Fantasy Football Week 14 Waiver Wire
By Brandon Lane
QUARTERBACK
Gardner Minshew, Indianapolis Colts
*Roster Percentage: 23%
Week 14 will be the battle of the backups as the Colts travel to Cincinnati where Gardner Minshew will face Jake Browning. My Week 13 quarterback streamer didn’t disappoint as Minshew completed 26-of-42 passes for 312 yards and two touchdowns. Once again having a plus match-up I say keep ridin’ the SHEW if you are searching for a QB to stream this week.
Jake Browning, Cincinnati Bengals
Roster Percentage: 11%
OK I see you Mr. Browning. With all eyes on him for Monday Night Football, Browning started off a bit slow but looked great down the stretch completing 32-of-37 passes for 354 yards and a touchdown. We will see if he can keep it going when he faces an Indy defense who has played well of late.
Jameis Winston, New Orleans Saints
Roster Percentage: 1%
Another week another Derrick Carr injury scare. It once again looks like it Jameis time. In Week 13 Winston was true to form completing two of five passes for 41 yards. While the picks are likely to be there he does take chances down field and as long as Chris Olave is on the field Winston could be a nice depth piece for fantasy teams struggling with recent quarterback injuries.
Joshua Dobbs/Nick Mullins, Minnesota Vikings
Roster Percentage: 45%/0%
After a nightmare performance in Week 12 where Dobbs threw four picks, coach Kevin O’Connell mentioned he could be considering a change under center. Would he really do that to the fantasy darling of the season, Josh Dobbs? We shall see if Dobbs or Mullins gets the call this week but with the possibility of Justin Jefferson returning this week whomever is under center gets an immediate bump if he is active. Coming off a Bye with an extra week to prepare I believe Dobbs starts in Week 14 against the Raiders.
Others to Consider:
Desmond Ridder (7% vs TB), Joe Flacco (5% vs JAX, watch reports to see draws the start again)Mitch Trubisky (0% vs NE)
RUNNING BACK
If available: Chuba Hubbard (69%), Keaton Mitchell (54%)
Ezekiel Elliott, New England Patriots
Roster Percentage: 40%
Starter Rhamondre Stevenson went down with a high ankle sprain and is likely to miss several weeks. Elliot took over as a bell-cow carrying the ball 17 times for 52 yards and caught 4-of-5 targets for 40 additional yards. Zeke has been battling some injuries of his own but the team should continue its run heavy game script moving forward making Elliott a must add. He faces a tough Steelers front coming off a short week making him a volume based RB2 this week.
D’Onta Foreman/Roschon Johnson, Chicago Bears
Roster Percentage: 39%/21%
Coming out of their Bye the Bears might have all three of their running backs healthy (Herbert/Foreman/Johnson). What that likely means is a headache for fantasy managers but at this point we will have to see what the practice reports reveal this week. If Foreman is healthy I think he gets involved again and Johnson could take a back seat or it could turn into a three-headed monster. We did see Roschon take on a larger workload in Foreman’s absence (seemingly overtaking Khalil Herbert) so it might be best to take a wait and see approach on the Bears backfield.
Tyjae Spears, Tennessee Titans
Roster Percentage: 36%
Derrick Henry was having himself a day before suffering a head injury that ruled him out of the Week 13 match-up. In Week 13 Spears carried the rock 16 times while gaining 13 additional yards via the air. It appears Derrick Henry is likely to play but keep an eye on those reports to see how things pan out.
Ty Chandler, Minnesota Vikings
Roster Percentage: 22%
Many were excited at the prospect of Ty Chandler after his huge Week 11 game where he rushed for 110 yards against the Broncos. Well the next game against the Bears wasn’t so memorable, rushing four times for a measly eight yards. I think there is bounce back potential coming out of the Bye and Chandler could once again be Flex worthy.
