The fantasy football regular season is nearing its end. Now is the time to make those crucial moves that can help secure a playoff spot or prepare a roster for that championship push. With that in mind. let’s take a look at the top Week 12 waiver wire targets and pickups that fantasy managers should consider adding to their rosters.
As always, all players are rostered in less than 50% of Yahoo leagues.
I eliminated FAAB recommendations last year, as there are too many variables to account for. Instead, I replaced them with my opinion on how aggressive fantasy managers should pursue the player on a scale of 1-10.
Marcus Mariota, QB, Washington Commanders
Rostered: 16%
The waiver wire is very thin at the quarterback position. Marcus Mariota can’t even help fantasy managers next week because the Washington Commanders are on bye, The idea behind adding Mariota is if you need a weekly starter, he’s proven to have a pretty high floor.
Mariota posted 16.4 fantasy points in a low-scoring game where he only threw one touchdown, which is exactly the point. It marked his worst fantasy outing in any of his starts this season.
You don’t want to use Mariota in Week 13 against the Denver Broncos. So, he’s not a priority add. But keep him on your radar as he gets the Giants and Cowboys in Weeks 15 and 17.
Aggressiveness Rating: 1.0
Jacoby Brissett, QB, Arizona Cardinals
Rostered: 33%
The magical run continues…at least from a fantasy perspective. Jacoby Brissett is not exactly winning games for the Arizona Cardinals. But he is scoring fantasy points.
It took 57 pass attempts and an entire half’s worth of garbage time, but Brissett got himself to a fifth consecutive game of at least 19 fantasy points. He threw for a career high 452 yards and two touchdowns. Even without Marvin Harrison Jr., Brissett was able to get it done.
Harrison is likely to be out for another week, but that shouldn’t matter too much. Brissett has proven he’s a weekly fantasy QB1. If you need a QB, the Cardinals QB absolutely works.
Aggressiveness Rating: 3.0
Sean Tucker, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Rostered: 26%
Before the season started, my position was that Sean Tucker was the backup running back to roster in Tampa Bay, not Rachaad White. As the saying goes, “never wrong, just early.”
Tucker had been running better than White over the past couple of weeks (because he is a much better player). Although White continues to start, Tucker was the hot hand, so he kept getting the ball. The former UDFA carried it 19 times for 106 yards and two touchdowns, while adding two catches for 34 yards and a third score.
Bucky Irving returned to practice last week. He appears to be closing in on a return. But it’s not guaranteed. There’s certainly a world where Irving’s shoulder isn’t able to take contact, and he doesn’t play again. At this point, Tucker has to be viewed as the most valuable Bucs backup running back. He is the priority add this week.
Aggressiveness Rating: 6.0
Emanuel Wilson, RB, Green Bay Packers
Rostered: 7%
The engine of the Green Bay Packers’ offense, Josh Jacobs, left the game with a knee injury and did not return. Jacobs has been an ironman since joining the Packers, but no player is immune to injury. If he has to miss time, the Packers made it abundantly clear who the lead back would be: Emanuel Wilson.
It wasn’t a massive performance from the backup, but Wilson did carry the ball 11 times for 40 yards and a touchdown. He also caught his lone target and registered a two-point conversion.
If Jacobs cannot go next week, Wilson would be the starter. He’s worth rostering regardless as a handcuff to Jacobs, but he becomes a high-priority pickup if we don’t get positive news on the starter by Tuesday night.
Aggressiveness Rating: 6.0
Kenneth Gainwell, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers
Rostered: 32%
In what has become an unfortunate running theme, we saw a bunch of starting running backs go down. Jaylen Warren left the game with a leg injury and did not return.
At this point, it’s unclear how significant Warren’s injury is. But we do know with certainty what happens when he is out. We saw it earlier this season, and it happened again this week.
Kenneth Gainwell dominates snaps when Warren doesn’t play. He didn’t get much going on the ground, but he caught seven passes for 81 yards and two touchdowns.
