Welcome to the Fantasy Football Week 13 Waiver Wire: Start, Stash, Stream, where we break down the fantasy football free-agent landscape and give you the best picks for the short and long haul.
Let’s look back at Week 12 and see our future prospects for the fantasy football Week 13 waiver wire.
Note: Roster % based on Yahoo and should hover around 50% or less
WEEK 13 WAIVER WIRE PICKUPS
START
- Alexander Mattison, RB Minnesota Vikings (51% rostered)
- Chuba Hubbard, RB Carolina Panthers (39%)
- Jamaal Williams, RB Detroit Lions (39%)
- Dontrell Hilliard, RB Tennessee Titans (29%)
- Kendrick Bourne, WR New England Patriots (23%)
- Russell Gage, WR Atlanta Falcons (17%)
- Van Jefferson, WR Los Angeles Rams (49%)
With Dalvin Cook out for a few weeks with a shoulder injury, Alexander Mattison becomes a must-add in any league in which he’s not rostered. When Mattison has featured as the RB1, he’s responded with monster numbers thanks to a run-heavy game script and terrific scheme. With Detroit up next, it lines up beautifully for Mattison.
Chuba Hubbard will also step back into the RB1 role for Carolina after CMC’s season-ending ankle injury. Thanks to high volume, Hubbard was a solid RB2/3 during his lead role time and should continue to do just that as long as Hack Newton doesn’t keep sucking and ruining the entire offense. Hubbard should see nearly all the carries in Carolina’s backfield.
A third RB benefitting from injury, Jamaal Williams is looking like Detroit’s RB1 now with D’Andre Swift dealing with a shoulder injury. Swift was getting absurd RB1 touch numbers, and now that load should mostly be put on Williams’ shoulders to an extent. He had 15 carries and caught five balls on the day so expect another heavy workload this week.
With Jeremy McNichols sidelined, Dontrell Hilliard picked up the slack as the Titans pass-catching running back. Although he split snaps with D’Onta Foreman, Hilliard racked up 131 rushing yards against the Patriots’ tough front-seven. I’d give Hilliard the nod over Foreman mostly due to his three-down skill-set.
Kendrick Bourne has been on this list for a while now as a “stash” and after scoring twice on Sunday, we hope you stashed him. Bourne has evolved into Mac Jones’ premier playmaker on the outside and has turned into a true YAC monster for the Patriots. Bourne is fantasy’s WR12(!) overall since Week 3.
With Calvin Ridley still sidelined due to personal reasons, Russell Gage has stepped into the WR1 role and taken full advantage. Last week, he finished with 6-62-1 on seven targets and has really been the lone receiving threat to step up. Kyle Pitts hasn’t done much, and Cordarrelle Patterson is taking over the backfield. With Gage as the WR1, he can capitalize as long as Ridley is gone.
Despite the new presence of Odell Beckham in the Rams offense, Van Jefferson stepped up as the WR2 for LA going for 3-93-1 on nine targets. He’s had prior chemistry with Stafford this year, and now the absence of Robert Woods only increases Jefferson’s target share. Odell will continue to take away a portion of it, but Jefferson has already carved out his role for the offense that’s starting to lean super pass-heavy.
STASH
- Boston Scott, RB Philadelphia Eagles (19%)
- Marquez Valdes-Scantling, WR Green Bay Packers (25%)
- Gerald Everett, TE Seattle Seahawks (27%)
- Matt Breida, RB Buffalo Bills (23%)
- Ameer Abdullah, RB Carolina Panthers (1%)
- Kene Nwangwu, RB Minnesota Vikings (0%)
- Jauan Jennings, WR San Francisco 49ers (0%)
- Laviska Shenualt Jr., WR Jacksonville Jaguars (41%)
- Josh Reynolds, WR Detroit Lions (1%)
- James O’Shaugnessy, TE Jacksonville Jaguars (0%)
- Jack Doyle, TE Indianapolis Colts (1%)
With both Jalen Hurts and Miles Sanders hobbled with injuries, Boston Scott led the team with 15 carries this week for 64 yards and a score. Hurts is in danger of missing next week’s game, and while Sanders may still be involved, Scott seems to be a touchdown vulture. He also gets a few targets a game, so he’s been steadily involved.
Over the last two weeks, Marquez Valdes-Scantling has 19 targets which is an absurd amount in a great offense. That should produce big-time results, but he’s only caught eight of those targets for 173 yards and a score. MVS has been a deep threat, almost a boom/bust home run hitter that you’re praying catches a deep touchdown. He could also get a boost this week with Randall Cobb likely to miss time.
The Seahawks have started featuring tight ends more in the offense as of late, and Gerald Everett is becoming a Russell Wilson favorite. Scoring double-digit points in two of the last three games, Everett has found success, especially in the red zone. The Seattle running game is an absolute mess and DK Metcalf has become an afterthought, so most of the burden has fallen elsewhere.
