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Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Pickups: Week 15

Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Pickups: Week 15

Those of you still reading this are either mechanically going through the motions of checking FantasyPros or are due for congratulations on progressing to the next round of the playoffs! I applaud the dedication of the former and the efforts of the latter. Week 14 saw some stellar performances and two gigantic injuries with Alvin Kamara‘s concussion and Carson Wentz‘s torn ACL. Hopefully, Kamara returns next week, while Wentz will look toward 2018.

After losing DeShaun Watson, seeing Wentz go down hurts even more as we look for elite quarterback play this season. Not to mention the guys at other positions that we’ve lost to the IR, but perhaps Week 15 will at least see Aaron Rodgers return.

As usual, ownership levels discussed here are taken from Yahoo leagues. I’ll be a little more flexible because at the end of the season ownership levels become rather unreliable. FAAB recommendations are relative for scale — I have no problem going “all in” if your league is particularly cutthroat.

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Priority Pickups – <35% Owned

Peyton Barber (TB – RB) 35% owned (20% FAAB)
After turning 27 touches into 143 total yards in Week 13 with Doug Martin out, Barber owners were rightfully miffed when Martin was named the starting RB upon his clearance to play. Head coach Dirk Koetter’s decision was rewarded with an early TD by Martin, but he would go on to collect just 26 yards on 10 carries before a fumble ended his game. Barber would then rush for 58 yards on 12 carries alongside a five-yard reception as a “told you so” performance to Koetter, who didn’t give Martin the ball again. Barber should be the starter in Week 15 against the Falcons and see upwards of 16 touches.

Kerwynn Williams (ARI – RB) 11% owned (15% FAAB)
With Adrian Peterson missing a second straight game with a neck injury, Williams was the primary mail-carrier for Arizona in a gritty, low-scoring victory over Tennessee. He would set a season-high with 20 carries after toting the rock 16 times last week, collecting 73 yards for an unimpressive 3.65 YPC. He’s not a great runner, but he’s the best they’ve got right now and anyone getting 16-20 touches per game is worth playing in most formats. He’ll take on a Washington unit that has given up three rushing TDs over the last two games to the Cowboys and Chargers, so perhaps he’ll finally find paydirt in Week 15.

Dede Westbrook (JAC – WR) 30% owned (15% FAAB)
Westbrook would find the end zone for the first time in his career on Sunday in an impressive victory over Seattle at home, amassing a 5-81-1 line on eight looks from Blake Bortles by day’s end. He’s caught at least five balls with at least eight targets in each of his last three contests and looks to be developing some serious chemistry with Bortles. Dede will get to pick on Houston’s slot man Kareem Jackson, who had a PFF rating of 46.1 entering Week 14. The worry is that Jacksonville’s defense will crush either Tom Savage or T.J. Yates and limit the need to throw, but at this point Westbrook has earned top-40 WR respect and is in most WR3 conversations for the stretch run.

Corey Coleman (CLE – WR) 10% owned (12% FAAB)
Coleman saw his ownership plummet by over 10 percent after Week 13’s goose egg, which is fair with playoff hopes on the line. Luckily, he rebounded against a hamstrung Packers secondary with a 5-83-1 line alongside Josh Gordon‘s own touchdown, so the two can co-exist. No, the Browns won’t play the Pack every week and Coleman’s 68 percent of snaps was well behind Gordon’s 93 percent, but this a very talented receiver on a team that plays from behind often and now won’t command top cornerbacks. In his five healthy games this season, Coleman has topped 50 yards four times and scored twice. Week 15 against Baltimore isn’t great, but Pittsburgh showed how the loss of Jimmy Smith has made that unit vulnerable.

Rod Smith (DAL – RB) 13% owned (12% FAAB)
After relying on garbage-time TDs to make value in Weeks 12 and 13, Smith truly embraced what it is to be a Dallas Cowboy by torching the Giants for 162 total yards and two TDs on just 11 touches in the decisive 30-10 victory. I was raised to be a Giants fan, so I’ve seen those big plays by a Cowboy one too many times (Jason Witten also scored a TD, as is tradition).

What you need to know is that Smith’s 11 touches were still only half of Alfred Morris‘ 22, but his dynamic abilities clearly surpass Alf’s reliability as a runner. The bulk of Smith’s yardage came on a short slant route over the middle that he turned upfield. One nitro boost and 81 yards later, and he was dancing in the end zone. He’d later add a 15-yard rushing score, as Dallas seems content to let him operate late in the game. Given Dallas’ Week 15 matchup with Oakland’s lackluster defense, Smith could once again be allowed to pad a late lead in style for fantasy owners.

Trey Burton (PHI – TE) 8% owned (10% FAAB)
Burton exploded for 71 yards and two touchdowns on five catches (six targets) with Zach Ertz not clearing concussion protocol. That means Trey Songz has now tallied a 7-112-3 combined line in the two games that Ertz has missed, though we can’t discount that projecting Philly’s offense with Foles at QB and not Wentz will require a little throttling. But if Ertz were to miss Week 15, then Burton gets to face a Giants defense that has given up 11 TDs to opposing TEs thus far. That’s what we call a bingo.

