Week 14 Waiver Wire

The fantasy football season is hurdling toward playoffs, and we are all dealing with multiple injuries, the dreaded Week 14 Bye Week (c’mon Goodell, stop with this), and guys we thought would be weekly starters just flat out sucking. Well, as always, we’re here to help you through it all and guide you on who to pick up and how much FAAB to bid on each player. The waiver wire is a big part of how you win your league, so don’t miss out on these players!

Tyler Huntley, QB

It looks as though Lamar Jackson is going to miss Week 14, and as such, Huntley is the obvious fill in. Historically we’ve seen him succeed under center when Lamar has missed time, and I would assume we see more of the same against a Pittsburgh team who is near the bottom of the barrel on defense. If you’re a Lamar owner and the pickings are slim at QB in your league, Huntley is a solid fill in while Lamar is out. You’ll see in our FAAB bids, if you’re a Lamar owner, spending everything you’ve got for a crucial Week 14 matchup is well within reason; it’s almost the equivalent of handcuffing your QB in this scenario.

Week 13 Stats: 16.58 points (27-32 187 yds, 1 INT, 10 att, 41 rush yds, 1 TD)

FAAB Bid: $10-$100

Cam Akers, RB

It’s impossible to predict what’s going to happen week to week with the Rams RBs. It looks like they are content to ride Akers one week, then Kyren Williams, then back to Akers. At least in Week 13 Akers saw 72% of snaps, by far his high mark on the season, and was able to find the endzone twice. 18.50 points with 2 TDs isn’t the greatest stat line in the world, considering he took 17 carries for only 60 yards, just north of 3.5 YPC, but if the volume and goal line looks are there, Akers will be the back to own down the stretch. The Rams don’t have much else for weapons on offense, so anyone who is even remotely involved is worth playing at this point.

Week 13 stats: 18.50 points (17 att, 60 rush yds, 2 TDs, 1 tgt, 1 rec, 0 rec yds)

FAAB Bid: $6 – $12

James Cook, RB

In his Week 13 game against the Patriots, Cook finally looked like the guy we expected to see all season. He out-touched Singletary, he out-gained Singletary, and he just looked like the all around better back. Singy did get the TD, which kept their fantasy outputs close, but in only one less snap Cook was inarguably the more efficient back this week. As they head into a game vs. the Jets in Week 14, a better run defense than the Pats, we may see more of Cook catching balls out of the backfield again, and if this is the case he has a lot of value in PPR formats. I’d definitely recommend stashing him, and possibly even playing him in your flex this week.

Week 13 stats: 13.50 points (14 att, 64 rush yds, 6 tgt, 6 rec, 41 rec yds)

FAAB Bid: $7 – $11

Gus Edwards, RB

If you want to hear a true disagreement on players in fantasy football, please check out the Hold/Fold segment of this week’s podcast (available on topshelffantasy.com or any other podcast player). Scott wants out of the Ravens backfield nightmare, and who can blame him? Dows and Craig want to hold Gus (and even JK Dobbins) as the road ahead is paved with gold for the Ravens backfield, but the question remains… who will get the ball? The Ravens have done this for years now, never having one obvious starting RB. But with Dobbins still yet to step on the field, if BAL goes into a game with PIT with Huntley at QB and only Edwards and Drake at the RB spot, we all expect Edwards to be the back receiving the running work. They had to change it up a bit to work the pass to Drake last week since Denver is a top tier run defense, but that should not be the case against the Steelers in Week 14. Monitor Dobbins closely, because if he plays you’ve got to cap Edwards’ upside.

Week 13 stats: 1.20 points (6 att, 12 rush yds)

FAAB Bid: $5 – $9

JK Dobbins, RB

Dobbins is still waiting to return from his IR stint, despite being activated for his practice window prior to last week’s games. If he can return against the Steelers and their bottom 5 run defense, who allow over 100 yards per game to opposing rushers, he should have a lot of upside, but it all depends on how much of the field he can actually see. Does he show up and play on a pitch count? Does he show up and go full steam ahead? Does he show up and reaggravate his injury yet again and give you a dud? No one knows. But the matchups this week and next are too juicy to leave BAL RBs on waivers. There is surely someone worse on your bench you could drop in place of Dobbins for Week 14.

