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 13 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Adds
* Current roster % in home leagues is noted in parentheses (from Sleeper)
Matthew Stafford, QB (Los Angeles Rams) (60%)
The return of Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua has spelled a return to fantasy success for Matthew Stafford and a resurgence for the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC. Stafford has two straight top-10 fantasy performances with six touchdown passes over that span.
The Rams offense still relies on a heavy dose of Kyren Williams, but Stafford’s pass attempts have ballooned to an average of 37.4 over the past five weeks with his two star receivers back in the lineup. He’s averaged 281.6 passing yards and 2.4 passing scores per game in those matchups.
New Orleans allows the 12th-most fantasy points to quarterbacks on the season, even though they’ve held their last two opponents to under 20 total points. Stafford had at least six red-zone attempts in three straight games before this past week. Without Marshon Lattimore in the back end, the Saints are prone to give up some red zone touchdowns this week.
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.
Jeremy McNichols, RB (Washington Commanders) (0%)
Injuries are piling up in the Commanders’ backfield with Brian Robinson and Austin Ekeler both leaving the game on Sunday against the Cowboys. Jeremy McNichols and Chris Rodriguez are the next men up for Washington, but McNichols seems to be ahead in potential touches.
McNichols is averaging 4.9 yards/rush on 44 attempts this season in a backup role. Both Ekeler and Robinson are averaging double-digit fantasy points per game this season. If both are out this week against the Titans, McNichols could be in line for a strong workload and fantasy output.
The Titans enter the week 14th against fantasy running backs, but they have allowed at least 20 total points in each of the last three weeks. Jayden Daniels will need a tailback to step up and complement him in the read-option attack.
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Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, WR (Tennessee Titans) (21%)
Catching two passes each week is not a normal path to fantasy value, but somehow Nick Westbrook-Ikhine continues to produce for both the Titans and fantasy owners. He hauled in two Will Levis throws for 48 yards and another score this past week in Houston.
Westbrook-Ikhine now has a touchdown pass in six of the Titans’ seven games since their bye week, despite catching more than three passes in a game on just one occasion. His 98-yard touchdown reception against the Vikings in Week 11 seemed like a potential outlier, but Westbrook-Ikhine continues to provide a consistent deep threat for the second-year gunslinging quarterback.
A quintessential boom-or-bust fantasy proposition, Westbrook-Ikhine seems destined to earn roughly 20% of the target share in the Tennessee offense, but he sees a much larger share of the valuable deep passes. He faces four straight defenses currently in the bottom half of the league against fantasy wide receivers.
Noah Gray, TE (Kansas City Chiefs) (6%)
At what point do we start respecting Noah Gray as a potential starting fantasy tight end? The second-string option in Kansas City has two straight top-5 fantasy finishes at the position as defenses focus their coverage on superstar Travis Kelce.
Gray has been a staple of the Chiefs offense for a number of seasons but has taken a noticeable step forward this season with the depletion of talent in the wide receiver corps. He has two touchdowns in each of the last two games as Andy Reid schemes him open in creative ways.
This could easily be a mirage, but there are worse horses to bet on than a tight end in a potent Chiefs offense. Gray likely needs a touchdown to be fantasy-relevant, but his recent track record confirms that as a decent possibility.
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Tampa Bay Buccaneers, D/ST (64%)
The Buccaneers notched four sacks for the fifth game this season against Tommy DeVito and the Giants on Sunday. They have a date with Carolina this week for a chance to further their playoff chances.
Bryce Young has shown some life in his second stint as the Panthers quarterback this season, including an almost-upset against the Chiefs last week. That said, Carolina ranks 20th against fantasy defenses, and the upcoming Tampa Bay schedule includes dates with Las Vegas and Dallas in the coming weeks, both ranking even further down the list.
Tampa Bay could be a defensive pickup with multiple-week potential in lineups.
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