The Steelers have an incredibly favorable upcoming schedule. Their next four games are all against bottom-10 run defenses. Unless we get word that Warren’s injury is no big deal, Gainwell has to be added. Even if Warren is fine, though, Gainwell is one of the top handcuffs in the league.
Aggressiveness Rating: 7.0
Devin Singletary, RB, New York Giants
Rostered: 20%
With Jameis Winston under center, the New York Giants went very run-heavy. Even though Tyrone Tracy Jr. remains the lead back, Devin Singletary still saw 16 carries. He only managed 44 yards, but he punched in two short touchdowns.
Singletary will be very reliant on touchdowns. He won’t be a reliable weekly option unless Tracy gets hurt. But he’s also outscored Tracy every game since Cam Skattebo went down.
This is much more of a timeshare than perhaps we expected. Singletary has a standalone RB3 value with RB2 upside based on a potential Tracy injury. He is worth rostering.
Aggressiveness Rating: 5.0
Bhayshul Tuten, RB, Jacksonville Jaguars
Rostered: 30%
The Jacksonville Jaguars utilized much more of a backfield rotation than they’ve typically done. Bhayshul Tuten saw a season high 15 carries for 74 yards and a touchdown. He was involved early and often. If Tuten is going to see this type of usage, he will be startable every week.
Before fantasy managers go all in on Tuten, though, we have to consider the wrinkle that is his ankle injury. Tuten left the game in the second half and did not return. We obviously don’t want to invest waiver wire capital in a player who is going to be out for a meaningful period of time.
Consider this recommendation based on positive injury news for Tuten. Otherwise, leave him on the wire.
Aggressiveness Rating: 5.5
Tyler Allgeier, RB, Atlanta Falcons
Rostered: 45%
Typically, Tyler Allgeier needs a positive game script and the Atlanta Falcons to win to produce. In a very strange game where the Falcons had the game script they wanted throughout but wound up losing, Allgeier was limited to just three carries. He did manage to score a short touchdown, though.
The Allgeier proposition remains the same as it has all season. He’s one of the top handcuffs in fantasy. Bijan Robinson managers should make it a point to add him if he’s out there.
Aggressiveness Rating: 6.0
Bam Knight, RB, Arizona Cardinals
Rostered: 17%
Just when we thought this backfield was moving away from Bam Knight, he returns to relevance. Knight only touched the ball nine times for a total of 45 yards. However, four of those were through the air, and he found the end zone.
It’s worth noting that Emari Demercado’s early exit due to injury did not have any impact on Knight’s playing time. Michael Carter stepped right into Demercado’s role.
Nevertheless, Knight remains the starter and goal-line back. That gives him desperation RB3 value.
It does not appear as if Trey Benson’s return is imminent. As a result, Knight needs to be rostered.
Aggressiveness Rating: 3.0
Chris Rodriguez, RB, Washington Commanders
Rostered: 12%
It is over for Jacory Croskey-Merritt. The Washington Commanders have anointed Chris Rodriguez as their lead runner. While Jeremy McNichols will still take passing down work, Rodriguez’s role is absolutely fantasy viable.
The veteran runner handled a team-high 15 carries, which he turned into 79 yards. He also caught his lone target for six yards.
The Commanders wound up only scoring one touchdown, and it wasn’t on the ground, but Rodriguez is very clearly the goal line back. He will be touchdown dependent, but any starting running back in the NFL is worth rostering. Rodriguez is a touchdown or bust RB3; a clear top 36 option.
Aggressiveness Rating: 5.0
Ollie Gordon II, RB, Miami Dolphins
Rostered: 10%
Ollie Gordon II stole a short touchdown from De’Von Achane, which enabled him to reach double-digit fantasy points for just the second time this season. Gordon is not suddenly going to be startable, but he at least has desperation RB4 value in a pinch.