Kenneth Gainwell, Philadelphia Eagles
Roster Percentage: 27%
I feel like we have played this game before, so here we go again. After D’Andre Swift was knocked out with an injury the Eagles turned to Kenneth Gainwell who only gained five yards on his two rushing attempts but was more effective through the air catching five balls for 42 yards. The spike in usage was not solely dependent on Swift’s injury but it’s likely the team went with Gainwell while they were in catch-up mode. It will be tough sledding again facing a Dallas team that has been tough to run against.
Others to Consider:
D’Ernest Johnson (17%), Rico Dowdle (11%), DeeJay Dallas (1% if both Kenneth Walker (oblique) and Zach Charbonnet (knee) are out he moves up the list)
WIDE RECEIVER
If available:
Brandin Cooks (63%), Jaxon Smith-Njigba (58%), Jayden Reed (57%)
Noah Brown, Houston Texans
Roster Percentage: 45%
Tank Dell suffered an unfortunate season-ending injury which will undoubtedly boost Noah Brown’s stock the rest of the season. Brown returned after missing two games of his own and failed to catch either of his targets. I chalk it up to rust in my book as he was on fire before his injury. He’s a must add in all leagues but I’d stash him on your bench with a match-up against the Jets defense.
Elijah Moore, Cleveland Browns
Roster Percentage: 43%
Well all the off-season Moore truthers can finally pat themselves on the back. All it took was a reunion with Joe Flacco to unleash his potential, well sorta/kinda as he only caught four of his 12 targets, but that did amount to 83 yards. The usage spike also came with Amari Cooper being knocked out of competition after suffering a concussion. It’s a best case scenario for the skill positions if Flacco remains under center but that has yet to be announced.
Jalin Hyatt, New York Giants
Roster Percentage: 5%
Another rookie emerged in Week 12 and his name is Jalin Hyatt. Hyatt beasted reeling in five balls for 109 yards. Coming off the Giants Week 13 Bye Hyatt is a solid stash for teams seeking depth to see how things play out down the stretch.
Odell Beckham Jr., Baltimore Ravens
Roster Percentage: 39%
Beckham has been fighting injuries all season long but the Week 13 Bye likely helped him get things right. We saw Odell’s redzone usage on the rise and with Mark Andrews out for the season we should see his target share increase as well.
Others to Consider:
Joshua Palmer (29% IR if active move him up the list), Demario Douglas (25% concussion), Zay Jones (20%), Jonathan Mingo (6%)
TIGHT END
Isaiah Likely, Baltimore Ravens
Roster Percentage: 40%
Likely took over for Mark Andrews after he suffered a season ending injury and caught four for 40 yards. By tight end standards thats a pretty solid day but not what managers likely hoped for. But as we discussed before Flowers and Beckham are likely to see a boost in usage while Likely will have his ups and downs. However, this match-up vs the Rams has streaming appeal all over it, so I say FIRE HIM UP!
Gerald Everett, Los Angeles Chargers
Roster Percentage: 22%
The Chargers are desperate for pass catchers and in Week 13 Everett caught 4-of-5 targets for 44 yards. While those numbers aren’t going to catch the eye of most fantasy managers a date with the Broncos defense should. The Broncos defense has been shredded by tight ends all season and managers looking for a streaming option should take a hard look at Mr. Everett.
Tyler Conklin, New York Jets
Roster Percentage: 20%
The Jets are a disaster and much of that has to do with the horrendous quarterback play all season long. But one thing that has been relatively consistent for this offense is Tyler Conklin who remains the safety valve for the carousal of QBs. In Week 13 he saw a whopping nine targets come his way and while he only wrangled in three of them for 35 yards it’s hard to ignore that volume.
Others to Consider:
Darren Waller (58% IR), Cade Otton (47%), Zach Ertz (10% FA), Tyler Higbee (49% concussion/neck), Tucker Kraft (6%)
DEFENSE
Houston vs NYJ
Green Bay @ NYG
New Orleans vs CAR
Detroit vs CHI
Indianapolis @ CIN
*Roster percentages based on Yahoo
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