Welcome to the Fantasy Football Waiver Wire for Week 12. After a few weeks with slim pickings, we’ve got more to choose from this week, partly due to a bunch of fresh injuries. Just when you thought it was safe to go outside…
With the fantasy playoffs just three weeks away and the final two Bye weeks looming, working the wire to your advantage this week could be crucial. Make sure you check for the latest injury updates before you put in your claims, as some situations are fluid.
The Process: Each week, I try to identify the top Waiver Wire targets and evaluate the short- and long-term prospects of those players. I also do my best to reveal which players who are coming off a big week are fool’s gold. Finally, I look at streamers who might help you in a pinch.
Note that I’m writing this column BEFORE the Week 11 Monday night game (DAL@LV).
Some players discussed won’t be available in your league. I try to list players who are available in more than 50% of leagues. But what does that even mean? A 10-team league with six bench spots will have a much larger Free Agent pool than a 14-team league with eight. Most leagues fall somewhere in between. This isn’t “one size fits all.” By way of example, I won’t list Jaxson Dart, R.J. Harvey, Kyle Monangai, Alec Pierce, Christian Watson, Jakobi Meyers, or Colston Loveland, among others who probably aren’t available in any of your leagues.
WEEK 12 BYES: DEN, LAC, MIA, WAS
Week 12 Waiver Wire
Quarterback:
Quarterback availability varies widely between 1-QB and Superflex/2-QB leagues.
Let’s get this out of the way: If either Joe Burrow or Brock Purdy is available in your league, put in a claim, even if you don’t need them. Somebody else does.
I’m not convinced Burrow will be back in two weeks, given the sorry state of the Bengals. Why rush him back to a 4-7 or 3-8 team with a bad O-line? But if he does return, the combination of his weapons and that atrocious defense should be the same recipe for fantasy gold that we got last season.
Purdy returned on Sunday to an offense that’s finally getting everyone healthy, and he looked great. His 19.3 fantasy points make him the QB4 for the week, heading into Monday night. The 49ers’ defense is decimated, and not very good, and shootouts are likely. I think he’s a Top-10 QB the rest of the way.
Tua Tagovailoa, Jacoby Brissett, Sam Darnold, and Trevor Lawrence won’t be available in most Superflex leagues, but they’re the obvious places to start if you need long-term help, a streamer, or an injury replacement in a 1-QB league. Tua is on a Bye in Week 12, Darnold is coming off a 4-INT game to forget, and Brissett just set the record for completions in a game, with 47. Do what you want with that information.
Bryce Young, J.J. McCarthy, Geno Smith, Tyrod Taylor, and Marcus Mariota are a step below the group above. Mariota and Taylor have rushing upside. Young has been dreadful for most of the season, but he just set the Panthers record for passing yards in a game in a Week 11 explosion that came out of nowhere. Again, do what you want with this information.
If Jameis Winston gets another start, he offers some upside as a passer in a Week 12 matchup with the Lions that will likely see New York chasing points. The other backups who also could be thrust into starting duty for this week and possibly longer (Davis Mills, Mason Rudolph, Andy Dalton, Shedeur Sanders, and Kirk Cousins) aren’t good options and should be avoided unless you’re trying to tank.
Running Back:
There are some priority adds here, in part because of injuries.
Before we dive in, a PSA: Make sure Omarion Hampton and Trey Benson weren’t dropped in your league. Both should return soon.
Chris Rodriguez appears to have taken over the lead-back role for the Commanders. He started the game, and got 15 carries while playing 30 snaps, vs. nine carries and 18 snaps for “Bill” Merritt. Jeremy McNichols played 17 snaps, and this is a 3-man timeshare that’s and not ideal for fantasy. Still, Rodriguez should be rostered in all formats.
Emmanuel Wilson has been on my list of stashes who could be one injury away from being the main man on a good offense. That injury happened: Josh Jacobs left Sunday’s game with a knee injury. Wilson came in and put up 49 total yards and a TD on 12 touches. It sounds like Jacobs could miss some time, and if that’s the case I think you can expect Wilson to perform as a low-end RB2.