Week 13 stats: DNP

FAAB Bid: $4 – $10

Darius Slayton, WR

Slayton was on this list last week, and saw only a modest 6% boost in ownership from then til now. He scored 12 points this week, which puts him in double digits 3 of the last 4 weeks (with the one miss being a 7.80 point game). That sort of production is money in your flex spot in probably all league formats, so there’s no reason he shouldn’t at least be rostered. He has a tougher matchup with Philly in Week 14, but I would still expect him to see his share of targets. He’s also only scored 2 TDs on the season, so the points he’s scoring are typically just coming from yardage. In a game most expect the Giants to be trailing, I’ll take my chances and start Slayton once again.

Week 13 stats: 12.00 points (8 tgt, 6 rec, 90 rec yds)

FAAB Bid: $5 – $10

Corey Davis, WR

Since coming back from injury, Davis had a rough game against Chicago but rebounded against Minnesota and their horrible pass defense, posting an 11 point game (10 targets, 5 receptions, 85 yards). He and Mike White are clearly on the same page now, and although Buffalo’s defene has been okay, they’re not top tier by any means. There should be opportunites for Davis to make an impact, either because it’s a close game and they’re trying to beat a division rival, or because Buffalo has run away with the game and they’re throwing the ball to try to keep pace.

Week 13 stats: 12.40 points (10 tgt, 5 rec, 85 rec yds)

FAAB Bid: $5 – $7

DJ Chark, WR

Chark has posted two good stat lines in back to back weeks since returning from his absence, and this week he draws a matchup with Minnesota, who are allowing receivers to do pretty much anything they want against them this season. The Lions are still not out of contention for an NFC Wild Card spot, and a win against a division rival would go a long way toward securing a berth. In order for them to do this, they’ll need Chark (and Amon-Ra) to keep it up down the stretch. I expect to see more out of Chark before the season is over.

Week 13 stats: 12.30 (6 tgt, 5 rec, 98 rec yds)

FAAB Bid: $3 – $6

Michael Gallup, QB

Ranking Gallup is tricky, especially when the Cowboys decimated the Colts and everyone seemed to play above their norm. Is this just Dallas finding their groove, or was it a fluke? Hard to tell you for sure, but what I do know with absolute certainty is that they play Houston this week, who can’t stop a nosebleed. On top of that, we saw Dallas show no hesitation to keep the pressure on and run the score up a bit against Indy, and I’d expect more of the same against the Texans. Even though Gallup only had 4 catches for 23 yards, he found the endzone twice, and if they plan to use him down close to the goal, I’ll take it. I’d expect Gallup to have every shot at another big game this week.

Week 13 stats: 16.30 points (7 tgts, 4 rec, 23 yds, 2TDs)

FAAB Bid: $3 – $5

Evan Engram, TE

Engram was our TE streaming selection of the week for Week 13, and it paid off. In a down week for TEs across the league, Engram ended as the TE5 with 11.5 points, not a monster showing but anything over 10 is good for the TE spot. This week he faces off against the Titans, who have struggled to contain opposing TEs this year. I think Engram is a fine play again in Week 14 and should be added to many more rosters than the current 44% he sits at now.

Week 13 stats: 11.50 points (7 tgts, 5 rec, 30 rec yds, TD)

FAAB Bid: $2 – $4

Baker Mayfield, QB

This is a deep dive waiver pickup, and likely only applies to dynasty or 2QB formats, but if Baker ends up signing with San Fran this could be a value play for the fantasy playoffs. There isn’t a ton of upside for what he can do as your QB1, but as a depth play or an “in need of emergency” fill in, you could do worse. However, even if signed, he is likely not to play his first week there, given the difficulty of the offense to pick up quickly.

Week 13 stats: DNP

FAAB Bid: $1 – $2