Waiver Favors: Week 15 Fantasy Football Pickups

By Ha Kung Wong  Fantasy Football Pickups

Twitter: @FBGarbageTime

Well, this is it.  Week 15 is almost over, and only those in that are left are those in their fantasy championships, people in their fantasy 3rd place game and those in their proverbial “Sacko Bowl” trying to avoid last place.  Well, we don’t discriminate, we’re back to help you all of you with your final game of the fantasy football season!

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

Again, if you haven’t already done so, is to handcuff your studs, and in particular, your running backs, in case of injury or, perhaps, the more dreaded decision to “rest” players before the actual playoffs.

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

Adrian Peterson (had an on field injury in Week 15, where McKinnon played impressively after taking the bulk of the snaps, but did return) -> Jerick McKinnon (3% Owned)

LeSean McCoy (had a knee injury and was ruled out quickly, so this is definitely a scenario to watch) -> Karlos Williams (31% Owned) & Mike Gillislee (1% Owned)

Devonta Freeman -> Tevin Coleman (33% Owned) [UPDATE: Injured and OUT]

Todd Gurley -> Tre Mason (6% Owned)

Darren McFadden -> Robert Turbin (4% Owned) 

Jonathan Stewart (was out in Week 15, with Artis-Payne leading the way with 93 total yards on 16 touches) -> Cameron Artis-Payne (6% 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, here are some players that were once high on people’s radars, but have previously 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- 30% Owned

Jameis Winston – QB – Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 43% Owned

Ryan Fitzpatrick – QB – New York Jets – 53% Owned

Austin Sefarian-Jenkins – TE – Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 52% Owned

Zach Ertz – TE – Philadelphia Eagles – 50% Owned

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

Christine Michael

RB – Seattle Seahawks – 9% Owned

This is just dizzying.  First it was DuJuan Harris.  Then he was released and it was just-reacquired Bryce Brown.  And then we have a full blown committee between Brown, also reacquired Christine Michael, Derrick Coleman and Fred Jackson.  At the end of the day, Michael ended up with the most carries totaling 84 yards on 16 totes.  It’s impossible to know week to week, but he’s worth grabbing in all 12-team or deeper leagues, if for nothing else, to keep your opponent from starting him.

Kirk Cousins

QB – Washington Redskins – 23% Owned

Kirk Cousins isn’t good.  But when he’s on, well, he’s on.  As he was in Week 15 where he completed 22 of 28 passes for 319 yards and 4 passing TDs, adding a rushing TD for good measure.  He’s had multiple TDs in 5 of his last 8 and his upcoming schedule against the Eagles and Cowboys is among the best a QB could hope for.  In must win games for the Redskins, in Cousins you can trust if you’re hurting for a QB in a 12-team league or deeper.

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

10-Team and Deeper

Gary Barnidge, Allen Hurns, Darren McFadden, 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, Tim Hightower

14-Team and Deeper

Antonio Andrews, Theo Riddick, Chris Polk, David Cobb, 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, Robert Woods

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