When it comes to fantasy football, injuries can be detrimental to your fantasy squad’s success and can leave you scrambling for plug-in starters, especially after yet another injury-riddled week of football. There are two teams on bye this week (ARI and WAS) –– another reason you must work the fantasy football waiver wire to grab high-upside players to help fill these empty roster spots and reduce that Sunday morning pre-kickoff panic.
If you’re looking to do just that, here are the best fantasy football waiver wire pickups for Week 14 as we have just one more week before the fantasy football playoffs start kicking in.
All players must be owned in less than 50 percent of ESPN leagues to be included in the best fantasy football waiver wire pickups weekly column. All ownerships for waiver wire players will be provided and will reflect that of Tuesday morning.
QB Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Pickups
Jake Browning Fantasy Ownership (12.0%)
It’s going to be quite hard to ignore Jake Browning’s fantasy football performance on MNF, especially after the list of QB injuries across the league. Browning was masterful against the Jaguars, completing 87 percent of his passes for 354 yards and a touchdown, and should be able to do some serious damage with the weapons he has at his disposal. He also presents a bit of rushing upside and should be rostered in the majority of fantasy leagues moving forward. Who knows? Maybe Browning will end up being the yearly sneaky fantasy playoffs winner.
The Cincinnati Bengals face teams like the Colts, Vikings and Steelers over the next three games, which aren’t elite secondaries by any means and will be the main area where Browning should be able to exploit and put up consistent fantasy numbers.
RB Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Pickups
Ezekiel Elliott Fantasy Ownership (34.0%)
With Rhamondre Stevenson (ankle) sidelined for a “few weeks” with a high-ankle sprain, Ezekiel Elliott becomes a must-add off of the Week 14 fantasy football waiver wire, especially for those fantasy managers in need of plug-in starters. It’s hard to trust anything associated with the Patriots this season, but the running game has been the sole production. Stevenson was churning before the injury.
Zeke finished with 17 carries for 52 yards last week versus the Chargers and, considering the Patriots don’t even like any of their current quarterbacks, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them lean on a veteran to get the offense moving and in a groove. The main negative is that the Patriots are always playing from behind, which will take away from Elliott’s production but he should receive nearly every opportunity moving forward, especially because I don’t think New England is necessarily pressing to win any more games this season.
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WR Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Pickups
Noah Brown Fantasy Ownership (34.4%)
You can sense the trend, right? Well, Tank Dell fractured his fibula and will miss the rest of the season, leaving the door wide open for Noah Brown to further enhance his rapport with C.J. Stroud. Brown has been dealing with a knee injury, which has forced him to miss games here and there, but from Weeks 9-10, he totaled a whopping 13 catches for 325 yards and a touchdown.
Stroud has looked legit this season and has been passing a ton lately in some action-packed down-to-the-wire matchups. He looked for Dell quite often, particularly in the end zone. With him sidelined, Brown can easily slide right into that role. Barring how much his injury is bothering him still, he becomes one of the top fantasy football waiver wire pickups this week and could very well be in many fantasy manager’s playoffs lineups.
TE Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Pickups
Isaiah Likely Fantasy Ownership (23.2%)
Isaiah Likely only hauled in four catches for 40 yards in Week 12 versus the Chargers, but I liked what I saw. He brings a different style of play to the offense and could see his role increase as Lamar Jackson gets more comfortable with him at TE1. We saw how much the offense flowed through Mark Andrews at times and, while Likely is no Andrews, his quickness is unique at the tight end position and, in my opinion, perfect for the Ravens’ offensive scheme moving forward.
Baltimore already runs a ton, which automatically hinders Likely’s overall upside but the Ravens are looking to lock up the number one seed in the AFC and face opponents like the Rams, Jaguars, 49ers and Dolphins across their next four games. All should be good, competitive games, resulting in plenty of consistent looks for Likely in the middle of the field.
