Fantasy Football Waiver Wire: Early Must-Adds for Week 12
Here’s your launching point to the fantasy football waiver wire for Week 12.
Week 11 of the 2024 NFL schedule is nearly complete, with Sunday and Monday night games to be completed as of this writing. But as the playoffs loom in fantasy football, it’s not too early to look ahead. Week 12 is also a “bye-maggedon”, with six teams idle (Atlanta Falcons, Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals, Jacksonville Jaguars, New Orleans Saints, New York Jets).
Here are your early must-adds from the fantasy football waiver wire for Week 12.
Note: Yahoo! fantasy scoring (0.5-point PPR) is the scoring cited unless otherwise noted.
Anthony Richardson, QB, Indianapolis Colts
Richardson went 20-for-30 for 272 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions, along with 32 rushing yards and two scores on the ground, against the New York Jets on Sunday. He was re-installed as the starter after being benched for Joe Flacco, and he’s going to keep the job the rest of the season (barring injury).
In Week 12 Richardson gets a tough matchup against the Detroit Lions, who have not allowed multiple passing touchdowns in a game this season. But passing is of course not the entirety of Richardson’s game, and the Lions have allowed a bit of rushing production to quarterbacks at times this season.
Around a Week 14 bye, Richardson will then face the New England Patriots (Week 13), Denver Broncos (Week 15), Tennessee Titans (Week 16) and New York Giants (Week 17). Only the Broncos look like a particularly tough matchup.
When he was benched, fantasy managers dropped Richardson in droves. That provides an opportunity to add him now, and he’s easily the top waiver wire add for Week 12. Just be aware of that Week 14 bye.
ESPN Ownership: 43.5%
Yahoo! Ownership: 47%z
Taysom Hill, TE, New Orleans Saints
The headline from Hill’s performance Sunday against the Cleveland Browns is three rushing touchdowns, including a 75-yarder. But he also had a team-high eight receptions for 50 yards (on 10 targets). As much as he’s a tight end cheat code in fantasy, with rushing and occasional pass attempts, he has 21 targets over the last four games as well.
The Saints have a bye in Week 12, but after that there’s not a remarkably tough matchup left on the schedule for their offense (Los Angeles Rams-Week 13, New York Giants-Week 14, Washington Commanders-Week 15, Green Bay Packers-Week 16, Las Vegas Raiders-Week 17).
Hill is an add-and-stash for Week 12 and his performance on Sunday is not repeatable, but he should be added in every 12-team league he’s available in.
ESPN Ownership: 46.2%
Yahoo! Ownership: 53%
Cam Akers, RB, Minnesota Vikings
Akers had 10 carries for 25 yards against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, along with two catches for 11 yards and a touchdown. With Aaron Jones banged up, he has double-digit carries in back-to-back games and before that he had 46 rushing yards in his first game back with the Vikings after they re-acquired him.
Jones being limited in practice last week with a rib injury and the Vikings having a lead on Sunday likely drove more playing time for Akers (27 of 73 offensive snaps, according to Pro Football Focus). But Jones is an older back, he is consistently some level of banged up and Akers is clearly Minnesota’s No. 2 back (Ty Chandler played just one snap on Sunday).
Akers is particularly a must-add for Jones’ fantasy managers. But he would be the lead back in a solid offense if something happened to Jones, and even without an injury that kept Jones out of a game he could work as desperation flex option in leagues with 12 or more teams with two six-team bye weeks left.
The “running back with a pulse” prophecy fits Akers heading for the stretch run of the fantasy regular season.
ESPN Ownership: 16.5%
Yahoo! Ownership: 17%
Drake Maye, QB, New England Patriots
Maye went 30-for-40 for 282 yards with two touchdowns and an interception on Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams, along with 27 rushing yards and a lost fumble. In his six starts, he has multiple passing touchdowns three times and over 17.7 fantasy points four times. One of the games he hasn’t accomplished one of both of those things he left early injured, and another was against the team that entered Week 11 allowing the fewest fantasy points to quarterbacks (the Chicago Bears).
A tough-looking matchup is coming for Maye in Week 12, as the Miami Dolphins entered Week 11 (and will probably exit the week) allowing the second-fewest fantasy points per game to quarterbacks. However, and however driven by late production each of the last two games in particular, Miami has allowed over 280 passing yards and/or multiple passing touchdowns in four straight games.
