Fantasy Football Week 13: Waiver wire pickups

Fantasy Football Week 13: Waiver wire pickups

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All 32 teams are back in the pool for Week 13, so lineup setup shouldn’t be too painful in the coming days. Still, we can’t afford to rest on the waiver wire. Each week, we highlight the top potential waiver pickups that remain available in at least 50% of Yahoo’s fantasy football leagues. Add as needed. It’s time to win, people.

Wilson passed for 270 yards and one score in the loss in a beautiful snowball game Thursday night. Ideally, we wouldn’t see each other quite so many snaps and carries for Justin Fields, but it’s obviously a smart and proper use of a talented player. The use of Fields is hardly groundbreaking for Russ.

On Sunday, Wilson has a date with a Bengals defense that allows opposing quarterbacks to score the fourth-most fantasy points per game. Cincinnati gave up 19 passing yards and 225.6 passing yards per game. If you’re simply looking for a streaming option with a reasonably high floor, Wilson is your guy.

FAB Suggested Offer (assuming a $100 budget): $7

  • Cooper Rush on Sunday he cooked in his own way. He threw a pair of TD passes against Washington in a historically weird win and finished with 247 yards on 32 attempts. Rush has now thrown for 601 yards in the last two weeks and has a streak of friendly games coming up: NYG, CIN, at CAR, TB.

  • Drake Maye certainly didn’t have his cleanest game in Sunday’s loss (22-for-37, 4 sacks, INT); his team didn’t get on the scoresheet against Miami until the fourth quarter, when they trailed by 31. However, Maye’s dual-threat ability is well-established, and he’s been a steady, if unspectacular, fantasy contributor. Headed into the Indy game, the defense is allowing the eighth-most fantasy points to a QB.

  • Derek Carr produced back-to-back games of 200+ yards and multiple touchdowns before his byeS, and his team’s schedule d01013own stretch is full of opportunities (LAR, in NYG, WA). If you’re just looking for a tolerable floor and not a season saver, it can help.

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If circumstances have forced you to leave Bigsby at some point in the past two weeks, no judgement. We get it. His team is saying goodbye and he was sidelined in Week 11 with an ankle problem. Availability is a pretty big deal this time of year.

Let’s recall what it looked like at the beginning of this season, when Bigsby was fully operational:

Bigsby is averaging 5.5 YPC on the season and a whopping 4.33 yards after contact per attempt, the best rate in the league. He forced 27 fumbles on just 95 rushing attempts per PFF. Basically, he’s been one of the league’s most dangerous and explosive running backs this season, and it’s perfectly reasonable to expect him to return to fantasy importance after two weeks of rest. He looked pretty healthy this weekendat least for those of us without medical training.

Travis Etienne Jr. he was much less effective than Bigsby this season and didn’t deserve the status of a main player. Tank’s main concern was his minimal receiving role. When the Jaguars fall behind by a few points (as they occasionally do), Bigsby goes back to the warehouse. However, this team will close out the season with a series of games that should generally keep the run in the game: HOU, TEN, NYJ, LV, TEN, IND. In terms of talent and ceiling, Bigsby deserves a roster spot in all formats.

FAB: $26

McNichols has hit four home runs this season, so he should be well known to fantasy managers at this stage, albeit mostly as a nuisance to Brian Robinson Jr. managers. He finished with a modest 22 yards on three carries on Sunday, but could be headed for a significant increase in workload in the upcoming game against Tennessee. The Commanders just lost Robinson (ankle) and Austin Ekeler (concussion) to injuries, which could push McNichols into a stronger role in Week 13.

It’s hardly a friendly place — the Titans have only allowed one rusher for 70 yards this year — so let’s not be too reckless with your remaining FAB unless the situation is dire.

FAB: $8

We group these three together because the argument for each is essentially the same. It’s a trio of premium backups, all of them proven commodities. Any or all of those three could prove to be crucial players in fantasy if injury creates a path for significant touches. Mason has been an unstoppable force through the first seven weeks of the season, Allgeier is already coming off a 1,000-yard campaign, and Davis had one magical week against the Jets (along with various other highlights).

As we approach fantasy money weeks, we want our benches loaded with high-paying lottery tickets. All three of these defensemen certainly qualify.

FAB: Let’s say $6 each

Yes, he’s still in the league—he’s 31 years old, in his 10th season in the NFL, and surprisingly relevant. Abdullah was the other Vegas player on Sunday with both Alexander Mattison (ankle) and Zamir White (quad) sidelined with injuries, and he was quite effective against Denver’s excellent defense. He finished with 65 total yards on 13 touches with five receptions and an early TD highlight:

Abdullah’s fantasy appeal is of course tied to the availability of other backs, but Sunday’s performance offered confirmation that he can help us when adequate volume is flowing his way. The game ahead of us is a bit of an issue (at KC), but it’s not like the Broncos defense is a layoff.

