Fantasy Football 2020 Week 15 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
Derek Carr, Raiders (47% Owned): Carr’s fantasy relevance has benefitted from Las Vegas’ porous defense. Carr has hit 45 pass attempts in back-to-back weeks, throwing five touchdowns and eclipsing 300 yards both times. He has two games with three passing touchdowns in his last four outings, and a Week 15 matchup with the Chargers. Los Angeles, led by rookie QB Justin Herbert, has one of the NFL’s most explosive offenses and they should trigger a shootout with the Raiders. Carr’s receiving corps is underrated; Darren Waller is the best tight end in the NFL not named Travis Kelce right now, and Nelson Agholor has matured into a legitimate No. 1 receiver.
Philip Rivers, Colts (41% Owned): Rivers’ ceiling has come down a bit as rookie RB Jonathan Taylor has begun delivering on his promise, but he remains a lock for at least two touchdown passes. Week 14 was the first time since Week 9 that Rivers dipped below 250 passing yards, and he has thrown for at least two touchdowns in four consecutive games. Rivers is a nice play for one more week, as he gets the Texans’ terrible defense on Sunday.
Running Backs
Phillip Lindsay, Broncos (44% Owned): Lindsay has seen double-digit carries in back-to-back games and done absolutely nothing with them, leading me to wonder if he is healthy. Still, carries are very hard to find at this point in the season, and Lindsay hasn’t looked too much worse than Melvin Gordon. Gordon also banged up his shoulder on Sunday, so Lindsay could see an even bigger workload against solid matchups (vs. Buffalo, at Chargers). Lindsay is a home run hitter, so if he continues to see even low double-digit attempts he could pop. That’s all you can hope for on waivers come playoff time.
Jeff Wilson Jr., 49ers (19% Owned): Wilson Jr. peaked in Week 7 with a three-touchdown outing, and you shouldn’t expect anything like that explosion if you pick him up for the playoff stretch. He does have a baseline of work – about 7-12 carries – and that can net a touchdown or even two against defenses like the Cowboys and Cardinals, both of whom Wilson will face for the remainder of the fantasy playoffs. Hopefully, you’re not relying on him, but if so, he should be a safe option to avoid a goose egg.
Wide Receivers
Keke Coutee, Texans (45% Owned): Coutee saw his targets drop from nine in Week 13 to three in Week 14, but he’s blessed with Deshaun Watson as his QB. Coutee scored a touchdown to save his fantasy outing, and should be viewed as playable moving forward because of how great Watson is, the lack of options in the passing game at this point in time, and a Week 16 date with the Bengals. Coutee is a risk for sure, but he’s shown this year and last season that he has a high ceiling too in any given week.
Tim Patrick, Broncos (28% Owned): Patrick keeps getting disrespected, and keeps putting up production despite one of the game’s worst starting QBs, Drew Lock. Patrick has scored three touchdowns in the last two games, and continues to either find the end zone, or amass enough yardage to be fantasy relevant if he doesn’t score. Patrick has either scored, or hit 60 yards, in four of his last five games; the lone game with no production was a Week 12 debacle in which the Broncos literally had no quarterback. Patrick is a safe, high-floor play for the rest of the fantasy playoffs.
Emmanuel Sanders, Saints (40% Owned): Sanders has quietly been okay with Taysom Hill at the helm, and he’s someone Hill looks for on deep shots. We may see Drew Brees return in Week 15, which would obviously be an upgrade, but even if he doesn’t, Sanders should get a lot of work vs. the high-scoring Chiefs. The Saints’ upcoming schedule, home games vs. the Chiefs and Vikings, are appealing for Saints QBs and pass-catchers.
Darnell Mooney, Bears (10% Owned): Wanna play with fire? Mooney is incredibly explosive, and has mouth-watering matchups at Minnesota and at Jacksonville, but also catches passes from Mitch Trubisky. His target share fluctuates, and he hasn’t topped 43 yards in five weeks, but those deep shots will be there. It’s a bit too volatile for my tastes, but he can be played for the upside.
Allen Lazard, Packers (38% Owned): Lazard has flopped since Week 12, but with Carolina and Tennessee on the schedule the rest of the way, Lazard has blowup potential. It’s hard for anyone but Davante Adams to consistently eat in this passing game, but every week someone else is fed. Lately it’s been TE Robert Tonyan, but that can always be Lazard.
Tight Ends
Jordan Akins, Texans (5% Owned): It seems fantasy owners have scooped up all the useful TEs, but Akins is one out there who has some potential. He’s got more upside than plodders like Dalton Schultz or Jimmy Graham, a better QB than either of those guys, and he drew a red zone opportunity that hit him in the hands on Sunday which was inexplicably dropped. Akins has no floor, but his athletic ability makes him a stronger play than others with ownership percentages below 50%.