Happy Tuesday and welcome back to my weekly Waiver HUB! It’s time to hit the waiver wire and do what you can to improve your team moving forward. Mike Hubbard here, you can follow me on Twitter (@FantasyHubbard) for all things fantasy football throughout the season. Feel free to tweet me or message me with any comments or questions you might have regarding fantasy football.
Week 14 has concluded following the MNF game between the Patriots and Cardinals. It was an injury fest with the most fantasy impact leaning on Kyler Murray and Rhamondre Stevenson. Patriots walked away with a win and are closer to the playoffs.
Week 15 kicks off on Thursday with a matchup between the 9-4 San Francisco 49ers and the 7-6 Seattle Seahawks. The game is in Seattle with the 49ers favored by 3.5 and an over/under of 43.5. Possible comeback player of the year Geno Smith looks to extend his multi-TD game streak to 8 consecutive weeks while the last pick in this year’s NFL draft Purdy will look to build on his winning performance over the Bucs. My prediction is a 49ers win by a score of 24-20.
The fantasy playoffs are here so the waiver wire is more important than ever. Hopefully you made the playoffs but if you didn’t you can fight for consolation games or use the information to play DFS. Another week gone, another opportunity to make your team stronger and inch your way to that league trophy and an offseason of bragging rights.
Below are my top waiver wire priorities this week. Go get those hopefully available players to help your chances at a championship run. Good luck this week and remember to check back every week to stay informed on who you could target off waivers.
TOP PRIORITY OF THE WEEK
Jerick McKinnon – Kansas City Chiefs
Go off Jerick! The veteran RB for the Chiefs caught 7 of 9 targets for 112 receiving yards and 2 receiving TDs. Isiah Pacheco is the clear RB1 for KC, but McKinnon is that 3rd down RB who is a real threat to catch and run. McKinnon has 73 rushing yards on 14 attempts in his last 2 games combined and has also scored 3 receiving TDs in those 2 games as well. McKinnon set season highs in receptions, targets, receiving yards, and receiving TDs. KC takes on the rather terrible 1-win Houston Texans next game which can bode well for McKinnon if he gets more touches due to a blow out, but it could also hurt him knowing they won’t need to throw much. Chiefs get Texans, Seahawks, and Broncos next 3 games.
Quarterbacks
Brock Purdy – San Francisco 49ers
The last pick in the 2022 NFL Draft was Purdy out of Iowa State who is now the starting QB for SF after Trey Lance and Jimmy G both suffered season ending injuries. Purdy came off the bench to throw for 210 yards and 2 passing TDs in his first game and in his first start he threw 2 more TDs and had 185 passing yards. He is not a threat to take off, but he did score a rushing TD last game. He not only has looked impressive, but he beat the Dolphins and the Buccaneers by a combined 44 points. He has a good matchup with the Seahawks this week and in week 17 he gets Vegas who has looked really bad.
Running Backs
Zonovan Knight – New York Jets
Knight carried the ball 17 times on Sunday compared to Michael Carter who had only 5. Carter also lost a fumble. Knight finished with 71 rushing yards and a rushing TD. Zonovan now has 69+ yards and 14+ carries in all 3 of his games this season. It is clearly Knight then Carter then Johnson and the gaps in-between are quite large. Knight is the Jets RB you want in your playoff run. The Jets take on Detroit this week in what will hopefully be a high scoring game.
Jerick McKinnon – Kansas City Chiefs
SEE TOP PRIORITY OF THE WEEK TOP OF PAGE
Wide Receivers
Donovan Peoples-Jones – Cleveland Browns
DPJ came alive in week 14 setting season highs in targets, receptions, and receiving yards. He finished with 12 targets, 8 receptions, and 114 receiving yards. He had more than double any other pass catcher’s yards last game and it’s a boost in confidence that he and Deshaun Watson are clearly clicking. The Browns have a good matchup with Baltimore this week which is beneficial to Browns WRs. Watson nearly doubled his pass attempts in his 2nd game back leading me to believe that he could be throwing a lot this weekend. DPJ now has 6 games with 70+ receiving yards and the last time these 2 teams met in week 7 he caught all 6 of his targets for 71 receiving yards.
DJ Chark – Detroit Lions
Chark has 2 consecutive games with over 90 receiving yards for the first time in his career. He caught his 2nd TD in the last 3 weeks giving him 3 on the year. Chark’s 94 receiving yards was a team high in week 14 which was 26 more yards than Amon-Ra St. Brown despite St. Brown being targeted 2 more times. DJ has also become a threat to go the distance logging back-to-back weeks with a 40+ yard reception. Chark doesn’t have the greatest matchup this week going against the stout Jets secondary, but DJ has momentum on his side and an offense that has been clicking and putting up 25+ points in 5 consecutive games.
Zay Jones – Jacksonville Jaguars
Evan Engram might have stolen the show for the Jags this past week, but Jones has been impressive as well. Zay caught 8 of 12 targets for 77 receiving yards and scored a receiving TD last game. Jones has 10+ targets in 3 of his last 4 games and on the season is averaging just over 8 targets per game. The Jags fantasy playoff schedule isn’t very WR friendly but with his target share it’s hard to ignore the possibilities. Less than 20 pass catchers in the NFL have more targets this season than Jones. Zay leads his team in receptions this season and is 2nd in targets and receiving yards to Christian Kirk.
Tight Ends
Chigoziem Okonkwo – Tennessee Titans
Fantasy TEs are a mess and it’s very difficult to find one that is outside the top 5 and can produce. Okonkwo is a rookie TE out of Maryland who set his career high in receiving yards in week 13 catching 4 of 5 targets for 68 yards. He then went into week 14 and finished with 6 receptions for 45 yards and a TD. Chigoziem is getting hot despite losing 3 consecutive games.
Evan Engram – Jacksonville Jaguars
Evan Engram had a career game in week 14 posting a career high 162 receiving yards and a career high with 2 TDs in a game. Engram shot his way up to top 5 TEs in fantasy points this season after that performance. He has now scored 3 TDs in his last 2 games but will have a not so simple fantasy playoff schedule. Can’t pass up on Engram unless you have a top 5 TE already.