Every Friday I will list some players who I think if things go their way, will wind up in those waiver articles the following Tuesday. You don’t have to stash all of them – it depends on who you have on your roster, the depth of your benches, the scoring system of your league, etc. But these are guys that should at least be on your radar.
Stashing players is only something that can occur in deeper leagues with large benches, so to make this information worthwhile, I will only be recommending guys that are under 20% owned on both Yahoo and ESPN, and in many cases, you’ll see percentages in the single digits. If you’re in a league where guys like Myles Gaskin (69% on Yahoo, 81.9% on ESPN), Taysom Hill (59% on Yahoo, 72.3% on ESPN), or Justin Herbert (92% on Yahoo, 99% on ESPN) are on the waiver wire, you’re either in a league too shallow for stashing, or you should go pick them up right away.
In addition, for those of you in really deep leagues (16+ teams), we will also include some deep cut players that are rostered in less than 3% of leagues on both Yahoo and ESPN in a section at the end to try and give you the best chance of winning your fantasy league.
Week 1 was a success where we advised you to pick up Joshua Kelley, Laviska Shenault, and Jerick McKinnon. Week 2 was successful in getting you to roster Myles Gaskin on your team. Week 3 and 4 were less successful but had a few solid waiver suggestions such as Jeff Wilson, Mo Alie-Cox, and Hunter Renfrow. Weeks 5 and 6 we told you to pick up Trey Burton who has emerged as a legitimate TE1 option in the Colts offense. In Week 7, we advised you to pick up JaMycal Hasty, Giovani Bernard, and Tua Tagovailoa. In Week 8, we recommended picking up Denzel Mims, Jalen Reagor, and Darnell Mooney. In Week 9, our recommendation was that you pick up Jordan Wilkins and Jordan Reed. In Week 10, Kalen Ballage was the big piece that we told you to pick up from ‘The Must Stash’, and if you read the ‘Deep Cuts’ section, you might’ve picked up Salvon Ahmed as well. In Week 11, we advised you to grab Taysom Hill, Breshad Perriman, and Devontae Booker off the waiver wire. In Week 12, we re-emphasized that you should pick up Denzel Mims and also suggested Frank Gore might have some value.
Who made the list(s) this week? Let’s dive in!
Week 13 Recap
Kyle Rudolph – Rudolph only saw two targets against the Jacksonville Jaguars and caught neither of them. Huge bust for ‘The Must Stash’ and can be dropped.
Devontae Booker – Devontae Booker took 16 carries for 50 rushing yards against the Jets. While it wasn’t the game we expected him to have against the Jets, it was solid enough to make Booker a hold for at least another week.
Ito Smith – Smith took eight carries for 36 rushing yards against the New Orleans Saints, which was better than both Brian Hill and Todd Gurley. He’s worth a hold.
Jeremy McNichols – Jeremy McNichols continued to operate as Derrick Henry‘s primary handcuff and took two carries for two yards and a touchdown (in addition to three catches for 15 yards through the air). Considering the Titans juicy fantasy playoff schedule, Jeremy McNichols is 100% worth a bench spot.
Mike Boone – Like it was said in the last edition, Boone is 100% a hail mary pick. Just didn’t pan out, and he’s probably not worth rostering.
Keke Coutee (Deep Cuts) – Coutee balled out against the Colts catching eight of nine targets for 141 receiving yards. He’s looking like a solid FLEX play down the stretch and should be rostered.
The Must Stash
Collin Johnson, WR, Jacksonville Jaguars (1% on Yahoo, 0.6% on ESPN)
Collin Johnson got a lot of hype from beat writers and reporters in the Jaguars training camp, but when the NFL season hit he had a hard time getting on the field with D.J. Chark, Laviska Shenault, Chris Conley, and Keelan Cole ahead of him on the depth chart. That has changed a bit over the last two weeks, and Johnson has been much more involved in the Jaguars offense. The six-foot-six, 220-pound wide receiver caught four of eight targets for 96 receiving yards and a touchdown against the Cleveland Browns in week 12 and then followed it up with four receptions on six targets for 66 receiving yards against the Minnesota Vikings.
Keep an eye on #Jaguars 6'6'' WR Collin Johnson as fantasy football leagues begin to wrap up. Over the last two weeks, his stat lines have been…
Week 12 (vs. CLE): 4 receptions (8 targets), 96 rec yards, 1 rec TD
Week 13 (vs. MIN): 4 receptions (6 targets) for 66 rec yards
— Eli G (@3li_handles) December 9, 2020
The rookie wide receiver has been on fire the last couple games, and if he has one more great game he will cost you a waiver or more of your FAAB Budget to acquire him. Take a shot on him now if you have a spot!
