If you are tuning in this week, hopefully that means you are still alive in your playoffs. However, it is tough winning in the playoffs with guys you find on the waiver wire this late. That being said, there are a few fascinating options at the wide receiver position which might be able to carry you to post season glory.
NOTE: All ‘Percent Rostered’ stats are based off ESPN.com fantasy leagues
Quarterbacks:
Believe it or not, there are still a few starting quarterback options on this list. If you have an injury or general ineffectiveness at the quarterback position, here are a few options you may find on your league’s waiver wire heap.
Kirk Cousins, QB, Min:
Percent Rostered: 68.8%
Stats thru Week 14: 3,274 yds, 24 TD, 4 INT; 1 rushing TD
His percent rostered number is still below 70%, so I am keeping him here. Cousins had his lowest fantasy output in five weeks, but he still completed 80% of his passes for 242 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions. Cousins is a solid QB1.
Ryan Tannehill, QB, Ten:
Percent Rostered: 40.1%
Stats thru Week 14: 1,993 yds, 15 TD, 5 INT; 34 rushes, 147 yards, 3 rushing TD
Count me amongst those in shock at what Tannehill is doing in Tennessee. The one-time first round bust is looking like a completely different, Pro Bowl caliber quarterback in Tennessee. For the third straight game, Tannehill has completed 77+% of his passes and this week, put up a whopping 391 yards and three touchdowns. He now has 18 total touchdowns in his seven starts.
Derek Carr, QB, Oak:
Percent Rostered: 37.9%
Stats thru Week 14: 3,106 yds, 18 TD, 8 INT; 1 rushing TD
After poor showings in three of his last four games, Carr bounced back, completing 73.5% of his passes for 263 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions against a good Titans defense. With a favorable matchup this week against an uninspired looking Jags team, Carr should have another good week.
Mitchell Trubisky, QB, Chi:
Percent Rostered: 19.3%
Stats thru Week 14: 2,440 yds, 16 TD, 8 INT; 36 rushed, 143 yards, 2 rushing TD
Guess who was the third highest scoring quarterback in Week 14? Yep, Mitchell Trubisky. That is two straight weeks now of solid quarterback play and solid fantasy production for Trubisky. Over his last two games, he has completed 75% of his passes, has seven total touchdowns and only tow interceptions.
Drew Lock, QB, Den:
Percent Rostered: 1.2%
Stats thru Week 14: 443 yds, 5 TD, 2 INT
I didn’t think much of Lock coming out, but I two games, he has five touchdowns and just two picks. In his second career start, Lock completed an impressive 81.5% of his passes for 309 yards, three touchdowns and just one interception. In fact, Lock was the eighth highest scoring quarterback in Week 14. It would take guts to start him in your playoffs, but his next two games are against the Chiefs and Lions…two pretty weak defenses.
Running Backs:
The past few weeks we have seen some decent options on the waiver wire at the running back position. This is not one of those weeks. Most of your options this week are for bench depth, maybe a desperate Flex play.
Raheem Mostert, RB, SF:
Percent Rostered: 23.7%
Stats thru Week 14: 102 carries, 608 yds, 4 TD; 12 rec, 159 yds, 2 TD
Like many on this week’s list, Mostert finds himself here for the second straight week. The problem with the Niners potent backfield though is knowing who will get the bulk of the work. Despite Matt Brieda and Tevin Coleman returning to the lineup, Mostert had a huge day, putting up 109 yards from scrimmage, scoring twice and ranking 5th amongst running backs in Week 14. With a matchup against the Falcons, he may be worthy of a start again next week.
Chris Thompson, RB, Was:
Percent Rostered: 13.1%
Stats thru Week 14: 26 carries, 93 yds, 0 TD; 35 rec, 334 yds, 0 TD
Thompson finally appears to be healthy, and now with Guice out for the season with another knee injury, he should see a healthy amount of touches per game – especially in the passing game. In his second game back, he pulled in seven catches for 43 yards. In PPR leagues, those are Flex worthy numbers.
Bo Scarbrough, RB, Det:
Percent Rostered: 43.3%
Stats thru Week 14: 72 carries, 301 yds, 1 TD; 1 rec, 5 yds
He’s not putting up huge numbers or finding the endzone, but he is the Lions lead back and is averaging close to 20 touches a game. In PPR leagues, he has given you more than eight points per game.
Royce Freeman, RB, Den:
Percent Rostered: 59.5%
Stats thru Week 14: 116 carries, 460 yds, 2 TD; 36 rec, 225 yds, 1 TD
Despite being the number two back in Denver, Freeman gets a decent amount of touches from week-to-week. This past week, he was 10 touches for 32 total yards and found the endzone.
Patrick Laird, RB, Mia:
Percent Rostered: 10.8%
Stats thru Week 14: 31 carries, 84 yds, 1 TD; 16 rec, 147 yds, 0 TD
His yards per carry are terrible, but he is the lead back in the Dolphins backfield and since Ballage went down, he is getting 15+ touches per game and has translated that into 14+ points per game in PPR leagues…that makes him a borderline Flex play.
