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DeAndre Washington: Waiver Wire Gem for Fantasy Playoffs?

DeAndre Washington: Waiver Wire Gem for Fantasy Playoffs?

Each week we have been taking a deeper look at some of the top waiver-wire additions for each week of the fantasy football season. It came as a surprise to many that rookie standout RB Josh Jacobs was ultimately ruled inactive in Week 14 and his game being on the afternoon slate made it even more of a headache for fantasy owners entering the playoffs looking to depend on the former Alabama product.

If you survived the first round of playoffs or if you are in a league that starts its playoffs in Week 15, then this storyline should make you turn your attention to the next man up in the Raiders backfield, DeAndre Washington. So, let’s take a deeper look at who Washington is as a player, what the state of the Raiders offense looks like, and what we can expect from Washington going forward.

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Player Profile

DeAndre Washington is a fourth-year RB who played his college ball at Texas Tech. Washington was used sparingly as a freshman and sophomore combining for just 184 carries in those two seasons combined. He did see some decent usage in the passing game though with 34 receptions and 269 receiving yards on a team coached by Kliff Kingsbury that also featured Baker Mayfield at QB.

Washington’s role really expanded in his last two seasons in college where he put up 1,431 yards from scrimmage as a junior and 1,877 YFS as a senior with 16 TDs which was more than he had scored in his entire college career prior to that season. His success in these two seasons could be tied to the rise of Patrick Mahomes as the primary signal-caller for the Red Raiders. Washington was top three in rushing yards in those final two seasons in the Big 12 and finished with the most yards from scrimmage in the Big 12 and ranked top 10 in the nation as a senior as well.

Washington went from the Red Raiders to being drafted by the silver and black Raiders in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL Draft. He stands at 5’8″ and 208 lbs and offers comparables to a Devonta Freeman type of skillset and size according to Player Profiler. His NFL draft profile shows he ran a 4.49-second 40-yard dash and was a top performer in the three-cone drill and 20-yard shuttle.

In his NFL career, Washington has operated primarily as a backup and used as a change of pace alongside Jalen Richard often. He carries a 4.0 YPA average over his career but has failed to reach that mark in each of the last three seasons with this season included. He strikes me as the type of guy who will be more productive with more of a steady workload and needs to find that rhythm to get going. He did that last week against the Titans as he carried the ball a career-high 14 times for 53 yards and a TD while hauling in six receptions for 43 yards, giving him 96 yards from scrimmage on the day. Most importantly in place of Jacobs, Washington out-touched Jalen Richard 20-9 in a game where the Raiders were playing from behind in the second half.

State of the Offense

The Raiders’ playoffs dreams may have all but ended with their monstrous loss to the Titans at home on Sunday. They looked like an improved team earlier in the season with impressive wins against teams like the Colts and Bears but had trouble fighting off true contenders like the Chiefs, Packers, and Texans.

As far as their rushing offense is concerned, Josh Jacobs has been an impressive runner this season and the team has relied on him thoroughly. They rank top 10 in rushing attempts (354) and just outside that in team rushing yards (1,569). Their passing game has been surprisingly efficient this season with Derek Carr under center, though they aren’t pushing a lot of volume there ranking middle of the pack in passing yards and bottom-eight in attempts. You would expect more from a team that ranks top 10 in plays per game.

Outlook

Washington has a three-down skill set and offers average talent at the position. He isn’t the elite type of handcuff or change of pace guys like Austin Ekeler or anything like that but with Jacobs out for the foreseeable future, he will have volume on his side with is always a recipe for Flexworthy success at the very least in fantasy. His Week 14 performance was a great start for a late-season push as he scored 21 points in full PPR leagues. The most important part of that performance though was how much he dominated the touches over Richard.

Josh Jacobs is headed for an MRI on his fractured shoulder which should give us a better idea of what to expect from him as far as availability for the rest of the season. He practiced in a limited fashion early last week before being held out for the rest of the week and ultimately being inactive. My guess is that he will most likely be shut down for the rest of the season with the Raiders nearing elimination from playoff contention. This could put Washington in a workhorse type of role for the last two weeks of the fantasy season.

The matchups going forward are fantastic for Washington to continue his success as has a home date with the Jaguars this week followed by what will likely be a meaningless divisional tilt against the Chargers in Week 16. Both teams rank inside the top 10 for most fantasy points allowed to RBs this season according to our matchup calendar.

I would spend everything I had to try and secure Washington off waivers this week. It’s not that he is an elite talent, but the matchups are there and he has the skill set to be an effective three-down back. That is must-have value when every game is do-or-die at this point in the season and if I am shallow at RB or have players with tough matchups going forward, Washington is a great Flex option who should offer a safe floor at the least.

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John Ferguson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from John, check out his archive and follow him @FantasyFerguson.

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