Week 13 Waiver Wire: Breakout Pickups, Targets and Tips for Fantasy Football

The waiver wire is a place for fantasy football owners to make shrewd moves and gain ground on the rest of their league for most of the NFL season. By the end of Week 12, it is more of a scrap heap of boom-or-bust players who probably aren’t worth a fantasy start.

Unless someone gets hurt.

It was Thomas Rawls who caught everyone’s waiver-wire eye heading into Week 12 because Marshawn Lynch suffered an injury. There isn’t another obvious candidate like that with the week largely in the rearview mirror, but there are still some quality playmakers out there waiting to be added.

Here is a look at some waiver-wire players to target before Week 13. Players were considered waiver-wire targets if they were owned in less than 65 percent of ESPN.com leagues entering Sunday’s slate.

Player	Team	Week 13 Opponent	Percent Owned (as of Sunday)
Quarterbacks
Kirk Cousins	Washington	Dallas Cowboys	26
Ryan Fitzpatrick	New York Jets	New York Giants	26.6
Running Backs
Spencer Ware	Kansas City Chiefs	Oakland Raiders	58.7
Theo Riddick	Detroit Lions	Green Bay Packers	34
Wide Receivers
Kamar Aiken	Baltimore Ravens	Miami Dolphins	52.7
Seth Roberts	Oakland Raiders	Kansas City Chiefs	0.2
Tight Ends
Zach Miller	Chicago Bears	San Francisco 49ers	24.6
Julius Thomas	Jacksonville Jaguars	Tennessee Titans	60.4

Players to Watch

Julius Thomas, TE, Jacksonville Jaguars

John Raoux/Associated Press

The Jacksonville Jaguars lost breakout wide receiver Allen Hurns to a concussion Sunday in their game against the San Diego Chargers. As unfortunate as that was for the playmaker and the team, his usual targets will go elsewhere in this Jacksonville offense until he returns.

They went to tight end Julius Thomas Sunday, and he finished with 116 receiving yards and a score. It was the second straight game the former Denver Bronco caught a touchdown, and there is finally some chemistry in place with quarterback Blake Bortles.

Considering Bortles reached the 300-yard plateau for the fourth time this season in Sunday’s loss, there is plenty of aerial production to go around for Thomas if Hurns is out for significant time. 

Thomas caught 12 touchdowns in each of the last two seasons as a Bronco. The talent is in place to be an impact fantasy player, and the opportunity will arrive in the closing stretch of the 2015 campaign.

Ryan Fitzpatrick, QB, New York Jets

Sometimes, steady consistency is better than a sky-high ceiling, especially when discussing waiver-wire players.

New York Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick may not bring the same star power as a Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers, but fantasy owners can largely count on more than 200 passing yards and some touchdowns every time he takes the field. Just look at the stats (Fitzpatrick left the Oakland Raiders game after five passes with an injury):

Date	Opponent	Passing Yards	Total Touchdowns
9/13	Cleveland Browns	179	2
9/21	Indianapolis Colts	244	2
9/27	Philadelphia Eagles	283	2
10/4	Miami Dolphins	218	1
10/18	Washington	253	3
10/25	New England Patriots	295	2
11/1	Oakland Raiders	46	0
11/8	Jacksonville Jaguars	272	2
11/12	Buffalo Bills	193	2
11/22	Houston Texans	216	2
11/29	Miami Dolphins	277	4

New York also showed a willingness to commit to No. 1 receiver Brandon Marshall Sunday, per Rich Cimini of ESPN.com. That is only good news for those relying on Fitzpatrick to rack up big numbers moving forward:

"

For weeks, the Jets have been talking about the importance of getting Brandon Marshall more involved in the offense. It finally happened, as Marshall caught nine passes for a season-high 131 yards and two touchdowns. Why the breakout? A couple of reasons. Marshall saw more single coverage than usual as the Dolphins opted to use Brent Grimes on the Jets' No. 1 receiver. The Jets also simplified their pre-snap usage of Marshall, using less shifting than usual. 

"

The Jets are in the thick of the AFC playoff race, and Fitzpatrick is a major reason why. He is a serviceable fantasy option if your normal starter is hurt or dealing with a difficult matchup.

Theo Riddick, RB, Detroit Lions

Theo Riddick has not run the ball more than seven times in an individual game all season. On the surface, it is not easy to trust someone with that workload as a starting running back option for fantasy purposes, but he brings more to the table than carries on a thin waiver wire.

Riddick caught a touchdown Thursday against the Philadelphia Eagles and racked up five catches for 72 yards the week before against the Oakland Raiders.

He is a featured part of a Detroit Lions offense that doesn’t really have a go-to running back because of his ability to turn short passes into big gains out of the backfield. The Lions have isolated him on linebackers in recent weeks, and they will likely do the same against a Green Bay Packers defense in Week 13 that ranked 19th against the pass coming into Sunday's action.

Just look at how Detroit used Riddick in the Eagles game, per the NFL:

Star wide receiver Calvin Johnson perfectly summarized Riddick’s effectiveness in the open field when he said, “He kills linebackers in there,” per Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com.

If Johnson recognizes Riddick’s potential, fantasy owners should, too.