After a Thanksgiving feast of football on Thursday and a Black Friday special, Week 13 had some fantastic finishes on Sunday along with some big surprises. If you need to do some holiday shopping to bolster your fantasy football team, there are some strong early pickups emerging from the waiver wire for Week 14.
Throughout the week, DK Network will have you covered with potential waiver wire pickups and strong plays for Week 14. Be sure to stay tuned to the outstanding coverage from the whole team. This post is designed to be an early look at some of the names to keep an eye on heading into Week 14.
Another key factor to keep a close eye on every week is new injuries. Here are some new situations to monitor moving forward:
Players with new injuries from Week 14 to watch:
- QB Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers
- QB Aaron Rodgers, Pittsburgh Steelers
- QB Sam Darnold, Seattle Seahawks
- RB Kyren Williams, Los Angeles Rams
- RB Woody Marks, Houston Texans
- RB Aaron Jones Sr., Minnesota Vikings
- RE Dylan Sampson, Cleveland Browns
- WR Amon-Ra St. Brown, Detroit Lions
- WR Marvin Harrison Jr., Arizona Cardinals
- WR Parker Washington, Jacksonville Jaguars
With those injuries in mind, here are some of my early names to watch if you’re shopping on the Week 14 waiver wire.
WR Devaughn Vele, New Orleans Saints
It was a huge week for fantasy football sleeper plays at receiver. While Adonai Mitchell (24.2 FPTS) and Dontayvion Wicks (28 FPTS) had monster games and Isaac TeSlaa (11.5 FPTS) should have a big role in Detroit if Amon-Ra St. Brown is out, my top wide receiver pickup for the week is Devaughn Vele (23.3 FPTS).
Vele is set up to be the second receiver for the team going forward with Rashid Shaheed in Seattle and Brandin Cooks in Buffalo. While the Saints offense is still very much a work in progress, Vele is definitely showing lots of upside in the last few weeks in his expanded role.
Against the Falcons in Week 12, Vele had seven targets but only managed three catches for 37 yards. This week against the Dolphins, though, he hauled in all eight of his targets for 93 yards and a touchdown.
With 15 targets in the last two weeks, Vele has a very high ceiling, especially since the run game struggled without Alvin Kamara (knee). Vele could be a high-volume option the rest of the way and has three excellent matchups in the four weeks of most standard seasons. He faces the Buccaneers, Jets and Titans in three of the next four weeks with only a tough matchup against the Panthers in Week 15 as an obstacle.
Vele should have a clear path to targets for the rest of the way and is establishing a solid connection with Tyler Shough. Shough seems to be trending up, and Vele could be locking into his role as a key part of the team’s success going forward.
RB Blake Corum, Los Angeles Rams
The Rams lost to the Panthers, but Blake Corum (14.1 FPTS) got a chance to show out with some extra work while Kyren Williams was sidelined by an ankle injury. Williams returned, but Corum continues to work his way into a timeshare that could put him in a good spot for fantasy football production going forward.
Corum finished with seven carries for 81 yards and a touchdown in his best performance of the year.
Even before Williams’ injury, Corum was starting to creep into more work. His snap share has been climbing to about 30% in each of the last five games coming into Sunday.
He has at least seven carries in each of his last six games and he has 12+ carries in three of those contests. He added a couple of catches, but most of his work is as a short-yardage and goal line back.
Corum and the Rams are on the road in a great matchup in Week 14 against the Cardinals before a hard matchup in Week 15 against the Lions. Looking further ahead, he has a good matchup in Week 17 with the Falcons as well. Corum could be a league-winner if Williams misses time, but even if he’s available as expected, Corum could get enough work to still be worth a roster spot.
QB Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers
All season for the Panthers, Bryce Young (22.5 FPTS) has been boom or bust, but he has shown a very high ceiling. I highlighted him as a top pickup just a few weeks ago, but he still is available in over 80% of leagues.
On Sunday of Week 13, Young led the Panthers to a huge win, throwing for 206 yards and three touchdowns while adding 23 rushing yards to help his Panthers upset the Rams.
Two weeks ago, he threw for 448 passing yards and three touchdowns in a narrow win over the Falcons.
While he has had a few brutal games earlier in the season (see Week 10 against the Saints), he has a high enough ceiling to be worth a look if you need quarterback help for the rest of the way.
It is critical to note that Young is on a bye next week in Week 14, so he can’t help you right away. However, depending on your format, it could pay off to be a few moves ahead and grab him this week since he comes back from the bye week with some very favorable matchups.
In Week 15, he gets a rematch against the Saints in New Orleans before a good home matchup against the Bucs in Week 16.
Despite his inconsistency, those matchups after the bye make him one of the best waiver wire Week 14 options if you’re searching for quarterback answers. If you need someone to help your team more immediately in Week 14, you can consider Tyrod Taylor (21.3 FPTS), who faces the Dolphins, Jaguars and Saints in the next three weeks. Another rising option is rookie Tyler Shough (17.4 FPTS) who plays the Bucs in Week 14.
TE Brenton Strange, Jacksonville Jaguars
I try to avoid going back-to-back weeks with the same waiver wire pickup, but I’m going back to the well on Brenton Strange (13.5 FPTS) since he has been so good since returning and is still only owned in under 33% of leagues.
Strange was on the shelf since Week 5 with a hip injury, before returning last week with five catches for 93 yards in the Jaguars’ close win over the Cardinals. He was critically involved again in Week 13 against the Titans, catching three of his four targets for 45 yards and this touchdown:
Before his injury, the third-year tight end from Penn State got off to a strong start to the season, catching 19 of 23 targets for 182 receiving yards in his first four games.
He’s a key target for Trevor Lawrence, and he has a juicy schedule ahead with the Colts (a top-five tight end matchup) in Week 14 and again in Week 17.
If Strange was already snatched from your league’s waiver wire, other good options to consider in Week 14 include Dalton Schultz (12.5 FPTS), Harold Fannin Jr. (11.3 FPTS), and Gunnar Helm (8.3 FPTS).
Buccaneers DST
The Bucs defense looked solid in Week 13, holding the Cardinals and Jacoby Brissett to just 17 points with two sacks and two takeaways.
In their 12 games, the Bucs have 29 sacks and 18 takeaways to go with a pair of defensive touchdowns. Next week, they host the Saints and rookie Tyler Shough, who looked better in Week 13. The Saints have been a top-five matchup for DST this season, and the Bucs finish with a strong set of matchups through the fantasy playoffs as well, taking on the Falcons in Week 15, the Panthers in Week 16, and the Dolphins in Week 17.
If someone else is already backing the Bucs, some other strong streamers to consider are the Dolphins (at NYJ), Titans (vs. CLE) and the Vikings (vs. WAS).
