Each week I’ll list the best widely available free agents for fantasy football — I define “widely available” as being owned in around half of all ESPN or Yahoo leagues — and some guys who are probably better off in the free agent pool than collecting dust on your roster.
Follow me on X (formerly known as Twitter) @UTEddieBrown if you have questions throughout the week.
Here’s my NFL Week 12 waiver wire cheat sheet for all league sizes and formats, with players you need to add, drop and stream in your fantasy football league:
ADD
RB Zach Charbonnet, Seahawks (ESPN: 32%; Yahoo: 45%): It doesn’t look like Kenneth Walker is an injured reserve candidate with an oblique injury he suffered against the Rams, but he’s almost certainly not playing on Thanksgiving night and may miss a few games. Charbonnet is a talented rookie who got drafted in the second round and will inherit a substantial workload (he had 21 touches, including six receptions on Sunday with Walker out). It’s a brutal upcoming schedule, but fantasy remains about volume and opportunity.
TE Isaiah Likely, Ravens (ESPN: 1%; Yahoo: 4%): It’s actually unclear if Mark Andrews’ season is entirely over, but for fantasy purposes, it is. Likely flashed his upside as a rookie last season in two games where Andrews was inactive, scoring a touchdown in one and producing 103 yards on eight receptions in the other. He’ll face a Chargers defense on Sunday night who is allowing the fifth-most fantasy points to tight ends this season.
WR Josh Downs, Colts (ESPN: 44%; Yahoo: 50%): The combination of a flare up from a knee injury he suffered in spring workouts and a bye week has hampered Downs’ impressive rookie season and he may have been dropped in your league. Assuming his knee is feeling better, he could pick up where he left off. In the six games before the flare up in Week 9, Downs was the overall WR17 in standard formats (WR14 in PPR). Something similar happened when fellow rookie receiver Tank Dell suffered a concussion that caused him to miss a game and then was dropped during the Texans’ bye week shortly thereafter in many leagues. Whomever picked him up after is currently reaping significant rewards.
QB Jordan Love, Packers (ESPN: 44%; Yahoo: 46%): Love has certainly been inconsistent in his first full season as a starter, but he’s currently the overall QB11 in fantasy through 11 weeks and just surpassed 300 passing yards in a game for the first time in his career. In fact, he has passed for at least 289 yards and two TDs in back-to-back games and has a very favorable schedule in front of him. Another Aaron Jones injury could mean a more pass-heavy approach going forward.
WR Odell Beckham Jr., Ravens (ESPN: 44%; Yahoo: 30%): Beckham is the overall WR10 in standard formats (WR12 in PPR) since Week 9 with 212 yards on 10 receptions and two TDs in the last three games. We could see Beckham get a bump in playing time and target share moving forward with Andrews sidelined.
BONUS: RB Keaton Mitchell, Ravens (ESPN: 35%; Yahoo: 58%): The dynamic undrafted rookie out East Carolina disappointed if you started him against the Bengals, but Gus Edwards hasn’t been a pillar of health during his career and it looks like Justice Hill has already been replaced as Baltimore’s preferred scatback. Mitchell can still be considered in starting lineups in games where the Ravens are clear favorites. He’s capable of producing flex-worthy production on 5-to-10 touches.
BONUS: QB Gardner Minshew, Colts (ESPN: 7%; Yahoo: 13%): If you lost Kirk Cousins or Joe Burrow to a season-ending injury recently, Minshew may represent the best you can do on the waiver wire. The good news is Indianapolis has the third-best schedule for quarterbacks the rest of the fantasy season.
BONUS: WR Khalil Shakir, Bills (ESPN: 5%; Yahoo: 11%): Shakir’s playing time increased significantly in Week 8. He’s the overall WR18 in standard formats (WR22 in PPR) the last four games. He has gained 288 receiving yards on 14 receptions in that span, ranking 11th in receiving yards among wide receivers.
