This weekend Josh McCown broke his non throwing hand and Carson Wentz tore his ACL . If you were relying on either McCown or Wentz and you don’t have a quality backup, you might be in panic mode right now. If you lost Wentz, you were most likely planning on riding his production deep into the fantasy playoffs and now need to regroup. Hopefully your waiver wire isn’t completely dried up and there are some options out there for you. At this point, you may need to consider starting a low end guy with a plus matchup in the fantasy playoffs.

DeShone Kizer – QB Cleveland Browns – 4% Owned – Kizer is an intriguing option now that he has both Josh Gordon and Corey Coleman catching passes for him. Kizer didn’t exactly light it up against the Packers this week, throwing for 214 yards, 3 TD’s and 2 INT’s, but he came through for fantasy purposes, and to be fair, it was a little windy in Cleveland. Kizer doesn’t have the greatest matchup in the world against the Ravens in week 15. But the Ravens are down their best corner, Jimmy Smith, and given the play making options for Cleveland on the outside, Kizer is worth a deep reach. I wouldn’t start Kizer with confidence against the Ravens because they have a solid pass rush but he is a high upside, volatile option and if you’re desperate he might be your best shot.

Jameis Winston – QB Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 55% Owned – If you are desperate for a quarterback this week, Jameis Winston needs to be high on your waiver priority. Winston put up 285 yards, 2 TD’s and 2 INT’s against the Lions this week and has the Falcons in week 15. The Falcons can be passed on and although Mike Evans hasn’t been coming through lately, the sum of the parts in Tampa Bay are solid and Winston has more than enough weapons to distribute the ball to.

Jimmy Garoppolo – QB San Francisco 49ers – 20% Owned – Jimmy G went over 300 yards against the Texans this weekend, going for 334, 1 TD and 1 INT. This week, he has the Titans who are hardly a shutdown defense. Jimmy G appears to be the real deal and plays efficiently with the football. All of a sudden Marquise Goodwin is a viable fantasy play on a weekly basis. I know the body of work isn’t there as he’s only started 4 games in his career, but if you need help, he’s talented and the week 15 matchup is right. Jimmy G needs to be your #1 waiver priority if you need a QB this week, with Jameis Winston a close second. Although the 49ers are out of it, they are going to continue swinging down the stretch as they evaluate what Garoppolo can do in a contract year.

There are some other notable options that may be available on your waiver wire this week, but I don’t know how confident I would be starting them in your fantasy playoffs. This week, Blaine Gabbert plays @ Washington, Blake Bortles plays vs Houston and Nick Foles is @ the NY Giants. All three of these quarterbacks are weak options, but these guys may be able to take advantage of their matchups if you are desperate. Foles plays in the best offense and has the best supporting cast, so if I had to pick between one of these guys, Foles would be my top choice. Like I said though, I would only start one of these guys if you are desperate based on the matchup.

Corey Coleman – WR Cleveland Browns – 28% Owned – Fresh off his week 13 donut against a stud filled Chargers defense, Coleman was targeted 6 times, catching 5 of them for 62 yards and a TD. If owners cut Coleman out of rage in week 13 and he remained unclaimed, go get him. Coleman will not see coverage rolled his way because a guy named Josh Gordon lines up across the formation from him. Moreover, it’s not likely the Browns will be playing with a lead much for the remainder of the year, so they should need to throw early and often to keep pace with teams. Kizer is starting to look like at least a serviceable NFL QB and the Browns receivers are seeing the benefit of that. The Browns play the Ravens next week and although their defense is a solid unit as a whole, their secondary is a little depleted without Jimmy Smith.

DeDe Westbrook – WR Jacksonville Jaguars – 30% Owned – Westbrook has been seeing steady targets since being activated from the IR and there’s no reason to think that will stop because the Jaguars simply don’t have a ton of viable options in the passing game outside of him and Marqise Lee. In week 14, Westbrook caught 5 balls off 8 targets for 81 yards and a TD. Westbrook is looking like an extremely intriguing fantasy receiver heading into 2018, so if you are in a keeper league and he’s still out there, you almost have to pick him up because of his future outlook.

Kendall Wright – WR Chicago Bears – 4% Owned – I drafted Kendall Wright in a deeper league back in August and I actually played him earlier in the year, but eventually I stopped putting him in my lineup, and then I cut him. Wright seemingly disappeared over the last several weeks, and by that I mean a majority of the season. However, Wright came back to fantasy relevance in week 14 with 10 grabs off 11 targets for 107 yards. Although the Bengals secondary was depleted on Sunday, it has been the Dontrelle Inman show in Chicago lately, and the shift in target share is something we should take notice of. I am not going to add Wright to my team unless I have somebody with almost no upside. At this point, I will consider adding Wright in deeper formats if I have a roster spot to burn just to make sure nobody else can pick him up and potentially use him against me in case this performance wasn’t a one week aberration.

Marquise Goodwin – WR San Francisco 49ers – 55% Owned – Goodwin is starting to receive consistent targets now that Jimmy G is throwing the rock in place of CJ Beathard who seemingly only knew how to throw the ball to Carlos Hyde. Although Goodwin doesn’t find the endzone much, he is putting up solid PPR numbers and really comes through if your league awards bonus points for big plays. This week he snagged 6 balls for 106 yards off 12 targets and he has the Titans week 15 who can be beat deep.