In Week 13 Maye will face the Indianapolis Colts, who entered Week 11 allowing the ninth-most fantasy points per game to quarterbacks.
A Week 14 bye may diminish Maye’s appeal as a waiver wire add. But game scripts in Week 15-17 (Arizona Cardinals, Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Chargers) may force him into heavier passing volume (37 or more attempts in two of his last three games).
Fantasy managers have largely ignored Maye. I added him as a streamer for Week 7, and dropped him within a couple weeks. But he remains a nice streaming option in one-quarterback leagues around that late bye, and he should be rostered in all two-quarterback/superflex leagues.
ESPN Ownership: 17.8%
Yahoo! Ownership: 14%
Jonnu Smith, TE, Miami Dolphins
Smith had six catches (on eight targets) for a career-high 101 yards with two touchdowns on Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders. He has at least six targets in five of his last six games, with at least six full PPR points in all six of those contests.
Week 12 (New England Patriots) and Week 13 (Green Bay Packers) are middle of the road matchups for Smith, before a Week 14-17 stretch against four teams who entered Week 11 among the nine stingiest teams in fantasy points allowed to tight ends this season.
Smith’s role in the Dolphins’ offense demands attention in this tight end economy, and he has already had his bye. He’s a little over the 50 percent rostered threshold in Yahoo! leagues, but Smith is a must-add lined up to deliver low-end TE1 numbers from here on out.
ESPN Ownership: 31.7%
Yahoo! Ownership: 53%
Elijah Moore/Jerry Jeudy, WR, Cleveland Browns
Moore had six catches (on eight targets) for 66 yards and a touchdown on Sunday against the New Orleans Saints. In the three games Jameis Winston has started under center for the Browns, he has 17 catches on 29 targets with more than 65 yards twice.
The upcoming stretch of matchups look tough for the Browns’ wide receivers (Pittsburgh Steelers-Week 12 and Week 14, Denver Broncos-Week 13, Kansas City Chiefs-Week 15). But Moore has a path to productivity as one of the options Winston is distributing a lot of targets to, perhaps with the benefit of a favorable matchup against a lesser cornerback.
Much of Jeudy’s yardage (142 yards) on Sunday against the Saints came on a 89-yard touchdown. But he had six catches on 11 targets, and over Winston’s three starts he has 18 receptions on 30 targets with at least five catches or 73 yards in all three.
With that slate of upcoming matchups in mind, Moore and Jeudy are only WR3 or flex options in leagues with 12 or more teams. But it’s impossible to ignore the target volume they’re both getting from Winston. Moore is far more widely available, but Jeudy is well-worth checking on.
Moore ESPN Ownership: 9.4%
Moore Yahoo! Ownership: 8%
Jeudy ESPN Ownership: 58.2%
Jeudy Yahoo! Ownership: 51% percent
Zach Ertz, TE, Washington Commanders
Ertz greatly boosted his fantasy point haul on the Commanders’ final drive in Week 11 against the Philadelphia Eagles, catching a touchdown and the subsequent two-point conversion as he finished with six catches for 47 yards and those scoring plays. But he has 15 targets over the last two games, and he has at least seven targets in three of his last four games.
Going back further, Ertz has double-digit full PPR points in four of his last six games with 7.1 in one of the others. He has at least four receptions in five of his last six games, with 40 or more yards in four of those and a touchdown in the two games with less than 50 yards.
Before a Week 14 bye (which has to be noted), Ertz faces the Dallas Cowboys in Week 12 and the Tennessee Titans in Week 13. The Cowboys entered Week 11 allowing the 12th-most fantasy points to tight ends, and the Titans entered the week allowing the sixth-fewest fantasy points per game to the position.
On the other side of that bye, Ertz gets two favorable matchups (New Orleans Saints-Week 15, Atlanta Falcons-Week 17) and one tough matchup (Philadelphia Eagles-Week 16).
Ertz is on the wrong side of the 50 percent rostered threshold in ESPN leagues to be an easy waiver wire add. But he’s available enough to be worth checking on, and in the tough landscape that is tight end he needs to be rostered in far more leagues.
ESPN Ownership: 57.5%
Yahoo! Ownership: 33%
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