BONUS: RB Ty Chandler, Vikings (ESPN: 50%; Yahoo: 44%): Alexander Mattison ended up playing against the Broncos despite suffering a concussion the week before, but Chandler still outproduced him. Mattison had 80 total yards on 19 touches compared to Chandler’s 110 total yards on 14 touches, including four receptions.
BONUS: TE Pat Freiermuth, Steelers (ESPN: 41%; Yahoo: 52%): If you lost Andrews, a set-it-and-forget-it option at tight end, there’s likely no one with higher upside than Freiermuth available in your league (regardless of Matt Canada’s offense). Freiermuth produced at least 60 receptions in each of his two seasons before dealing with a hamstring injury for most of this campaign.
BONUS: WR Demario Douglas, Patriots (ESPN: 25%; Yahoo: 33%): I’m sure plenty of fantasy managers chose to drop Douglas during New England’s bye week, especially considering the serious concerns at the quarterback position. This just means more value (and upside) for you. Douglas has been a top-30 option in PPR since he became a starter in Week 7. He’s clearly the best wide receiver on the Patriots’ roster with Kendrick Bourne out for the season.
BONUS: TE Luke Musgrave, Packers (ESPN: 28%; Yahoo: 45%): Musgrave is starting to heat up as the overall TE8 in standard formats (TE11 in PPR) since Week 9. He has surpassed 51 receiving yards twice in the last three games.
BONUS: WR Tutu Atwell, Rams (ESPN: 25%; Yahoo: 26%): If Cooper Kupp misses any time with a sprained ankle, Atwell would be a priority addition. The speedy receiver was the overall WR24 in standard formats (WR20 in PPR) the first four weeks of this season while Kupp was healing from a hamstring injury. Atwell had at least eight targets in every game Kupp missed.
BONUS: D/ST Broncos (ESPN: 5%; Yahoo: 33%): Since Denver allowed 70 points at Miami in Week 3, the Broncos have actually been the ninth-highest scoring defense in fantasy. They’ve played especially well recently against three formidable offenses (Chiefs, Bills and Vikings). The Broncos face the Browns at home this week with rookie QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson under center. The inexperienced passer produced 165 yards with no touchdowns, and one interception in a win over the Steelers. He averaged just 3.8 yards per pass attempt.
BONUS: D/ST Giants (ESPN: 16%; Yahoo: 3%): Stop me if you’ve heard this one, but a New York football team gets carried by its defense after its offense is derailed by injuries. The Giants are the fourth-highest scoring defense in fantasy since Week 5, producing at least 12 points in four of the last seven games. This week, the G-Men get a hapless Patriots offense at home that have scored 17-or-fewer points in eight of the last nine games.
DROP
QB Joe Burrow, Bengals: Burrow suffered a torn ligament in his right wrist against the Ravens last Thursday night and will miss the reminder of the 2023 season.
TE Mark Andrews, Ravens: Coach John Harbaugh said tests on Andrews’ ankle offered some optimism that the All-Pro tight end has an “outside chance” of returning at some point down the line this season. I’m assuming Harbaugh means during the NFL playoffs, not the fantasy postseason.
WR Jakobi Meyers, Raiders: In four games with Aidan O’Connell starting at QB, Meyers only has 10 receptions on 16 targets for 141 yards and a rushing TD. He’s finished as the WR69, WR17, WR65 and WR40 in PPR in those four contests.
RB Zack Moss, Colts: It feels weird advocating you drop a running back who’s currently ninth in the NFL in rushing yards, but Moss hasn’t played at least 50 percent of Indy’s offensive snaps since Week 7. He played fewer than 25 percent the last two games before the Colts bye last week. Unless you have Jonathan Taylor, there’s no reason to have his handcuff.
WR Tyler Boyd, Bengals: Boyd is normally the third option when Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins are healthy, but Burrow was capable of spreading the love around and Cincy’s offense had a higher ceiling then I anticipate it having with Jake Browning under center.
