Waiver Favors™: 2020 Week 12 Fantasy Football Pickups

By Ha Kung Wong  Week 12 Fantasy Football Pickups

Twitter: @FBGarbageTime

As I do every year over the last 8 years, I’m here to help with waiver wire adds via my weekly Waiver Favors article!  And I’m assuming if you’re a returning reader, you won your fantasy football championship last year, so congratulations!

But it’s a new year, so I’ll make a couple suggestions for after Week 12 of the 2020 fantasy football season.  You’re welcome.  Again.

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

Ryan Fitzpatrick

QB – Miami Dolphins – 20% Owned

He’s back!  With Tue out, Ryan Fitzpatrick is back to his old tricks completing 24 of 39 passes for 257 yards and 2 TDS against the Jets.  As it currently looks, Tue has a thumb injury that could lead to a multi-week absence, and as long as he’s out, Fitzpatrick makes for a nice matchup based play in 12-team leagues or deeper, which should continue in Week 13 against the Bengals.

Frank Gore

RB – New York Jets – 25% Owned

I’m not terribly excited about this, but for those who are really RB needy, Frank Gore isn’t bad.  He’s on the aforementioned lowly Jets, but he still managed to rush 18 times for 74 rush yards with 3 receptions for 12 receiving yards against the Dolphins in Week 12, following up 15 carries for 61 yards and TD in Week 11.  As long as Lamical Perine remains on IR, Gore is worth a look in 12-team leagues or deeper.

Brian Hill & Ito Smith

RB – Atlanta Falcons – 47% Owned & 1% Owned

With Todd Gurley out with a knee injury, we all thought Brian Hill would get the start in Week 12.  And he did, rushing 13 times for 55 yards in an easy win over the Raiders.  But then Ito Smith got into the mix and rushed 12 times for 65 yards and a late TD.  Was it garbage time?  Did the Falcons think Smith had the hot hand?  Who knows.  But we saw Hill get the start and Smith get most of the passing targets (5 to 1), so both are worth consideration in Week 13 in both 14-team leagues and deeper so long as Gurley remains out.

Deebo Samuel

WR – San Francisco 49ers – 55% Owned

Deebo Samuel came back from a 3 game absence with a vengeance catching 11 of 13 targets for 134 yards against the Rams.  Brandon Aiyuk was out for this one due to COVID, so perhaps he doesn’t see quite so many targets moving forward, but he looks absolutely locked in before and after the catch all day.  Go grab him in all 12-team leagues if you’re lucky enough to find him on waivers.

Kyle Rudolph

TE – Minnesota Vikings – 14% Owned

No Irv Smith and no Adam Thielen?  Well, that means huge opportunities for Justin Jefferson.  But it also means that Kyle Rudolph is squarely in play, as he caught 7 of 8 targets for 68 yards against the Panthers.  If Smith and Thielen remain out, Rudolph makes for an interesting volume based play in 12-team leagues or deeper.

Collin Johnson

WR – Jacksonville Jaguars – 0% Owned

Don’t get too excited about this, but with DJ Chark and Chris Conley out due to injury, rookie 5th round draft pick Collin Johnson caught 4 of 8 targets for 96 yards and a TD against the Browns.  Most of that came on a 46-yard TD reception, but it all counts the same. He entered Week 12 with only 7 receptions and 69 total yards all season, so this is a big step in the right direction, but the health of Chark and Conley will likely determine whether that continues or not.  In the meantime, go ahead and stash him in 14-team leagues or deeper until we see how this shakes out.

UPDATE

Devontae Booker

RB – Las Vegas Raiders – 10% Owned

I already mentioned Booker a few weeks ago, but with Josh Jacobs apparent ankle injury, although he has a shot to play in Week 13, it makes sense to stash Booker in the meantime.  If Jacobs doesn’t play, Booker gets a great matchup against the Jets which makes him a nice RB2/Flex in all leagues.

Keke Coutee

WR – Houston Texans – 2% Owned

I also mentioned Keke Coutee last week, but with Will Fuller suspended for the rest of the season due to PEDs and Kenny Stills released, Coutee gets much more interesting.  He only caught 2 of 3 targets for 17 yards in Week 12, but there should be plenty more targets to go around now, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see a solid uptick in work.  Go grab him in all 12-team leagues or deeper.

UPDATE for Monday Night Football

Jacob Hollister

TE – Seattle Seahawks – 2% Owned

With Greg Olsen on IR potentially for the rest of the season, there was some question as to whether Jacob Hollister or Will Dissly would be the pass catching option going forward.  Turns out, Hollister was the only Seahawks TE to run pass routes in Week 12, so it appears he’s the pickup if you’re really desperate for TE help in 14-team leagues or deeper.

And here’s who I’ve recommended in previous weeks that I still think deserve a look.  I’ve highlighted in Orange the previous pickups that stood out again in Week 12:

10-Team Leagues

QB – Justin Herbert

WRs – Chase Claypool, Justin Jefferson

12-Team Leagues

QB – Kirk Cousins; Taysom Hill

RBs – Devontae Booker, Mike Davis, Chase Edmonds (particularly leagues that count return yards), Wayne Gallman, Damien Harris, Nyheim Hines (PPR), Duke Johnson, J.D. McKissic (PPR), James White (PPR)

WRs – Robby Anderson, Brandon Ayuik, Keke Coutee, Tee Higgins, Michael Pittman Jr., Josh Reynolds, Curtis Samuel, Sterling Shepard

TEs – Dalton Schultz, Irv Smith Jr., Robert Tonyan

14-Team Leagues

QBs – Derek Carr, Drew Lock; Philip Rivers

RBs – Salvon Ahmed, Malcolm Brown, Gus Edwards, Devonta Freeman, Darrell Henderson, Jerick McKinnon, La’Mical Perine, Boston Scott, Jordan Wilkins

WRs – Nelson Agholor, Cole Beasley, Kendrick Bourne, Damiere Byrd, Keelan Cole, Corey Davis, Gabriel Davis, Travis Fulgham, KJ Hamler, Mecole Hardman, Alshon Jeffery, Allen Lazard, Jakobi Meyers, Denzel Mims, Zach Pascal, Tim Patrick, Breshad Perriman, Henry Ruggs, Laviska Shenault, Sammy Watkins

TEs – Jimmy Graham, Logan Thomas

16-Team Leagues

QBs – Tua Tagovailoa

RBs – Kalen Ballage, DeeJay Dallas (subject to Chris Carson‘s injury), Carlos Hyde, Justin Jackson, Joshua Kelley, Dion Lewis, Alexander Mattison, Scotty Miller, Benny Snell Jr., Jeff Wilson Jr.

WRs – Jakeem Grant, Deonte Harris, Rishard Higgins

TEs – Harrison Bryant, Drew Sample

Check back every week for more Waiver Favors!