Fantasy Football Week 12 Waiver Wire Pickup Advice

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

Lamar Jackson, Ravens (18% Owned): Obviously, don’t hold onto Jackson if news breaks that Joe Flacco is back and starting. However, Jackson’s performance in his first career start was beyond stellar in terms of his fantasy upside. Clearly, Baltimore doesn’t think he is ready to shoulder the load, and to compensate they had Jackson run the ball 27 times. That’s an absurd number of rushing attempts for a QB, but it’s incredibly valuable if you are in a four-point passing TD format. He finished the day with 117 rushing yards, and 150 yards through the air. Based off this usage, he’s easily the top rushing QB in fantasy for as long as he is starting, and his next two matchups are against the Raiders and Falcons. Get him ASAP and pray he doesn’t fall back for Flacco.

Colt McCoy, Redskins (0% Owned): Speaking of rushing, McCoy is another good threat on the ground. He can’t touch Jackson’s upside as a rusher, but in less than a full half he carried the ball six times for 35 yards to go along with 54 yards and a score on 12 pass attempts. McCoy has a very low ceiling, due to his own limitations as well as the injuries plaguing Washington’s offensive line and receiving corps. He also has a higher floor than many QBs you’ll find on the waiver wire, and you should be able to add him for free.

Running Backs

Josh Adams, Eagles (32% Owned): Adams is definitely the new leader of the Eagles’ backfield, and I wouldn’t be too discouraged by his meager seven carries last week. The game was an absolute massacre which turned Philadelphia one-dimensional, and even with that awful game script Adams put up 53 yards, a rushing touchdown and averaged 7.5 yards per carry. Adams is proving to be a gem, and his yards per carry are signaling a blowup game is coming soon. This week’s matchup against the Giants – notably, winners of two straight games – could provide the right situation for an explosion. Do not wait until he costs a fortune.

LeGarrette Blount, Lions (9% Owned): Well, it happened. Blount is relevant again because Kerryon Johnson sprained his knee, and is being listed as week-to-week with the injury. While Blount hasn’t topped 10 rushing yards in any of the last four Lions games, he will immediately be vaulted into a high-volume role as the primary early-down back, only ceding work in passing situations to Theo Riddick. Expect low yardage per carry, but weekly touchdown opportunities while Johnson is on the mend. If you are struggling at RB, don’t be afraid to spend a little here; you are buying his workload and role, not his talent.

Jalen Richard, Raiders (44% Owned): Richard is averaging 58.5 yards from scrimmage a game since Week 3, a number that shouldn’t get you all wet downstairs, but shouldn’t be ignored either. He’s the most versatile back in Oakland, and his lock on the passing downs makes him very useful on a team that finds itself well behind in most games. He’s most valuable in PPR leagues, but his rock-solid usage numbers and consistent yardage make him a playable RB2/FLEX in deep leagues regardless of opponent.

Elijah McGuire, Jets (14% Owned): McGuire is like Richard with more upside. He’s the preferred option on passing downs, and like Bilal Powell, looks poised to mix in evenly with Isaiah Crowell, possibly earning entire series to himself. In the two games he’s been back from injury he’s enjoyed six rushes and three receptions in both tilts. That alone makes him a playable FLEX, and as the season wears on, the Jets’ hopeless playoff situation should lead them to increase McGuire’s workload to see if he is their RB of the future.

Mike Davis, Seahawks (44% Owned): My enthusiasm for Davis has waned with the return of Chris Carson, and the emergence of Rashaad Penny, who does need to get work. With that said, Davis remains a strong handcuff in the event of any injury in the Seattle backfield. He is still their best pass-catching back at this point in time, and he has strong goal line back abilities. Unfortunately, though, he’s probably not playable on his own anymore without an injury to Carson or Penny.

Frank Gore, Dolphins (25% Owned): Gore has been given 10+ carries in seven straight games, so while your best off not starting Gore based on his extremely low ceiling, his workload pretty much guarantees a crooked number for you as a FLEX. He also gets to face the Colts this week, which increases his touchdown upside a bit.

Jaylen Samuels, Steelers (10% Owned): Samuels did not touch the ball this week after being the man who dominated touches against the Panthers once James Conner left the game with a head injury. That’s okay, because adding Samuels is purely a handcuff move; the Steelers RB scores a ton, as Conner has proved with All-Pro Le’Veon Bell skipping the season. Talent matters, of course, but this offense makes heavy use of the RB in the running and passing game, so Conner’s owners really should scoop him up as insurance.

Wide Receivers

Anthony Miller, Bears (42% Owned): Miller has scored in back-to-back weeks, and essentially removed Taylor Gabriel from fantasy existence. Miller’s upside is capped because Mitch Trubisky is a terrible passing QB, but even despite Trubisky’s problems moving beyond his first option, Miller has produced. Chicago’s next three matchups are at Detroit, at the Giants, and home for the Rams, all of which are matchups that can be exploited through the air. Miller is a sneaky good add, and a better than serviceable WR2.

Tre’Quan Smith, Saints (26% Owned): Smith has been a roller coaster this year, but with New Orleans’ offense clicking like the Chiefs and Rams, it’s hard not to want to roster as many players from this unit as possible. Smith will be prone to bust games because he’s, at best, the fourth option for Drew Brees; he’ll also be prone to blowup games like last week. He has major talent and if he sees 14 targets like he did last week, he’s going to be a monster. That target share is outrageous, but if he can consistently merit 5-7 targets a game moving forward then he’ll be in the WR2 conversation.

Christian Kirk, Cardinals (34% Owned): Kirk is still my favorite Cardinals receiver despite Larry Fitzgerald’s resurgence, largely because of his ability to strike for big plays. Last week he turned a mere three catches into 77 yards and a score. He has scored twice in his last three games, and is part of an offense that’s improving as rookie QB Josh Rosen gets his sea legs. Kirk will have his duds, but he’s also got much higher upside than the receivers further down on this list.

Danny Amendola, Dolphins (40% Owned): Amendola has taken off since Brock Osweiler took over at QB, and despite the encouraging news about Ryan Tannehill’s recovery, Osweiler is probably going to get another start in Week 11. Amendola has caught five or more passes in five straight games, useful production for PPR and half-PPR formats. He’s only found the end zone once during that span, so his upside has a cap, but it’s surprising he’s still available in this many leagues when teams are searching for consistency to balance out their roster for a playoff push.

Adam Humphries, Buccaneers (14% Owned): Humphries’ role is similar to Amendola’s, only Humphries has higher TD upside. The tradeoff with him, and the reason for his low ownership, is that there are more high quality mouths to feed in the Tampa Bay offense. Mike Evans, DeSean Jackson and O.J. Howard are all higher on the totem pole, leaving Humphries to fight for scraps with Chris Godwin, who is a bigger target near the end zone. Still, Humphries has scored three touchdowns in his last three games, and deserves to be far more owned than this. If he’s still available, chances are your whole league is sleeping on him and he’ll be yours for cheap.

Tight Ends

Gerald Everett, Rams (2% Owned): Everett, like most tight ends in 2018, is a threat to put up a goose egg. He’s also the primary pass-catching TE in the NFL’s best offense that just lost WR Cooper Kupp. He’s a risk every week, but he also caught two TDs on four targets vs. the Chiefs. If you need a TE this week he’s on bye, and therefore not your guy. But if you want to have a usable TE moving forward, or a playable backup for emergencies you can do worse.