The 9 best fantasy waiver pickups for Week 12
Jonathan Brooks, Jordan Mason and Adam Thielen highlight the top waiver wire targets in fantasy football entering Week 14.
Welcome to the Week 14 waiver wire watch! Consider making a waiver claim in your fantasy football leagues for the following players (available in at least 50% of ESPN leagues).
Will Levis, QB, Tennessee Titans
After posting 400 yards and 3 touchdowns in a huge divisional win, Russell Wilson will likely be the most popular waiver add at this position — deservedly so. We’ll focus instead on Levis, who should be on the radar of anyone in 2QB/deeper fantasy leagues. He had a tumultuous start to the season and was benched for a few games, yet Levis has scored over 16 points in each of his four games since returning as Tennessee’s starter. Brian Callahan is quietly grooving with his calmed-down gunslinger. They’ll benefit from a cupcake schedule over the next month against the Jaguars (32nd in fantasy points allowed to quarterbacks), Bengals (29th), Colts (23rd) and Jaguars again.
Jonathon Brooks, RB, Carolina Panthers
The 46th overall pick and first running back off the board of this year’s draft made his NFL debut in Week 12. Brooks totaled just 2 carries for 7 yards but became more involved on Sunday when he had 9 touches for 41 yards. The rebuilding Panthers are in no hurry to rush back Brooks as he continues to recover from an ACL tear, especially with Chuba Hubbard (who signed a contract extension in November) firmly entrenched in the backfield. Still, if Brooks can earn 10-12 touches going forward, that’d be saying a lot more than almost any player available on waivers.
Isaac Guerendo, RB, San Francisco 49ers
Sadly, Christian McCaffrey’s season is likely over due to a PCL injury. He exited early in the second quarter of Sunday Night Football. Jordan Mason took the lead with 13 carries for 78 yards, and he’s averaged 17.3 carries and 90.6 rushing yards in six starts sans CMC this season. However, he subsequently suffered his own ankle injury and is also going on injured reserve. That means Isaac Guerendo is the next man up. Guerendo had four rushes for 19 yards and a touchdown in place of Mason. He has an 85-yard game and a 99-yard game in place of injured backs and with a 5.9 yards per carry average, he is worth a look. Guerendo is rostered in only 7% of leagues so he should be available.
Blake Corum, RB, Los Angeles Rams
Plenty of “handcuff” running backs are available in fantasy leagues, and plenty are more talented than Corum. None have as good of a situation as the third-round rookie, though. Rams starter Kyren Williams leads all players in carries inside the 5-yard line, and while it would take him being absent for Corum to really provide fantasy value, the latter is worth a stash just in case for anyone with roster room to spare. Williams has a very small frame and has been dealing with fumble issues, which is possibly what opened the door for Corum to total a career-high 42 yards on Sunday. Again, this is just a luxury add for fantasy managers who can afford it, but I’m planting my flag on Corum as thee handcuff RB to own right now.
Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, WR, Tennessee Titans
The man just keeps scoring touchdowns! Make it eight in his past eight games for Westbrook-Ikhine, who posted season-highs with 8 targets and 2 spikes on Sunday. His production is fully unsustainable... yet as mentioned above, Levis and Callahan are cooking up something spicy in Nashville, and their upcoming schedule is hard to beat.
Adam Thielen, WR, Carolina Panthers
Having two Titans and two Panthers on this list is nasty work by me. Thielen’s spot may be the most well-deserved, especially after catching 8 of 10 targets for 99 yards and a touchdown on Sunday (all season highs). Thielen is Bryce Young’s go-to guy. Now that the former is getting healthier and the latter is gaining confidence, Thielen is poised for notable fantasy production down the stretch. He won’t be available in the majority of leagues by this weekend.
Parker Washington, WR, Jacksonville Jaguars
The quietest breakout performance of the week came from Washington, who had a career day catching passes from two different quarterbacks. Mac Jones had to finish the day for Trevor Lawrence but “P Dubs” still caught 6 of 12 balls for 103 yards and a score. He benefitted from facing a backup slot corner and only has one other NFL game with 50-plus yards, so Washington shouldn’t be expected to become a consistent fantasy option. That said, the Penn State product will continue to see opportunities in Christian Kirk’s absence for a Jaguars team that will continue to be trailing often.