Cam Sims, WR, Washington Football Team (0% on Yahoo, 0.3% on ESPN)
Are we really going to hype up a wide receiver from the Washington Football Team that’s not named Terry McLaurin? Yes. Yes we are. Cam Sims has been balling out for the Washington Football Team since their week 8 bye, catching 14 passes on 20 targets for 276 receiving yards over the last five games. In addition, he’s played 40+ offensive snaps (74%+) in each of the Washington Football Team’s games since week 7, proving that this workload is sustainable.
| Week | Opponent | Targets | Receptions | Receiving Yards | Receiving TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PHI | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | @ARZ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | @CLE | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | BAL | 2 | 2 | 17 | 0 |
| 5 | LAR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | @NYG | 1 | 1 | 22 | 1 |
| 7 | DAL | 1 | 1 | 22 | 0 |
| 9 | NYG | 4 | 3 | 110 | 0 |
| 10 | @DET | 5 | 4 | 54 | 0 |
| 11 | CIN | 2 | 2 | 20 | 0 |
| 12 | @DAL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | @PIT | 9 | 5 | 92 | 0 |
Jalen Hurts, QB, Philadelphia Eagles (12% on Yahoo, 5.9% on ESPN)
Jalen Hurts was named the starting quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles game on Sunday against the New Orleans Saints. While it will be his first NFL start, there’s a lot to like about Jalen Hurts’ fantasy profile. For starters, he’s a fantastic running quarterback with his college rushing statistics ranking among the best of NFL quarterbacks – 8th in rushing attempts per game (10.96), 4th in rushing yards per game (58.46), and 5th in rushing touchdowns per game (0.77). Considering many of the top fantasy quarterbacks rank among the top 10 in at least one of these categories like Patrick Mahomes, Dak Prescott, Kyler Murray, Deshaun Watson, and Russell Wilson, it suggests that Jalen Hurts has a good shot to fantasy relevance just based on his rushing ability.
Philadelphia #Eagles QB Jalen Hurts has a tough matchup against the New Orleans Saints, but he should absolutely be rostered as long as he's a starting QB purely for his rushing upside.
I took a look at 50 NFL quarterbacks collegiate rushing statistics and here is what I found pic.twitter.com/WdzLOdThyN
— Eli G (@3li_handles) December 10, 2020
| Player Name | College Team(s) | # of Games | Rushing Attempts Per Game | Rushing Yards Per Game | Rush TDs Per Game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jimmy Garoppolo | Eastern Illinois (‘10-’13) | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Joe Flacco | Delaware (‘04-’07) | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Lamar Jackson | Louisville (‘15-’17) | 38 | 17.24 | 108.74 | 1.31 |
| Taysom Hill | Brigham Young (‘12-’16) | 37 | 14.43 | 76.08 | 0.86 |
| Cam Newton | Florida (‘07-’08), Auburn (‘10) | 20 | 14.25 | 79.3 | 1.2 |
| Ryan Fitzpatrick | Harvard (’01-’04) | 30 | 12.17 | 49.57 | 0.53 |
| Deshaun Watson | Clemson (‘14-’16) | 38 | 11.45 | 50.89 | 0.68 |
| Alex Smith | Utah (‘02-’04) | 25 | 11.44 | 42.88 | 0.6 |
| Daniel Jones | Duke (‘15-’18) | 36 | 11.28 | 36.75 | 0.47 |
| Jalen Hurts | Alabama (‘16-’18), Oklahoma (‘19) | 56 | 10.96 | 58.46 | 0.77 |
| Dak Prescott | Mississippi State (‘12-’15) | 49 | 10.94 | 51.45 | 0.84 |
