Welcome to Week 14. You’ll notice this week’s advice is coming to you from some new names. We are Michael John Improta, and Evan Dietz, two of The League Winner’s newest fantasy football contributors.
When I first started playing fantasy football I found one analyst I liked, and then followed their advice religiously. It was Mr. Roto himself, Matthew Berry. No matter how much Matthew Berry knows about fantasy football, following blindly meant I was just robbing myself of my agency, and the joy/pain that comes with it. So now you have two new voices bringing you some well thought out, and researched opinions. I think you should read what we think, then read more, and then join us waiting with bated breath Wednesday morning to see if we got all the players we wanted off waivers.
No matter who’s advice you ultimately take, you need some information on the hot waiver wire pickups in Week 14. It’s do-or-die time, and if your fantasy football leagues are like many of mine, playoff spots are still too close to call. We will continue Mikey Cannavo’s precedent, and all roster percentages will be via ESPN Fantasy Football. The players that follow are all below 65% rostered.
Quarterbacks
Taysom Hill NO 35.9% Rostered – On Thursday night Taysom Hill threw for 4 Interceptions, and still scored over 20 points. In Week 14 Taysom gets to play against the New York Jets and should put up another delicious fantasy football stat line. He did suffer a finger injury in Week 13. Reports, however, are saying it is a minor injury, and he should get the start.
Cam Newton CAR 34.5% Rostered – I know. In Week 12 Cam Newton put up one of the worst quarterback performances in recent memory. However, with both a bye week to shake off the rust, and the firing Joe Brady, I am willing to see if Cam can get it done this week. Until fantasy football fundamentally changes scoring, quarterbacks who can score a rushing touchdown will always hold value.
Taylor Heinicke WSH 29.6% Rostered – Heinicke is getting the job done in Washington. With his team now in playoff contention, I expect that to continue. His upside is limited, but he may be the safest streaming start this week.
Ben Roethlisberger PIT 15.8% Rostered – I don’t want to include Ben here. I looked for reasons not to include him. At a certain point, you have to trust the numbers. Ben has scored over 14 fantasy points in four of the last five, and over 19 in two of the last three. If you’re streaming, you could do a lot worse than Big Ben.
Zach Wilson NYJ 3.8% Rostered – It depends on what you need for the quarterback position. If you need a safe floor, look elsewhere. If you need a barely rostered guy who has the potential to score over 20, I think Zach Wilson can be that guy for you. He’s coming off a good outing against a tough Philly defense and has the Saints next, who look exploitable of late.
Running Backs
Sony Michel LAR 60.9% rostered – If you have Henderson Jr. and did not pick up Sony to start Sunday then I feel bad for you. You’re unlikely to get him on waivers this week after he went over the century mark and found the end zone. If Henderson misses any time then Michel could vault into the top-12 fantasy football running backs.
D’Onta Foreman TEN 34.2% rostered – Hilliard may have gotten the big TD play in Week 12, but Foreman got 19 carries. The Titans are close to getting Julio Jones and AJ Brown back from injury which should result in fewer defenders in the box. Foreman is a viable fantasy football starter as long as King Henry is out.
JaMychal Hasty SF .5% rostered – Mitchell is in the concussion protocol and Wilson Jr. left Sunday’s loss with injury. The 49ers are the most “next man up” team in the NFL. If Mitchell is out or even limited, Hasty could see plenty of touches on Sunday against the Bengals.
Wide Receivers
Van Jefferson LAR 63.6% Rostered – Jefferson has caught a touchdown in the past two games, on 9 and 8 targets, respectively. He may be the Rams WR3 on paper, but I would start him as a WR2 in fantasy football.
Russel Gage ATL 25.2% Rostered – Gage was targeted 12 times, and caught 11 for 130 against the Buccaneers. The Falcons have needed some more offensive playmakers outside of Patterson, and Pitts. Gage is showing he just might be that guy.
Amon-Ra St. Brown DET 6.5% Rostered – The Lions won a game! As much as I don’t want to start a Lions receiver, especially after my disastrous Kalif Raymond take. Someone in this offense will be startable. I’ll chase the 12 targets and game-winning play by St. Brown.
K.J. Osborn MIN 4.1% Rostered – Osborn caught 4 for 41 and a score against The Lions. With Thielen set to miss time, look for K.J. to get some serious opportunities.
Tight Ends
Cole Kmet CHI 13.5% Rostered – A Bears player in 2021 that isn’t named David Montgomery? With 7 and 11 targets the last two weeks, Kmet has been playing well. While he has not scored a TD, the return of Fields and Montgomery will force defenses to somewhat honor the ground game. That should allow Kmet to safety blanket all over the middle of the field.
Ricky Seals-Jones WFT 6.3% Rostered – Ricky had a few good games with Logan Thomas out. Thomas went down in Sunday’s win against the Raiders and will miss the season. If you’re desperate for tight end help, you could do a lot worse than Seals-Jones.
Defense/STs
Broncos 43.8% rostered – Jared Goff’s Lions beat the Vikings because their secondary was very beatable. So beatable in fact, that Jared Goff led a 2-minute touchdown drive to walk off on the Vikings. The Broncos defense is not the Vikings, so fire them up against the Lions.
Chargers 7.2% rostered- The Chargers play the Giants this week. Do I need to go on? Fine. Danny Dimes and Glennon are likely out. That only leaves Jake Fromm with a depleted WR room, and only Engram and Barkley healthy. Chargers are in a smash spot in Week 14 with Jake Fromm likely making his first NFL start.
Seahawks 6.3% rostered – The Seahawks play the Texans this week with Davis Mills likely the starter. You start your defenses against the Texans. There are three guarantees in life. Death, Taxes, and the Texans being bad without Deshaun Watson.
Kickers
Before I give you the name of someone I think you can play with, I want you to do something for me. Go into your league, sort kickers by season total points, and see if there are any top-5 kickers available. I can’t tell you how many times this has worked out for me. I just did this and found Daniel Carlson, the #3 kicker on the year in fantasy football, available for free in one league. Many people don’t like playing with kickers, so they pick a guy, and then forget that they still get points from this position. Don’t be that player.
Or, start Graham Gano against the Chargers. The Giants kick a lot of field goals.
