NFL Photos | NFL Photography Gallery | NFL.com
Waiver Wire
2018 Week 13 fantasy football waiver-wire targets
With the fantasy playoffs officially right around the corner, it's time to dig in and make some final moves to help those fantasy rosters. Let's hit the Week 13 waiver wire:
A waiver wire darling in this space for a month now, we finally saw what Adams can do when the Eagles stay competitive in a game and commit to running the ball. Adams handled a monster 22 carries against the Giants, tagging 84 yards and a score to boot. Relative to Philadelphia's offense, Adams' usage in Week 12 was a bit of an outlier. In fact, Adams' 62 percent snap rate marked the first time a single Eagles' running back played over 60 percent of team snaps since Week 7, 2016. Doug Pederson loves backfield committee's, but the Eagles are starting to use Adams as a foundation in their offense.
With Melvin Gordon (MCL) questionable at best for Week 13, Justin Jackson will be a hot waiver wire add ahead of the fantasy playoffs. To be clear, Austin Ekeler is the handcuff to Gordon (and is the easy No. 1 waiver claim if he's available). When Gordon missed Week 7 with a pulled hammy, Austin Ekeler played on 42-of-44 snaps while Jackson played just five. Still, Jackson is next in line for workhorse touches if Ekeler misses time or if Gordon's injury proves cumbersome.
Blount is back in our lives again after he dropped 19/88/2 rushing against the Bears stout defense in Week 12. Look, Blount's previous 21 carries over the month prior had gained 16 yards and he's about to turn 32-years-old. His best years are clearly behind him, but since Kerryon Johnson (knee) does not have much of a timeline for return at press-time and the Lions playoff chances are kaput, Blount has to be teed up on the RB3/FLEX radar for as long as Johnson is out. Plus, the Lions face the Rams (fifth-most YPC allowed) and Cardinals (third-most fantasy points allowed to RBs) over the next two weeks.
If Reynolds was dropped through the Rams Week 12 bye or was somehow missed on waivers, make sure you remedy that now. In four career starts, Reynolds has made the best of his limited opportunities, turning in 14/178/4 receiving (on 18 targets). In three starts without Cooper Kupp (knee) this season, Reynolds has played on 91 percent of Rams' snaps and is averaging 3.62 yards of separation per target when he aligns on the boundary, per Next Gen Stats. That's eighth-best in the NFL.
Mayfield has thrown multiple passing scores in now five-straight games and he's been white-hot since the Browns finally let go of much-maligned head coach, Hue Jackson. In fact, since Hue was fired (after Week 8), Baker Mayfield's passer rating is 129.5. Only Drew Brees (142.1) has been better in this span. Two of Mayfield's next four draws are difficult (at Houston; at Denver) but his Week 14 and 16 dates at home against Carolina and Cincinnati are ripe for the picking.
Without Pierre Garcon (knee) and Marquise Goodwin (personal) in Week 12, Dante Pettis was one of the 49ers bright-spots in their loss against Tampa. Pettis had his best day yet as a pro, ripping the Bucs' shoddy secondary for 4/77/1 and looking explosive in the process. Fantasy mangers know by now that everyone goes off against Tampa, but Pettis has now quietly collected 13 targets over the last two weeks and San Francisco has been searching for a consistent No. 2 receiver behind George Kittle all year long. Nick Mullens' job security is fleeting heading into this week, but Pettis is an intriguing deep WR5 stash now that he's fully recovered from a mid-season knee injury.
Brown is the only other Rams' back to play significant snaps (106) behind workhorse, Todd Gurley (567). Meanwhile, rookie John Kelly has been a healthy scratch in every game this season. 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).
In the same vein as Malcolm Brown, Chiefs backup runner Spencer Ware is a Week 13 roster stash only if you have space. If anything happens to Kareem Hunt, Spencer Ware would become an instant RB1 on the most explosive offense in the NFL. Ware has played 157 snaps while no other back on their roster has played more than 33. If the Chiefs lock in a first-round playoff bye over the next month, Spencer Ware will assuredly handle the majority of Kansas City's running back touches in Week 17.
