Waiver Wire Week 12 | 2023 Fantasy Football

This is the Waiver Wire Week 12! Thanksgiving Week is finally here. We get to enjoy the best football day of the year followed by the league’s first Black Friday game. This week will feature a full slate of games with no Bye weeks. But the football gods giveth and the football gods taketh away. Week 13 will be a bloodbath of Bye weeks with a brutal six teams unavailable to us in a must-win week with fantasy playoff ramifications.

As always, we want to try to be one week ahead when it comes to Byes, so take the extra time to check your roster and prepare.

Upcoming Bye Weeks:

WEEK 13

Baltimore

Buffalo

Chicago

Las Vegas

Minnesota

New York Giants

WEEK 14

Arizona

Washington

NOTE: ALL PLAYERS ARE AVAILABLE IN 75% OR MORE OF YAHOO LEAGUES UNLESS LISTED AS A SHALLOW LEAGUE ADD.

Quarterbacks

Desmond Ridder | Atlanta (5%)

Ridder is back behind center and will remain the Atlanta Falcons starter. He had three games with 250 or more passing yards and three rushing TDs on the season. Ridder is not a high ceiling option, but he is a lock starter in Superflex. He has a great matchup in Week 14 against Tampa Bay.

Dorian Thompson-Robinson| Cleveland (6%)

Dorian Thompson-Robinson won against Pittsburgh, but the fantasy production was not there. He now faces a solid set of matchups that should be a lot more fantasy-friendly than the Steelers. Joe Flacco signed with Cleveland, but he seems to be there more for depth and guidance rather than a threat to Thompspn-Robinson unless he fails miserably. Look for more rushing opportunities this week against Denver.

Tommy DeVito | New York (3%)

DeVito had a career high of 246 passing yards and three TDs as New York handled the Washinton Commanders.

Running Backs

Roschon Johnson | Chicago (20%)

Johnson is our No. 1 add at the RB position this week. D’Onta Foreman exited Week 11’s loss to Detroit with an ankle injury, and Khalil Herbert was inefficient. Johnson could see a larger role in Week 12’s divisional matchup against Minnesota.

The rookie has five games with two or more receptions this season, and Minnesota just conceded 14 RB catches to Denver.

Salvon Ahmed | Miami (2%)

De’Von Achane reaggravated his knee injury, and Ahmed stepped up. He finished with three catches for 25 yards, a TD, and added three carries. Ahmed becomes a desperation play this week against the New York Jets if Achane misses.

Rico Dowdle | Dallas (16%)

Dowdle has had 22 touches over his past two games and is one of the more valuable handcuffs in football right now.

SHALLOW LEAGUE ADD Kenneth Gainwell | Philadelphia (27%)

Gainwell is the handcuff to D’Andre Swift and plays in one of the NFL’s top offenses.

D’Ernest Johnson | Jacksonville (0%)

Johnson has passed Tank Bigsby on the depth chart and had a season high 54 yards in Jacksonville’s blowout win over Tennessee. If Travis Etienne were to miss time, Johnson would be a big part of the Jaguars offense.

Jeff Wilson | Miami (11%)

Wilson is back on our fantasy radars despite being inactive in Week 11. Deep leaguers should consider adding him as a contingency play if Achane struggles to get healthy. Ahmed has the receiving ability. However, if Raheem Mostert and Achane went down, Wilson would be a thing.

Samaje Perine | Denver (18%)

Perine is back on the fantasy radar with 10 receptions in his last two games.

This includes a season high – seven catches – in Denver’s win over Minnesota. He has been nonexistent as a runner, but the receiving work seems like it is becoming a weekly thing.

Jaleel McLaughlin | Denver (19%)

McLaughlin has had 15 touches in his last two games. Much like Perine, he has some value as a receiver. However, if Williams were to miss time, I would expect McLaughlin to be the more valuable and more well-rounded back.

Elijah Mitchell | San Francisco (16%)

Mitchell is the handcuff to fantasy’s most productive RB in Christian McCaffrey.

Chris Rodriguez | Washington (1%)

Rodriguez had a season-high 48 combined yards in Week 11’s loss to the Giants. He lost a key fumble but looked explosive. He is one to monitor or stash pending Gibson’s availability this week and beyond.

Zamir White | Las Vegas (2%)

White is the handcuff to a high-volume player in Josh Jacobs. The Raiders have committed to the run.

Wide Receivers

SHALLOW LEAGUE ADD Jayden Reed | Green Bay (36%)

Did the other websites you read have Reed in the top five for their Waiver Wire Additions last week Waiver Wire Week 11 | 2023 Fantasy Football (playerprofiler.com) and in their Sleepers column? They didn’t? Well, we have you covered here at PlayerProfiler.

