At this point, you likely find yourself in one of three situations: 1) you’ve clinched a playoff spot and are gearing up for a final push, 2) you’re still alive for the postseason but your squad needs to deliver in week 13 or 3) your team is sunk, yet you’re still reading blog posts about the waiver wire in order to salvage whatever pride is left (we commend you for this).

Whatever bucket you fall into, there’s no denying there is plenty at stake. To help you fine-tune your rosters, we’ve summoned 6 Featured Pros to give us their week 13 waiver wire advice. Below are their consensus rankings for 17 RB/WR/TE targets (list provided by us) that are currently available in at least 50% of Yahoo! leagues.

Featured Pros

Kurt Turner – (Fantasy Knuckleheads)

Derek Loftland – (Fantasy Football Maniax)

Alex Dunlap – (RosterWatch)

Dan Yanotchko – (EDSFootball)

Raju Byfield – (Win My Fantasy League)

Dawgmatica – (Pyromaniac)
 

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 Waiver Wire Rankings (STD Scoring)

Week 13 Waiver Wire Advice

We also asked each expert to share advice about the targets they like this week along with any other waiver wire suggestions they have. Here’s what the experts had to say.

Kurt Turner – Fantasy Knuckleheads

The Denver Bronco’s tossed us a curve ball Sunday, starting Knowshon Moreno as their featured RB and man did he produce. Unfortunately, I picked up Ronnie Hillman before I headed out on our Thanksgiving getaway to Grandma’s house. While burrowed in a nearly frozen deer stand, five miles from cell data coverage, I wasn’t able to change my lineup! To my chagrin, Knowshon went from 4th on the depth chart to “Cow Bell” running back. He piled on over 100 total yards, 85 rushing and 26 receiving. Going forward, who the hell knows how this will all pan out, but you have got to add Knowshon just in case he’s “the man”.  It’s not likely he’s going to produce AP type numbers, but what we got last night with an occasional TD isn’t out of the question.

Derek Loftland – Fantasy Football Maniax

One player to watch on the waiver wire is New York Giants RB David Wilson. Wilson has been underutilized in his first 11 games, recording only 24 rushes for 102 yards, two receptions for eight yards and no touchdowns. With starting RB Ahmad Bradshaw playing with foot issues and backup RB Andre Brown dealing with a broken fibula, Wilson has a chance to emerge in the last five weeks as a sleeper fantasy running back on an explosive offense. He is definitely worth an add for the stretch run, as he will have flex value with RB2 upside depending on the health of Bradshaw and whether Wilson can resolve the fumbling issues that have prevented him from having a bigger role to date.

Alex Dunlap – RosterWatch

This week’s waiver wire features two RB targets who many owners may have a hard time deciding between. Knowshon Moreno is the new starter in Denver, and as a result of the injury to Andre Brown, dynamic rookie RB David Wilson will now serve as a complement to one of the league’s most injury prone runners in Ahmad Bradshaw. You want Moreno. What happened this weekend sums up why perfectly. Those who thought Denver rookie RB Ronnie Hillman was sure to take over Willis McGahee’s role learned the hard way that being the “No. 2” in a system does not necessarily mean you are the next man up. It is about your skill set, and Hillman cannot pass block while Lance Ball is a plodding runner between the tackles. Moreno is OK at both. So there’s your new starter. David Wilson is a rookie that Tom Coughlin has shown no trust in to date, and furthermore, Wilson has not stepped up and taken the complementary role that the Giants were hoping he would upon drafting him. The offense did not change to make Bradshaw the workhorse that Brandon Jacobs was while utilizing Wilson as the “playmaker” Bradshaw used to be. It is the same, and all the Andre Brown injury means to fantasy owners is that Wilson gets a small uptick in value while Bradshaw owners should be the ones celebrating no more vultured TDs.

Dawgmatica – Pyromaniac
Though he has speed to burn and has obviously become Sam Bradford’s favorite downfield target, there might be an even better reason to love Chris Givens for the rest of the season; the remaining St. Louis Rams schedule. Week 13 might not be the greatest of match-ups going against the suffocating defense of San Francisco, but at least he’ll be at home. Beyond that in Weeks 14-17, the Rams have the Buffalo Bills, Minnesota Vikings, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and a Seattle Seahawks defense that could be without their top two cornerbacks. If you’re looking for a flex option with explosive capabilities, WR Chris Givens would be a nice guy to take a chance on heading into your fantasy playoffs.
 
With wide receiver Titus Young sitting in the perennial Detroit doghouse catching up with former Lions’ WRs Charles Rogers and Mike Williams, you have to like Ryan Broyles for the remainder of the season. Not only does he have a set of great hands on him (save for that dropped TD pass on Thanksgiving), but he’s also one of the better route runners I’ve seen for a first-year NFL receiver. He obviously has the trust of QB Matthew Stafford as well seeing 12 targets in the overtime loss to the Texans. His schedule is advantageous enough over the next few weeks (vs. Ind, @ GB, @ Ari) to get him in your lineup as a flex and with the last two games being home in the dome (vs. Atl, vs. Chi), at least he won’t have to deal with the weather. If the coaching staff decides to either keep Titus suspended or else relegate him to the bench (as he should be), then Broyles could end up an absolute steal off the waiver wire this late in the game.

Dan Yanotchko – EDSFootball

This year most fantasy players have certainly seen a shortage of competent running backs, and with injuries mounting the wavier wire pickings are slim. Of course most will use their claims on Knowshon  Moreno and David Wilson, but for me the path to the championship goes through picking the right flex player. Right now I really like the St. Louis Rams wide receiver Chris Givens, as in his last five games he has had 5 plus targets and 3 or more catches in each. Givens also has that big play potential, and after the 49ers next week, has a great fantasy lineup of Buffalo, Minnesota, and Tampa Bay who have given up 56 TD’s combined. If you have a lower wavier priority, Chris Givens is your best bet for the rest of the season.

Raju Byfield – Win My Fantasy League

Knowshon Moreno got the surprise start against the Chiefs in week 12 and he responded with a rock solid 111 yards from scrimmage, his highest total since 2010. Moreno picked up the start due to the fact that he is better in pass protection than rookie Ronnie Hillman and thus is the back that Peyton Manning trusts the most with Willis McGahee out until the playoffs. Moreno lacks the explosiveness and make a defender miss ability he highlighted in college but is still a sturdy back who benefits from playing with a great quarterback. I liken Moreno to Joseph Addai. He’s solid in pass pro, but will not get more than 60-80 yards rushing in most games but he supplements his fantasy line with three to four receptions for 25-50 yards per game. Moreno is a solid RB2 option until he begins to struggle to pick up positive yardage.

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Thanks to this week’s Featured Pros for sharing their advice with us! For more of the experts’ insight, be sure to follow them on Twitter (click their names above) and visit their respective sites.

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