| Patrick Mahomes | Texas Tech (‘14-’16) | 32 | 9.63 | 26.41 | 0.69 |
| Russell Wilson | North Carolina State (‘08-’10), Wisconsin (‘11) | 50 | 8.82 | 28.42 | 0.46 |
| Josh Allen | Wyoming (‘15-’17) | 27 | 8.78 | 28.41 | 0.44 |
| Colt McCoy | Texas (‘06-’09) | 53 | 8.43 | 29.64 | 0.38 |
| Baker Mayfield | Texas Tech (‘13), Oklahoma (‘15-’17) | 48 | 8.42 | 22.56 | 0.44 |
| Andy Dalton | Texas Christian (‘07-’10) | 50 | 8.26 | 32.22 | 0.44 |
| Kyler Murray | Texas A&M (‘15), Oklahoma (‘17-’18) | 29 | 7.14 | 50.97 | 0.45 |
| Chase Daniel | Missouri (‘05-’08) | 51 | 7.14 | 19.02 | 0.2 |
| Blaine Gabbert | Missouri (‘08-’10) | 31 | 7.13 | 14.77 | 0.26 |
| Ben Roethlisberger | Miami OH (‘01-’03) | 38 | 7.07 | 6.47 | 0.18 |
| PJ Walker | Temple (‘13-’16) | 49 | 6.96 | 15.73 | 0.18 |
| Joe Burrow | Ohio State (‘15-’17), LSU (‘18-’19) | 38 | 6.79 | 21.58 | 0.34 |
| Aaron Rodgers | California (‘03-’04) | 25 | 6.4 | 13.44 | 0.36 |
| Teddy Bridgewater | Louisville (‘11-’13) | 39 | 5.79 | 4.36 | 0.15 |
| Jarrett Stidham | Baylor (‘15), Auburn (‘17-’18) | 37 | 5.7 | 6.05 | 0.24 |
| Drew Brees | Purdue (‘97-’00) | 45 | 5.62 | 20 | 0.31 |
| CJ Beathard | Iowa (’13-’16) | 40 | 5.6 | 10.73 | 0.25 |
| Justin Herbert | Oregon (‘16-’19) | 43 | 5.37 | 13.02 | 0.3 |
| Jameis Winston | Florida State (‘13-’14) | 27 | 5.37 | 10.52 | 0.26 |
| Blake Bortles | UCF (‘11-’13) | 37 | 5.27 | 15.16 | 0.41 |
| Philip Rivers | North Carolina State (‘00-’03) | 49 | 5.14 | 1.96 | 0.35 |
| Carson Wentz | North Dakota State (‘12-’15) | 42 | 5.14 | 24.48 | 0.31 |
| Sam Darnold | USC (‘15-’17) | 27 | 5.07 | 12.3 | 0.26 |
| Dwayne Haskins | Ohio State (‘17-’18) | 22 | 4.68 | 8.82 | 0.18 |
| Jared Goff | California (‘13-’15) | 37 | 4.59 | -3.08 | 0.03 |
| Jordan Love | Utah State (‘17-’19) | 38 | 4.47 | 10.61 | 0.24 |
| Kyle Allen | Texas A&M (‘14-’15), Houston (‘17) | 24 | 4.38 | 5.5 | 0.13 |
| Nick Mullens | Southern Mississippi (’13-’16) | 44 | 4.16 | -4.77 | 0.2 |
| Drew Lock | Missouri (‘15-’18) | 50 | 4.04 | 8.74 | 0.18 |
| Matt Ryan | Boston College (‘04-’07) | 43 | 3.91 | 1.35 | 0.26 |
| Mitchell Trubisky | North Carolina (‘14-’16) | 31 | 3.87 | 14.16 | 0.26 |
| Derek Carr | Fresno State (‘09-’13) | 44 | 3.73 | 4.32 | 0.11 |
| Matthew Stafford | Georgia (‘06-’08) | 39 | 3.62 | 5.46 | 0.15 |
| Tua Tagovailoa | Alabama (‘17-’19) | 32 | 3.34 | 7.5 | 0.28 |
| Matt Schaub | Virginia (‘00-’03) | 40 | 3.3 | 1.45 | 0.13 |
| Gardner Minshew | East Carolina (‘16-’17), Washington State (‘18) | 30 | 3.2 | 1.43 | 0.13 |
| Tom Brady | Michigan (‘96-’99) | 29 | 3.1 | -5.17 | 0.1 |
| Nick Foles | Michigan State (‘07), Arizona (‘09-’11) | 36 | 2.94 | -8.06 | 0.11 |
| Sean Mannion | Oregon State (‘11-’14) | 47 | 2.81 | -17.11 | 0.04 |
| Kirk Cousins | Michigan State (‘08-’11) | 45 | 2.47 | 2.82 | 0.02 |
| Ryan Tannehill | Texas A&M (‘08-’11) | 50 | 2.3 | 7.38 | 0.1 |
*Table Note: College rushing totals include sacks
Hurts’ running ability could make him an intriguing fantasy option for those struggling at quarterback. While he’s unlikely to light up the world against one of the best defenses in the league this week, his rushing ability should give him a decent floor. If he can have a solid game in his first NFL start he’ll be a hot waiver pickup with the Arizona Cardinals and Dallas Cowboys next on the schedule.
