Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Adds: Week 12

Oh, how the time flies – we are only a few weeks away from the fantasy football playoffs and the home stretch of the regular season.

So instead of wasting your time on insignificant words about the past weekend, let’s just jump in to the muck, shall we?

(For more informed decision making, be sure to check out my waiver wire column from last week as well)

% owned is based on Yahoo Fantasy Football

Shallow and Intermediate Leagues

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Deebo Samuel, WR, San Francisco 49ers – 54% owned

Samuel was one of my favorite prospects at his position during the 2019 draft cycle and I am jubilant to see his recent upsurge in production. Emmanuel Sanders and George Kittle have been struggling with injuries the past few weeks and it has allowed Samuel to take over the wheel for the 49ers. He’s seen 21 targets over the last 2 games, turning those opportunities into 16 catches for 246 yards. The 49ers have been desperate for a target on the outside all year so, even with a Kittle return, there’s hope that Samuel can at least provide starting value in fantasy leagues.

Deep leagues

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James Washington, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers – 8% owned

JuJu Smith-Schuster endured a gruesome blow during that tense Brown-Steelers matchup, that resulted in a concussion and a knee injury simultaneously. On top of that, Diontae Johnson also fell into the concussion protocol. That leaves James Washington as the only healthy receiver that isn’t named Johnny Holton or Deon Cain. It might actually be better for Washington if one of Johnson or Smith-Schuster can go, so that defenses aren’t able to key in on him – but either way, Washington should see lots of prolate spheroid-shaped pigskin balls thrown his way. He will be a sexy start in a matchup against the reeling Cincinnati Bengals.

Option A: Jonathan Williams, RB, Indianapolis Colts – 6% owned

Option B: Jordan Wilkins, RB, Indianapolis Colts – 1% owned

I am listing Wilkins and Williams together here because they are, obviously, in the same backfield. I am sure most of us know by now that Marlon Mack has a fractured hand and I am also pretty certain that a lot of us witnessed the coming out party of Jonathan Williams. Williams is my NUMBER ONE add this week and he’s a must-get if you are able to swipe him. Wilkins is a nice option B, as he’s shown the capability to be an efficient back on limited opportunities. I expect Reich to ride the hot hand with Williams getting the first trial run and I expect Williams to capitalize and reward Reich for that trust. However, Wilkins isn’t a bad in-case to have ready to go if Williams isn’t able to reproduce his stellar outing from Sunday.

Ryan Griffin, TE, New York Jets – 4% owned

So much for the Chris Herndon hype, huh? I was part of that bandwagon and, clearly, Herndon has not been able to stay healthy. However, one man’s curse is another man’s big break – and the individual on the other side of that is Ryan Griffin. Griffin has shown his worth this season – and we can see that in the microcosm of the last 4 weeks. He laid a goose egg in week 10 against the Giants, in terms of fantasy points, but weeks 8 (4 targets, 4 catches, 66 yards, 2 touchdowns and a 2-point conversion), 9 (8 targets, 6 catches, 50 yards) and 11 (5 targets, 5 catches, 109 yards, 1 touchdown) have been encouraging, to say the least. He’s clearly a trusted confidant for Darnold and is an important addition to your tight end needy rosters.

Bo Scarbrough, RB, Detroit Lions – 2% owned

Bo Scarbrough is a scary name for a scary dude, but that’s probably not enough of a reason to put him on your fantasy rosters and, obviously, this Detroit backfield has become quite a mess. However, what’s the harm in adding a player that saw 31 snaps, 14 carries, 55 rush yards and a rushing touchdown in his season debut. He doesn’t have any pass game appeal, which doesn’t make him an overly exciting bet but he clearly out-snapped his backfield mates and is worth a stash and see at the least.

Send over your questions and opinions/complaints in the comment section or on twitter @brownmamba13