Week 12 Waiver Wire Wonders

Well hello there and welcome back to the LAFB Network Waiver Wire. Week 11 came and gave us some amazing football: over 14 TEs had double-digit fantasy totals, Keenan Allen broke the Charger record for targets and receptions in a player’s first six seasons and CeeDee Lamb is proving his worth making unbelievable catches.

Naturally when there’s a bunch of good, counterintuitively there comes the bad. Joe Burrow was carted off the field this week with an MCL and ACL issue and both Mark Ingram and J.K. Dobbins have tested positive for the Rona. What a week of football we saw, now let’s get to the wire.

Week 12 Waiver Wire Wonders

Quarterback

(NO) Taysom Hill @ Denver Broncos

owned in about 43% of fantasy leagues

The man that beat out Jameis Winston for the starting QB position could be the permanent starter for the New Orleans Saints. At least until there’s a final decision on Drew Brees’ fractured ribs. For us normal humans, fractured ribs and broken fingers would be enough to keep anyone out of the game but football players are from a different breed.

For the second time in two years, a new QB started for the New Orleans Saints and he didn’t fair too bad. He went 18 for 23 with 233 passing yards and paired that with a nice 10 rushing attempts for 51 yards and two scores. Overall Hill tallied 28.8 fantasy points for his debut as QB.

Now if you’re playing in any ESPN fantasy leagues, you were lucky enough to pull that 28.8 fantasy points into your TE slot AND STILL play another QB. Most likely if you did that you enjoyed a win, but Hill will have to play from the QB position moving forward. Still a very good add.

(MIN) Kirk Cousins vs Carolina Panthers

owned in about 42% of fantasy leagues

(LV) Derek Carr @ Atlanta Falcons

owned in about 36% of fantasy leagues

Forgive me for cutting the analysis down a few paragraphs but both Kirk Cousins and Derek Carr have been on the wire for weeks, arguably months, now and at some point I don’t want to sound redundant with my words.

Kirk Cousins has been on a hot streak recently. In his last three games, he has scored 23, 22.5, and 28.1 fantasy points. He’s looking mighty fine for fantasy and if you’ve been riding Cousins as your stream-start, you’ve been very happy.

Derek Carr, on the other hand, has been shaky at times but even so, he’s only thrown three picks this season. I know everyone has that Denver game on their minds when Carr only had 8.7 fantasy points but you can’t hold that against my man. On the season he is averaging 21.0 fantasy points a game with a 69.7% completion percentage.

Running Back

(NE) James White vs Arizona Cardinals

owned in about 40% of fantasy leagues

After losing Rex Burkhead during the game and more than likely for a few weeks in the season, James White and Damien Harris were the only RBs to suit up for the New England Patriots. Initially, your thoughts might be, “so what,” but think about this, where has Sony Michel been?

He was actually a healthy scratch against the Houston Texans with Harris stepping up for the team. Not only that, Michel has always been the rushing RB for the Patriots while Burkhead and White have accounted for more of the passing work.

I believe I have mentioned this before but we also need to remember that Harris and Michel might have a little more value in standard fantasy formats. In PPR leagues, Burkhead and White would probably be the RBs to own.

Now James White is the only RB catching balls out of the backfield and when doing so he gets a bunch of looks. Against the Texans, White had nine targets for six receptions and 64 yards for an overall 10.7 fantasy points. It’s an alright start but one that may see a lot of positive outcomes in the future.

(BAL) Gus Edwards @ Pittsburgh Steelers

owned in about 28% of fantasy leagues

Gus Edwards had an amazing fantasy output against the Tennessee Titans this past week. Oh, I’m sorry I meant J.K. Dobbins had an amazing fantasy output, Gus Edwards did very poorly against the Titans. The Gus Bus actually had 0.6 fantasy points. Why would I recommend Mr. Edwards?

Well as mentioned before, J.K. Dobbins and Mark Ingram have been placed on Covid-19 IR, leaving the Gus Bus as the only viable option in the station. Being the new No.1 option for the Ravens definitely has its perks but in this case, they will be going against the Steelers who have a top-rated defense. Roster Edwards for some depth and for a possible last-minute pivot for the week.

