Fantasy Football 2024 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 rostered in fewer than 50 percent of leagues, with the roster percentages coming from Yahoo.com.

Immediately Useful

Patrick Taylor Jr., RB, 49ers (4% Rostered): Taylor Jr. might be the latest player to dump your remaining FAAB on if you are hurting at RB with the playoffs beginning. Isaac Guerendo continued the trend of the leader of a Kyle Shanahan backfield basically being a must-start back, and then he hurt his foot late on Sunday. It’s unclear the severity, so if we have clarity that he is missing Week 15 or even longer, than Taylor Jr. is undoubtedly the top add, even in this less potent version of the 49ers offense.

Tank Bigsby, RB, Jaguars (46% Rostered): Bigsby saw 53% of the Jaguars’ snaps on Sunday, but earned 18 carries and two targets, totaling 62 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown. With Mac Jones under center the rest of the way, all the Jaguars’ ceilings have been lowered. This won’t be a good offense rest of season, but Bigsby’s volume will be good, he’s the preferred option near the goal line, and he’s simply outplayed Travis Etienne this year. Bigsby is a perfect solution for teams who are searching for RB help, and he’s likely safer than Guerendo since his status is unclear.

Sincere McCormick, RB, Raiders (15% Rostered): McCormick has proven capable for the Raiders with Alexander Mattison and Zamir White out, and if they remain out, I’d expect McCormick to continue hogging work. Ameer Abdullah predictably fell to the wayside last week, leaving McCormick to soak up 18 opportunities (carries + targets). He’s gone over 65 yards from scrimmage in back-to-back games, and will be leaned on even more heavily with Aidan O’Connell getting hurt and Desmond Ridder stepping in. Like Bigsby, McCormick isn’t a league-winning type, but he can certainly help.

Quentin Johnston, WR, Chargers (40% Rostered): Johnston, for better or worse, is the Chargers’ guy. Ladd McConkey is the WR1 in Los Angeles, but Johnston is trusted as their chunk play getter, and after a Chernobyl-esque two week stretch recently he bounced back Sunday night for 48 yards and a touchdown. It was the fourth game out of his last six with a TD, and he can go off as long as Justin Herbert is playing. His floor is lava, of course, but if you’re hurting a little at WR and you need upside to compete with high seeds in your league, Johnston has a puncher’s chance at competing with bigger names.

Romeo Doubs, WR, Packers (28% Rostered): It’s unclear why Jayden Reed is finding it so difficult to earn targets for the Packers, but despite being their best WR, he’s not the most prioritized. That’s Doubs now, when he’s playing, so if there is news that Doubs is back in action he’s safe to plug into a lineup. Green Bay has lovely matchups the rest of the way – at Seattle, vs. New Orleans, at Minnesota – and if he comes back in as Jordan Love’s top read, he’ll be very relevant.

Kendre Miller, RB, Saints (4% Rostered): Miller is back, and he’s out of the Dennis Allen doghouse. With the Saints missing Derek Carr again, it’s a lock that they’ll be playing out the string by leaning heavily on the running game. Miller is a clear change of pace to Alvin Kamara, but Kamara is signed for next year, and far from a spring chicken. If the Saints have brains, they’ll reduce the workload on Kamara’s veteran body and use this time to see what they’ve got in Miller. He earned 11 opportunities Sunday vs. the Giants and he scored a touchdown. As the lesser end of a timeshare in a real bad offense, Miller is more of a desperation play than anything, but he is a guy with standalone value. That counts for something, and as an emergency FLEX he showed he has the potential to find the end zone.

Zach Ertz, TE, Commanders (44% Rostered): Ertz’s roster % remained low because Washington was on a bye week, but he’s the top TE that’s widely available. Washington’s not the wagon it was in the early going, but Ertz is legitimately the second-best pass catcher on this team, and he’s got an absolute stud at QB getting it to him. He scored in each of his last three games, and while I wouldn’t bank on that, he still has a comfy, safe floor of 4-6 receptions and around 35-45 yards. Not awesome, but also better than a floor of zero.

