FlurrySports discusses the best fantasy football waiver wire pickups for NFL Week 13, including Jayden Higgins from the Houston Texans.
The best week on the annual football calendar is upon us! It’s college football rivalry week, we have a Thanksgiving Day triple-header in the NFL and games scattered all throughout the weekend to follow. I can’t be the only one who finds great happiness in a plate of turkey and stuffing leftovers and watching games while everyone else frantically tries to shop on Black Friday! Amongst all of the festivities, let’s not forget that the Fantasy Football Playoffs are just two weeks away. Be sure to take some time this week to thoroughly assess your roster and shore up any weaknesses with fantasy football waiver wire pickups.
As always, snap counts, injury news and usage rates remain the focal points of our waiver wire recommendations. Let’s dive into a closer look at some of our favorite fantasy football waiver wire pickups to target ahead of Week 13.
Note: Players must be owned in less than 50% of ESPN leagues to be included in the best fantasy football waiver wire pickups column. Ownership percentages will reflect their status on Tuesday mornings ahead of standard waiver processing.
Best Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 13
QB Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Pickups
Jacoby Brissett, Arizona Cardinals (23.6%)
The Cardinals may be a sinking ship in the standings, but Jacoby Brissett has been a life raft for many fantasy managers. Over the course of his six starts, he has now averaged just shy of 21 fantasy points! His performances become all the more remarkable considering that Marvin Harrison Jr. has missed each of the last two games. With Arizona’s defense falling off drastically, a high passing volume should continue for Brissett going forward. He gets a nice matchup in Week 13 against a Buccaneers defense that has also been exposed of late.
CJ Stroud, Houston Texans (41.1%)
We haven’t seen CJ Stroud since he was knocked out in Week 9 with a concussion. Since then, the Texans have rattled off three straight wins, and the offense has looked much better than it did earlier in the season. It’s worth noting that the last three games have all come against bad defenses, but Stroud should be able to get in on the favorable matchup fun if he returns as expected this week. Houston faces the Colts in Week 13, and positive matchups against the Cardinals and Raiders await in the Fantasy Football Playoffs.
RB Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Pickups
Bhayshul Tuten, Jacksonville Jaguars (29.7%)
Two weeks ago, Bhayshul Tuten played a season-high 32% of the Jaguars’ offensive snaps and toted the ball 15 times on the ground. If not for picking up an ankle injury, we may have seen similar usage and production in Week 12. Instead, Tuten was pretty unproductive with his seven carries. The silver lining here is that it should be easier for savvy managers to obtain fantasy football waiver wire pickups this week. As Trevor Lawrence continues to play like straight garbage, the Jags have shown an increased willingness to run the ball more. This leads one to believe that there is room for both Tuten and Travis Etienne to produce.
Chris Rodriguez Jr., Washington Commanders (8.8%)
With the Commanders on bye this past week, Chris Rodriguez Jr.’s ownership in ESPN leagues hardly changed. The case to add him remains the same as it was a week ago. Rodriguez has simply looked like the better and more productive RB relative to Jacory Croskey-Merritt in recent weeks since he started getting some more run. Thus, he appears to be the RB to own in this offense at present. The weak state of Washington’s offense as a whole is troubling, but Rodriguez should be able to carve out steady RB3/FLEX production provided that he maintains his recent usage.
Devin Neal, New Orleans Saints (1.8%)
With Alvin Kamara suffering an MCL sprain in Week 12, rookie Devin Neal surfaced as the next man up in the Saints’ backfield. The former Kansas standout has been on the fantasy football waiver wire pickups radar in deeper leagues for a good month now, as he has consistently been playing a healthy amount of snaps. Neal’s snap count jumped to 59 on Sunday due to the injury. While Kamara appears to have avoided a long-term absence, managers should expect him to be sidelined for at least one or two games. If Neal plays well, he could earn more touches even after Kamara returns.
WR Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Pickups
Jayden Higgins, Houston Texans (23.3%)
One of two rookie wideouts out of Iowa State on the Texans’ roster, Jayden Higgins looks the part working as the WR2 to Nico Collins in this offense. Week 12 saw him garner a season-high nine targets. Higgins has also now seen at least seven targets and four receptions in four of the last five games. While the last three contests have all been played with Davis Mills under center, this recent stretch of emergence for Higgins began back when CJ Stroud was still healthy. With several favorable matchups looming, Higgins is a must-add amongst fantasy football waiver wire pickups for those with a need at the WR position.
Chimere Dike, Tennessee Titans (11.9%)
In what has been a miserable season for the Titans, rookie wideout Chimere Dike has been one of the few bright spots. While his name is worth considering for fantasy football waiver wire pickups, it will be difficult to start him with anything more than FLEX expectations week-to-week, given the nature of Tennessee’s offense. Dike typically hovers between three and five targets per game, but he saw seven come his way with fellow rookie Elic Ayomanor sidelined last week. Dike has also proven to be a dangerous punt returner and has a higher floor if your league rewards individual returner stats.
John Metchie (0.1%) & Adonai Mitchell (2.8%), New York Jets
When the Jets announced that they would be switching from Justin Fields to Tyrod Taylor at QB, the outlook of their passing attack received an instant boost. With Garrett Wilson on IR, the Jets are primarily relying on a pair of mid-season trade acquisitions at the wide receiver position. Adonai Mitchell seems to have gotten the majority of the hype, but he has only caught three of 13 targets spanning the last two games. On the other hand, John Metchie has been much more productive, hauling in nine of ten targets over the two games and finding the end zone in each. Despite the differences in production so far, both players have similar fantasy outlooks within this offense for the time being.
TE Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Pickups
Harold Fannin Jr., Cleveland Browns (48.2%)
Due to the check-down nature of the Browns’ offense this season, you might be surprised to learn that Harold Fannin Jr. has at least four receptions in six of the team’s last seven games. Unfortunately, significant yardage has been less consistent, and touchdowns are a rare occurrence for anyone not named Quinshon Judkins in Cleveland. Nonetheless, Fannin plays enough snaps and sees enough targets to remain a desirable fantasy football waiver wire pickups option. It was also a positive to see him garner six targets from Shedeur Sanders, who will be starting again in Week 13.
Brenton Strange, Jacksonville Jaguars (10.7%)
Look, we tried to remind you about Brenton Strange two weeks before he made his triumphant return from IR. Fortunately, there’s a great chance he remains available in your league. Strange hasn’t even played six full games this season, but he has compiled 25 receptions on 29 targets over that modest sample size. The Penn State product caught all five of his targets and finished with 93 yards in his return to action last week. The fact that he stepped right back in and played 44 snaps suggests that he is good to go after the IR stint. Strange could prove to be one of the less heralded game-changers in fantasy down the stretch.
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