Fantasy Football Week 12 Waiver Wire Pickups
Is your fantasy team in need of new blood? Each week I’ll bring to you the best pickups to make ahead of the waiver deadline. All the players I list will be owned in fewer than 50 percent of leagues, with the ownership percentage coming from Yahoo.com.
Quarterbacks
Case Keenum, Vikings (40% Owned): It’s getting harder to just brush off Keenum’s season as a pure fluke. I don’t buy the talent, but the production is there and it doesn’t matter how you arrive at your numbers. Keenum has put up seven touchdowns in the last three weeks, and his upcoming matchups vs. the Lions and Falcons look cushy. Keenum is a viable option if you have been streaming QBs, or your starter has an ugly matchup.
Tyrod Taylor, Bills (40% Owned): Keep an eye on whether Taylor is starting or not (he should be!), but his performance in relief of the historically, hilariously atrocious Nathan Peterman was evidence of his fantasy usefulness. In one half of work Taylor put up 158 passing yards and a touchdown, while adding 38 yards and another score on the ground. His rushing ability keeps him in the borderline QB1 territory, and his next matchups vs. the Chiefs and Patriots’ soft defenses make him appetizing.
Running Backs
Samaje Perine, Redskins (35% Owned): Perine has the backfield to himself now that Chris Thompson is joining Rob Kelley on IR. Perine is not in the upper echelon of NFL backs in terms of talent, but his volume will be among the very best at the position. He will likely be seeing 18+ touches a week, with three straight soft matchups (Giants, Cowboys, Chargers) on the docket. Perine is a rock solid RB2 going forward.
Damien Williams, Dolphins (35% Owned): Williams may be the far less talented Dolphins RB, but they insist on forcing him into the game plan. Last week he rewarded them with a long run, leading him to be the more productive rusher on the day. Most weeks, Kenyan Drake will out-touch and out-gain him, but regardless Williams will have a role and a shot at touchdowns in any given week. He’s a FLEX, but an okay one.
Jonathan Stewart, Panthers (36% Owned): Stewart has been underwhelming all season, but a RB who sees double-digit carries every week needs to be owned. In Week 10, Stewart actually broke out with a 117-yard performance; that’s always possible with the type of volume he receives every game. With the Jets and Saints next up on his slate, a touchdown or two is in his near future.
T.J. Yeldon, Jaguars (21% Owned): Yeldon is the more well-rounded Jaguars backup, and the Jags’ are likely to decrease rookie Leonard Fournette’s workload a bit in light of his lingering ankle injury. With his bad ankle a known factor, the Jags’ backup should be owned; Yeldon, thanks to his pass-catching ability, is the Jaguars backup you want.
Austin Ekeler, Chargers (35% Owned): Ekeler is startable in deep leagues as a FLEX if you’re desperate, but he must be owned in all leagues by the Melvin Gordon owner. That’s no knock on Gordon either; Ekeler is simply proving himself to be a capable RB, with a clear path to an RB1 workload if Gordon misses time for injury. Ekeler is especially promising in PPR formats.
Wide Receivers
Josh Doctson, Redskins (28% Owned): Doctson is definitely healthy, and he’s being thrown the jump balls he was put on this Earth to catch. Doctson saw seven targets for the second consecutive game, and this time racked up 81 yards on those looks. Kirk Cousins was looking his way in the red zone, and had no problem going deep to the second-year man. Doctson is close to a huge breakout, and now is really the time to scoop him up. This ownership percentage is asinine.
Kenny Stills, Dolphins (38% Owned): Stills has occasionally been a victim of the Dolphins’ inconsistent offense, but he remains a big play threat who makes the most of his targets. Stills hauls in 60 percent of his targets, and has scored four touchdowns this year; meanwhile his overrated teammate DeVante Parker, owned in 88 percent of leagues, is averaging the same yards per catch with only one lonely TD grab. Stills, simply put, is a better fantasy option, albeit with less draft pedigree. Stills can be started in any week in semi-deep leagues, and could do damage vs. the Patriots in Week 12.
Marquise Goodwin, 49ers (15% Owned): Goodwin is the No. 1 receiver in San Francisco, and he could be a very good one if the 49ers decide to hand the keys to Jimmy Garoppolo at QB. Goodwin will see targets; the problem is that the quality of his targets is poor, so he can be pretty boom-or-bust, with a high likelihood of “bust.” When he hits though, he’s capable of putting up nearly 15 points with a single catch. Goodwin’s track star speed makes him matchup proof as well, so view him as a super high-upside FLEX, and a low-end WR2 if Garoppolo takes over.
Tight Ends
Charles Clay, Bills (33% Owned): It’s been slow going for Clay since he returned to the Bills’ lineup, but now that he’s re-acclimated, I still like him going forward as long as Taylor is the QB. Tyrod will look for Clay, and Clay is a playmaker. With WR Kelvin Benjamin down, his role will revert to being the top target in the receiving corps.
Tyler Kroft, Bengals (45% Owned): Keep an eye on his injury status, but Kroft is a fantastic play this week against the Browns, who entered Week 11 as the second-worst team in the entire NFL against opposing tight ends. Kroft is nothing special, but he’s involved, which is more than you can reasonably expect from most at his position.