Week 13 Waiver Wire: Latavius Murray, Jarvis Landry Highlight Pickups to Know

Over the course of the past two weeks, the waiver wire has proven to be a kind mistress to fantasy football owners in need of running backs before the playoffs.

Last week it was Jonas Gray and a host of others. This week, Latavius Murray exploded into the hearts and minds of owners on Thursday Night Football, and a number of other sleepers made themselves known in the days after. 

Normally, owners should treat the run to the wire as a marathon, not a sprint, but the top names on the wire this week are too good to hesitate on—other owners certainly will not. 

Be early to the wire this week and bank on the following names. 

Latavius Murray, RB, Oakland Raiders (10.1 percent owned)

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Owners who excel at finding deep sleepers were already well aware of the impending fantasy storm produced by Murray of the Oakland Raiders.

Not content with the miserable outputs of Darren McFadden and Maurice Jones-Drew, the Raiders turned to Murray in Week 11 and let him play a large number of snaps. He scored just five points, but gained 43 yards on four carries.

While not major numbers, owners who picked him up understood his potential to explode—which he did this past Thursday, as another four carries turned into 112 yards with two scores for a total of 23 points.

It is quite clear that the coaching staff in Oakland will continue to lean on Murray as one of the key pieces of the future who needs more time to audition. The upcoming schedule looks rough, but keep in mind that the Kansas City Chiefs entered the week as the unit that surrendered the fifth-fewest points to backs.

LeGarrette Blount, RB, New England Patriots (20.1 percent owned) 

Steven Senne/Associated Press

So this is a thing. 

LeGarrette Blount was not only cut by the Pittsburgh Steelers, only to explode for plenty of fantasy production in his first week with the New England Patriots, he was also the recipient of more attention thanks to a mistake by Gray.

NFL Network's Albert Breer summarizes it well:

All Blount did in his brief time on the field was handle 12 carries and turn them into 78 yards and a pair of scores, good for a season-high 19 points.

The situation seems shaky, but keep in mind that Blount rumbled for 772 yards and seven scores last season with the Patriots. Right now he figures to see more opportunities than last season, too, especially if the staff continues to punish Gray.

Blount is a solid RB2 moving forward regardless of matchup, with the much bigger concern each week being how Bill Belichick wants to use his backs.

Jarvis Landry, WR, Miami Dolphins (11.2 percent owned) 

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For one reason or another, owners continue to sleep on Miami Dolphins rookie wideout Jarvis Landry. 

As Chris Trapasso of NFL.com points out, Landry continues to get swept under the rug in a jaw-dropping class:

Landry is slowly morphing into Ryan Tannehill's No. 1 target, Mike Wallace on the field or not.

The sure-handed rookie has now tallied three touchdowns over the course of his past two outings, with seven grabs for 50 yards and two scores coming this week alone for 17 points.

For those still in doubt, keep in mind that both of Landry's next two opponents (New York Jets and Baltimore Ravens) both rank among the 10 teams that allow the most points to wideouts this season.

Landry is going to continue to get his in great matchups, but it sure helps that he is developing into a No. 1 wideout.

Justin Hunter, WR, Tennessee Titans (14.5 percent owned) 

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It seemed a matter of time before the booming arm of rookie quarterback Zach Mettenberger in Tennessee unlocked some of the vertical potential of wideout Justin Hunter.

That inevitability came to a head Sunday when Hunter scored 12 points by way of four catches for 64 yards and a score. Even better, Hunter received a team-high 10 targets in the matchup, although that can be dialed up as a negative, as well, considering six opportunities fell by the wayside.

Still, Hunter is clearly a favorite of Mettenberger, who is not going to surrender the job any time soon now that the Titans have an eye on the future.

Things figure to only get better right away, too. Next up for Hunter is the Houston Texans, the team that entered the weekend surrendering the most points to wideouts this season—before allowing 29 more at the hands of Cincinnati.

Kyle Rudolph, TE, Minnesota Vikings (16.0 percent owned)

Jim Mone/Associated Press

The return of Minnesota Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph last week proved to be a fluke with him seeing little action as he worked his way back from injury.

The same cannot be said for Sunday.

Rudolph was the recipient of five targets, which turned into three grabs for 50 yards and five points. It was a nice warning shot to owners everywhere that a new option is back on the block, although Rudolph sounds like he is just getting started.

"I've got a long way to go still just to become an explosive playmaker like I was before I got hurt," Rudolph said, per Chris Tomasson of TwinCities.com.

Now that he is nearly back to every-down duties, Rudolph is a matchup-proof TE1. At a shaky position, he has the proven production when healthy that should have any owner in need of a tight end in a full sprint to the wire.

Honorable Mentions 

Player	Pos.	Team	Percent Owned
Teddy Bridgewater	QB	MIN	9.3
Zach Mettenberger	QB	TEN	4.1
Daniel Herron	RB	IND	15.1
Stedman Bailey	WR	STL	0.1
Charles Johnson	WR	MIN	0.3
Andrew Hawkins	WR	CLE	44.6
Tim Wright	TE	NE	4.5

All scoring info courtesy of ESPN standard leagues, as is points-against info and ownership stats as of 1 a.m. ET on Nov. 23. Statistics courtesy of ESPN.