Waiver Wire Tuesday-The Best Fantasy Football Pickups for Week 12
Welcome to an extension of 'The Fantasy Football Lounge' which you can hear every Tuesday 5-6p on The Word With G with myself and the Guru aka Spencer Urquhart.
Every week here on this column we'll dive into your fantasy football league waiver wires and unearth the best available players that you can.
Say your team got banged up last week and you need some replacements or maybe you made a few hiccups on draft day and need to add some punch to your lineup or maybe you wanna just pick somebody up for your friends can't get them. Whatever the reason, the waiver wire is a vital tool to either winning or losing in your fantasy football league.
Add the right guy at the right time and it can catapult you forward but drop the wrong guy at the wrong time and you'll be absolutely kicking yourself and watching somebody else enjoy YOUR CHAMPIONSHIP. Now, you definitely don't want that, do you?
Here's how it works. Week by week I'll be searching the waiver wire to find the best guys we can add to try and improve our rosters but they must be owned in less than 50% of ESPN fantasy football leagues.
I'll give you a variety of quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, and tight ends to choose from. No kickers or defense, not here.
So, as they say, the choice is yours and yours alone... Choose wisely my friends and let the fantasy football gods be forever in your favor.
With that being said, it's week eight and the playoffs are closer than you think. It's either time to kick it into high gear, make a trade, or begin to look ahead to set yourself up for success.
This week the bye weeks are DONE and it'll be an early week this week for six teams who are playing on Turkey Day this year, maybe depending on COVID.
Also, now is the time to begin looking ahead and planning for the future favorable match-ups to come if you haven't yet done so.
Here are the guys I'm looking at that could potentially help your rosters heading into week 12.
QUARTERBACKS
Derek Carr, LVR @ ATL-(49% Owned)
It's really surprising that Carr is still available in more than 50% of fantasy football leagues but here we are. He's not a guy who's going to offer you huge upside but he'll usually give you a stable floor as he's averaging about 17 fantasy points per game this year. In addition, he's taking on a Falcons defense which ranks dead last in the NFL against opposing quarterbacks.
Alex Smith, WSH @ DAL-(17% Owned)-Thur.
I know it wasn't a great game for Smith in week 11 but he'll get the start on Thanksgiving to take on the Dallas Cowboys who Kirk Cousins just put up 300 yards and three scores against them. Smith is a good streaming option this week if you've got an average quarterback without a favorable match-up. Additionally, the Cowboys rank 27th against opposing quarterbacks.
RUNNING BACKS
Gus Edwards, BAL @ PIT-(14% Owned)-Thur.
The Baltimore Ravens running back group had been one of the most confusing to figure out who was going to get the usage but this week is quite clear with J.K. Dobbins and Mark Ingram on the COVID/Reserve List it'll be the Gus Edwards show. The match-up isn't great and they're supposed to play the night game on Thanksgiving but the usage will be there for Gus The Bus.
Frank Gore, NYJ vs. MIA-(13% Owned)
Father time just can't seem to catch Frank The Tank as he just keeps plugging along, it's really amazing the level of consistency he's been able to have and the amount of health he's been able to sustain over his career. With youngster La'Mical Perine going down with a high-ankle sprain the job seems to be all Gores for the taking. Now, he won't wow you with any huge stat lines but again the usage will be there with an opportunity to fall into the end zone. He also plays Miami this week who are ranked 21st against opposing running backs and you just can't help but root for a guy like Gore to find success at an advanced age.
WIDE RECEIVERS
Michael Pittman Jr., IND vs. TEN-(42% Owned)
It seems as though we're seeing a changing in the guard out in Indy with Philip Rivers under center, TY Hilton seems to be past his prime and the young-gun Michael Pittman Jr. seems to be emerging. He's put together back-to-back weeks with double-digit fantasy points and the Colts will be taking on a Tennessee team who ranks 28th against opposing wide-outs.
Jalen Reagor, PHI vs. SEA-(34% Owned)
Reagor continues to be a weapon for the Philadelphia Eagles and as players have gotten healthy Travis Fulgum has seemed to fallen out of the mix a bit with Carson Wentz. He's seen 18 targets over his last three games and has been close to or over double-digit points in each of those games and don't forget he gets a vulnerable Seahawks passing defense this week.
Russell Gage, ATL vs. LVR-(11% Owned)
Gage has been on our radar a couple of times this season as he began the season on fire but has slowed down as the season has worn on but now he's back with Julio Jones feeling a bit banged up. That's the major factor here, if Jones misses time then I would suggest trying to acquire Gage if you own Jones it might be a good idea to grab him off the wire but if not wait until the wavier period ends and monitor Julio's week. Let's just hope the Julio owner in your league doesn't read this and beat you to the punch.
TIGHT END
Robert Tonyan, GB vs. CHI (41% Owned)
So, you can no longer utilize the Taysom Hill TE hack this week on ESPN, shucks... You've now got to play him at QB if you want to play him so this week let's look at Robert Tonyan again who found his way back to relevance in week 11 with a touchdown catch. He'll be facing a Chicago Bears defense who ranks 26th against opposing tight ends so why not give him a dart throw this week.
Best of luck in week 12.
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