Fantasy Football Week 13 Early Waiver Wire
Week 13 marks the final week of the regular season in many fantasy leagues, which means fantasy owners will be looking for very different types of players on the waiver wire, depending on where they are in the standings. Owners who already have already clinched a spot in the playoffs should be on the hunt for players—including defenses—who can help them over the next month. Owners who need a win in Week 13 to get into the postseason, can’t afford to think like that, and need to focus simply on the game ahead of them. Either way, the wire can still satisfy all fantasy owners. Except for those who are already looking ahead to 2019.
As always, all players listed here have ownership rates of 40% or less on at least two of Yahoo, ESPN and CBS.
Lamar Jackson, QB, Ravens
Jackson delivered for the second straight week while leading the Ravens to a 34-17 win over the Raiders. Jackson’s numbers as a passer don’t exactly jump off the page. He threw for 178 yards, 7.12 yards per attempt, one touchdown and two picks in the win. He got it done on the ground again, though, racking up 71 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries. That comes out to 22.22 points in standard-scoring leagues, meaning he more than paid off for fantasy owners who bought into his upside in the matchup with the Raiders. There’s no telling what the Ravens will do when Joe Flacco is ready to return from his hip injury, but Jackson has earned himself a longer look as a starter. Complicating matters is that the Ravens are 6-5, firmly in the AFC playoff hunt. It’s entirely possible that John Harbaugh and the Baltimore coaching staff will decide the team has a better shot at making the postseason with Flacco under center, though that’s purely speculation on our part. Still, Jackson is well worth the gamble after what he has showed in his first two starts.
Doug Martin, RB, Raiders
On the other side of that game, Martin continued his quietly productive season. The Raiders’ lead back ran for 51 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries, while catching three passes for 21 yards. Martin has been the Raiders’ primary back for five weeks since the team placed Marshawn Lynch on IR. In those five games he has 285 yards on 60 carries, 10 receptions for 95 yards, and the one score he put on the Ravens on Sunday. He’s had at least 70 yards from scrimmage in three of those games, and double-digit touches in all of them. In other words, he’s on the low-end RB2 radar every single week, even in a substandard offense.
D.J. Moore, WR, Panthers
Devin Funchess was inactive on Sunday, pushing Moore to the top of the depth chart for the Panthers. He proved, again, that he’s ready for a larger role, catching eight of his nine targets for 91 yards in the team’s 30-27 loss to the Seahawks. Moore has had at least six targets in three games this season. In those games, he has 20 receptions for 338 yards and one score. That comes out to 13.27 points per game in standard-scoring leagues and 19.93 points per game in PPR formats. The reeling Panthers have lost three straight games, and Sunday’s downturn at home against the Seahawks was truly damaging, given that they’re in direct competition with Seattle for a wild card spot. If the Panthers are going to earn what once looked like sure-thing berth in the playoffs, Moore is going to have to be a key player for them the rest of the season.
