Many a fantasy football championship has been won with the waiver wire. Following Week 11 action, these are the names that should be on owners' radars going forward. And fear not if your waiver priority is low -- we have some sneaky pickups for you as well.
Ownership percentages are courtesy of Yahoo.
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Quarterbacks
Ryan Fitzpatrick, Jets (23% Owned): Fitzpatrick is a legit fantasy weapon, and he’s worth owning at least as a matchup play. Some guys will never be benched – Tom Brady, Cam Newton and Aaron Rodgers come to mind. Others are good, but not strong plays in some weeks. Fitzpatrick is perfect for those times, because he won’t face one strong defense for the rest of the year. Here’s his schedule: @ Giants, vs. Titans, @ Cowboys, vs. Patriots, @ Bills. Fitz lit up Miami for 277 yards and four scores this past week, and has thrown fewer than two touchdown passes just three times this year.
Tyrod Taylor, Bills (34% Owned): Taylor, like Fitzpatrick, is a low-profile guy who just puts up solid to excellent numbers in most games. Last week in a loss Taylor threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, and sprinkled in 46 rushing yards. So what if the Bills lost? In fantasy the outcome is irrelevant. Taylor’s remaining slate is tougher than Fitzpatrick’s, but Taylor is the more mobile of the two and can still put up points when his passing is scattershot.
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Running Backs
Theo Riddick, Lions (24% Owned): The Lions backfield will make your head spin, but Riddick is clearly still worth owning, even if he’s No. 3 on the depth chart. Riddick has a role as the passing downs back even if Ameer Abdullah can handle that job. There will be weeks where Riddick does almost nothing, but he gets five or six targets a week and has explosive speed.
David Johnson, Cardinals (24% Owned): Johnson is the most physically gifted Arizona running back in 2015, but he’s been stuck behind the shockingly productive Chris Johnson this year. Both Chris Johnson and Andre Ellington got dinged up on Sunday though, leaving David Johnson an opportunity to be fantasy relevant. His stock drops if one of the other backs can suit up vs. St. Louis next week, but if David Johnson has the role, he can explode for your team.
DEEP OPTION: Bilal Powell, Jets (7% Owned): Powell is sneaky. He’s not exceptionally talented and he is buried behind workhorse back Chris Ivory, but the Jets make it their business to involve him during his limited usage. Powell has received 11 combined targets/carries in each of the past two weeks, and that will continue as the Jets try to ensure they don’t ride Ivory to the breaking point.
Wide Receivers
Doug Baldwin, Seahawks (35% Owned): Don’t overreact to Baldwin’s three-touchdown explosion vs. Pittsburgh. That isn’t going to happen again. But for the third straight week Baldwin received enough targets to be a borderline must-start. TE Jimmy Graham is out for the season with a torn patellar tendon, so Baldwin will continue to be heavily targeted.
Rueben Randle, Giants (37% Owned): Randle has shown a knack for finding the end zone recently, including last week when his only reception on six targets was a 36-yard scoring strike. Victor Cruz is out for the season, so Randle will continue to get solid work for the rest of the year in a pass-happy offense.
DEEP OPTION: Robert Woods, Bills (11% Owned): Woods hasn’t been very efficient this year, but he is a frequent target of Tyrod Taylor every week. Woods is averaging eight targets a week for the last three games, and that can balloon to double digits when opponents decide to use extra personnel to control Sammy Watkins.
Tight Ends
Scott Chandler, Patriots (7%): Rob Gronkowski is likely out for Week 13 after hurting his knee, which puts Chandler in a perfect position to soak up tons of targets. Chandler has been a No. 1 TE before with the Bills, but he’s never been the top dog with a QB as great as Tom Brady.
Charles Clay, Bills (35% Owned): Clay has been disappointing for three straight weeks, but the targets remain there. TE is too volatile to completely give up on a player whose role is defined and secure.
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