With Zack Moss a healthy scratch, Matt Breida played a more significant role, rushing nine times for 26 yards and catching two more for a touchdown. He was out-touched by Singletary last week, but he’s shown the ability to make plays and be a difference-maker out there for a Buffalo team that’s lacking a run game.
Chuba Hubbard should tote the rock at a high clip with Christian McCaffrey done for the season. However, Ameer Abdullah is the better pass-catcher out of the two running backs and saw the majority of touches during the second half of last week’s game. Abdullah should be stashed in PPR leagues and has tremendous upside in this offense.
Alexander Mattison will be the waiver wire priority as the Vikings’ RB1 with Dalvin Cook — and rightfully so. But, rookie RB Kene Nwangwu showed his skill-set on a 99-yard kick return for a touchdown against the 49ers and he should carve out a role as the team’s RB2 behind Mattison. Head Coach Mike Zimmer also endorsed more playing time for the rookie.
Deebo Samuel, who’s been in Fantasy MVP talks, will miss a week or two with a groin injury after racking up yards on the ground and through the air for the 49ers. If you are in deeper leagues, his direct backup, Jauan Jennings, would be a solid stash in case Samuel ends up missing more time. Jennings caught a touchdown pass in Week 12 and was ruled out of bounds for what would have been a second score. Brandon Aiyuk and Eli Mitchell will obviously get massive bumps, but so will Jennings.
A new Jaguars pass-catcher seems to hit the shelf each week and last week it was RSJ favorite, Dan Arnold. Laviska Shenualt played fewer snaps than Marvin Jones Jr. and Laquon Treadwell, but he also manned the slot for 43 percent of his snaps and saw seven targets. He only caught five of those targets for 33 yards, but things could be trending upwards if he continues to man the slot in Urban Meyer’s offense.
Every week it seems like there’s a new favorite target-hog for Jared Goff and this week it’s Josh Reynolds. The former Ram caught three of five targets for 70 yards and a score on Thanksgiving and gets a Vikings team that has allowed the second-most fantasy points to receivers this season.
Trevor Lawrence loves his tight ends and following the Arnold injury, James O’Shaughnessy is the next man up. O’Shaughnessy saw eight targets in Week 1 before getting hurt and he returned in Week 12 to see five targets and score a two-point conversion. There are worse options out there at tight end than O’Shaughnessy.
Jack Doyle is clearly distancing himself as the TE1 in Indy and led the team with 6-81-1 on 7 targets this week in the shootout against the Bucs. Indy has only really had Michael Pittman emerge as a solid pass catcher, so Doyle’s rise would be big for Wentz and the offense moving forward. It also helps he’s been an RSJ favorite for years.
STREAM
- Taysom Hill, QB New Orleans Saints (5%)
- Tevin Coleman, RB New York Jets (18%)
- DeSean Jackson, WR Las Vegas Raiders (5%)
- Foster Moreau, TE Las Vegas Raiders (1%)
- Miami Dolphins D/ST (43%)
- Minnesota Vikings D/ST (18%)
- Kansas City Chiefs D/ST (24%)
Taysom Hill is getting QB1 reps in practice this week as he’s expected to make his season starting debut against the Cowboys on Thursday Night Football. Hill has always been a goal-line vulture, so his rushing upside is solid and he balled out as the Saints’ starter last season.
After the Michael Carter injury, it was Tevin Coleman who assumed RB1 duties and had a strong grasp of the backfield over Ty Johnson. Carter is out for another week or two, so Coleman should continue to get the lion’s share of touches. You’re praying he manages to fall into the end zone because the upside is severely capped.
DeSean Jackson is about 40 years old but he still looked like the fastest guy on the field on Thanksgiving. Not only did he catch a Derek Carr bomb to start off the scoring, but he finished with over 100 yards on only three catches. He’s been in Vegas for about two minutes and he’s already shown more promise than Bryan Edwards. Jackson gets the pathetic Washington Football Team defense next.
Staying in Vegas, Foster Moreau would be next in line for locked-in TE1 duties if Darren Waller were to miss Week 13 with a knee injury that currently has him as “week to week.” The last time Moreau was called upon, he secured all six of his targets for 60 yards and a score. Fire him up against WFT if Waller sits.
The Dolphins’ DST has really turned it up as of late, and now they get the Giants who have struggled immensely on offense and recently fired Jason Garrett as offensive coordinator.
The Vikings’ DST gets the Lions this week without D’Andre Swift, meaning their offense should take a major step back — if that’s even possible.
The Chiefs’ DST looks like they’re turning the corner. A big divisional matchup against Denver is upcoming and they haven’t looked that spectacular offensively.
