November 21, 2017

Nick Mariano's week 12 fantasy football waiver wire pickups, adds and sleepers for the 2017 NFL season. Running backs (RBs), wide receivers (WRs), quarterbacks (QBs) and tight ends (TEs).

Week 11 felt more on the “hit-or-miss” side, with several stars blowing up and several more falling flat, with few mediocre stat lines to help float our hopes and dreams. That felt dramatic to type, so maybe I'm just feeling emotional as the playoff picture in my leagues starts to take shape.

As far as injuries go, Chris Thompson’s fractured fibula looms the largest. D'Onta Foreman’s season is also likely over after reportedly tearing his ACL on his second touchdown of the day. Jake Elliott's head injury had many folks feeling sabotaged on Sunday night. So it goes. As a Bucs fan and fantasy player, I hope Jameis Winston is given more time to heal and the Fitzmagic can continue. We’ve also made it through the last of the bye weeks and now everyone is fair game down the stretch.

Below are my Week 12 waiver wire pickups, or free agents to consider adding to your fantasy football teams. Only you know how aggressive you'll need to be with FAAB given your leaguemates, so use the recommendations as a proportional springboard. I provide information on players that are owned in roughly 35% of Yahoo leagues or less so that you can make an educated decision about who to add to your squad.

Running Backs - Week 12 Waiver Wire

Samaje Perine (RB, WAS) - 33% owned (All of your FAAB)

One week after totaling 60 total yards on 10 touches (nine carries, one catch) after Rob Kelley exited with a nasty lower leg injury, Perine tallied 23 carries for 117 yards and a touchdown and added a nine-yard reception. Of course, he benefited from yet another Washington RB injury when Chris Thompson suffered a season-ending broken fibula. Perine is all Washington has left back there, making him a strong RB2 with RB1 upside the rest of the way. Week 12 against Damon Harrison and the Giants isn’t an ideal rushing matchup next week, but this kind of volume and opportunity cannot be ignored.

Damien Williams (RB, MIA) - 35% owned (15% FAAB in PPR)

After being outperformed by Kenyan Drake in the previous two games since Jay Ajayi’s trade, Williams really eclipsed Drake in Week 11 with 78 rushing yards and 24 more yards through the air compared to Drake’s 14 total yards. Granted, most of Williams’ yards came on one 69-yard burst through Tampa Bay’s defense and his 27 snaps trailed Drake’s count by 11, but this pendulum could easily swing Damien’s way next week against the Patriots. And even if it doesn’t, we all know Miami is going to need both of their RBs (largely in the passing game) to compete against New England regardless.

Austin Ekeler (RB, LAC) - 35% owned (8% FAAB)

Ekeler followed up his Week 10 breakout with 58 total yards (40 rushing on six carries, 18 receiving on two catches) and a rushing score in a 54-24 beatdown of the Bills. While his play does paint him as a guy who deserves more touches moving forward, fantasy owners should note that he only touched the ball four times in the first half. He then stepped in with the game well in hand and finished off a disoriented Buffalo defense. He may have another chance to rumble late against a dinged-up Dallas defense that should be missing Sean Lee again in Week 12 (they entered Week 11 just 26th in rush DVOA), but be aware of the low-floor risk.

Devontae Booker (RB, DEN) - 7% owned (8% FAAB in PPR)

Many have been calling for Booker to receive more snaps, and Week 11 finally saw them get their wish. Booker would total 18 more snaps than C.J. Anderson as he turned 14 rushes into 54 yards and five catches for 54 more. No longer a “1B” option, Booker should finally receive a healthy floor of 10 touches as the passing-down back for a team that has now lost six straight games. Negative gamescripts are bad for John Elway and company, but Booker’s fantasy owners should enjoy matchups against the Raiders, Dolphins, Jets, Colts, and Redskins to finish out the season.

Eddie Lacy (RB, SEA) - 16% owned (5% FAAB)

When you’re all done throwing tomatoes at me for mentioning his name again, Lacy really does have an opportunity this week. The last opportunity to gain a fantasy foothold as Seattle’s lead back who would be in line for goal-line work. Obviously, if he flops against Atlanta on Monday night then we can’t even employ him for the goal-line role, but a speculation add right now (a free move for those of you without rolling waivers) is worth the upside. Lacy had gained 20 yards on six carries before getting hurt in Week 9, which is sadly much better than anything Thomas Rawls has done lately. J.D. McKissic remains a decent deep-league PPR threat with C.J. Prosise out, but we want the guy who should score the TDs.