Peyton Barber, RB, Washington Football Team (5% on Yahoo, 11.8% on ESPN)
Peyton Barber was on our ‘Deep Cuts’ list last week after taking 19 carries for 85 rushing yards in weeks 11 and 12. Despite this workload, it seemed unlikely that Peyton Barber would be able to make ‘The Must Stash’ this year…until rookie running back Antonio Gibson went down with a toe injury in week 13 against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Peyton Barber took 14 carries for 23 rushing yards and a touchdown. With Gibson’s injury putting his status up in the air the next few weeks, Barber should be even more involved in the offense and have value as the Washington Football Team’s primary goal-line back.
| Week | Opponent | Carries | Rushing Yards | Rushing TD | Targets | Receptions | Receiving Yards | Receiving TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PHI | 17 | 29 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | @ARZ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | @CLE | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | BAL | 3 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | LAR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | @NYG | 4 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| 7 | DAL | 10 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | NYG | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | @DET | 2 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
| 11 | CIN | 8 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | @DAL | 11 | 57 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | @PIT | 14 | 23 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Peyton Barber isn’t the sexiest option on most teams’ waiver wires, but at this point of the year, it’s difficult to find players on there who will get the kind of workload Barber will. Consider him with one of your last bench spots.
Josh Gordon, WR, Seattle Seahawks (4% on Yahoo, 5.1% on ESPN)
The fantasy legend is coming back! Josh Gordon will rise up from the ashes and deliver all of his believers’ fantasy championships in 2020!
Okay, maybe we shouldn’t go that far with the hype. But still, with Gordon being reinstated by the NFL and eligible to play in Week 15, he’s worth exploring as a fantasy option considering he doesn’t cost you anything. The 6’3”, 225-pound wide receiver is still just 29 years old and may have some juice left in the tank considering how much of an athletic freak he is.
https://twitter.com/JOSH_GORDONXII/status/1336758864809627648
Is Josh Gordon a league-winner at this point of his career? Probably not, after all his 2013 season where he totaled 87 receptions, 1646 receiving yards, and 9 receiving touchdowns in just 14 games was ages ago. But with his talent, he may be worth a spot at the end of your bench in deeper leagues, just in case Tyler Lockett or D.K. Metcalf misses any time down the stretch.
Deep Cuts
(Less Than 3% owned in ESPN and Yahoo)
Chad Hansen, WR, Houston Texans (0% on Yahoo, 0.4% on ESPN): Chad Hansen went off against the Indianapolis Colts, catching five passes on seven targets for 101 receiving yards. With Randall Cobb injured and Will Fuller suspended for the rest of the season, he could have some value.
Alfred Morris, RB, New York Giants (0% on Yahoo, 0.3% on ESPN): Alfred Morris played very well against the Seattle Seahawks, taking eight carries for 39 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown on the ground, and catching one pass for six yards and a touchdown through the air. While it was likely a one-time performance, it makes him worth monitoring.
Cole Kmet, TE, Chicago Bears (3% on Yahoo, 2% on ESPN): Cole Kmet caught five passes on seven targets and a touchdown against the Detroit Lions last week. The rookie may finally be emerging as a legitimate option for the Bears and for fantasy football teams.
Mike Glennon, QB, Jacksonville Jaguars (3% on Yahoo, 2.4% on ESPN): Mike Glennon has thrown for at least 235 yards and a touchdown in each of the last two games. While he’s not the greatest quarterback, he could be useful in deeper leagues or 2QB/Superflex formats.
Drew Sample, TE, Cincinnati Bengals (1% on Yahoo, 1.1% on ESPN): Over the last two weeks Drew Sample has caught 11 passes on 12 targets for 89 receiving yards. He may be worth a look at tight end in deeper leagues.
Mike Boone, RB, Minnesota Vikings (0% on Yahoo, 0.4% on ESPN): We jumped the gun on Mike Boone as a ‘Must Stash’ last week. But he’s not a bad player for the ‘Deep Cuts’ section. If Dalvin Cook and/or Alexander Mattison miss time, then Boone would be a strong RB2 in Gary Kubiak’s offense.
Jeremy McNichols, RB, Tennessee Titans (1% on Yahoo, 0.6% on ESPN): Another ‘Must Stash’ candidate from last week, Jeremy McNichols is worth rostering as Derrick Henry‘s primary handcuff given the Tennessee Titans fantasy playoffs schedule.
Dwayne Washington, RB, New Orleans Saints (0% on Yahoo, 0% on ESPN): Dwayne Washington is a player who could see his fantasy value grow in Sean Payton’s offense if either Alvin Kamara or Latavius Murray end up missing time. While he’s not worth picking up now, keep an eye on him.
That’s it for week 14. Feel free to weigh in and mention any players you believe should be on this list.
Featured Image by Justin Paradis (@freshmeatcomm on Twitter)
18 Team League
6pt/pass TD; -1pt/sack; -6pt/pick six
Start one: Hurts, Trubisky, or Glennon?
Just played against Akers.