
Jeff Sims – Arizona State – Ros: 13%
The shine on Jeff Sims’ triumphant return is quickly dissipating. After two strong weeks, Sims put up a stinker against Colorado, fantasy-wise, to the tune of 17.44 FPTS. Granted, a lot of that had to do with Raleek Brown taking away any reason for Sims to run. However, I don’t like this downward trajectory of Sims’ production and I especially don’t like that Arizona matchup here in championship week. Arizona has quietly been a solid defense, being seventh against the pass and 67th against the run. The rushing D of Arizona might be had, but what’s to stop Raleek Brown from stealing all of Sims’ thunder again. Like with Clark, Id’ only start Sims this week if I was very desperate.
Running Backs
Austyn Dendy – Bowling Green – Ros: 8%
Dendy continues to be one of the premier late-season breakouts at the running back position. While he didn’t find the endzone this past week, he put up his second 125+ yard game in as many weeks. Dendy gets a dream final-week matchup against the lowly UMass defense, who have been giving up almost 230+ yards per game. If Dendy gets 20+ touches again, 100 yards and a TD feel like the absolute floor and make him one of my few must-grab and start players off the waiver wire this week.
Caleb Komolafe – Northwestern – 16%
Komolafe is having the season we’ve been wanting Cam Porter to have for years. Granted, I think he’s benefitted from Northwestern finally having a real QB, but how we got here doesn’t matter. Unless Northwestern is just out-talented by a team like Michigan, this rushing attack is something to be feared in the Big Ten.
Against USC and Minnesota, two teams average to solid against the run, Komolafe found 100+ rushing yards against both, which is why I’m not concerned when I see Illinois’ defense is 41st against the rush, because that falls into the same range as both Minnestota and USC. I’m expecting another solid performance from Komolafe to end the season, and while he’s not quite as “must-grab” as Dendy, he’s pretty close.
Shomari Lawrence – Missouri State – 10%
Some of these senior running backs, man. They either use their final few games to go absolutely crazy, knowing their football career is basically done soon, or they completely fizzle out. Thankfully for Shomari Lawrence, we’re looking at the former scenario. Over the last two games, Lawrence has seen 20+ touches and has amassed almost 300 rushing yards between the two games, as well as a pair of TDs.
Given how well this has been working for Missouri State, I’m not sure they move away from this strategy, even with Louisiana Tech being tougher against the run than Kennesaw State or UTEP. I’m expecting a high floor performance from Lawrence for those of you who feel you need that to limit variance in your championship matchups.
Jaquari Lewis – Appalachian State – 5%
Remember how I said that the other option for senior G5 RBs was to just fizzle out. Unfortunately, it does seem that is what has happened with Rashod Dubinion at App State. However, that has opened the door for one of the bigger boom-bust plays you could make in championship weekend: Jaqueri Lewis. With Father Time catching up to Dubinion, Lewis got 38 touches last week, piling up 214 scrimmage yards and two TDs, an absolute monster of a game.
One would think, with bowl eligibility on the line, the coaching staff would not be looking to move away from the guy who won you a must-win matchup the week before. Especially when your upcoming matchup is giving up 185 yards per game against the run. Given the limited sample size, this is a huge risk to take in championship week, but it is one of the few worth taking, imo.
Will Henderson – UTSA – 3%
With Robert Henry being another senior RB who seems to be fizzling out, Will Henderson has taken the reigns of the UTSA backfield with force. For two straight games, he’s seen 20+ touches and 145+ rushing yards, averaging over 7.7 yards per carry. I mentioned last week that if Henderson could pass the test against East Carolina, I’d feel better about him going into championship week against Army. Well, he did with flying colors. I still don’t love that Army is solid against the run and will look to limit possessions for UTSA, but as far as guys to boost your roster in championship week, there’s very few guys I’d consider beyond Henderson and his red hot hands.
OJ Arnold – Georgia Southern – 31%
Don’t ask me what happened last week. I can only assume injury because I don’t know how else a coaching goes form giving a guy 21 touches to 3 the next week. There’s been no official news so I can’t confirm anything. The only other thing I can think of is Georgia Southern is one game away from bowl eligibility. Maybe Clay Helton and staff saw that they were about to get absolutely torched by Old Dominion and decided it was better to save Arnold for their must-win game against Marshall rather than is injury against Old Dominion. Probably wishful thinking.