Wide Receivers - Week 12 Waiver Wire

Corey Coleman (WR, CLE) - 31% owned (30% FAAB)

If anyone doubted Coleman’s potential coming off of his injury, that 6-80-0 on 11 targets should highlight why we like him so much. Everyone is still looking forward to Josh Gordon’s return, but Jacksonville hadn’t allowed more than 70 yards to a wideout since Week 5 against Antonio Brown and Coleman needs to be taken seriously as Cleveland’s No. 1 WR. The Browns will find themselves in passing situations often and Coleman should provide flex appeal despite a rough schedule (@CIN, @LAC, GB, BAL, @CHI).

Marquise Goodwin (WR, SF) - 15% owned (10% FAAB)

Goodwin’s 867 air yards are the 18th most in the league for wide receivers, and he hasn’t even been the de facto No. 1 receiver for San Francisco for more than two weeks! Now air yards are going to be skewed in his favor as a deep-ball specialist, but we still like that metric as a targeting criterion. It finally translated to paydirt in Week 10, as he connected on an 83-yard touchdown for his first score of 2017. San Francisco hitting their bye week immediately after that dampened fantasy enthusiasm, with a Week 12 matchup against Seattle not helping things. However, Seattle is no longer a scary unit and this home-run hitter should be owned in closer to 30 percent of leagues as a risky WR3/4.

Josh Doctson (WR, WAS) - 27% owned (10% FAAB)

Doctson notched a career-high 81 yards on four catches (seven targets), with those catch and target totals identical to his Week 10 line. Kirk Cousins was clearly following orders and tossing Doctson some 50-50 balls, which paints him a true WR4 with WR3 upside thanks to the target trend and propensity for big plays. For the record, I still hate Doctson’s likely matchups against top DBs from the Chargers, Cardinals, and Broncos through Weeks 14-16, but he looked the part against Marshon Lattimore (before Latt got hurt) so I’d understand believing.

Mike Wallace (WR, BAL) - 25% owned (7% FAAB)

Wallace has now scored in back-to-back weeks, with his latest effort coming on a ridiculous one-handed grab down the left side of the field. After a very slow start to the season, Wallace has now scored or topped 100 yards in four of his last six games and that’s including his injury-affected Week 7 when he got concussed. He’s only eclipsed four catches in a week once this year so he needs to make the receptions count, but next week against Houston is favorable while his championship week slate against Cleveland (Week 15) and Indianapolis (Week 16) make him a solid depth guy.

Zay Jones (WR, BUF) - 7% owned (7% FAAB)

Hate it or love it, but Zay Jones is now on top of the Bills depth chart at WR with Kelvin Benjamin and Jordan Matthews both banged up with knee injuries. Matthews was inactive with his injury, and Benjamin was forced from game on the opening drive. Jones has defined “disappointment” throughout 2017’s first half, but put up a 6-53-1 line against the Jets in Week 9 and a useful 4-68-0 box score on seven targets here against the Chargers. He missed Week 10 with his own knee injury. Keep an eye on those injury reports, but Week 12 against Kansas City could be a WR4/flex spot for Zay.

Bruce Ellington (WR, HOU) - 8% owned (3% FAAB)

With Will Fuller out with cracked ribs and a statement from Bill O’Brien that Ellington needed the ball more, Bruce would deliver a helpful 6-63-0 line for 12.3 PPR points. The catch and yardage totals are both new career-high marks, as he provided Tom Savage with a steady presence from the slot. DeAndre Hopkins will always be the unquestioned No. 1 receiving option  -- duh -- but Ellington should be No. 2 now, as it seems he provides more than C.J. Fiedorowicz can.

Week 12 against the Ravens will still be tough going, but Weeks 13 and 14 against Tennessee and San Francisco are gravy and then you can dump most Houston options with Jacksonville and Pittsburgh due up in Weeks 15 and 16. Fuller returning would also likely result in them cannibalizing each other’s limited value, though Ellington’s floor as a slot guy would be a better fantasy lean. Even in Week 9, he saw eight targets. Those who are desperate and didn’t already see him scooped in your league, don’t shy away from the 7-8 weekly looks.

