As quickly as the NFL season started, the fantasy football regular season has roughly a month left until the playoffs. A few teams are already (or should be) looking ahead to 2017 as longshots for the playoffs or are essentially eliminated already. The trading deadline, if there is one, is typically around Week 11 to optimize a dynasty roster's direction as a contender or pretender. While the waiver wire is largely picked clean by November of the overt upside plays already rostered, there are still optimal plays offering later-season impact for teams of either direction. Here are the key dynasty waiver wire players as the regular season winds down by league depth:
Medium depth
*Typically centering around +/- 25-man rosters*
Mike Glennon: While nothing more than a Jameis Winston handcuff for the rest of the season, Glennon is the ideal stash for 2017 in formats where most, if not all, starting NFL quarterbacks are regularly rostered. Glennon is above-baseline in his previous starting duty (pre-Winston in Tampa Bay) to warrant another starting opportunity and even showed well in mop-up duty in Tampa Bay's blowout loss in Week 9 with a garbage-time touchdown drive. The 2017 free agent quarterback market is weak (as usual) and Glennon is poised for a situational uptick in a few months. I view Glennon as a better version of Brock Osweiler in Superflex or 2QB dynasty league terms, yet Glennon is on plenty of waiver wires for non-contending teams to scoop up and stash.
Robert Turbin: Most overt primary backup running backs are already rostered in dynasty leagues. However, Robert Turbin is one of the very few still available in plenty of leagues. No other Colt running back has challenged Turbin for No.2 snaps and while Frank Gore has chugged along without an injury hiccup to-date this season, Turbin is a mid-RB2 or better any game Gore misses. We had Tim Hightower as a late-season impact for the fantasy playoffs in 2015 and Turbin is a strong candidate for 2016.
Kenneth Farrow: Melvin Gordon is seeing a high volume of snaps and touches with San Diego having little viable depth at running back. However, Farrow has been logging a dominant share of the non-Gordon running back snaps in recent weeks. Farrow has early-down size and some lateral explosion to his game to project 15+ touches if needed as a stopgap starter. Like Turbin, Farrow is on many waiver wires for the stretch run.
Damian Williams: Jay Ajayi has secured the lead job, but Williams looks to have the clear advantage over Kenyan Drake for primary backup duties. The theme of running back stash players is finding the cheap-to-free options who are 'one injury away' from a prominent uptick in playing time. Instead of trading a Round 1/2 rookie pick level asset to bolster running back depth, allocating final roster spots in-season for backs one injury away is an optimal depth-building strategy.
Andre Ellington: While buried and seeing minimal time in Arizona, the cupboard is pretty bare behind bellcow David Johnson for the rest of the season. I expect Ellington would be in a committee with Stepfan Taylor of Kerwynn Williams seeing some interior touches, but Ellington would be closer to the moveable chess piece back of David Johnson of the committee. Also, Ellington is an upcoming free agent in the offseason. Considering his pass-catching acumen, Ellington is a wait-and-see asset depending on his landing spot. Ellington fits as a PPR contender stash or a rebuilding offseason hold to gauge his new situation.
Chris Johnson: Johnson fits the criteria of 'bet on long-term productive players of high pedigree until they are out of the NFL' category. Johnson is IR-eligible, which helps in leagues with IR spots. Plus Johnson is a free agent like teammate Andre Ellington in the offseason. The odds are probably in the 10-25% range Johnson is the primary backup or better on a depth chart again at this stage in his career arc, but those are better odds than a Round 4 rookie pick or nearly all waiver wire flyers this time of year.
Danny Amendola: I rarely recommend wide receivers as strong stash plays. However, Amendola is one of the select few worth rostering for the rest of the season. An injury to Julian Edelman or Chris Hogan would boost Amendola enough for WR3 or better weekly consideration. Amendola is held together by Duct tape himself, so the fill-in duty could be a short stint, but he is currently healthy and waiting in the wings for an expanded role.
Vincent Jackson: While Jackson may be physically 'done' after showing next to nothing as Tampa Bay's No.2 receiver before injury this season, like Chris Johnson the pedigree is there. Jackson is an upcoming free agent and at worst probably sees Andre Johnson-type interest for a final shot to stick in the league for another year or two (health pending).
Deep leagues
*Approaching or beyond 30-man rosters*
Ronnie Hillman: Matt Asiata and Jerick McKinnon have done little to separate themselves as strong committee backs or lead options in Adrian Peterson's extended absence. Hillman is a former Day 2 pick with strong metrics and he flashed more big play ability than either incumbent in recent weeks. An injury to either Asiata or McKinnon opens the door for Hillman to expand to usable snaps for fantasy.
Rex Burkhead: This recommendation is a personal favorite of mine and probably the most under-the-radar of the entire list. Burkhead is the No.3 back in Cincinnati and seeing minimal snaps weekly. However, he can sub for Jeremy Hill or Giovani Bernard if either were to miss time as an interior or pass-catching option. The Bengals have kept Burkhead on 'simmer' for a number of years, sticking on the roster without much notice. Burkhead is a deep league special where one injury gets him on the map.
Brice Butler: With Dez Bryant back and Terrance Williams healthy, Butler sees minimal playing time each week. Butler is a free agent after the season and has prototypical traits. While a 5-10% play to change teams and secure a WR3-level role next year, the physical tools and tape of his Dallas time warrant deep dynasty roster attention.
Jaron Brown: Michael Floyd and Jaron Brown are upcoming free agents for Arizona. There are multiple paths to relevance for Brown as he could return to Arizona (and Floyd leaves) or Brown can find a WR3/4 opportunity elsewhere. Brown has promising traits and has been blocked over the years on one of the more stacked receiver depth charts in the NFL.
Josh Hill: Coby Fleener's snap counts have been alarmingly low this season. Hill is a team favorite, seeing a second contract with New Orleans but missing out on a breakout when Ben Watson turned into a TE1 for fantasy in 2015. Hill sees a majority of snaps and any missed time by Fleener would result in a high-TE2 or better weekly projection for Hill. This is a TE-premium or deep league special.
A.J. Derby: Incumbent Virgil Green is playing better of late as Denver's starter, but Derby was acquired for a Day 3 pick. Derby has promising upside beyond 2016 to challenge for the starting job. Like Hill, Derby is a TE-premium special when all currently productive tight ends are rostered.
Seth DeValve: The 2016 rookie was a metric marvel by my NFL Draft projection model. With +39% Athleticism (tops in the class) and +26% Production exiting college (second only to Hunter Henry in the class), DeValve was firmly on the deep dynasty watch list. DeValve is developing nicely and now seeing weekly snaps as Gary Barnidge's primary backup in Cleveland after a slow start to the season. DeValve is a 30-something one-hit wonder tight end injury away from being a waiver wire fight in TE-premium leagues, but free for now.
Tyler Higbee: Higbee has enviable ball skills for a 6'6" tight end. His over-the-shoulder catch on a corner route with blanket coverage by Luke Kuechly in Week 9 was one of the highlight moments of the week by my game reviews. Higbee was thought to be a challenger to the starting job as a rookie for the Rams, but tight ends are historically very slow starters in the college-to-NFL transition for fantasy purposes. Lance Kendricks is a nice player himself, but does not offer the upside of Higbee should the rookie progress the rest of the season and into 2017.