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| Tuesday, November 19, 2024 |
| Week 12 Waiver Wire |
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Quarterback
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| Drake Maye - He looks like a near-elite Fantasy QB to me. |
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| If you want a closer look at Maye, I created twitter threads with film cut-ups from his Week 9, Week 10, and Week 11 games. The rookie continues to provide life for a Patriots offense that was aimlessly meandering through the season before he took charge. In games that he started and finished, Maye has averaged 17.2 Fantasy points. That would rank as QB12 on the year, just behind Jordan Love and Jared Goff and just ahead of Geno Smith and Sam Darnold. He only seems to be getting better, and that's reflected in a respectable 19th-ranked Vegas-implied point total for the Patriots in Week 12. I have no idea why Maye remains a free agent in over half of CBS leagues. |
| Also a free agent in over half of CBS leagues is Anthony Richardson. He and Maye face each other in Week 13, and then both have Week 14 byes. Neither has favorable Fantasy playoff schedules. So, with Maye ranking ahead of A Rich for me in Week 12 (and probably in Week 13), and with each likely to head back to the free agency pool in Week 14, the rookie is my preference if choosing between the two as a Week 12 addition. |
| If you want to watch some Week 11 Anthony Richardson, you can do so in this Twitter thread! |
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| Tommy DeVito - If looking for help in superflex leagues, DeVito may be a huge add. The late-season schedule for the Giants sets up so nicely if the QB position can deliver even remotely competent play. |
| Running Back |
| Trey Benson - Arizona's backfield belongs to James Conner for as long as he's healthy, but Benson's time could be coming at any moment. He got a few more touches than usual in a blowout Week 9 win over Chicago, one of which was a second quarter goal line touchdown. James Conner touched the ball eight times for 53 scrimmage yards on that drive but left briefly with an injury, so Benson capped the drive off. |
| Week 10 brought another blowout win, and Benson saw his role expand slightly as a result. It's worth noting that he did register two first quarter rushes against the Jets, though! Benson only had two first quarter carries all year prior to Week 10. I do think that he's been slowly gaining the trust of the coaching staff. For more detailed info on that, check out this awesome tweet from the Coachspeak Index! |
| And here's a cut-up of Benson's best plays from Week 10! |
| Maybe his role is expanded out of the Week 11 bye. Or maybe he simply waits for an opportunity if Conner has to miss any time. |
| Tyjae Spears - He could be a late-season Fantasy savior if Tony Pollard can't hold up deep into the winter. The upcoming schedule for the Titans is plenty inviting! Spears seems to be the one who can't hold up, though! |
| Blake Corum - Same logic as Spears. Early-season bye week + a bellcow RB1 who has an injury history has me stashing the team's RB2 everywhere. |
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| Jaylen Wright - Maybe we see the rookie play a larger role down the stretch! Raheem Mostert only played 17% of the snaps and did not have a single rush attempt in Week 10 following a costly Week 9 fumble. |
| Cam Akers - He's the RB2 at the moment and would presumably get first crack at starting work if Aaron Jones were to miss any time. |
| MarShawn Lloyd - I loved Lloyd as a prospect! We could see the rook work his way into a significant role late in the season. |
| Wide Receiver |
| Christian Watson - Ayyye, a Christian Watson hit always feels good. Even after he was featured in this space last week, he's still available in 47% of CBS leagues. There's massive upside available to Watson if the Packers get into some shootouts over the next month. |
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| Watson ran a route on 70% of the Packers dropbacks in Week 11. Dontayvion Wicks had a 30% rate. Maybe those two rates creep closer to each other over a larger sample size. Watson accounted for 150 of Green Bay's 261 receiving yards while Wicks went catchless in Week 11, so I don't see any reason to expect a change in usage. We'll see! I'm starting Watson almost everywhere that I have him. Maybe I'm just desperate! The Packers have the sixth-highest implied point total for Week 11 in a game with the fourth-highest over/under, so there could be points! |