Russell Shepard (WR, CAR) - 1% owned (3% FAAB)

Shepard finds himself thrust into the No. 2 WR job with the Kelvin Benjamin trade and Curtis Samuel season-ending injury. This doesn’t mean much on a run-first offense, but he did muster seven targets in Week 10 (when Samuel went down) and should offer some deep-league appeal (we’re talking top-50 WR) heading into a Week 12 matchup with the Jets at MetLife. Games against the Saints and Vikings in the following weeks could be rough, but dates with the Bays Green and Tampa in Weeks 15 and 16 could make him viable in some championship bouts.

Ryan Grant (WR, WAS) - 1% owned (3% FAAB)

Grant has caught exactly three passes in five of his last six games, with this week’s 59-yard effort being his first of that crop to surpass 40 yards. This came thanks to the Saints electing to blitz the defender who should’ve been covering Grant, leading to an easy 40-yard TD. It was like when you stubbornly used to run “Engage Eight” in Madden despite your buddy running a three-wide set out of the shotgun...not that I’m speaking from experience or anything.

The loss of Chris Thompson could mean a few extra looks go toward the WRs, though Grant shouldn’t be viewed as more than a middling PPR floor play for Week 12 against the Giants.  That said, some of you could use steady looks, no matter how unassuming they are. At least Washington is showing some life lately, scoring at least 30 in each of their last two losses.

Tight Ends - Week 12 Waiver Wire

Julius Thomas (TE, MIA) - 31% owned (5% FAAB)

Thomas managed to catch all four of his targets for 30 yards on Sunday against Tampa Bay, but couldn’t score in a third consecutive game. Miami floundered through one of Jay Cutler’s worst halves of football early on, but Matt Moore actually got them going after the break. The Dolphins just gave up 30 points to the Bucs and had given up 45 points to the Panthers, so Weeks 12 and 14 against New England should see them throwing early and often. The Pats may try to take away either DeVante Parker or Jarvis Landry, but Thomas could be a sneaky TE1 play over the middle as he slips through the cracks. Week 13 against Denver’s poor TE defense (24th in DVOA entering Week 11) isn’t a bad look either.

Charles Clay (TE, BUF) - 33% owned (3% FAAB)

I realize that Clay likely angered many fantasy owners with his OPI-negated touchdown and then dropped TD on Sunday, but that 3-27-0 line really could’ve looked much different. Buffalo looks broken right now and anyone buying into Clay is going to need them to give Tyrod Taylor the start, but upcoming games against Kansas City, a double-dip against the Patriots, the Colts, and the Dolphins down the stretch give him strong matchups. Clay hasn’t been a TE1 since Week 4 thanks to injury and underperformance, but he still has that potential.

Adam Shaheen (TE, CHI) - 0% owned (1% FAAB)

So, you’re desperate for a TE2 type to flex into your 14-team or deeper lineups? Enter: Adam Shaheen. With Dion Sims battling a mystery illness that we know nothing concrete about, Shaheen has stepped into Zach Miller’s role in this offense. After snagging both of his Week 10 targets for 39 yards against Detroit, he brought in all four of his Week 11 targets for 41 yards and an impressive touchdown where he showed off his extension. Week 12 against Philadelphia should put Chicago into passing mode early, and then Week 13 against the 49ers simply presents a plus matchup across the board.

Quarterbacks - Week 12 Streamers

Preferred streamer order (<35% owned guys): Jacoby Brissett vs. TEN (17% owned), Ryan Fitzpatrick @ATL (9% owned), Matt Moore @NE (1% owned if Jay Cutler is out), Josh McCown vs. CAR (34% owned), Brock Osweiler @OAK (4% owned), Brett Hundley @PIT (9% owned), C.J. Beathard vs. SEA (3% owned), DeShone Kizer @CIN (3% owned), Tom Savage @BAL (3% owned), Blaine Gabbert @JAX (3% owned).

Early Defensive Streaming Candidates

• CIN (vs. CLE) - 40% owned
• WAS (vs. NYG) - 7% owned
• TEN (@IND) if you don't believe in Brissett - 23% owned

More Waiver Wire Pickups and Analysis