J.D. McKissic (SEA – RB) 18% owned (10% FAAB in PPR)
With Seattle trailing Jacksonville early and often on Sunday, as well as Mike Davis dealing with a rib injury, it was McKissic who led all Seattle RBs in snaps with 31. Now, Davis had 30 despite the injury and is still unequivocally “the guy,” but those in PPR leagues need to be looking McKissic’s way with how Seattle played. They’ll go up against another great team in the Rams in Week 15 and could find themselves playing from behind once again.

Jimmy Garoppolo (SF – QB) 20% owned (8% FAAB)
Garoppolo’s second full game as San Fran’s starter saw his receivers let him down, but things quickly shifted to smiles as he went on to complete 20-of-33 throws for 334 yards, a touchdown and an interception in the win over Houston. While the chemistry he showed with Marquise Goodwin and Trent Taylor in Week 13 wasn’t as pristine, he would figure it out with Goodwin and then found Garrett Celek for a huge gain before connecting for his lone TD on the week. You’re buying the progress here, but you’re also buying the strong matchup with a Titans pass defense that allowed Tom Savage to pass for 365 yards two weeks ago.

Deep League Targets – <10% owned

Wayne Gallman (NYG – RB) 3% owned (8% FAAB)
After Orleans Darkwa had the gall to fumble on Big Blue’s first offensive play, it was Gallman who proceeded to collect season-high marks in touches (19) and yards (99) by playing on a season-high 49 percent snaps. Darkwa was in on 25 percent, and Shane Vereen mixed in for 32 percent. Don’t let that “RB” label fool you or think that Vereen came in for the passing work, though, as Gallman saw a whopping nine targets (he caught seven) throughout the game. While he’s unlikely to suddenly be a workhorse, it would make sense for NYG to see what they have in their youngster since Paul Perkins has flopped and both Darkwa and Vereen will be free agents in ’18. Week 15 against Philly could see another nine targets come his way.

Kendall Wright (CHI – WR) 5% owned (8% FAAB)
Wright had been consistently terrible after a solid PPR start to the season, logging exactly two catches for between 15-36 yards in five of his previous six games for Chicago. The other was a 5-46-0 affair in Week 10, nothing special. Week 14 saw Wright go off against a gimpy Bengals secondary for 10 catches and 107 yards on 11 targets, matching his target total from his last three games combined. Don’t think he’s suddenly come to life here, but those looking for a volatile PPR flex play in deep waters should note the dart-throw ceiling heading into Week 15’s tilt at Detroit against slot DB Quandre Diggs.

Nick Foles (PHI – QB) 2% owned (5% FAAB)
We’ve all heard by now how Carson Wentz‘s torn ACL has been confirmed, which he suffered while diving for a touchdown that was called back. He would stay in and throw a TD pass on the next play, but that’ll be his last one for the Eagles in 2017. Foles would step in and complete 6-of-10 passes for 42 yards as Philadelphia wrapped up their 43-35 win over the Rams, though it was clear he needs to refine his timing with his receivers.

I have faith that he’ll be able to make this work with some flair, as he’s no stranger to airing it out. With the playoffs locked up, the Eagles can treat cushy upcoming dates with the Giants and Raiders as a strong classroom experience for getting Foles up to speed before the playoff push. Foles will have a strong RB stable to support him and may get Zach Ertz back as well, though we mentioned that facet of the Eagles above. He’ll be in the streaming mix in all 12-teamers and needs to be owned/started in 2QB formats.

Adam Shaheen (CHI – TE) 1% owned (3% FAAB)
Shaheen had combined to play just 26 snaps over his last two games (35 and 25 percent) with Dion Sims active again, but he saw his rate jump back up to 44 percent with 32 total snaps in Week 14 against the Bengals. This is a man who stands at 6’6″ and weighs 270, so to say Chicago could utilize his size is an understatement. It was evident on his TD grab as he posted a 4-44-1 line and now gets to face a Lions team that he posted a 4-41-1 line against in Week 11 and that has given up five TDs to TEs in the last four weeks. Not a bad setup right there.

Damiere Byrd (CAR – WR) 0% owned (2% FAAB)
In his second game back in action after coming off of the IR with a broken arm, Byrd leapfrogged Russell Shepard on the WR totem pole by playing on 60 percent of Carolina’s snaps compared to Shepard’s 37 percent. Shepard and fellow special-teamer Kaelin Clay had chances to make an impression, but Byrd is a second-year WR who scored three touchdowns on just six catches in the preseason and caught all five of his Week 14 targets for 37 yards. Byrd and the Panthers will face off with a Packers secondary that was just torched by Cleveland, but if Aaron Rodgers returns then this could turn into a shootout.


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Nick Mariano is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Nick, check out his archive and follow him @NMariano53.

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