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Michael Florio's deeper-league waiver wire pickups and fantasy football sleepers for Week 13. His top free agent options for 14-team fantasy leagues or deeper.
Those of you still in the playoff hunt should rejoice that this is the longest season ever. Typically, this would be the final week of the regular season, but this year you get that extra week to secure your playoff spot. Of course, for front-runners trying to fend off those teams, you may be wanting the clock to tick down already. Either way, with two weeks left to go, the games become that much more important.
And with that, so does making moves off the fantasy football waiver wire -- particularly this week, when a lot of big names went down due to injury. There are some waiver wire weeks where there is no splashy play available, especially in deep leagues, but this is not one of those weeks.
This is a week to set some time to sit down and input your waivers and if you have FAAB -- get ready to spend it. These final two weeks are huge and it begins with waivers heading into Week 13.
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Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Targets for Week 13
Taysom Hill is set to take over as the Saints starting QB heading into Week 13. Fresh off of a contract extension, the free-falling Saints have to see what they have in Hill at the QB position. Last year, Hill made four starts and scored between 17.5 and 24.2 fantasy points each week. He rushed for over 40 yards each week and had two games with multiple rushing touchdowns, while seeing more carries inside the five-yard line than Alvin Kamara in that span. He is a borderline QB1 due to what he can provide with his legs alone. He is the top QB waiver target this week.
Chuba Hubbard and Ameer Abdullah are suddenly fantasy relevant again after Christian McCaffrey landed on the IR for a second time, ending his season. Hubbard averaged over 20 touches per game and 12.94 fantasy PPG in Weeks 4 through 8 when McCaffrey was sidelined earlier this season. While that is not CMC-type numbers, it is enough to make him a weekly start, meaning he has to be prioritized off the waiver wire. While he is the preferred add here, Abdullah has been seeing more playing time as the backup and seeing more work in the passing game. That means he should be picked up as well, as we'll likely see both backs involved moving forward.
Boston Scott led the Eagles with 51 percent of the snaps and with 15 carries, which was six more than Miles Sanders. Scott also added three targets in the passing game. He finished with 72 yards and a touchdown while seeing the Eagles' only two RB touches inside the five-yard line. Miles Sanders did roll his ankle and exit early, but he ultimately returned. Jordan Howard has a chance of suiting up this week as well -- but with the Eagles RBs banged up, and the best possible matchup an RB can have going against the Jets, he is very much so worth picking up if he remains on the waiver wire.
Sony Michel becomes interesting again as we learned Monday that Darrell Henderson suffered a quad strain that has him up in the air for Week 13. That would leave Sony Michel as the lead back for the Rams against the lowly Jaguars -- a game where the Rams could have a lead and use Michel a lot to run out the clock. That could be the case even if Henderson suits up. If he sits, Michel is a must-start option. But if Henderson plays, Michel still has flex appeal, especially in a deeper format.
Austin Walter is purely a deep league gem. When he scored a touchdown on Sunday there were plenty of jokes about how he scored and not Ty Johnson or Tevin Coleman (who you should add if he is available). But Walter actually had all of the Jets RB touches inside the five yard line. All in all, he played 24 snaps and saw nine carries for 38 yards and a touchdown. He is a deep league flier while Michael Carter remains sidelined.
DeeJay Dallas ended up seeing five targets on Monday night, catching all five for 27 yards. He added three carries for 14 yards on 58 percent of snaps, the most any Seahawks running back played. It's not much to get excited over, but Alex Collins is struggling and Dallas has already taken over passing down work. He is worthy of taking a shot in anything deeper than 12 teams.
Josh Reynolds has run the second most routes among Lions receivers the last two weeks, and tied for the team lead in targets on Thanksgiving (five). He led the Lions with 70 yards and scored a touchdown. The Lions have clearly been featuring Reynolds since they acquired him, and he provides a downfield ability that they have clearly been lacking. He could continue to see more volume, and his downfield abilities mean he has the chance to go boom, as he did on Thanksgiving. He is in play, especially in deeper leagues, in a great matchup against the Vikings this week.
DeSean Jackson saw four targets against the Cowboys on Thanksgiving, catching three of them for 102 yards and a touchdown. It’s definitely an improvement after seeing just one target in his first two games with the Raiders. He is clearly the Raiders' best downfield receiver and should see more volume, not just because of this performance, but also because he gets the mini-bye to help get further acclimated in this offense. With Darren Waller now banged up, the Raiders are more in need of playmakers than ever and that is what Jackson is. He is worth taking a shot on.
Laviska Shenault Jr. saw a team-high nine targets, catching five of them for 33 yards including three targets in the red zone. He did not have a huge fantasy day, but this is his third straight game with at least five targets. It was nice to see the Jags start using him in the slot more, as he ran 71 percent of routes from the slot. The Jags have a favorable schedule coming up after they face the Rams this week, and Shenault has upside if the offense around him can get going. I know you have heard that before, but if he is sitting on your waiver wire, he is worth a flier.
Laquon Treadwell led the Jaguars with 53 receiving yards on eight targets, the second most on the Jags. He should continue to see playing time in three-wide receiver sets with Jamal Agnew out for the year. He is in play in 16-team leagues or deeper.
Russell Gage is no stranger to this article. He led the Falcons in targets (seven), catches (six), receiving yards (62) and touchdowns (one). He now has at least seven targets in three of four games, and has scored at least 9.9 fantasy points in all three of those games. The issue is in that fourth game, he put up a zero. He is a streaming option in deeper formats.
Jauan Jennings will now get a larger role as the 49ers will be without Deebo Samuel for the time being. There is no replacing Samuel for fantasy or for the 49ers, but it should lead to more opportunity for Jennings, who caught two of his three targets for 24 yards and a touchdown. He nearly added a second, showing that the Niners will go his way in the end zone. He is not in play in 12 team leagues, but in 16 or deeper he is worthy of a flier.
Foster Moreau can be added just in case Darren Waller’s knee injury forces him to miss time. Moreau is an especially good pickup if your tight end is Waller. He finished Week 12 with just one catch for three yards, but did see five targets and has played well previously when Waller missed time. In Week 7, Moreau caught all six of his targets for 60 yards and a touchdown. He is in play if Waller misses any time.
Gerald Everett saw a team-high nine targets and now has eight or more in two of the past three weeks. He topped 14 fantasy points in each of those games. Everett was off to a weird start this season -- but with Russell Wilson back, he has been getting more volume and looks like a focal point in the offense, as we expected heading into the season. He is looking like an option you can rely on weekly in deeper formats, so grab him if he remains out there.
Jack Doyle led the Colts with six catches and 81 catches on seven targets. He also scored a touchdown, going for 20 fantasy points. In fact, he was the only tight end to top 20 fantasy points in Week 12. It was his best game of the year, and he has only topped double-digit fantasy points once prior, but he has seen five or more targets in three straight games and has a favorable matchup next week against the Texans. He can be streamed in deeper leagues.
Ryan Griffin saw four targets in Week 12, catching three of them for 20 yards. That is not why you want to pick him up though. Nope, you want to pick him up because he faces the Eagles next week who struggle mightily against tight ends. If you are streaming tight ends in deep leagues you know how tough it can be most weeks. Griffin in a favorable matchup is worth taking a shot on.
Make sure to follow Michael on Twitter @MichaelFFlorio
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