Waiver Favors: Week 14 Fantasy Football Pickups

By Ha Kung Wong  Fantasy Football Pickups

Twitter: @FBGarbageTime

Week 14 is almost over, so we’re back to help you keep your fantasy football team competitive in the playoffs!

As usual, all pickups are available in at least 50% of Yahoo standard fantasy football leagues as of Sunday evening.

Again, if you’re lucky enough to be your fantasy football playoffs, you’re work isn’t done yet.  As we’ve seen, the players that got you here are just as susceptible to injury as any other.  You only need look at such big names as Rob Gronkowski, Marshawn Lynch, Justin Forsett and Chris Johnson for examples.  So your first priority, if you haven’t already done so, is to handcuff your studs, and in particular, your running backs.  Hopefully you read my column last week, because if you did, you already handcuffed Mark Ingram.

Robert Turbin

Robert Turbin

Here’s a list of some stud RBs and their handcuffs:

Adrian Peterson -> Jerick McKinnon (2% Owned) & Matt Asiata (1% Owned)

LeSean McCoy -> Karlos Williams (34% Owned) & Boobie Dixon (1% Owned)

Devonta Freeman -> Tevin Coleman (37% Owned)

Todd Gurley -> Tre Mason (7% Owned)

Darren McFadden -> Robert Turbin (5% Owned) 

Jonathan Stewart (particularly with reports of a sprained foot) -> Cameron-Artist Payne (2% Owned) & Fuzzy Whittaker (0% Owned) 

If you have questions about any others, feel free to tweet me at @fbgarbagetime.  I’ll be sure to retweet you with my thoughts.

Next, as I’ve done the past couple weeks, here are some players that were once high on people’s radars, but have managed to slip below the 50% mark in leagues, whether by way of previous poor performances, injury or just generally flying under the radar.  Feel free to grab them in any league in which you need help.

Isaiah Crowell – RB – Cleveland Browns- 26% Owned

  • Isaiah Crowell was probably drafted in all leagues as the potential starter in Cleveland at the beginning of the year, but was likely dropped when he failed to secure consistent touches.  In Week 14, he rushed 20 times for 145 yards and two touchdowns, much of which came on two long runs.  But he’s finally getting the touches and got the goal line work, so he’s probably worth grabbing in all 12-team leagues if desperate for RB help.

And here are ones which I recommended in previous weeks, which I think are still worth picking up:

Jameis Winston – QB – Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 48% Owned

Brian Hoyer – QB – Houston Texans – 25% Owned

Ryan Fitzpatrick – QB – New York Jets – 46% Owned

Marcus Mariota – QB – Tennessee Titans – 45% Owned

Austin Sefarian-Jenkins – TE – Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 60% Owned

Now, let’s look at some potential adds off the waiver wire:

Tim Hightower

RB – New Orleans Saints – 41% Owned

Tim Hightower

Tim Hightower

At first, we heard it was just a minor injury, but then we get this report.

Which ended up being a rotator cuff injury requiring surgery.  So next man up in New Orleans, meaning high profile off season signing, CJ Spiller, right?  Not so fast!

Early reports were that it would be journeyman, Tim Hightower taking over early down work, with CJ Spiller keeping his change of pace role.  And that is exactly what happened as Hightower handled 28 carries for 85 yards and a touchdown, adding one catch for 10 yards in Week 14.  Arguably, a large amount of this was piled up once the Saints had a lead in the second half, but he had more touches than anyone else in the game, which clearly wasn’t by accident.  He’s a clear pickup for all Ingram owners (as I mentioned last week), but a must add in all 12-team leagues and deeper.

DuJuan Harris & Fred Jackson

RB – Seattle Seahawks – 4% & 5% Owned

Thomas Rawls was on a roll subbing for an injured Marshawn Lynch.  But after rolling up just 44 yards in the first quarter, we get this:

With Rawls out for the season, DuJuan Harris out touched Fred Jackson 18 to 8 for 42 yards.  He wasn’t great, but got the lead back work, even after losing a key fumble.  We know the Seahawks line can be good for RBs, and the offense has been on a serious roll recently, so I’d expect anyone who gets the majority of touches to be useful down the stretch, as although Lynch could be back in Week 15, there’s been no indication that would be the case.  Grab Harris in all 12-team leagues and deeper, and Jackson in all 14-team leagues and deeper.  Or grab both if you were relying on Rawls until their time share is sorted out.

UPDATE (Dec. 15, 2015 – 5:19 PM ET): DuJuan Harris WAIVED by the Seattle Seahawks.

The pick up is now Bryce Brown (2% Owned).  GO get him!

Denard Robinson

RB – Jacksonville Jaguars – 4% Owned

Denard Robinson - Florida Times-Union Photo

Denard Robinson – Florida Times-Union Photo

TJ Yeldon finally had his breakout game in Week 13.  But then, into he second half, left the game with a sprained knee.

In stepped Denard Robinson, the guy people thought would be the lead back prior to the Jaguars drafting Yeldon.  Robinson effectively rushed 14 times for 75 yards and a touchdown, adding a 12-yard reception.  The Jaguars were up big, so some of the work might have been from trying to kill the clock, but he looked good finding space to run.  Yeldon owners should grab Robinson immediately, and all owners should pick him up in 12-team leagues and deeper in case Yeldon misses next week.

UPDATE

Robert Woods

WR – Buffalo Bills – 11% Owned

Generally, I’m not overly excited about receiving options in Buffalo outside of Sammy Watkins and Charles Clay, but with the news that Clay may miss next week, Robert Woods does become interesting.

Clay missed three quarters of the game in Week 14, and Woods took advantage by catching 5 of 7 targets for 106 yards.  He’s quietly getting plenty of looks with 37 targets over the last 5 games.  He’s not the big play maker that Watkins is, but he’s getting opportunity with just volume alone, which makes him very interesting in PPR leagues and standard 12-team leagues and deeper if Clay were to miss time.

And last, here are pickups from previous articles which I still recommend:

10-Team and Deeper

Gary Barnidge, Allen Hurns, Darren McFadden, Stevie Johnson, DeAngelo Williams, Danny Amendola, Doug Baldwin, David Johnson

12-Team and Deeper

Tavon Austin, Donte Moncrief, Travis Benjamin, Benjamin Watson, Alfred Blue, Nate Washington, Willie Snead, Ted Ginn Jr., Javorius Allen, Kamar Aiken, James Starks, Charcandrick West, Spencer Ware, James White, Shaun Draughn, DeVante Parker, James Jones, Zach Miller, Jeremy Langford

14-Team and Deeper

Antonio Andrews, Theo Riddick, Chris Polk, David Cobb, Chris Givens, Dorial Green-Beckham, Tyrod Taylor, Richard Rodgers, Brock Osweiler, Karlos Williams, Eric Ebron, Vance McDonald, Seth Roberts, Bilal Powell, Will Tye, Stefon Diggs, Scott Chandler, Dontrelle Inman, Charles Clay

Keep coming back for updates all week and good luck with the fantasy football playoffs

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