Staying active on the waiver wire is an important way for season-long fantasy owners to improve their teams and get an edge on the competition. Shifts in opportunities for players due to injuries or performance cause value spikes that owners can take advantage of to fill in roster holes to build a championship lineup.
Each week, we will discuss waiver wire targets at each position to consider for both the week ahead and the rest of the fantasy season.
Week 12 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Adds
* Current roster % in home leagues is noted in parentheses (from Sleeper)
Bo Nix, QB (Denver Broncos) (60%)
What a performance for Bo Nix and the Broncos in their 38-6 dismantling of the Falcons. Nix tallied the best QB Rating (145.0) of his young career and his first 300+ yard passing day. He finished 28-33 for 307 yards and four touchdowns.
Nix has been trending up for the last seven weeks, with five top-12 fantasy results in that span. He has multiple touchdown passes in all five of those top-12 weeks and is limiting turnovers with just two interceptions over his last 280 pass attempts.
The Broncos have another juicy matchup this week against the Raiders. Nix threw for 206 yards and notched three total touchdowns when they played in Week 5. Denver may be turning into the real deal and Nix is showing incredible growth in this Sean Payton offense.
Looking for more fantasy football content? Make sure to check out Sean Koerner’s and Chris Raybon’s weekly fantasy football rankings by subscribing to FantasyLabs’ 2024 fantasy football kit to see how other waiver wire candidates look this week.
Trey Benson, RB (Arizona Cardinals) (31%)
The Cardinals’ rookie running back is finally starting to make a mark in the NFL with his best performance yet against the Jets in Week 10 in a 31-6 victory. Trey Benson tied his career high with 12 touches and turned that into 87 total yards.
This strong performance followed Benson scoring his first career touchdown in Week 9. James Conner remains the workhorse running back for Arizona, but Benson has emerged as his clear handcuff and would elevate quickly in the event of a Conner injury.
Benson saw 36% of running back attempts against the Jets. With Arizona coming off a bye week, it will be interesting to see if his opportunities continue to grow. Conner has averaged less than 3.0 yards/carry in two of his last three games. At 29 years old, he is toward the back end of his running back lifespan. Benson is likely the future tailback in Arizona.
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Quentin Johnston, WR (Los Angeles Chargers) (58%)
Fantasy owners could look at Quentin Johnston‘s Week 11 performance in a few different ways. On one hand, he saw eight targets for the first time this season, played 82% of snaps, and caught a touchdown. On the other hand, he only caught two of those passes for a rough 25% catch rate.
The first-round wide receiver has a ton of athleticism and potential, but that has yet to translate into high-end production on the field. His size makes him a formidable red zone threat, and he has used his big play ability to catch touchdown passes in three straight weeks.
Johnston earned 33% of the wide receiver targets last week, and the Chargers will need to put up points against the high-powered Ravens offense in this week’s premier AFC matchup. Baltimore allows the most points to fantasy wide receivers in the league, and the Chargers’ upcoming schedule also includes dates with Atlanta and Tampa Bay, who share the bottom five in that category.
Jonnu Smith, TE (Miami Dolphins) (57%)
On his fourth team in five seasons, Jonnu Smith is on pace for the highest target total in his career after his second 8+ target game of the season on Sunday. He caught six passes for 101 yards and two touchdowns against the Raiders.
With Tua Tagovailoa back at the helm, Smith has earned at least six targets in five of his last six games. He’s topped 15 yards/catch each of the last two weeks and logged his highest snap share at 81% against Las Vegas.
Smith only has touchdown catches in two games this season, but he’s landed in the top two of tight end weekly performances in each of those games. The ceiling is fairly high, but Smith has disappeared throughout his career and could easily fall back into mediocrity.
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Denver Broncos, D/ST (51%)
A surprise thrashing of the Falcons at home on Sunday posted a fifth top-5 fantasy week for the Broncos defense this season. Denver sacked Kirk Cousins on four occasions and picked him off once while allowing just six points on the day.
The Broncos are ranked first in the NFL in fantasy points allowed to wide receivers and fourth against quarterbacks. They have a wonderful matchup against the lowly Raiders this week with expectations to continue their strong run. Las Vegas allows the second most points to opposing fantasy defenses in 2024.