Roger Lewis – WR NY Giants – 1% Owned – Roger Lewis is about as unexciting as it gets when it comes to NFL wide receivers and he plays in a dysfunctional Giants offense. I am not even going to consider adding Lewis in any of my leagues because I prefer to go after high upside guys playing in good offenses. However, Lewis saw 11 targets this past week with the Giants receiving corps extremely banged up. Although I don’t like Lewis, at all, sometimes all you need is volume to come through in fantasy football, and he seems to get it.

“Big Rigg” Drop Alert – Robby Anderson was on an absolute tear as of late, and then he put up a huge stinker week 14 against the Broncos. Watch out for the “rage drop” on Tuesday or Wednesday morning. If you didn’t see a bad game for Anderson coming this week, then you are delusional. However, the fact is, people have emotions, and people sometimes use their emotions while making decisions in fantasy football. If somebody happens to drop Anderson this week, get him, because it will get better for him down the stretch. Yes, Josh McCown did go down with a broken non-throwing hand this week, but that won’t matter, because if you look back to Anderson’s 2016 game logs, Anderson did quite well with Bryce Petty throwing him the ball except for a week 16 stinker against New England.

Jonathan Stewart – RB Carolina Panthers – 38% Owned – Over the last few weeks I’ve been putting JStew on this waiver article as an “unexciting” option that may score a TD and come through. Well, this week, Stewart ran for 103 yards and 3 touchdowns on 16 carries, so he came through. If Stewart is still available in your league, he’s worth an add. Even if you don’t want to play him, he provides you with a low upside option in the event you lose a running back to injury.

Theo Riddick – RB Detroit Lions – 41% Owned – I have been drafting Ameer Abdullah every year he’s been in the league hoping he breaks out. I am still waiting for the breakout, and apparently the Lions are done waiting, because they benched him this week for Theo Riddick. Riddick proceeded to touch the ball 16 times for 93 yards and 2 touchdowns making him extremely viable even if you aren’t in a PPR. Don’t pay attention to the Tion Green noise that was stirring after week 13, he’s not that good, he cannot change direction with effectiveness. Theo Riddick is the only back worth owning in this backfield at this time.

Gio Bernard – RB Cincinnati Bengals – 57% Owned – Back in my waiver report that published on November 14th, I recommended Joe Mixon owners run out there and snag Gio Bernard after Jeremy Hill was placed on IR because Bernard was now the clear handcuff. This week, Bernard didn’t take care of business until he caught a bunch of check downs in garbage time, mainly because the Bengals offense couldn’t sustain drives and didn’t run many offensive plays until later in the game. However, the fact remains that he’s the only show in town behind Mixon. Bernard will likely be dropped by many non-Mixon owners this week, so if you are a Mixon owner, do yourself a favor and snag him.

Wayne Gallman – RB NY Giants – 3% Owned – Wayne Gallman has fallen off the map as of late but in week 14 he seemed to split time with Orleans Darkwa. Gallman does have athleticism and it’s possible that the Giants will turn to him down the stretch and feed him the rock more than Darkwa to evaluate for 2018. Gallman had 12 carries for 59 yards and added 7 grabs for 40 yards off 9 targets week 14 which is encouraging.

Peyton Barber – RB Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 36% Owned – With Doug Martin back in the mix in Tampa Bay, Martin started, but Barber was still a factor carrying the ball 12 times for 58 yards and grabbing 1 ball for 15 yards. Martin is almost 30 years old and might be done in Tampa Bay, so if you are a Martin owner and relying on him down the stretch, you may want to protect yourself by picking up Barber in the event the Bucs go into full on evaluation mode.

Matt Breida – RB San Francisco 49ers – 5% Owned – Matt Breida has no value to anybody unless Carlos Hyde goes down. If you are a Carlos Hyde owner, go out there and get Breida now before it’s too late. At this point, you don’t need depth.

OJ Howard – TE Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 23% Owned – Both OJ Howard and Cameron Brate see meaningful minutes for the Bucs, but there’s only one ball to go around. I understand Cameron Brate came through week 13, but he’s too touchdown dependent. This past week, OJ Howard was targeted 6 times, coming down with 4 of them for 54 yards and 1 TD. OJ Howard is worth an add, especially with the current landscape of the tight end position in fantasy football. If you are struggling with a decision on Howard because he competes with Brate for snaps and targets, think about it like this. OJ Howard has out-snapped Brate nearly 2-1 over the last 2 weeks, Howard has the pedigree, he is a better athlete, he was a 1st round pick, and he can score from anywhere on the field. Not too many tight ends have the capability of going off, but Howard does, and he could be a league winner for you down the stretch.

Eric Ebron – TE Detroit Lions – 29% Owned – I drafted Ebron heavily in 2017 and cut him a long time ago. Here we are, week 14, and Eric Ebron has resurfaced, getting targeted 11 times for 10 catches and 94 yards. He’s hard to trust, and this may have been an aberration, but if you need help at the position, he’s most likely out there.

Stephen Anderson – TE Houston Texans – 33% Owned – Stephen Anderson was the hot waiver wire add heading into week 14 after getting targeted 12 times in week 13, but he came up extremely small week 14 with only 2 catches for 16 yards. Although Anderson came up small this week, he was still targeted 6 times, so he’s seeing a decent number of targets, making him somewhat viable. If you picked up Anderson last week, don’t cut him for just anybody, make sure the option is better. If Anderson gets dropped this week, I would consider picking him up. In my view, Stephen Anderson is in the same conversation with Jason Witten, Austin Hooper, Cameron Brate and David Njoku. The only way I don’t consider Anderson is if I own Travis Kelce, Gronk, Zach Ertz, Jimmy Graham, Evan Engram, Kyle Rudolph, Hunter Henry or Jared Cook.

Follow me on Twitter @Coachriggall

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