| Jalen Coker - I read Matt Harmon's Reception Perception rookie receiver report, and he had glowing reviews (relative to expectations) for both Xavier Legette and Jalen Coker. Both are widely available in Fantasy, Coker much more-so. Of the two, Coker's Fantasy Points Data Suite's separation grades are slightly better than Legette's. His job on the inside is a slightly easier and more reliable one, too, in terms of drawing and converting targets into Fantasy points on a week-to-week basis. |
| In Week 10, Coker left a lot of meat on the bone. It could have been a huge Fantasy performance. I don't feel any level of confidence that Bryce Young and an undrafted rookie will often find themselves on the positive side of variance, but crazier things happen in the NFL! The opportunity is there, and Coker has flashed better hands than we saw on display in Week 10. |
| In my opinion, Coker's ability to present an open target is the most notable takeaway from Week 10. He had a massive 36% first-read target rate. |
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| Curtis Samuel - Hey hey, two big waiver wire wide receiver hits in the same week! Sorry, I know that hitting should be the expectation. I'll try to act like I've been here before. Both Watson and Samuel are personal preferences of mine, though, and neither can seem to stay healthy and convert on their opportunities with much consistency. Anyway, I'm excited the Samuel played well. Even with Amari Cooper back, Samuel popped up several times in the Chiefs game. |
| The Bills are on bye this week, so Samuel is only a name to have in mind if playing in deeper leagues or dynasty leagues. He's flashed some of the talent that many expected he might be able to employ to elevate this Bills offense. Maybe it just took him a while to find his footing following a preseason turf toe injury. |
| Here's last week's extensive write-up on Samuel: |
| "Like Coker, Samuel's Week 10 role did not amount to much. Unlike Coker, Samuel plays with Josh Allen." |
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| In Week 11, Samuel remained very involved! |
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| The Bills are passing the ball a ton lately! Samuel is a name to know for deep leagues! My guess is that Amari Cooper becomes more integrated into the offense during the bye week and Samuel becomes less important, but we will see! |
| Tight End |
| Jonnu Smith - Jonnu Smith is still available in over half of leagues?! Am I just shouting into the void here, does anyone read these recommendations?! |
| (Thank you for being here!) |
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| Jonnu was written off by the Fantasy community after a less-than-inspiring stint with the Patriots, but he's always been an excellent source of yards after the catch. He might just stick around as a key piece of this Dolphins offense. |
| If you did not catch the Beyond the Box Score podcast episode on FFT that I record with Adam Aizer and Dan Schneier every Monday, you can listen to that here! |
| Week 12 Rankings |
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| Quarterback |
| I'll sort these rankings into tiers in the Thursday update. Check back on Thursday if you want tiers. |
| ("ECR" = expert consensus rank. These images show my rankings and how they compare to consensus, courtesy of FantasyPros) |
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| Running Backs |
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| I'll sort these rankings into tiers in the Thursday update. Check back on Thursday if you want tiers. |
| ("ECR" = expert consensus rank. These images show my rankings and how they compare to consensus, courtesy of FantasyPros) |
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| Wide Receivers |
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| I'll sort these rankings into tiers in the Thursday update. Check back on Thursday if you want tiers. |
| ("ECR" = expert consensus rank. These images show my rankings and how they compare to consensus, courtesy of FantasyPros) |
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| Tight Ends |
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| I'll sort these rankings into tiers in the Thursday update. Check back on Thursday if you want tiers. |
| ("ECR" = expert consensus rank. These images show my rankings and how they compare to consensus, courtesy of FantasyPros) |
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| If you have any feedback on the newsletter, feel free to send it my way! Thank you for reading! And please, do check out Beyond the Boxscore on FFT! Adam, Dan, and I put a lot of work into that podcast project and aim to make it fun and accessible for any level of NFL fan! |
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