Obviously, that uncertainty a big reason why I’ve waited so long to bring up Arnold. However, like I discussed with French earlier, this upcoming matchup against Marshall is a far more favorable opponent. If Arnold goes, he should have another good week, but it’s obviously a stressful situation to deal with going into championships.
Jordon Simmons – Georgia State – 2%
After two consecutive weeks of epic performances against Coastal Carolina and Marshall, Simmons didn’t quite have the performance against Troy we were looking for, especially with Troy being so poor against the run. Despite only amassing 67 yards rushing, Simmons still made up for it in having 21 touches on the day and still clearing 100 scrimmage yards total. However, he has Old Dominion on deck who just got done smashing Georgia Southern. I’m concerned that Georgia St is not a good enough squad to avoid meeting the same fate. However, if you want to take that risk and just rely on volume, Simmons is still worth looking at. I’m personally sitting him where I can, tho.
Ja’Kyrian Turner – Pittsburgh – 16%
Turner would be much farther up my ranking here today if it weren’t for this awful matchup against Miami, FL. Turner has a lot of things going for him. He’s sliding directly into Desmond Reid’s role and just got done putting up over 200 yards against Georgia Tech in their massive upset. That would be an insane guy to grab in a vacuum but Miami’s run defense continues to be one of the best in the ground, giving up only 92 yards a game. Is there a world where Kade Bell and this offense could give a Miami team fits in week 14? Sure. But I’m not sure if its something I want to risk. However, if you view this position as matchup proof, Turner might be worth the risk to you.
Wide Receivers
Carlos Hernandez – Wake Forest – Ros: 25%
I wish I could have included Hernandez in a waiver article far sooner than this, as I was a huge fan during the off-season. However, I still get to celebrate somewhat because these last two weeks, Hernandez has been on fire, cumulating 297 yards receiving, 51 yards rushing and 4 total TDs. He’s the clear go-to WR for Robby Ashford during this last stretch of the season.
The best part of all of this is that his best matchup in this stretch may come this week. Duke is a bottom-five team in FBS defending the pass and gives up over 282 yards a game. I’m now entirely sure Ashford can reach that amount, but I think he’ll be close and that’s more than enough to feed Hernandez with.
Alex Perry – FIU – Ros: 2%
Perry has been such a great late breakout for CFF. Three weeks in a row and it is clear that a major part of Pesansky being at QB is that he’s going to look for Perry downfield. Perry has seen 8+ targets, 70+ yards and 1+ TD in all three games that Pesansky has been starting. His latest game against Jacksonville State was his best game and that is, according to the metrics at the G5Hive, a team that’s been solid at shutting down outside WRs. Perry gets his most favorable matchup yet against Sam Houston, who we’ve already discussed how poor they are on defense. I said their are few must-grabs on today’s list, but I would consider Perry to be one of them.
Donovan Faupel – New Mexico State – Ros: 5%
Another guy who has been so up and down this season who is finally putting together consistent performances is Donovan Faupel. The last couple of weeks, he’s seen 23 targets, 18 receptions, 158 yards and 2 TDs. Nothing ground breaking but consistent enough to be put in your lineup. Like Hernandez, his best matchup of this stretch comes this week against MTSU, who is giving up 250+ yards against the pass a game. I wouldn’t be surprised if Faupel gets his first 100+ yard game of the season. My projections seem to think so, as they have Faupel at 20 fpts this week in 0.5 PPR formats.
Cortez Braham – Memphis – Ros: 32%
Cortez Braham technically breaks my 30% rostership requirement, but I couldn’t not mention him when he has such a juicy matchup this week. Braham has had everything you’d want the last two weeks: 26 targets, 20 receptions, 192 yards combined in his last couple of games. His problem is he isn’t finding the endzone, but that could easily be remedied this week. Especially since Memphis will be facing Navy in its season finale, who has a defense who is giving up 270+ a game to passing attacks. If you give me 270 passing yards on Memphis’s offense, I’d be hard pressed not to think Braham doesn’t potentially get 100 yards and TD with that.