Remember when Kenneth Gainwell went off in Week 4, after Jaylen Warren was a surprise early-morning scratch in an international game? If you live on the west coast and took a zero from Warren that day, I’m sure you remember it well. Sorry for the reminder. Well, Warren left the Steeler’s Week 11 game in the third quarter with an ankle injury, and Gainwell jumped in and totaled 105 yards from scrimmage while scoring two receiving TDs. If Warren misses time, Gainwell slots right in as an RB2 with upside.
Repeat entry from last week, Part I: Devin Singletary is getting enough work to be serviceable if you’re stuck at running back. He scored twice this week.
Repeat entry from last week, Part II: Sean Tucker, who scored three TDs on Sunday and probably swung some fantasy matchups, should be rostered everywhere. Even if Bucky Irving is back next week, Tucker has presumably passed Rachaad White on the depth chart and earned more work while Irving eases back in.
Tyler Allgeier scored again in Week 11 and continues to show that he has significant stand-alone value on top of handcuff worth.
Depth adds: Tank Bigsby, Blake Corum, Bhayshul Tuten, Ollie Gordon II, Brian Robinson, Jr.,and Jaleel McLaughlin.
Wide Receiver
Michael Wilson got scooped up in a lot of leagues last week with the news that Marvin Harrison was going to miss time after an appendectomy. Nobody who picked up Wilson could’ve predicted 18 targets, 15 catches, and 185 yards – not in their wildest dreams. I don’t see this game script repeating (the Cards got boat-raced early and were chasing points for the entire game), but still, this can’t be ignored and if Wilson is still on your wire, he’s a priority.
Jayden Reed could be back in the next couple of weeks and is worth stashing. He’ll return to a crowded wide receiver room, but Tucker Kraft’s absence slightly eases that concern.
Who is Tyrell Shavers, and what was he doing catching four passes from Josh Allen on Sunday for 90 yards and a TD? I have no idea if this is a total fluke, but he led the Bills in catches, targets, and yards against the Bucs and given who his QB is and how low-rent the Bills’ WR room is, he’s worth an add to see what happens.
Tre Tucker is technically the No. 1 wide receiver for Las Vegas (really, it’s Brock Bowers), and should see decent volume from here on out. He’s got the speed to make big plays, even though we’ve only seen that in one game all season.
It’s hard to recommend any Titans, period, but with Calvin Ridley now lost for the season and Chimere Dike in question for Week 12, Van Jefferson and Elic Ayomanor should see more opportunities. Whether that will translate to production is another story and I wouldn’t go crazy adding them.
Others to consider for depth: Mack Hollins, Parker Washington, Malik Washington, Tez Johnson, Jayden Higgins, Darius Slayton (hopefully he’ll be back this week), and Josh Palmer.
Deeper depth: DeMario Douglas, Luther Burden III, Greg Dortsch, Adonai Mitchell, and Andrei Iosivas.
Tight End:
Cade Otton only caught two passes this week after his monster performance in Week 10, but he’s still a worthwhile add with so many injuries to the receivers.
Brenton Strange has his practice window open and could return from IR this week. Then again, that was the expectation last week, so who knows? I do think he’s got upside in this offense once he’s back, and is worth stashing if you’re thin at TE.
Theo Johnson and Juwan Johnson are two more players who I keep listing, and both keep getting targeted a lot. They’re both fringe TE1s at this point and should not be sitting on waiver wires.
I’ll list Dalton Schultz again, and despite his one-catch performance this past week, I think Dawson Knox has some fantasy value for as long as Dalton Kincaid is out.
Others to consider for depth, or an emergency stream if you need them: Chig Okonkwo, Noah Fant, Brock Wright, and Greg Dulcich.
PK and D/ST Streamers, Week 12: (ranked outside the Top-12 for the week):
PK: T. Loop (vs. NYJ), C. Santos (vs. PIT), J. Myers (@TEN), B. Grupe (vs ATL)
D/ST: NO (vs. ATL), LV (vs. CLE), PIT (@CHI)
Good luck with your waiver claims!
***This column appears each Monday right here at Big Blue View. Each Thursday, my weekly fantasy preview with my rides, fades and sleepers (start/sit) appears here, and on Fridays you can find my weekly Giants Props of the week, also right here. ***
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