(NYJ) Frank Gore vs Miami Dolphins

owned in about 10% of fantasy leagues

Geez, I feel dirty just typing his name. I know Frank Gore isn’t the most appetizing RB out there but for some reason, the dinosaur has been accumulating rushing attempts and for the first time all year it has panned out. Frank Gore actually scored his first TD this season against the Los Angeles Chargers, huzzah. On the year, Frank has been averaging 3.6 yards per rush and 12.3 attempts per game. Like Edwards, Gore might be a roster pickup to play in a pinch especially with La’Mical Perine finding himself on the sideline after a high ankle sprain.

Wide Receiver

(CAR) Curtis Samuel @ Minnesota Vikings

owned in about 50% of fantasy leagues

Once again Curtis Samuel had an amazing fantasy day: 10 targets, 8 receptions for 70 yards, and a TD. No matter how you look at it, all of the Carolina WRs are very playable. Samuel had 10 targets, D.J. Moore had 11, and Robby Anderson had nine, there’s a lot of love going around in that offense with the absence of Christian McCaffrey so cash in where you can.

(IND) Michael Pittman Jr. vs Tennessee Titans

owned in about 44% of fantasy leagues

The young rookie makes his way on our waiver article again this week after having a fairly decent fantasy output in Week 11. Against the Packers, Pittman was three for three with 66 receiving yards and a score, giving him a total of 15.6 fantasy points.

Sure it’s not the 15 targets he had in the two weeks prior but it was just as productive, if not more, than what we could have anticipated. T.Y. Hilton has been a bust and the only other help the offense is getting is from Mo Alie-Cox and Trey Burton. Between Pittman, Alie-Cox, and Burton, I would prefer the ceiling of Michael Pittman.

(DEN) Tim Patrick vs New Orleans Saints

owned in about 20% of fantasy leagues

Speaking of high target totals, Tim Patrick has been making quite the argument for himself and why you should roster him as well. Week 11 brought Patrick eight targets and five receptions for 119 receiving yards, for 16.9 fantasy points. This is the third week in a row that Patrick has had double-digit fantasy production.

Not only that, he’s had double-digit fantasy numbers six out of the last seven games he’s lined up. Denver is one of those teams that look to be down in a majority of their games and need to air it out to catch up. In doing so, all of their receiving assets have a lot of value.

(LV) Nelson Agholor @ Atlanta Falcons

owned in about 20% of fantasy leagues

Would you believe in his first season with the Las Vegas Raiders, Nelson Agholor already has more fantasy points than he did all of last season with the Philadelphia Eagles? I think you could’ve jumped to that conclusion fairly easily since he actually has a role in the Raiders’ offense but it is still something to think about.

Anyways, Nelson Agholor has been playing behind Henry Ruggs III and it hasn’t been the worst thing ever. He’s scored five out of his last seven games, tallied 33 targets in those seven games, and had double-digit fantasy production again five out of those seven games. Agholor might be the most consistent WR in the Raiders offense and he could come at no cost to your team.

Tight End

(GB) Robert Tonyan vs Chicago Bears

owned in about 46% of fantasy leagues

Tonyan was perfect in Week 11 with five targets and receptions for 44 yards and a TD against the Indianapolis Colts. Sure his team didn’t win but in a sense, they have been winning since finding Robert Tonyan. Right now Tonyan is averaging 4.1 targets a game, as well as, averaging 11.9 fantasy points. Crazy enough, Tonyan is actually the No.2 receiving option in fantasy for the Packers. Davante Adams is the obvious No.1 with 212.7 fantasy points, Tonyan No.2 with 107.1, and then Marquez Valdes-Scantling with 102.1.

(DAL) Dalton Schultz vs Washington Football Team

owned in about 21% of fantasy leagues

Week after week Dalton Schultz racks up the targets for Dallas Cowboys. Week 11 was no different: six targets and four receptions for 25 yards and a TD. Surprisingly enough, Schultz actually has more targets than Michael Gallup on the season and 3^rd in fantasy production for the receiving options in Dallas.