Waiver Wire Pickups Week 13

Waiver Wire Pickups

Another week of fantasy football brings a new crop of hot waiver wire pickups. As the fantasy playoffs approach and the trade deadlines have passed in most leagues, be sure to target your teams weak positions with some of our waiver wire pickups. You can check out all of our waiver wire pickups throughout the season here.

Quarterback

Colin Kaepernick – 36% owned – In a less flashy performance, Colin Kaepernick got it done again this week for the 49ers. It seems like there should be no doubt he will start, but before you start him for your team, it would be wise to make sure he will get the job. The 49ers are in a rather odd position with Kaepernick, and this may be the first ever QB with the hot hand situation in the NFL. Most teams have multiple QB’s they can lose with, but the 49ers have two that they can win with. Kaepernick seems very raw, but the San Francisco coaching staff has no problem changing up plays to fit his style. Going forward he could very easily finish as a top 15 QB, but week 16 with the Seahawks and 17 with the Cardinals won’t help.

Ryan Fitzpatrick – 45% owned – In the last few weeks Fitzpatrick seems to be on a down slide in fantasy production, but with a seemingly easy schedule going forward look for the Buffalo Bills QB to turn it around in the final weeks of the season. Ryan faces the Jacksonville Jaguars and their 28th ranked pass defense this Sunday. Also note that Fitzpatrick gets the Dolphins in round one of the fantasy playoffs and the Jets in the championship week, so he would be very serviceable in the final games of the fantasy football season.

Running Back

Bryce Brown – 37% owned – With an explosion from this rookie running back, most people will chase his numbers and rightfully so. This is a guy I have no problem chasing. Why? Because more important than his production were the carries he got versus his back up. Bryce got 19 carries, while the rest of the team combined for 7. I don’t understand not giving LeSean McCoy 20+ touches a game, but hey, that’s why I don’t get paid millions to win games and not win championships. Andy Reid seems to really like giving Brown the ball, even after he fumbled twice. Brown will be working on his ball security all week, so do not let that scare you from picking him up. The Eagles face the Cowboys next Sunday night; look for Brown to be very involved in the offense but probably less productive than this week.

Knowshon Moreno – 21% owned – With a last minute surprise, Knowshon Moreno was named the starter for the Denver Broncos rushing attack. I’m pretty sure no one on the Chiefs team said “Oh Crap, we didn’t prepare for Knowshon Moreno”-lol.

Knowshon did not find the endzone but did see the most work out of the backfield. The Broncos need to get Moreno’s confidence level back up since he and Hillman will have to carry the rushing load moving forward. Both are great waiver wire additions but until we know more we have to assume Moreno gets the start again, still I’m defiantly not dropping Hillman.

Michael Bush – 56% owned – After a two touchdown performance this week many fantasy owners will be once again trying to add Michael Bush to their fantasy rosters. Not only should fantasy owners be happy with his touchdown vulturing, but Matt Forte’s ankle seems to be giving him problems again as he left the game Sunday. The Bears have still not released any information on Forte’s status but most likely he will at least miss one game, which puts Bush in line to lead the backfield against a tough Seattle run defense.

David Wilson – 14% owned – Wilson has earned more touches going forward but not by anything he has done. He has been decent given his number of touches, but this week Andre Brown broke his fibula and will be out for the rest of the season, and never underestimate Ahmad Bradshaw’s lingering foot injuries. Wilson could be one wrong Bradshaw step away from being a RB1 in most leagues.

Beanie Wells – 47% owned – Back from the designated to return IR is Beanie Wells. Wells got 17 carries, and while he only got 48 yards on those carries, more exciting for fantasy owners was his impact in the red zone. The Cardinals had no problem giving Wells the looks inside the 20, and it paid off with two touchdowns for Beanie. Look for a similar amount of touches going forward, and Stephens-Howling’s stock decreases a pretty good bit for the rest of the season. That is unless Wells injury gets aggravated again.

Brandon Jacobs- 5.9% owned- Kendall Hunter is headed to IR after getting injured in the game against the Saints. Rumors are Jacobs is about to pick up the slack, yet if you really want to gamble on a waiver wire pick-up, grab rookie LaMichael James. Jacobs is a bruiser RB that doesn’t really complement Gore, whereas James is a speed skat-back that could fill in for the type of plays that Hunter was getting.

