Every week, I will share my favorite waiver wire or free agent pickups in fantasy football. Some weeks are more important than others because of bye weeks, but adding the right player any week can make all the difference. Here is what I have for week 12!
QB Bo Nix, Broncos
He had an incredible game last week against the Falcons and seems to have a great command of head coach Sean Payton’s offense. He threw for over 300 yards and 4 TDs in the Broncos 38-6 win. Nix has 60% ownership on Sleeper, so he is still pretty widely available, but he won’t be after this past week.
QB Jameis Winston, Browns
Although it came in a losing effort, Winston had a monster game, throwing for 395 yards and TDs. There will be times when he commits turnovers, but overall, he is going to produce for you in fantasy and has three solid WRs to throw the ball to. His TE David Njoku is also a nice target for him. He is currently just 18% owned on Sleeper.
QB Drake Maye, Patriots
He kept his team in the game, which is something he has done a much better job of than Jacoby Brissett was doing. Maye completed 75% of his passes for 282 yards and 2 TDs. He also ran for 27 yards, which helps to boost his fantasy score. Running with the football has become a big part of his game, and he seems to handle blitzes well, too, which is good to see from a rookie. He is currently 25% owned on Sleeper.
RB Trey Benson, Cardinals
He is a backup, so don’t get your hopes up or set your expectations too high, but Benson looked really good in the Cardinals week 10 game before going on the bye in week 11. He is gaining a larger role in the offense and is an explosive player who could become an RB1 if James Conner were to get hurt. He is only 31% owned on Sleeper right now and should be picked up by every Conner owner and even those who don’t have Conner but need to stash an RB.
RB Roschon Johnson, Bears
This is more of a deeper league addition or for those who own Swift and want some insurance. With Herbert traded to the Bengals, Johnson is the clear backup for Swift and is also the goalline back, meaning he gets touches inside the red zone and scores TDs. He is just 13% owned on Sleeper right now and could be a nice source of TDs for the remainder of the season.
WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Saints
For the second straight week, MVS scored a TD and was the main deep threat for Derek Carr and the Saints offense. He has always been very inconsistent which makes it difficult to start him on a weekly basis in your lineups, but based on what he has shown recently, he needs to be rostered in any league that is larger than 10 teams. He currently is 36% owned on Sleeper.
WR Christian Watson, Packers
He was second on the team in targets in the week 11 win over the Bears, but more importantly, he had 150 receiving yards while the next closest Packers WR had just 23. It was RB Josh Jacobs who was second on the team in receiving yards with 58. Although the leading receiver can change weekly in GB when Watson is healthy, he is their best deep threat, and QB Jordan Love throws a great deep ball. Watson is 49% owned on Sleeper.
WR Elijah Moore, Browns
He caught 6 of his 8 targets for 66 yards and a TD in week 11, putting up a solid 18.6 fantasy points in PPR formats. He is the Browns number 3 WR behind Tillman and Jeudy, but with a gunslinger QB like Jamies Winston throwing the football in Cleveland, there are going to be plenty of targets to go around. Moore is just 19% owned on Sleeper and should be rostered even “Moore” than that. See what I did there?
TE Will Dissly, Chargers
Ever since the Chargers started opening up their offense and throwing the football more, DIssly has become fantasy relevant. QB Justin Herbert trusts him and it’s showing in his performance. Dissly is coming off a huge game on SNF that saw him catch 4 passes for 80 yards and a TD. He is just 30% owned on Sleeper right now and you can expect that number to get closer to 50% after this week.
TE Zach Ertz
He doesn’t have a high ceiling week to week, but he seems to have a safe floor based on his role in the offense and how much rookie QB Jayden Daniels relies on him in big spots. Ertz is a veteran who knows how to get open for his young QB, and the two of them continue to build chemistry. Ertz is just 45% owned on Sleeper and won’t go on his bye until week 14.
Broncos Defense
They are one of the best defenses in football, so I was shocked to see them at just 52% ownership on Sleeper. Perhaps people didn’t like their matchup with the Falcons and dropped them. Regardless, the Broncos should be owned, and they have a great schedule with Vegas, Cleveland, and Indy in 3 of the next 4 weeks.