Wide Receivers:
Unlike the running back position, I like a lot of these options at the wide receiver position. Every player on this list is worthy of at least a look for a Flex play if not WR2.
A.J. Brown, WR, Ten:
Percent Rostered: 31.3%
Stats thru Week 14: 39 rec, 779 yds, 6 TD (91 targets)
Brown has found great success with Tannehill taking over the Titans offense. Over the last three weeks, he has 16 targets, 12 receptions, 333 yards and three touchdowns. With favorable matchups the next three weeks against Houston (2x) and New Orleans, Brown could be the late season sleeper you are looking for.
Darius Slayton, WR, NYG:
Percent Rostered: 32.6%
Stats thru Week 14: 29 rec, 445 yds, 3 TD (58 targets)
Slayton has been a nice late season surprise and apparently the return of Eli Manning has made him even better. For owners who took a chance on him this week, Slayton rewarded you with five receptions, 154 yards and two touchdowns. Over the last four weeks, Slayton has an astonishing 38 targets, 25 catches, 386 yards, four touchdowns and two 30+ fantasy days (PPR leagues).
Cole Beasley, WR, Buf:
Percent Rostered: 31.2 %
Stats thru Week 14: 59 rec, 664 yds, 6 TD (87 targets)
For the third straight week, Beasley finds himself on our list and for the third straight week, he delivered and found the endzone. Despite only 29 yards, he had four receptions and a touchdown. Over the last three weeks, he has 23 targets, 16 receptions, 225 yards and three touchdowns. He is a legit Flex option in PPR leagues.
Zach Pascal, WR, Ind:
Percent Rostered: 30.7%
Stats thru Week 14: 35 rec, 547 yds, 5 TD (60 targets)
With T.Y. Hilton still out, Pascal has been stepping up. Over the last two weeks, he has 19 targets, hauling in 12 of those for 183 yards and a touchdown. With his final three matchups coming against New Orleans, Carolina and Jacksonville, Pascal could play a nice role for any owners willing to start him.
Anthony Miller, WR, Chi:
Percent Rostered: 18.5%
Stats thru Week 14: 41 rec, 531 yds, 1 TD (66 targets)
With Trubisky suddenly looking like a real NFL quarterback, some of his receivers – including Miller – are starting to look like legit NFL receivers as well, and as a result, are contributing in fantasy. For the fourth straight week, Miller put up more than 11 points in PPR leagues. During that stretch, Miller has 37 targets, 24 receptions, 313 yards and a touchdown. Those are WR2/Flex type numbers for a guy I am sure most of us hadn’t heard of five weeks ago.
Tight Ends:
Like last week, there are some decent tight ends out there if you are in trouble at the tight end position. The top three tight ends below each put up more than 16 points in PPR leagues and each are available in at least 70% of leagues.
Noah Fant, TE, NYJ:
Percent Rostered: 29.7%
Stats thru Week 14: 35 rec, 492 yds, 3 TD (59 targets)
In his second game with Drew Lock, Fant had a big game, pulling in all four of his targets for 113 yards and a touchdown. Having a new rookie quarterback makes Fant a little risky, but if you took the risk this past week, it paid off.
Tyler Higbee, TE, LAR:
Percent Rostered: 11.4%
Stats thru Week 14: 40 rec, 435 yds, 2 TD (52 targets)
Higbee finds himself on this list for the second week in a row. With Gerald Everett out again, Higbee topped the career he had last week and pulled in seven more receptions for 116. Over the last two weeks, Higbee has 19 targets, 14 receptions, 223 yards and a touchdown. Those are awesome starting tight end numbers.
Ian Thomas, TE, Car:
Percent Rostered: 0.6%
Stats thru Week 14: 10 rec, 85 yds, 1 TD (19 targets)
Thomas was on our list last week with Greg Olsen out, but his rostered percentage only climbed 0.5% to 0.6%. If you were one of the few who listened to me, you were rewarded. Thomas was the 6th highest scoring tight end in Week 14, pulling in five of his 10 targets for 57 yards and a touchdown. If Olsen is out again this week, Thomas is worth a start.
Jacob Hollister, TE, Sea:
Percent Rostered: 44.3%
Stats thru Week 14: 29 rec, 237 yds, 3 TD (42 targets)
Just another week with Hollister landing here here on the Waiver Wire Report because he keeps producing. This past week wasn’t a big week, but with six targets, four catches and 34 yards, he was decent in PPR leagues (in fact, he knocked me out of my playoffs).
Mike Gesicki, TE, Mia:
Percent Rostered: 29.3%
Stats thru Week 14: 37 rec, 407 yds, 2 TD (62 targets)
Our fourth holdover from last week, Gesicki finds himself on our list for the third straight week. He didn’t do anything last week (one catch for six yards), but he did have five targets, so he showed he still has a role in the offense and he gets the Giants and Bengals the next two weeks – so favorable matchups.
