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Waiver Wire
2018 Week 12 fantasy football waiver-wire targets
Pending the Chiefs-Rams MNF showdown, Week 11 is nearly in the books. We're getting close to the holidays and... the fantasy playoffs. Let's hit the Week 12 waiver wire and find helpful players for the stretch run.

After registering just 15 carries all season, Gus Edwards came out of nowhere in Week 11. He usurped both Alex Collins and Buck Allen as an undrafted free agent and led Baltimore in snap rate (62 percent). Whereas Collins turned his seven carries into a paltry 18 yards, Edwards tagged 17/115/1 on the Bengals. Now, we have a bit of a fantasy quagmire approaching as the Ravens schedule really opens up. Baltimore gets Oakland, Atlanta and Kansas City in Weeks 12-14. The Raiders have allowed the seventh-most PPR points to backs this season while the Chiefs and Falcons are first and second in points allowed, respectively. Even if it's a hot-hand situation, Edwards is a top waiver target attached to the NFL's most run-heavy offense with Lamar Jackson under center. Baltimore went an other-worldly 74 percent run-heavy in Jackson's debut.

Welcome back, Coutee! After a hamstring injury kept him sidelined for a month, Keke Coutee returned to the Texans and dropped 5/77 on a team-leading nine targets. Per PFF's charts, Coutee aligned out of the slot on 30 of his 42 snaps (71 percent) in Week 11 as DeAndre Hopkins and Demaryius Thomas patrolled the perimeter. In three full games this season, Coutee has turned in 22 receptions, 237 yards, and a score with target counts of 15, 7, and 9 in those contests. He'll remain on the WR3 radar in Weeks 12-13 with home bouts against the Titans and Browns up next.

Especially with Kerryon Johnson (knee) banged up, Theo Riddick needs to be on a fantasy roster in every PPR league. Since returning from a knee injury three weeks ago, Riddick has seen seven or more targets and caught five or more balls in each game. In this span, Riddick has run a pass route on 60 percent of Matthew Stafford's dropbacks. With heavy involvement in the passing game and both Johnson and Marvin Jones (knee) at less than 100 percent, Riddick will likely be a focal point in the short-passing game to keep the Bears and Rams front seven's at bay over the next two weeks.

After turning in just five catches for 36 yards over the last two weeks, many fantasy managers likely kept Moore on the bench in Week 11 as he ripped the Lions left and right for 7/157/1. Moore even tied Christian McCaffrey for the team lead in targets (8) against Detroit. With dates with Seattle, Tampa, Cleveland, and New Orleans on the docket over the next month, Moore needs to be stashed in all leagues at this point. The Panthers are pushing for a Wild Card spot and have increased Moore's snap rate substantially over the last month. After playing on just 38 percent of offensive snaps in Weeks 1-7, Moore has played in 80 percent of team snaps in Weeks 8-11.

Over the Eagles' last four games, Josh Adams has turned his small-sample usage into continually promising output. The only problem is that the Eagles have dropped three of their last four, leading to fewer positive game-scripts that would lend to more volume in the rush attack. Still, Adams leads the team in carries (27), yards (178), yards after contact (3.5) and missed tackles forced (per PFF) in this span. The Eagles melted down on offense as Carson Wentz had his career-worst start, but Adams handled 70 percent of Eagles carries and 56 percent of the RB snaps, both season-highs. Adams has earned FLEX treatment and could catapult into low-end RB2 territory if the Eagles can sustain leads against the 3-7 Giants and the incredibly injured Redskins over the next two weeks.

The Saints absolutely ripped the Eagles, in part because of Tre'Quan Smith's breakout performance. Granted, the Eagles secondary is completely decimated by injuries -- but Smith finally made good on his promising usage as he posted 10/157/1 on Philly. It was a dominant performance as half of Smith's receptions gained 15 or more yards. Over the last month of games, Smith has seen 17 percent of the Saints' targets and 25 percent of air yards. Smith is a distant fourth fiddle behind Thomas, Kamara, and Ingram in New Orleans' white-hot attack, but we want to attach ourselves to any piece of this offense that has put up 30 or more points in 8-of-10 games.

The Bucs' QB merry-go-round continues. Next up... Jameis Winston (again). Tampa switched back to Winston after Ryan Fitzpatrick threw three haphazard INTs on 21 attempts against the Giants. Two of FitzMagic's three picks were into triple coverage. Winston proceeded to come in and nearly lead a comeback attempt, ripping the G-Men for 199 yards and 2 TDs (1 INT) on 16 attempts. If Winston is back under center in Week 12, he'll return to the high-end QB2 radar against a Niners side that has allowed a 21:2 QB-INT ratio on the season.

The Ravens went 74 percent run-heavy in Lamar Jackson's first start. In a game-script that is almost unheard of in the modern NFL, Baltimore called just 19 pass attempts on 73 plays. For reference, the league has been about 60 percent pass-heavy this season. Jackson did not do much on his passes (150, 1 INT, 70.1 passer rating), but he turned his enormous 27 carries into 117 yards on the ground. Thanks to his legs, Jackson will remain on the streamer radar in Weeks 12-13 with dates against the Raiders and Falcons next on the docket. Both of those sides will likely commit a 'spy' to Jackson, but neither are equipped to deal with Jackson's speed. Per Next Gen Stats, Jackson reached 15-plus MPH on 14 rush attempts in his first career NFL start. No other player has hit 15-plus MPH on more than nine rush attempts in any game this season.

The Titans completely folded on the road against the Colts, but Jonnu Smith's usage remained strong. Granted, Marcus Mariota (throwing elbow) did leave early -- but Smith parlayed his team-leading eight targets into 6/44 receiving. Smith's has now turned his 13 targets into 11/122/2 since Tennessee's Week 8 bye. Now, Smith has an attractive date against the Texans next up on the docket. Over their last two games, Houston has allowed 10/83/1 to Jeff Heuerman and 7/71/1 to Jordan Reed.

Since returning from IR (foot) in Week 9, McGuire has led the Jets backfield in snaps and he's close to Isaiah Crowell for the lead in touches (23 to 18). What's more, McGuire has run 47 pass routes over the last two weeks, tied for third-most on the Jets. McGuire is a PPR specific add attached to a team we should expect to continue to trail quite a bit.

Brown is the only other Rams back to play significant snaps (106) behind workhorse Todd Gurley (567). Rookie John Kelly has been a healthy scratch in most contests this season and has yet to play a single snap this year. Brown is the clear fantasy handcuff and has a direct path to 18-20 touches per game if anything happens to Gurley (or if the Rams rest their starters in Week 17).