Nik McMillian – Buffalo – Ros: 34%
Nik McMillian has been putting together a lot of great performances in the back end of the season here. There straight games of 100+ yards and 10+ targets are hard to ignore. If this guy is still available in your league, you need to heavily consider adding him. There are two slight drawbacks.
The first is he ends more games without a TD than with one, so if you’re in a standard scoring league, maybe this isn’t as must grab. Te second is that Ohio is a solid defense in the MAC, giving up under 200 yards passing each game. McMillian has been solid against the likes of Miami, OH and Bowling Green so I’m not perturbed by this too much, but something to keep in mind.
Jordan Hudson – SMU – Ros: 30%
Very similar to McMillian, Hudson has been great in the backhaul of the season. Three straight games of 95+ yards and 8+ targets, including doing so against solid defenses like Miami and Louisville. He really does feel like he’s matchup proof. He finishes the season with Cal, who is, on paper, 29th against the pass.
However, as I just mentioned, both Miami and Louisville are better in that metric and Hudson was just fine against them. It’s really just a matter of whether Hudson can find the endzone. Given that SMU needs to leave no doubt if they want into that ACC title game, I think we’ll see another good game from Hudson.
Shelton Sampson – Louisiana – Ros: 18%
Sampson certainly had a stinker last week, going only 35 yards with 3 receptions on 8 targets. Arkansas State did a good job shutting him down. It is what it is, I say onto the next week. I’m expecting a bounce-back week in championship week, with him facing UL Monroe. The Warhawks are 106th against the passing, giving up ~250 yards per game. This is another scenario where if you give me a poor secondary and another eight targets Sampson’s way, I don’t see how he doesn’t perform well, all things equal. My projections have him at 18.6 fantasy points this week, so if that sounds appealing to you, double check to see if Sampson is still available.
Gabriel Benyard – Kennesaw State – Ros: 26%
Benyard has been so key to Kennesaw State’s run to the CUSA championship this year and lately, he’s been one of the better receivers in all of CFF. He’s WR17 on the year and since after Week 8, he’s been a top-five WR in the format. He’s had 75+ yards in each of his last three games and often scores his TDs in bunches. They only thing I’d be worried about is that Liberty, who he faces this week, is solid against the pass, 30th in the country to be precise.
Given that his last three matchups against Missouri State, Jacksonville State and New Mexico State have all been 100th or worse, that can be cause for some concern. But that can be waved away by the fact that Liberty is 99th against the run, which means KSU should still be able to move the ball, hence allowing for TD opportunities. In addition, KSU is not afraid to throw Benyard a jetsweep or two in a game, which means he could take advantage of that poor run game himself.
Javen Nicholas – Charlotte – Ros: 11%
Nicholas, like Charlotte’s offense, can be a little hard to pin down, hence why he’s lower on the list. But the potential for him is clear. Nicholas, when Charlotte isn’t being completely blown up, is the go-to option for Grayson Loftis and this weekend opens an opportunity for Nicholas to have one of his higher upside games. Charlotte takes on Tulane and while I don’t think anyone has any ideas of the 49ers upsetting the Green Wave, Tulane’s secondary is among the worst in the AAC, giving up 260+ yards a game.
Nicholas has been seeing 7-9 targets a game the back half of the season and in games where Charlotte is competitive, those are often high-value deep targets. Give me Nicholas breaking at last one long one in this matchup to end the season.
Jordan Shipp – North Carolina – Ros: 17%
Over the last four weeks, Jordan Shipp has had a very clear pattern. When he faces a secondary with a pulse like Wake Forest’s, he’s not startable. When he faces a secondary on life-support, he’ll put up solid production and the staff seems to go out of their way to find him a TD.
The great news is that if we’re measuring secondary quality by heartbeat, NC State’s is already in the morgue. The Wolfpack ranks dead last in passing yards given up per game, with a whopping 300+ yards per game. That sets up really nicely for Shipp to get even better production on top of his expected TD and makes him a solid plug-in option.
