Early Week 12 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire
Jonathan Williams rushed for 116 yards in the Colts' Week 11 win over Jacksonville.
Michael Conroy/AP/Shutterstock
Be on the lookout for a full waiver-wire column from the SI Fantasy team each week. Every Sunday night, however, I will take an early look at a few options that could help you in the upcoming week or on a rest-of-season basis.
[Note: All players referenced in this post are available in more than half of Yahoo! leagues as their ownership levels are all below 50 percent.]
The New York Giants had a Week 11 bye, but I highlighted Darius Slayton in last week’s early waiver-wire column. While his ownership has since jumped from nine to 25%, he remains a target for those that need receiver help.
With that said, here are a few additional waiver-wire options to consider heading into Week 12 (Yahoo! ownership in parenthesis):
Jonathan Williams, RB, Indianapolis Colts (1% owned)
With Jordan Wilkins (ankle) out on Sunday, Williams was active and unexpectedly thrust into a large role once Marlon Mack left with a hand injury. Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Mack has a broken hand and he’s already been ruled out for Week 12.
The Colts ran the ball at will against the Jaguars as both Mack (14/109/1) and Williams (13/116) eclipsed the 100-yard mark on Sunday. Williams, who had entered the week with one rushing yard and no receptions, added a 31-yard catch as well.
It’s unclear if Wilkins will be ready to go in Week 12, but he missed practice all of last week before being declared inactive. Considering the Colts have a quick turnaround for their Thursday Night Football matchup against the Texans, it’s possible that Wilkins doesn’t return in Week 12, either.
Sam Darnold, QB, New York Jets (22% owned)
Not only did Darnold have his best fantasy performance of the season on Sunday, but he has now scored at least 21 fantasy points in back-to-back games. Against Washington on Sunday, Darnold threw for 293 yards and four touchdowns. Including his rushing score in Week 10, Darnold has accounted for multiple touchdowns in three of his past four games.
There are four teams—Arizona, Kansas City, LA Chargers and Minnesota—on bye next week, so Darnold should fit the bill if you’re looking for a bye-week replacement for Patrick Mahomes, Kyler Murray, etc. In fact, if you stream the position in general, New York’s second-year quarterback is set up with three consecutive plus-matchups against the Raiders, Bengals and Dolphins, respectively. All three entered this week among the eight-most favorable defenses for opposing fantasy quarterbacks.
Bo Scarbrough, RB, Detroit Lions (1% owned)
From the practice squad one day to lead back the next, Scarbrough was activated yesterday just in time to dominate snaps and usage Sunday in the team’s backfield. Scarbrough carried the ball 14 times for 55 yards and a touchdown against his former team. Teammates J.D. McKissic and Ty Johnson had only six and three touches, respectively.
Since Kerryon Johnson suffered his injury, it’s been anyone’s guess as to which Lions running back will be the most useful from a fantasy perspective. Scarbrough isn’t a recommended Week 12 streamer, as it’s difficult to trust the team’s allocation of workload, but if he strings together a couple of useful outings, he could become a viable streamer in deeper leagues down the stretch.
Randall Cobb, WR, Dallas Cowboys (14% owned)
Cobb had four catches for 115 yards and a touchdown against the Lions on Sunday and now has back-to-back games exceeding the 100-yard mark with a score. Since the team’s Week 8 bye, Cobb has 23 targets that he’s converted into 16 catches for 256 yards and two touchdowns over three games.
With both Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup ahead of Cobb on the depth chart and a difficult matchup coming up against New England, Cobb is unlikely to extend his 100-yard streak. That said, the Patriots' gameplan will likely attempt to limit Ezekiel Elliott and force Dak Prescott to beat them. With Stephon Gilmore likely to shadow Cooper, Cobb could extend his streak of games with seven-plus targets to four.
Noah Fant, TE, Denver Broncos (28% owned)
Fant set a season-high with 11 targets on Sunday and also added a pair of carries. While he only converted four of his 11 targets into receptions for 60 yards and lost seven yards rushing, Fant now has 28 targets over his past four games.
Kevin Hanson joins SI for the 2019 season. His fantasy rankings have placed him in the Top 20 in each of the past two seasons among all the industry experts tracked by FantasyPros.com, and he has been in the Top 25 in six of the past eight years.