Wide Receiver

Cecil Shorts – 61% owned – Shorts continues to be the most targeted receiver on the Jaguars team, and Henne feels very comfortable throwing the ball his way whether he is covered or not. Shorts is not very widely available any more after his 3 weeks of impressive performances, but adding him or Justin Blackmon (60% owned) could help you with the rest of the season as the Jags still face the Bills, Jets, Dolphins, Patriots, and Titans in that order.

T.Y. Hilton - 25% owned – Hilton is actually owned in fantasy leagues slightly more than Donnie Avery, who is the 2nd WR opposite Reggie Wayne for the Colts. Hilton has quick speed, great hands and is gaining more and more attention from Andrew Luck each week.

Pierre Garcon – 55% owned – After missing a large amount of time due to a foot injury it seems that Pierre Garcon is back just in time for the Redskins. Garcon led the team in targets, and while he still reports pain in his foot, he seems likely to play for the rest of the season. RG3 owners were also happy that Garcon got back on the field as this gives the rookie one more weapon in the passing game and helps stretch the field for RG3 to run the ball himself.

Ryan Broyles – 22% owned – Besides a decent running back that can stay healthy, the Lions have desperately needed a WR2 to complement Megatron. Last year teams were unable to cover Calvin man to man, and now that everyone has had their one shot to try to man to man Johnson, defenses are realizing that they need to double cover him, which leaves one on one coverage with another Lions receiver. The problem for the Lions is Titus Young has multiple problems getting and staying on the field and is also just not very good. But Ryan Broyles on the other hand is making a case to be the WR2 for the Lions going forward. He was targeted 12 times and caught 6 for 126 yards. Look for his role to grow as Young continues to struggle to get on the field.

Danario Alexander- 27.5% owned – The Chargers are a mess and Alexander is a little banged up heading into week 13, yet he is one of the more productive fantasy options on the team. Last week Alexander was targeted 8 times pulling in 5 catches for 74 yards.

Davone Bess- 14% owned- We have been recommending Bess throughout November for those needing a safe and reliable PPR wideout sub. Now that the bye weeks are over, the underrated Dolphin pass-catcher may not get the attention he deserves, although as fantasy teams enter the playoffs Bess is a nice safety net target to stash on your bench.

Tight End

Brandon Myers- 57% owned – Tight end sleeper of the year Brandon Myers is still available in so many leagues, yet every week people keep rolling out Vernon Davis and Antonio Gates. Granted, Myers has not been a fantasy stud this year. The most amazing thing about Myers production is that there have been no zeros. Not a single one, all year. This guy produces every week no matter the matchup. He has a great schedule headed into the rest of the NFL season and the fantasy playoffs as he faces the Browns, Broncos, Chiefs, Panthers, and the Chargers in that order.

Dallas Clark – 16% owned – Talk about a guy fantasy owners with tight end problems should be drooling over. Clark has been decent in fantasy production this year comparable to all the tight end busts that have been rampant throughout fantasy football. But even more intriguing than his decent production is his schedule going forward. Dallas and the Bucs face the Broncos, Eagles, Saints, Rams, and the Falcons in that order. Couldn’t ask for a better schedule for the Tampa Bay passing attack to get back into full swing.

Marcedes Lewis- 5% owned- Everything has changed now that Henne has taken over. Lewis may have been unproductive the first half of the season, but since the QB change, the Jags 6’6″ tall Tight End has been targeted 10 times, 7 Rec, 96 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Kicker

Phil Dawson – 16% owned – Dawson deserves to get more chances to kick field goals this year, and as the Browns face the Raiders, who have given up the most fantasy points to opposing kickers, look for Dawson’s 100% field goal kicking to play a key role in the Browns offense this week.

Defense/Special Team

Carolina – 16% owned – An average performance against the Eagles, who have the second worst turnover margin in the NFL, helped this Panther defense get the win on Monday Night Football. Against the Chiefs this week look for the Panthers defense to have a similar performance, but keep in mind the Chiefs have the worst turnover margin in the league this year.

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