Week 13 Waiver Wire Wonders

Howdy LAFB Network fam. Welcome back to our waiver article of the week. Hopefully, you found fortune in your Week 12 matchups, and if not, lame-sauce. This week is another week for redemption so let’s put our best lineup forward!

Honestly, if you lost this week most likely it’s because of some of these crazy player productions. Tyreek Hill blew up for 57.9 fantasy points, even Will Fuller had himself a game with 35.1 points, but we’ll get into that later, Jarvis Landry finally had a day with Odell Beckham off the field and Derrick Henry and Antonio Gibson both had 35+ fantasy points as well.

Like my father would say, “Enough with the excuses,” so let’s get to the goods.

Week 13 Waiver Wire Wonders

Quarterback

(MIN) Kirk Cousins vs Jacksonville Jaguars

owned in about 40% of fantasy leagues

For some reason, nobody trusts Kirk Cousins in fantasy football. The man has been on countless waiver articles of mine and frankly, I am going bald from scratching my head so much. At this moment in the 2020 Season, Cousins is 11^th in fantasy points for QBs.

That’s higher than Jared Goff, Matthew Stafford, Cam Newton, and quite a few more players that were drafted well ahead of him. In truth, Cousins does have more points than Lamar Jackson and Ben Roethlisberger but that could change depending on whenever they play their game.

In his Week 12 game against the Panthers, Cousins’ numbers looked as such: 34 for 45, 307 passing yards, and three TDs through the air. The guy had a 75.6% completion percentage, you can’t ask for much more. This week he gets the Jags so slam yah boi in the starting spot and call it a day.

(MIA) Ryan Fitzpatrick vs Cincinnati Bengals

owned in about 20% of fantasy leagues

Glad to see you again Good ol’ Reliable. Tua Tagovailoa sat Week 12 against the Jets because of a thumb injury so Fitzmagic was back baby. Now he didn’t do as superb as Mr. Kirk Cousins but Fitzpatrick definitely had himself a very playable fantasy week.

Overall he finished with 21.9 fantasy points and that just adds to his successful starts for the 2020 season. Not accounting for the previous middle of the game start, Fitzpatrick has been averaging 23.4 fantasy points a game. Cincinnati is 4^th against fantasy QBs so feel free to stream Ryan Fitzpatrick in an easy matchup.

Running Back

(LAR) Cam Akers @ Arizona Cardinals

owned in about 29% of fantasy leagues

If you’re in need of a quick stream Cam Akers might have just opened the door for his breakout. Usually, players have a breakout game to initiate their fantasy relevance but Akers took a different approach to it, he had about half of a breakout game with a dash of interest.

Akers didn’t lead the Rams in touches this past Sunday but he destroyed the other two backs in rushing yards. Darrell Henderson had 10 rushing attempts for a mere 19 yards, while Malcolm Brown had three rushing attempts for four rushing yards. The only RB really involved in the passing game was Brown with three targets and two receptions, but Henderson did have one target for no receptions so he still didn’t do much.

Akers finished the game against the 49ers with nine rushing attempts for 84 rushing yards and a score. He looks to be the most tempting asset for the Los Angeles Rams and could be the new flavor of the month for Sean McVay.

(NYJ) Frank Gore vs Las Vegas Raiders

owned in about 25% of fantasy leagues

Week after week, young Frank Gore gets double-digit rushing attempts for the New York Jets. I have to throw the team he’s on in there to give you a fair warning but you can’t deny that Frank the Tank gets the work. Sure, it’s the equivalent of standing in front of a Home Depot waiting to get picked up, but it happens and it is work in all purposes of the word.

This past weekend he had 18 rushing attempts for 74 rushing yards. That’s 4.1 yards a rush, exactly what he had in Week 11 against the Chargers. The only difference is a TD but if he did have a TD this week, he would’ve had 17.6 fantasy points instead of 11.6. Yes, he is a bit TD-dependent but even without scoring, the team rides Frank the Tank to victory or defeat.

(LV) Devontae Booker @ New York Jets

owned in about 9% of fantasy leagues

Please read this as a cautionary tale. Devontae Booker finds his way into the waiver article this week because of an ankle injury Josh Jacobs obtained in the third quarter against the Atlanta Falcons. The official report is that Jacobs’ has a possibility to play in his Week 13 matchup against the Jets, but would the Las Vegas Raiders want to potentially injure their second-year back for a W against the W-less Jets?

