The fantasy season ended for most people in Week 16, but there are still a handful of leagues that play on in the final week of the regular season. If you’re playing in a dynasty league, this is also a chance to gauge the waiver wire and look at potential impact players for 2014.
Fantasy football waiver wire: 5 quarterbacks to target for Week 17
Still playing fantasy football during the regular season finale? Here are some quarterback waiver moves that could help you out.
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Week 17 is a tough nut to crack for most fantasy owners. Teams like to rest their starters for the playoffs, making it difficult to know if your stud players will be playing or not. There are also some teams that had a disappointing year, but want to finish strong and enter the offseason with some momentum. With that in mind, here are five quarterbacks on the waiver wire who could help you for the season finale.
Ryan Tannehill, Miami Dolphins (owned in 33 percent of leagues)
All of Miami's flaws -- a bad offensive line, no running game -- came to a head in a brutal loss to the Bills. Tannehill threw for just 82 yards and 3.0 yards per attempt before leaving with a minor knee injury. The injury isn't believed to be serious, and despite the loss the Dolphins moved up to the No. 6 seed in the AFC. They play the Jets next week needing a win to clinch a playoff berth. Tannehill has thrown for over 300 yards in three of the last five games, with a touchdown-interception ratio of 9:3 in that span. He's been playing well down the stretch, and there isn't much reason to believe Week 16 was anything but an outlier. Tannehill has been one of the quietest QB2 players this year.
Kirk Cousins, Washington Redskins (owned in 24 percent of leagues)
Cousins had a juicy matchup with the Cowboys defense, but he didn't quite deliver, throwing for just 197 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He's still putting on respectable performances and gets to close out the season against the Giants. Cousins is still worth keeping an eye on in dynasty formats.
Ryan Fitzpatrick, Tennessee Titans (owned in 15 percent of leagues)
Fitzpatrick wasn't particularly impressive against the Jaguars, and he threw an interception for the fourth game in a row. Still, he's just one week removed from dropping 402 yards on the Cardinals and has likely done enough to earn another backup spot next season. The 6-9 Titans are motivated to end the season on a high note and will face a Texans team just phoning it in. Fitzpatrick is a decent enough gamble.
Terrelle Pryor, Oakland Raiders (owned in 14 percent of leagues)
The Raiders have named Pryor the starter over Matt McGloin in the season finale. They still seem committed to McGloin despite his mediocre performances this year. Pryor does offer upside with his running ability and he has a friendly matchup with a Broncos defense that just lost Von Miller for the season. The last time these teams met in Week 3 (also without Miller), Pryor had one of his best games as a pro, completing 68 percent of his passes for 281 yards and a touchdown.
Kyle Orton, Dallas Cowboys (owned in less than 1 percent of leagues)
Tony Romo has been ruled out for the season with a back injury, so the Cowboys' playoff hopes rest on a guy who hasn't taken meaningful snaps since 2011. Still, Orton is one of the better backups in the league, and there's a reason Dallas is paying him $1.35 million. The Cowboys trust that he can step in and keep the offense functioning, and he has a good chance to do just that against the Eagles' lowly defense. They're going to need him to, especially if the defense can't slow down Nick Foles and company.
