Waiver Favors: 2016 Week 13 Fantasy Football Pickups

By Ha Kung Wong  Fantasy Football Pickups

Twitter: @FBGarbageTime

As usual, I’m back to help with some waiver wire adds via my weekly Waiver Favors article!  I’m assuming if you’re reading this, you’ve made your fantasy football playoffs, so congratulations!  And because I think you’re awesome for reading my column, I’ll make a couple suggestions for pickups, and more importantly, give you handcuff suggestions your stud RBs.  You’re welcome.

As usual, all pickups are available in at least 50% of Yahoo standard fantasy football leagues (with some minor exceptions) as of Sunday evening.

Pierre Garcon

WR – Washington Redskins – 32% Owned

Sure, Garcon hasn’t been a reliable fantasy football asset since his Indianapolis Colts days, but one can’t argue with the consistency.  Garcon has been averaging 6.5 targets per game throughout the season, and in 4 of his last 5 weeks, he’s had at least 6 receptions from at least 7 targets from Kirk Cousins.  In Week 11, Garcon showed us his upside with 116 yards and a TD, and his floor is probably in the vicinity of his 7 of 9 for 78 yards he tallied in Week 13.  If you need a reliable WR4 or FLEX option in 14-team or deeper leagues, Garcon is a relatively safe option.

Paul Turner

WR – Philadelphia Eagles – 0% Owned

After Nelson Agholor fell out of favor in Week 12, Paul Turner was promoted from the practice squad and made his debut against the Packers.  He didn’t show up in the box score, but he did play 23 of 59 offensive snaps.  And with Jordan Matthews (ankle) out in Week 13, Turner managed to catch 6 of his 8 targets for 80 yards.  Sure, most of that production was on one 41-yard catch and run, but it’s still notable.  Assuming he continues to see snaps, and particularly if Matthews doesn’t return or Dorial Green-Beckham’s rib injury is serious, he might be worth a stash in 14-team leagues or deeper.

Ladarius Green

TE – Pittsburgh Steelers – 22% Owned

In the offseason, there was a lot of hype regarding the Steelers acquisition of Ladarius Green, particularly in light of Heath Miller’s retirement.  But after getting on the PUP with an ankle injury, he completely fell off the radar.  Fast forward half a season and an uninspiring 3 game return where he totaled just 3 of 9 targets for 97 yards, and it appeared that all that initial hype was misplaced.  But then, in Week 13, he reeled off six big time catches on a whopping 11 targets for a career-high 110 yards and a TD.  And that while only playing just under 50% of snaps.  You have to take this performance with a grain of salt, and be cautiously optimistic that he’ll settle in somewhere in between Week 13 and his previous 3 weeks, particularly as his snap count continues to grow.  But the upside is clearly there, so he’s worth a pickup in 12 team and deeper leagues, particularly if your TE has been letting you down of late.

And since it’s the end of the Fantasy Football regular season, it’s probably time for all you lucky folks who made the playoffs to HANDCUFF YOUR RB.  Let me repeat that one more time.  It’s time to get some insurance for your starting RBs, particularly if you’ve been riding them all season to victory, because you never know when there’s going to be a freak injury.  So go drop those fringe WR5s you’ve been stashing in case they breakout.

With that said, here are the handcuffs for the top RBs in the league which are available in at least 50% of standard Yahoo leagues.

• David Johnson – Andre Ellington (3% Owned)
• Ezekiel Elliott – Alfred Morris (12 % Owned)
• Le’Veon Bell – DeAngelo Williams (21% Owned) – Assuming he practices this week.
• LeSean McCoy – Mike Gillislee (23% Owned)
• Demarco Murray – Derrick Henry (45% Owned)
• Melvin Gordon – Kenneth Farrow (0% Owned)
• Jay Ajayi – Damien Williams (4% Owned)
• Lamar Miller – Alfred Blue (2%)

And here are previous pickups I’ve mentioned that are still worthy of your consideration:

10-Team Leagues or Deeper

Terrelle Pryor, Jay Ajayi, Devontae Booker, Sammy Watkins

12-Team Leagues or Deeper

Mike Wallace, Tyrell Williams, Jamison Crowder, Kyle Rudolph, Jordan Howard, Mohamed Sanu, Rishard Matthews, Carson Wentz, James Starks, Marqise Lee, Malcolm Mitchell, Cameron Brate

14-Team Leagues or Deeper

Sam Bradford, Jerick McKinnon, Matt Asiata, Kenny Stills, Adam Thielen, Terrance West, Cole Beasley, C.J. Fiedorowicz, Dennis Pitta, Victor Cruz, Robert Kelley, Kendall Wright, Dontrelle Inman, Quincy Enunwa, Cameron Meredith (at least until Alshon Jeffery is off his 4 game suspension), Tyreek Hill, Vance McDonald, Tyler Boyd, Brandon LaFell, Wendell Smallwood, J.J. Nelson, Taylor Gabriel

16-Team Leagues or Deeper

Theo Riddick (PPR), Mike Gillislee, Andrew Hawkins, Russell Shepard (subject to injury), Lance Kendricks, Eli Rogers, Darren Sproles (PPR – subject to injury), Ty Montgomery, Matt Barkley

Check back every week for more Waiver Favors! And GOOD LUCK with the Playoffs!