I don’t pretend to know what GMs or Head Coaches think when it comes to running their team, so I won’t just drink my own Kool-Aide and say Josh Jacobs is sitting this week. But if he were to, the Raiders would be in some good hands for the week. On the year, Booker has had 59 rushing attempts for 326 rushing yards and three TDs. Right now he’s averaging 5.5 rushing yards per rush. Check out Josh Jacobs’ status later in the week to determine starting Devontae Booker.

Wide Receiver

(GB) Allen Lazard vs Philadelphia Eagles

owned in about 39% of fantasy leagues

Allen Lazard found his way off of rosters recently because of his core-muscle surgery but that’s no reason to count the guy out. You could’ve left him on your IR spot. Actually, your IR spots might have been taken recently because of Covid so maybe you didn’t have the roster space to pocket Lazard and have valuable fantasy assets. Either way, he’s here now.

After coming back in Week 11 Lazard definitely took the week to dip his toe in with the playing time. He finished with four targets, two receptions, and 18 receiving yards, overall 3.8 fantasy points. Not super great. He then rebounded in Week 12 with six targets, four receptions for 23 receiving yards, and a score, totaling 12.3 fantasy points. That’s a wee-bit better for fantasy purposes but could still stand for some improvement.

What gives me confidence is the output that Marquez Valdes-Scantling was having in Allen Lazard’s absence. It was mainly a failure with a dash of production in Weeks 9 and 10. Why would that give me confidence? Because if your No.3 guy goes to No.2 and has no production, then most likely the team will go back to its original No.2. The Packers are barely getting Lazard back in full so I expect his playing-time to begin shooting up since Valdez-Scantling couldn’t get it done.

(NYJ) Breshad Perriman vs Las Vegas Raiders

owned in about 12% of fantasy leagues

Frank Gore might not be the only fantasy-relevant player the Jets have rostered on their team, Breshad Perriman, too, has been finding success for New York in the past three weeks. In those three weeks, Perriman has seen 19 targets, 11 receptions, 234 receiving yards, and three scores. All of those stats total 52.4 fantasy points. That’s pretty nuts for a Jets WR.

(LAR) Josh Reynolds @ Arizona Cardinals

owned in about 9% of fantasy leagues

If you didn’t catch my memos about Josh Reynolds in the last waiver articles, hopefully, you brought your glove this week because it’s coming in hot. In the past five weeks, Josh Reynolds has garnered 39 targets, 262 receiving yards, and one TD. Not only that, since the season started he’s averaged 10+ yards per reception nine times.

In 11 games, Reynolds already has 60 targets. In his three seasons prior, he had 24 targets in 2017, 53 in 2018, and 43 in 2019. Already he has surpassed his career-high for a season but right now Josh Reynolds is on pace for 87.2. Clearly, he’s getting more involved with the offense so if you’re not going to play the guy, you could at least clear a roster spot for him.

(HOU) Keke Coutee vs Indianapolis Colts

owned in about 1% of fantasy leagues

By all means, Keke Coutee didn’t have some crazy game on Thanksgiving against the Lions, but I wanted to bring him up because of Mr. Will Fuller. As of late, Will Fuller has been suspended for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing substances so if you’re in need of filling his spot, Keke Coutee is a viable option. Now I don’t want it to sound like he’s the bees-knees or anything because Brandin Cooks has been tearing it up, but I would like to point out that Randall Cobb, too, is out so it may just be Cooks and Coutee lining up with some practice squad scrubs.

Tight End

(SF) Jordan Reed vs Buffalo Bills

owned in about 25% of fantasy leagues

This would be two weeks in a row where Jordan Reed has recorded six targets. Last week he was a little more successful with his targets since he had five receptions and 62 receiving yards, this week it was six targets again but only two receptions and 18 yards. If you’re in need of somewhat of an insurance policy at TE this week, Jordan Reed might offer some high floor playing potential against the Bills.

(IND) Trey Burton @ Houston Texans

owned in about 19% of fantasy leagues

If you’ve been riding the Burtonmobile, swell on you! He’s scored two TDs in these last two weeks along with his 11 targets and 67 receiving yards. Obviously, Burton is a little TD dependent but if you don’t have one of the Top 5 TEs on the year, then every week has been a crapshoot. That also means you might have been streaming TEs and I am sorry. The TEs have been pretty weak this season so if you need someone semi-dependable, Burton might be an alright option.