FAB: $4

  • Devin Singletary clearly skipped by Tyrone Tracy Jr. in the backfield hierarchy for the Giants, but it should be noted that the rookie lost another fumble in a key situation on Sunday. Tracy wasn’t benched after the ball security gaffe against the Bucs, but sat for the series, allowing Singletary to get into the end zone. If Tracy remains clumsy, Brian Daboll may feel compelled to do the usual coaching thing and stop his touches.

  • Roschon Johnson managed just three touches for the Bears in an overtime loss to Minnesota, but continues to serve as the preferred option in scoring situations. Sunday’s touchdown was his sixth of the year.

  • Tyjae Spears (concussion) couldn’t start in Week 12, but we should note that he’s played 35-45% of the snaps this season when healthy. The program of his team in the last weeks is very tempting: in WAS, JAC, CIN, in IND.

  • Trey Benson, Blake Corum, Jaylen Wright a Braelon Allen they’re all highly-studded rookies who would find themselves under a significant workload if the vets ahead of them miss time. All four deserve roster spots as what-if pilots in leagues with 12 or more teams.

Here’s another case where fantasy managers understandably let go of a player en masse due to A) being beat and B) a six-team mega-bye hit. However, Coleman is nearing his return from a wrist injury, meaning he is very much back on the fantasy radar.

Coleman actually had the two best performances of his rookie season after Amari Cooper joined the team in a trade, so let’s not worry too much about the target competition. He’s been effective in contested situations, and his passer rating when targeted is a healthy 117.5. It’s no big surprise that he’s entered Josh Allen’s circle of trust.

Buffalo has a series of potential shootouts against the Niners, Rams and Lions, so we should be aggressive in finding ways to invest in this team’s offense. The Bills are averaging 29.1 points per week, third-highest in the league. We haven’t seen the last big game from Coleman, assuming good health.

FAB: $8

Ertz ran the most routes of any Commander catcher on Sunday and saw the second most targets (8), so we certainly don’t worry about his role. The vet also reached the end zone in back-to-back weeks. He has been the most reliable secondary option for the Commanders this season behind Terry McLaurin, averaging nearly six targets a week. If you’ve been roaming the wilds, this is a viable option with a weekly successful quest.

FAB: $6

  • DeMario Douglas he produced his usual 5-for-62 line in Sunday’s loss, never considered a remarkable fantasy performance until modern science developed PPR scoring. Today we are enlightened enough to appreciate it. Douglas gets the Colts next week, so another 4-6 grabs are coming.

  • Marquez Valdes-Scantling has touched the ball five times in the last two games for the Saints, turning those opportunities into 196 yards and three scores. You shouldn’t be told that a zero-point week is definitely within the realm of results for MVS, but the man still clearly has a lot of potential.

  • Devaughn Vele is a gigantic slot receiver (6-foot-5, 210) who has proven to be a reliable secondary option for Bo Nix and the Broncos. He is setting career highs in targets (9) and receiving yards (80). Denver has a home date with Cleveland before their Week 14 bye.

  • Adam Thielen he passed the eye test after returning from injury Sunday, caught three balls for 57 yards, drew a key flag and generally looked like a useful weapon. Carolina is running a functional offense these days, so we don’t have to back down from this team in fantasy.

  • Nick Westbrook-Ikhine has somehow managed to overcome his team’s sorry quarterback situation, reaching the end zone six times in the past seven games. It’s one of the wildest accomplishments of any receiver this season, given the fact that he’s only caught 17 passes on the year. We constantly warn you that his point streak is unsustainable, yet he simply refuses to follow the normal rules.

  • The Colts don’t have the perfect one-on-one replacement for Josh Downs on the roster, but we can expect both Alec Pierce a Adonai Mitchell to see other opportunities the head of the team’s reception was sidelined by an injury. Pierce has been Anthony Richardson’s favorite this season, averaging a league-high 23.3 yards per catch.

  • Noah Gray he’s scored four touchdowns and caught eight passes in the last two games, which could be enough to make him a top-10 rusher on the season. (I’m afraid to look it up because I don’t want to see where he is compared to Sam LaPorto.) Gray has run the fourth-most routes on the team this year, and it’s not like KC’s receiving room is overloaded with playmakers. We probably haven’t seen the last of his house calls. There’s nothing Andy Reid loves half as much as creating opportunities for his oddball players near the end zone.

  • Hunter Henry he’s hauled in 17 targets over the last two weeks, catching 11 for 107 yards. It’s not a grading machine like Gray, but come on, that’s impossible to accomplish.

No, this isn’t a great defense in the traditional sense, but the Cowboys put up a ton of points against the Commanders on Sunday in one of the craziest/drunkest games in recent memory. Micah Parsons is back and has become a wrecker and KaVontae Turpin is it the most dangerous return specialist in the league. Dallas will host the spiraling, dysfunctional Giants on Thursday, so this D is likely in for another productive week.

FAB: $1

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