Week 13 is wrapping up and chaos continues to roll on. Backfields continue to turn over and the new realities the NFL reveals constantly remind us not to cling to our conceived notions. It's a reminder that pain is always present in the joy that is fantasy football. Now we must look forward to options to assist in beefing up our fake teams to move forward, whether it be long-term replacements or a streamer just to get by.
It's just those sort of symptoms that the Deep Dive is prescribed to help alleviate. NFL Fantasy's editorial overlord Alex Gelhar dutifully attacks the waiver wire to give you the top adds for the coming week in hopes of bolstering your roster. However, in this arena, we'll look at options to help those of you looking to go a little bit further down the rabbit hole, whether you play in a deeper format or are at the mercy of your incredibly sharp league-mates who scour the waiver wire relentlessly. A player can only qualify for the deep dive if they're owned in less than 10 percent of NFL.com leagues. With that, here are 11 players you can consider adding before Week 14 either as deep FLEX plays or simply as bench stashes.
The Cardinals replacement starter finally had his first true dud game in fantasy last week. After clearing 17 points in each of his first two starts, Blaine Gabbert offered up just 10 in Week 13 against the Rams. He'll find a softer landing spot on Sunday when the Cardinals host the Titans. Tennessee is bottom-10 in passing yards per game allowed and is tied with multiple teams for the fourth-most passing touchdowns allowed (22) on the year.
With Ameer Abdullah out, Tion Green led the Lions in carries (11) during their Week 13 loss to Baltimore. It was the rookie's first action of his NFL career. He took his first carry for 33 yards and finished with a 4.6 yards per rush average. Abdullah likely takes the lead role back when he returns, but the 220-pound Green could hang on to goal-line duties. He punched in one of his two carries inside the 10-yard line for a score and the Lions never seem interested in trusting Abdullah in that role.
In just his second week with the team, Andre Ellington garnered six targets for the Texans in Week 13 and hauled in five for 56 yards. Ellington was on the field for 58 percent of the snaps. That rather high rate is likely due to the team chucking over 50 passes in a negative game script but Houston should find themselves in that position often given the state of their pass defense and quarterback play. Alfred Blue suffered a concussion on Sunday and D'Onta Foreman is on IR, making Ellington the presumptive next man up behind Lamar Miller.
With Adrian Peterson on the shelf Kerwynn Williams played a season-high 48 percent of the snaps and played well. He handled 16 carries and amassed 97 rushing yards. If Peterson sits again, Williams will be a decent bet for double-digit carries once again in Week 14.
We know for sure that Byron Marshall is the pass-catching back for Washington with Chris Thompson out of the picture and got to see his usage in a negative game script Thursday night. Marshall drew six targets, catching five for 24 yards and was on the field for 43.3 percent of the snaps with the team behind the eight-ball all night against Dallas.
Trent Taylor finished behind
Marquise Goodwin for the team-lead in targets during their Week 13 win over the
Bears, earning six. Just like Goodwin, he saw a bump with
Jimmy Garoppolo under center, hauling in all six of his looks for 92 yards. Taylor is the type of small slot receiver that Garoppolo is used to working from his time in New England's offense, which emphasizes the position.
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The Jaguars explosive rookie continues to watch his role grow, as he saw nine targets against the Colts in Week 13 and posted a season-high 78 yards. Dede Westbrook has gone out for 34, 45 and 54 snaps in his first three career games. The Jaguars clearly want to get the rookie more playing time and he worked as the No. 2 receiver ahead of Keelan Cole on Sunday. Jacksonville squares off with the Seahawks under-manned secondary in Week 14.
Dontrelle Inman remains the lone player from the Chicago pass-catching corps we're interested in for fantasy if only because he's on the field so often. Inman has been on the field for over 92 percent of the snaps in three of his four games with the
Bears and averages a healthy six targets per game. He hauled in his first touchdown with the team during their Week 13 loss to the
49ers.
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David Njoku finally seems to have locked-down a regular role in the
Browns offense. The talented rookie tight end scored his first touchdown since Week 5 on Sunday and has watched his playing time go up. Njoku has gone out for 50-plus percent of the snaps in three of his last four games and has four catches in back-to-back weeks. The reappearance of
Josh Gordon is huge for this team, but so is the priority to get their 2017 first-round tight end rolling as the season winds down.
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Hunter Henry suffered
a knee injury in the
Chargers Week 13 win over the
Browns. While it doesn't sound major, with
Rob Gronkowski off the table Week 14, we need to keep all options open.
Antonio Gates hasn't played over 50 percent of the snaps since Week 6 but a Henry injury could open the door for more playing time. The
Chargers welcome Washington on Sunday, who has allowed the third-most yards (791) to tight ends this season.
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Zach Ertz left the
Eagles Week 13 loss to the
Seahawks with a concussion. If he is not cleared prior to their Week 14 matchup with the
Rams,
Trey Burton could find some success in his stead. Burton drew seven targets in Seattle with Ertz out of the mix and went for 41 yards and a score in a win over Denver that Ertz missed earlier in the year. At just over 220 pounds, Burton profiles as a true move tight end and has flashed some ability as a pass-catcher in spurts during his career. The
Rams have allowed 30 catches to tight ends over the last four weeks.
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Matt Harmon is a writer/editor for NFL.com, and the creator of #ReceptionPerception, who you can follow on Twitter _@MattHarmonBYB_ or like on Facebook.