Trell Harris – Virginia – Ros: 10%
While Virginia’s passing attack hasn’t quite produced anyone with the ceiling of Malik Washington or Malachi Fields this year, the closest we’ve gotten is Trell Harris. Harris has seen 25 targets in his last three games and has been relatively consistent in his production.
He gets matched up against Virginia Tech this weekend who have been slightly below average against the pass in general but are among the weaker secondaries the Cavaliers have faced in conference. This opens the door for Harris to have one of his better games and my projection sees him scoring 15+ fpts in this matchup. If you like safe-floor options, Harris deserves a look.
Kamryn Perry – Miami, OH – Ros: 7%
Another safe floor option is Kamryn Perry from the Redhawks of Miami. Perry would be someone I’d be looking at in a standard league because he gets a lot of deep targets, He’s averaged 15+ yards per catch in each of his last three games and on the season, he is averaging 24.7 yards a catch. Among his targets, 45%+ of them are when he’s 20+ yards down the field. He only catches about half of those, but it’s still a lot of production points per target.
It makes for a solid floor and given Perry will be facing Ball State this week, whose defense is all around rough, I wouldn’t be surprised if one of those 3-4 deep targets he gets in this game goes for a long TD.
Junior Sherrill – Vanderbilt – Ros: 7%
We all love Diego Pavia, but one of his weapons has been quietly producing each of the last few weeks. Sherrill has seen 22 targets, 17 receptions, 273 yards, and 2 TDs over his previous three games. Vanderbilt is on a mission to keep their college football playoff hopes alive and that means they’ll be looking to score in bunches to impress the playoff committee.
Next in their sights? Tennessee. Not only a hated rival that has for too long not feared the Commodores, but a team with a porous secondary that has been victimized by all levels of competition this year. Tennessee has the worse secondary in the SEC and Vanderbilt will be looking to take advantage, so it only makes sense that Sherrill, who has been the lead targeted receiver, should be able to benefit from this matchup.
Keshaun Singleton – USF – Ros: 32%
After being left for dead by a lot of analysts mid-season, Keshaun Singleton has turned his season around is now looking like the high-upside Sean Atkins replacement we wanted him to be. In three straight games, Singleton has seen 85+ yards, and he’s averaged a TD each game. He still doesn’t quite have the volume you’d like to see from a top receiver, averaging 6.7 targets a game in his last three games, but he, like Perry, gets a lot of high-value deep targets (about 1/3 of his targets are 20+ yards downfield).
South Florida faces Rice this week and if you listen closely, Wyatt Young just broke off another 70+ yard TD against them. Singleton will look to do something similar this week and break off at least one long TD, more than making him worth a start this week.
Elijah Metcalf – Southern Miss – Ros: 8%
As I mentioned last week, Blake Anderson has take a while this season to find his target hog, and while Carl Chester got the TDs last week, Metcalf is still the safe play in this offense. Three weeks in a row, we’ve seen Metcalf get 7+ targets and 75+ yards. I expect that to continue, even as Troy’s secondary looks pretty good on paper. It is enough to given me some pause, hence why Metcalf is this far down my rankings this week.
Tight Ends
Rocky Beers – Colorado State – Ros: 21%
I know Mike Norvell is no longer with Colorado State, but his fingerprints are still here and that means the TE will be featured in this offense. Granted, Colorado State doesn’t have much of a choice give how bad their wide receivers are, but that’s all the better for Beers. With 6+ targets and 60+ yards in three straight games, it’s going to be hard to find a better TE option this late.
Dylan Wade – UCF – Ros: 8%
Dylan Wade has been another late bloomer at TE on a team struggling to win games. Over the last few weeks, Wade has been peppered with targets, 7.3 a game. He’s turned that into 90 yards on average per game and has averaged a TD in each of his last three games.
Jyrin Johnson – Bowling Green – Ros: 9%
The touchdowns haven’t been as consistent with Jyrin Johnson has they have been with Beers and Wade, but among the three options here, Johnson has by far the best matchup. Bowling Green, as I mentioned with Dendy, should be able to name their score against UMass and I would be shocked if, with the seven targets I expect Johnson to get in this game, the coaching staff doesn’t go out of their way to get a TE they’ve clearly come to rely on a TD to put an exclamation point a solid season.