Noah Gray, TE, Chiefs (22% Rostered): Gray has failed to score in the two games since his four-touchdown blowup of the previous two weeks, but his play has remained steady. Gray is looking like the heir apparent to Travis Kelce in this offense, and while it’s blasphemy to ever say someone will be the “next” Kelce, it’s easy to see him being a fantasy-useful TE for a long time as long as he’s paired with Mahomes. As it stands, he’s seeing consistent targets, and sometimes he’ll find the end zone. You could do much worse than Noah Gray.

Hunter Henry, TE, Patriots (40% Rostered): Henry was on bye last week like Ertz, but he serves a similar role for New England, just in a lower-powered attack. Henry has earned eight or more targets in four of his last five games, serving as Drake Maye’s de facto No. 1 target amid a sea of underqualified WRs playing major roles. Like Ertz, he has a strong yardage floor; Henry’s yardage floor is actually a good deal better than Ertz, but Henry’s only scored one touchdown this season.

Aaron Rodgers, QB, Jets (34% Rostered): Rodgers has been one of the most uncontrollable dumpster fires in NFL history with the Jets, but we’re just focusing on numbers right? I see two elite WRs in this offense, a 339-yard game vs. Miami on Sunday, eight games with 2+ passing touchdowns, and a date with the Jaguars in Week 15. Rodgers is a Week 15 ONLY recommendation, but I don’t see why he can’t deliver a solid performance vs. Jacksonville.

Jameis Winston, QB, Browns (34% Rostered): Winston’s fantasy magic carpet ride crashed into a building on Sunday, as he delivered 212 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions as well vs. the Steelers, who sacked him three times. He still threw the ball 41 times, the fifth time in six weeks he’s crossed the 40-attempt threshold, and nothing about this offense will change. Until Nick Chubb resembles himself, this is Winston’s offense, and that means they’re chucking it. The floor is low when Winston really goes off the rails, but more often than not he just throws the ball enough that the production he amasses simply outweighs the negative plays. He has the Chiefs, the Bengals and the Dolphins the rest of the way, all teams with friendly pass defenses who can score on Cleveland’s defense, requiring Winston to keep it going.

Speculative/Deep Cuts

Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, WR, Titans (42% Rostered): Well, it happened. Westbrook-Ikhine’s insane stretch of seven out of eight games with a touchdown crashed and burned with a one-catch, 19-yard showing vs. the Jaguars. On the other hand, he had a touchdown ball in his hands that he dropped. What I’m trying to say is, his usage carries the risk of what we witnessed on Sunday, but he’s still also bringing the long-TD potential. The Titans end the season vs. Cincinnati, at Indianapolis and at Jacksonville again, making him a super high variance boom or bust play. Are you desperate for upside in a deep league? I’m not saying to do it, just saying you can.

Dontayvion Wicks, WR, Packers (15% Rostered): Wicks benefitted from the absence of Doubs last week, pulling down four of five targets for 49 yards against the Lions. If Doubs returns, Wicks will become much riskier, but if Doubs does miss another week, I like Wicks’ involvement and upside with some good matchups.

Elijah Moore, WR, Browns (22% Rostered): Moore has been resurrected as a fantasy option with Winston at QB, even if this version of Moore is still a deep-league floor play. He’s now just clearly slotted into the fantasy world as a high-target guy who does not get very high-quality targets. He’s a dude who, with a high-volume passer, can produce a lot of six-reception, 40ish-yard games. That’s not what you want heading into your playoffs, but sometimes you need the bottom-feeders to survive. At least with Jameis, he has 100-yard upside like he proved vs. Denver two weeks ago.

Pure Handcuffs

Blake Corum, RB, Rams (16% Rostered)

Ray Davis, RB. Bills (22% Rostered)

Jaylen Wright, RB, Dolphins (5% Rostered)

Tyjae Spears, RB, Titans (43% Rostered)

Cam Akers, RB, Vikings (16% Rostered)

Trey Benson, RB, Cardinals (21% Rostered)

Kimani Vidal, RB, Chargers (13% Rostered)

Isaiah Davis, RB, Jets (11% Rostered)