Waiver Wire

The teams you play every week now will have stronger rosters. The decisions you make are more important in a single-elimination format. Every point counts. Your bench is also less important. If you are rostering a player you would never start, like a Mack Hollins type, you are better off cutting them for a defense with a strong weekly matchup or even a handcuff RB, preferably behind a banged-up starter. We also want to roster our own handcuff RB whenever possible. We only want to roster one defense during the season, but it is perfectly acceptable to roster multiple defenses during the playoffs. 

This will be the last week I take a league-wide view of NFL backfields in this column. With the playoffs approaching and trade deadlines largely passed, the utility of analyzing players not already on your team, and not available on the waiver wire reduces significantly. That’s why, instead of focusing on usage shifts in backfields generally, I want to instead focus on the best opportunities for playoff running back stashes.

I have begged everyone to add James Cook for weeks now, and Cook SZN could finally be here. Well, maybe not SZN level, but Flex-worthy James Cook is here, which is still very exciting. This past week, Cook rushed for 64 yards but, more importantly, added six receptions for 41 yards.

This is the Hitchhiker’s Guide to RB: Week 13! If you are new to the column, this is the place we talk all things running back streaming. Each week we discuss running back usage, matchups, and waiver opportunities to convert the least amount of capital into a playable running back position on your fantasy teams.

White stepped in for the enigmatic and ineffective Zach Wilson and was named the starter this week, and boy, did he deliver. He passed for 315 yards and three TDs in the rain as New York dominated The Bears. White also displayed chemistry with Garrett Wilson and Elijah Moore. The Jets’ offense is pointing up, and White is firmly on the streaming radar. He is a must-add in Superflex formats and a consideration in single QB leagues. 

What Pollard and Williams have been able to accomplish in part-time roles all season has been remarkable, even if they’ve admittedly ran hot. This type of game is always the ceiling scenario for Williams who is essentially the James Conner of 2o22 with his run of goal-line touchdowns. We’ve talked about Williams plenty here when D’Andre Swift missed games early in the season, and honestly, his role has hardly changed. The primary driver of Williams’s variance game to game has been script rather than who else is active around him. He is the primary early-down rusher with possession over 80-percent of work inside the five. The complimentary early-down and pass-down roles opened the year as entirely D’Andre Swift’s domain.

When the Patriots are able to run and do they want to run, Stevenson scores fantasy points. His 129 carries heading into Week 11 sat No. 13 and his 24 Red Zone Touches No. 2. Though he has only a modest 95.5 (48th-percentile) Speed Score, his 11.24 (69th-percentile) Agility Score has helped him to a 6.2-percent (No. 18) Breakaway Run Rate. But even when the Pats can’t run, Stevenson scores, anyway. He’s seen 49 targets on the year and a 17.1-percent (No. 5) Target Share.

Williams was cleared to practice this week. I am not sure when he will make his debut, but we are talking about a dynamic, exciting first-round draft pick who could be a Jaylen Waddle-like player in this league. He is a perfect addition for teams that are in great playoff shape and could use a high-upside hammer as a bench stash to put their teams over the top. 

Remember when I was bummed that Parris Campbell’s breakout was going to get halted because the Colts switched to Sam Ehlinger at quarterback? Well, now I feel worse because I don’t have him anywhere, and Matt Ryan is back. Campbell is finally happening! Here are his numbers in the last three games Matt Ryan has been under center for the Colts: 32 targets, 24 receptions, 203 yards, and three touchdowns. Campbell now leads wide receivers in slot snaps with 385 and is No. 4 in routes run with 347.

The 49ers worked Elijah Mitchell in more substantially this week. He played a third of the snaps, splitting goal-line work and carries evenly. McCaffrey maintained dominance of the passing work. If this situation holds, it places McCaffrey more in line with early-season Austin Ekeler and peak Alvin Kamara rather than the potential 30-point-per-week supernova we thought we had last week. That being said, I would still be trading for McCaffrey. Trading early down volume for increased team scoring opportunities is a net positive from his time in Carolina for my money. He maintains an elite floor via the pass-game, and his ceiling in negative script or with a Mitchell injury is RB1 in a tier of his own.