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John's fantasy football waiver wire streamers and start 'em, sit 'em lineup picks for Week 17 of 2025. These waiver wire pickups could win playoff championships.
Last chance to bring home the fantasy bacon for most of us — time to get serious. Any teams still standing are more important to me than any Christmas gifts at the mall. It's funny because you'd think teams playing for the championship would imply stacked rosters on both sides, when it's far from the case. Josh Allen scored the same 6.9 fantasy points as Quinn Ewers, who threw two picks to no scores. Kyren Williams posted 23 touches in a 37-point outing for the Rams, yet still finished outside the top-25 RBs! Crazy game we play.
Right on schedule, a slew of running back injuries just threw the upcoming weekend's fantasy landscape in a blender — so this weekend's all about proper positioning. First things first. Drop everyone on your roster who definitely won't be starting for the backup RBs below, including your kicker and defense. I placed them in order of preference, but I also recommend moving on from both. Let's toss in an honorable mention for Houston's Jawhar Jordan while we're at it, in case Woody Marks can't go.
Remember, not only do we want access to the best available pieces, but blocking our opponent from a viable starter is invaluable. Let's close out this season strong as always — I'm looking forward to the NFL postseason content on the schedule before we pivot to baseball.
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Quarterback Waiver Wire Streamer
Tyler Shough, NO at Tennessee Titans
No guts, no glory — sometimes you just have to say Shough it. If you're streaming this deep into the fantasy playoffs, the goal from your secondary roster slots should be avoiding goose eggs for a solid fantasy floor. Not sure anyone's set up better in Week 17 to do just that than New Orleans' rookie shot caller Tyler Shough.
The Saints' second-rounder is fantasy's QB10 since beating the Panthers on the road in Week 10, with just a single game under 18 points scored. How could you not be excited for Shough's final two weeks of play? He's checked every analytical box in that same timeframe, from accuracy (68.9% completion) to efficiency (+0.21 EPA/attempt, 92.8 passer rating), plus protecting the football (1.4% INT/attempt) — with a willingness to tuck and run (4.5 takeoffs/game, 22.0 rushing yards/game). It's everything we love for fantasy.
For an added bonus, without any meaningful running back depth left on the roster after losing both Alvin Kamara and Devin Neal, New Orleans boasts a top-3 pass rate across the last month. At this stage, with so many teams decimated and uncompetitive, the Saints represent a rare exception of hope for a last-place team. For starters, Shough's currently in second place for Rookie Of The Year, which he can win with a strong run against Tennessee and Atlanta. Kellen Moore and the front office would love to get him that recognition while figuring out exactly what they have entering the 2026 draft. There should be no restrictions on the offense.
Lastly, the matchup — Tennessee stinks. No one's allowed more yards per reception or passing TDs over the last month, and that's including facing an absolute dumpster fire in Kansas City on Sunday. The Titans' dangerous interior combination of Jeffery Simmons and Cody Barton creates a pass funnel for the opposition, which New Orleans should offer no resistance, obliging them to — they've averaged +40 dropbacks over a six-week run. All in on Tyler Shough...
Shough to Olave! @Saints tie it up late
CARvsNO on FOX/FOX Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/kkzQ8FDNkP
— NFL (@NFL) December 15, 2025
Running Back Waiver Wire Streamers
Rhamondre Stevenson, NE at New York Jets
Another perfect streaming foundation if the injury luck goes your way. TreVeyon Henderson left this weekend's game with a rather nasty-looking concussion (get well soon), leaving his status up in the air, pending further testing. After departing, Rhamondre Stevenson assumed as close to an every-down role as you'll ever see. Commanding 95% of snaps and 100% of the backfield touches, he's a smash start against an awful Jets defense as a double-digit favorite. Again, there's not a single kicker I'd carry into Sunday over stashing Stevenson.
Rhamondre Stevenson set up his lead block beautifully on the game-winning TD 👏@FedEx pic.twitter.com/TgfOibGx5H
— NFL (@NFL) December 22, 2025
Emanuel Wilson, GB vs. Baltimore Ravens
Initial assumptions out of Green Bay were that Josh Jacobs ceded snap and carry leads due to reaggravating his knee injury. However, during an incredibly vague and borderline unintelligible post-game presser, HC Matt LaFleur was asked if Jacobs injured himself on the early fumble or if he just decided to go with Emanuel Wilson — he responded, "I don't know to be honest with you in regards to if he was injured or not. I was not told that." Reassuring stuff from the Packers' skipper.
If Jacobs was in fact being punished for a fumble as an established veteran, and he enters Week 17 without limitations, expect the usual RB1 returns. However, in any of the other potential cases, Wilson's immediately earning backend RB1 projections. Better to be a week early than one day late.
Emanuel Wilson takes the screen pass and matriculates the ball past the 50
GBvsDAL on NBC
Stream on @NFLPlus + Peacock pic.twitter.com/NYHnnWJhJu— NFL (@NFL) September 29, 2025
Wide Receiver Waiver Wire Streamer
Cooper Kupp, SEA at Carolina Panthers
Predicting week-to-week wide receiver production has never felt more difficult with all the newly evolving defensive schemes removing top options. So I'm leaning into the punch-counterpunch method here with WR46 Cooper Kupp against the Panthers. For starters, Seattle's on the short list of teams motivated to win who also still have their Week 1 starting quarterback under center. Beyond that, of course, Jaxon Smith-Njigba's the engine of this offense, but we could see more spreading of the football than usual this weekend.
No one's totally shutting JSN out of a game, but we've certainly seen a few dead halves. With Carolina's best defender, CB Jaycee Horn, trolling alpha wideouts, they can be difficult to beat over the top — CAR's surrendered the third-fewest +20-yard completions (5) in the last month. The question is whether or not Klint Kubiak will go where the defense's attention isn't. With home-field advantage at stake, my guess is yes.
It took a little while, but Cooper Kupp finally beat out Rashid Shaheed definitively in 2-WR sets — an important distinction when dealing with low-volume passing offenses. Kupp's earned at least four targets in four of five and an end zone opportunity in two of three. He's the clear number two in Seattle's WR room, though, as I mentioned before, low floors come attached to these types of offenses at times. Get me five targets with one in the paint, and I'll be a happy streamer.
Cooper Kupp finds the end zone!
SEAvsATL on FOX/FOX Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/wB3Ta6kmjX
— NFL (@NFL) December 7, 2025
Tight End Waiver Wire Streamer
Colston Loveland, CHI at San Francisco 49ers
As one of the all-time great quotes regarding contrarian investing says, "The time to buy is when there's blood in the streets, even if the blood is your own". As an admitted Colston Loveland truther, count me among those utterly shocked at the first-round rookie's lackluster Week 16 (3-30-0) performance without either Luther Burden III or Rome Odunze in the lineup. Come on, had you guaranteed me a season-high +81% route participation rate, who wouldn't have expected TE1 output given the prior efficiency metrics?
Well, that plan obviously flopped, outraging fantasy managers everywhere and creating a mile-long line of rage drops after the final whistle. Frustrating as it was, Loveland's in a strong spot against a hobbled 49ers' interior defense. San Francisco's struggled to defend the tight end position after losing their big boppers up the middle, ranking bottom-5 in both receptions and fantasy points allowed to TEs over an eight-week span. Loveland earned at least five targets in four straight entering Chicago's tilt
Still wondering how Colston Loveland turned this into a game-winning touchdown 😤 @Accenture pic.twitter.com/V9TWSNDzbR
— NFL (@NFL) November 3, 2025
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