Most importantly, Gordon is the Achane handcuff. We saw Achane have an injury scare late in the fourth quarter while attempting to score what might have been the game-winning touchdown. Fortunately, he wound up being okay despite the back injury. It’s a reminder of how quickly things can happen in the NFL, though.
If you have Achane, you need to roster Gordon.
Aggressiveness Rating: 3.0
Alec Pierce, WR, Indianapolis Colts
Rostered: 47%
I guess it’s time to take Alec Pierce seriously. He’s probably not going to outproduce Michael Pittman Jr. most weeks, but he’s definitely ahead of Josh Downs.
Pierce is the primary Z receiver on one of the league’s best offenses. He’s now hit 14.8+ fantasy points in three of his last four. Against the Falcons, Pierce scored his first touchdown of the season.
Since the Colts were on bye this week, fantasy managers weren’t aggressive in adding him. Their loss is your gain. Pierce is well worth adding for the stretch run.
Aggressiveness Rating: 7.5
Xavier Legette, WR, Carolina Panthers
Rostered: 7%
Before anyone runs to grab Xavier Legette off the waiver wire, it’s important to place his Week 11 performance in the proper context. Objectively, four catches for 83 yards and a touchdown are great for fantasy. However, it came in a game where the Carolina Panthers were in negative game script from the jump, resulting in Bryce Young attempting 45 passes.
Young threw for a career high 448 yards in what is essentially 2.5 games worth of production from him. Naturally, all of his receivers were able to eat. That will not happen often, if ever again.
This is Legette’s second spike week of the season. He posted 24.2 fantasy points in Week 7. Then, he managed 6.9 fantasy points in the subsequent three games combined. You can add Legette if you want to see if this is a breakout, but history suggests it’s just a blip.
Aggressiveness Rating: 0.0
Michael Wilson, WR, Arizona Cardinals
Rostered: 47%
With Harrison out, Michael Wilson was elevated to the WR1 role. That was always going to come with an uptick in volume, but no one expected this.
Wilson saw a staggering 18 targets, catching 15 passes for 185 yards. Suffice it to say those are all career highs and unlikely ever to happen again. The main takeaway is that Wilson can be the guy if he needs to.
Harrison is unlikely to return less than two weeks after having surgery. Of course, Brissett is also unlikely (never) to complete 47 passes in a game again. But even if Wilson had a third of his production, that would play in fantasy. We have to add him.
Aggressiveness Rating: 4.0
Christian Watson, WR, Green Bay Packers
Rostered: 34%
Christian Watson essentially puts up the same stat line every week. He’s now seen target counts of 4, 4, 4, and 5. He had 45 yards last week and 46 yards this week. The only difference this time is that he scored…twice.
Both of Watson’s touchdown grabs were high degrees of difficulty. Jordan Love has not played particularly well.
Watson did play 78% of the snaps and led the team in routes run. He will be hard to trust in lineups just yet, but he’s worth adding to see if he can gain any consistency.
Aggressiveness Rating: 2.0
Dalton Schultz, TE, Houston Texans
Rostered: 49%
It’s time to acknowledge that Dalton Schultz is a weekly startable tight end in fantasy. He’s a volume merchant, but that’s all we can ask for. Schultz has now hit double-digit fantasy points in five of his last six games. And he’s done it without relying on touchdowns.
The veteran tight end has seen 8+ targets in four of his last five. He’s essentially been the second option in the passing game behind Nico Collins and is very much worth adding for the tight-end-needy.
Aggressiveness Rating: 3.0
A.J. Barner, TE, Seattle Seahawks
Rostered: 9%
Whenever a free agent tight end has a big game, he has to be acknowledged. A.J. Barner caught 10 passes for 70 yards in the Seattle Seahawks’ narrow loss to the Los Angeles Rams. That warrants attention.
Barner had one other game this season with seven receptions. Otherwise, he’s maxed out at four targets in every other game.
This is a random one-off. It is not a sign of any increased role. This was a product of the game environment. Do not add Barner.
Aggressiveness Rating: 1.0
