Week 12 was filled with another stuffed scoreboard of matchups, and Week 13 should be another buffet of fantasy football goodness as the NFL celebrates Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday with all 32 teams in action. To get your fantasy team geared up for the holidays, you may need to hit the waiver wire, and even with Sunday and Monday night matchups still to come, several names are already popping as strong early pickups.
Throughout the week, DK Network will have you covered with potential waiver wire pickups and strong plays for Week 13 both on Thanksgiving’s three-game slate and and for the rest of the season. 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 coming out of Week 13.
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 12 to watch:
- QB Joe Flacco, Cincinnati Bengals
- RB Ashton Jeanty, Las Vegas Raiders,
- RB Alvin Kamara, New Orleans Saints
- WR Tee Higgins, Cincinnati Bengals
- WR DK Metcalf, Pittsburgh Steelers
- WR Rashee Rice, Kansas City Chiefs
- TE Michael Mayer, Las Vegas Raiders
With those injuries in mind, here are some of my early names to watch if you’re shopping on the Week 13 waiver wire.
WR Jayden Higgins, Houston Texans
The Texans drafted Jayden Higgins (13.8 FPTS) early in the second round with the hope that he’d emerge as the team’s No. 2 receiver behind Nico Collins, who he drew comparisons to throughout the draft process.
Higgins got off to a slow start and was stuck sharing time with Xavier Hutchinson. He had a few big plays early in the season, and he has climbed into a meaningful role in the last few weeks, making him a fringe fantasy starter with room to grow in the coming weeks.
Higgins caught four of his nine targets in Week 12 against the Bills, and he scored his fourth touchdown of the season, while showcasing the Texans excellent “Battle Red” alternate uniforms.
He has at least four catches in five of his last seven games and he has at least seven targets in each of the last three games. He has posted solid production, but there is even more potential given his targets and his route-running prowess and ability to create separation.
With C.J. Stroud (concussion) expected to return next week, Higgins is in a good spot against the Colts in Indy. He also has favorable matchups later in the season against the Cardinals and Raiders, and if Stroud comes back and keeps the offense rolling, Higgins could make a huge impact in the closing weeks of the season.
Other big receiver performances from pass-catchers on many waiver wires include John Metchie III (18.5 FPTS), Greg Dortch (13 FPTS), and Isaiah Hodgins (12.2 FPTS).
RB Dylan Sampson, Cleveland Browns
The Browns got a big win over the Raiders in the first start for Shedeur Sanders (14.35 FPTS), but it was mostly on the strength of their defense and other playmakers. It took until the fourth quarter for Sanders to throw his first NFL touchdown, and it went to the team’s backup running back Dylan Sampson (16.2 FPTS). Sampson had seven carries for 23 yards and added two catches for 59 yards and this big touchdown:
After his big game, the Browns’ fourth-round rookie should at least mix in on third downs going forward and is proving to be a solid complement to fellow rookie Quinshon Judkins (15.8 FPTS).
Sampson and the Browns have good running back matchups in the next few weeks. They face the 49ers at home in Week 13 before an even better matchup in Week 14 at home against the Titans. Week 15 is a tougher road game in Chicago, but Week 16 is another fantasy-friendly matchup with great upside at home against the Bills. Sampson and Judkins could be a solid timeshare down the stretch, and Sampson’s PPR potential makes him intriguing.
QB Cam Ward, Tennessee Titans
The Titans lost to the Seahawks and fell to 1-10 on the season. Cam Ward (23.9 FPTS) was solid in the loss, though, and the No. 1 pick has been trending in the right direction lately.
Ward had his best fantasy game of the season on Sunday, throwing for 256 passing yards and a touchdown, while running for 37 rushing yards on six carries.
Ward was also pretty solid in Week 11 coming off the bye even in a tough matchup against the Texans. He threw for 194 yards and a score in that game, while adding 33 rushing yards.
He still hasn’t connected on multiple touchdown passes in a game yet, but he is making plays and has racked up over 250 passing yards in three of his last five starts.
Ward and the Titans have two top-10 QB matchups in the last three weeks. Next week, he and the Titans host the Jaguars in what could be a breakout game for the rookie since the Jags have been very generous to opposing QBs. In Week 14, he has a tough matchup against the Browns, but in Week 15, he has another good matchup in San Francisco.
While the team still has a long rebuild ahead, Ward’s athleticism is enough to give him a good ceiling with outstanding play-extending ability.
With multiple injuries at receiver, rookies Chimere Dike (15.1 FPTS) and Gunnar Helm (11.1 FPTS) had good games as value plays, and were in my wide receiver values and tight end values coming into the week. The young core could be set for a strong finish to the season. Ward can be a solid QB2 in several upcoming matchups.
TE Brenton Strange, Jacksonville Jaguars
Jaguars starting tight end Brenton Strange (14.3 FPTS) had been on the shelf since Week 5 with a hip injury, but he returned with a big game against the Cardinals as one of my top sleeper tight ends. He hauled in all five of his targets for 93 yards in the Jaguars’ close win over the Cardinals.
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 the first four weeks of the season. He had back-to-back six-catch weeks and was becoming a go-to option for Trevor Lawrence.
Strange led the team in receiving in his return and continues to be efficient and productive. He and the Jaguars will look to make a playoff push in the coming weeks. They’ll face Ward and the Titans in Week 13 before facing the Colts (a top-five tight end matchup) in Week 14 and again in Week 17.
Strange is a great addition if he’s available in your league since he has been so consistent when healthy. Other options on many waiver wires that make sense include Gunnar Helm (mentioned above), Pat Freiermuth (10.7 FPTS) and Harold Fannin Jr. (8.0 FPTS).
Chargers DST
The Chargers defense is in a great spot as it comes back from its bye week for a home game against the Raiders, who have been an outstanding matchup for opposing DST this season.
The Chargers were knocked around by the Jags in Week 11 for 34 points, but they had allowed 14 points or fewer in each of their three previous games. They also had 12 stacks in those three games with seven takeaways in their previous five contests as well. They looked very strong in wins over the Dolphins, Titans and Steelers.
While they are still a little hard to trust in every matchup, they have proven they can dominate in favorable spots like they’ll have next week at home against the Raiders.
If someone held them through their bye week, some other options to consider that are on many leagues’ waiver wires are the Buccaneers (vs. ARI), the Dolphins (vs. NO) and the Jaguars (vs. TEN).