Betting on a talent like Jayden Reed does not make me sharp, it makes me practical. The Packers lack consistent offensive skill position talent, and the Reed usage increase was bound to happen. Reed has now had 80+ yards from scrimmage in three of his last four games. This past week he led Green Bay in rushing and could see more rushing attempts with Aaron Jones banged up. He is a flex play or better moving forward. Prioritize him if he is available.

SHALLOW LEAGUE ADD: DeMario Douglas | New England (33%)

Douglas is coming off of a season-high nine targets and 84 receiving yards in Week 10. He may have been dropped during the Bye week, and if he was, scoop him up. Douglas is a high floor play moving forward. He has been a lock for the top five overall in this column and he is there once again this week.

Odell Beckham Jr. | Baltimore (30%)

It is officially OBJ time. Don’t believe me? After back-to-back games with TDs, we had Week 12 against Los Angeles circled. Here is what I wrote last week:

Beckham has scored TDs in back-to-back games. The volume has been inconsistent with seven targets in Week 9 and only two targets in Week 10. I am cautiously optimistic that Beckham is heating up. He could be a very fun start in a dream Week 12 matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers.

OBJ proceeded to tie a season high with seven targets. He set a season high with 116 receiving yards. With Mark Andrews most likely done for the season, look for Beckham to challenge for the team lead in targets. He is one of the better Waiver Wire additions available this week. A Week 13 Bye is a tough one to deal with, but this week he should help you earn a win if you are searching for starters.

Khalil Shakir | Buffalo (11%)

Shakir is back in our good graces after a season high 115 receiving yard performance in Week 11’s big win over the New York Jets. He has now out targeted Gabe Davis in two straight games. With two 90+ yard games in his last four, and a recent decline in Davis targets, Shakir can be used in the flex. There is a chance he is third in targets among all Buffalo Bills for the rest of the season.

Jameson Williams | Detroit (20%)

Could Williams be ramping up? Williams’ season has been disappointing, but he scored a big TD this past week in Detroit’s comeback win against Chicago. He now faces off against a susceptible Green Bay Packers defense on Thanksgiving Day. There is no guarantee that Williams is going to be anything more than the occasional big play threat, but if Detroit does start using him more, he could be useful down the stretch.

Rondale Moore | Arizona (15%)

Moore scored a TD on a 48-yard reception in Arizona’s first drive of the game before disappearing for the rest of it. He had eight targets last week in Murray’s first game back. We will need to see an uptick in volume for him to be any use to us this season, but he has certainly been more productive with Murray.

Wan’Dale Robinson | New York Giants (14%)

Robinson should see increased usage with Darius Slayton hurt.

We are now suddenly more excited about Tommy DeVito than any Giants signal caller this season since Daniel Jones early in the season against Arizona.

Robert Woods | Houston (7%)

Noah Brown missed Houston’s Week 11 win over Arizona. Woods stepped right in and was targeted eight times. The Houston passing game is one we want a part of, and Woods can fill in the cracks in many leagues. Woods is not exciting, but the veteran has now been targeted six times or more in six games.

AT Perry | New Orleans (0%)

Perry played a team-high 56 snaps in Week 10’s loss to Minnesota, and head coach Dennis Allen has talked him up as a replacement for Michael Thomas. Dynasty managers should prioritize him.

Greg Dortch | Arizona (0%)

Dortch has some short-term value with Michael Wilson dealing with a shoulder injury. He had some valuable weeks in 2022 and came out of nowhere to lead Arizona with eight targets, six catches, and 76 yards. If Wilson misses more time, Dortch could have some deep league value.

Tight Ends

Isaiah Likely | Baltimore (4%)

Likely has been a nonfactor for much of the season but is now suddenly a priority pickup with the Mark Andrews injury. Last season, Likely had a game with 19.7 PPR points in the regular season and was targeted 13 times and finished with 18.3 PPR points in the NFL playoffs.

There was hope of many- including myself- that he would have a weekly role as a TE2 in the Todd Monken offense, but that never materialized with Andrews dominating the work. I do not anticipate Likely being a featured weapon, but he could be a top 15 play at the TE position for the rest of the season.

Cade Otton | Tampa Bay (20%)

If the Baltimore mystery box is not for you, consider Otton. A frequent mention in my waiver and sleeper’s articles, Otton is the TE18 overall on the season in PPR fantasy points per game. He could be more exciting, but every game he has predictable targets. Otton has been targeted five times or more in four of his last five games.

Michael Mayer | Las Vegas (11%)

Mayer has been targeted five times in back-to-back games. He had his second highest yardage total of the season in Week 11 with 46 receiving yards. Mayer could be a sneaky play this week against Kansas City, as the Chiefs look to take away Davante Adams at all costs.

Tyler Conklin | New York Jets (20%)

Conklin only had two catches this past week but had 13 in the two games prior.

Tanner Hudson | Cincinnati (4%)

Hudson has had at least four catches in three straight games. It is difficult to know what his volume will look like with Jake Browning behind center.