Week 14 Waiver Wire: Examining Top Fantasy Football Targets

You did your draft, set your lineups, agonized over injuries and subsequently scoured the waiver wire for replacements. Now you're preparing yourself to venture into the playoffs in your fantasy football league, and you want to make sure you have the optimal lineup to help you take home that trophy, plaque or championship belt.

Chances are at this point in the season the waiver wire is full of players on injured reserve or players who are otherwise buried on their team's depth chart. However, there's still a couple of hidden gems who could help your team advance in the postseason. Here's a look at who you could consider targeting once the waiver wire is open for business on Wednesday.

Blaine Gabbert, QB, San Francisco 49ers

If you had told most fantasy players Blaine Gabbert would be a viable start and hot commodity on the waiver wire heading into the fantasy playoffs, they would have looked at you like you said Ronda Rousey would get dominated in a fight.

Wait...that happened, too? What a world we live in.

Anyway, if you're in need of a quarterback to upgrade your lineup, take a look at Gabbert. In ESPN leagues with standard scoring, he has put up at least 14 points per week since taking over for Colin Kaepernick. He also found success against two of the top pass defenses in the league in Arizona and Seattle. 

As Mike Tagliere of Pro Football Focus Fantasy points out, Gabbert has been outperforming some of the top quarterback names in the league.

As of this writing, Gabbert is only owned in 2.4 percent of ESPN leagues. With a favorable matchup against the floundering Cleveland Browns, Gabbert will probably be the top add on the waiver this week. 

Darren Sproles, RB, Philadelphia Eagles

The quintessential high-risk, high-reward player, Darren Sproles is a threat to take it the distance every time he touches the ball. This was the case against the New England Patriots when he returned a punt 83 yards to the house.

Sproles is also a viable target in the passing game, and he has caught at least four balls in three of the last four games.

The Eagles brought in DeMarco Murray before this season to be the bell-cow running back, but that wasn't the case against the Patriots, as Jeff McClane of the Philadelphia Inquirer notes.

Head coach Chip Kelly's game plan could be different come next week, but chances are Sproles will still be involved. Philadelphia's Week 14 opponent, the Buffalo Bills, has been susceptible to screens and misdirection out of the backfield all season.

Don't forget, this is the same Bills defense that gave up 114 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries to Spencer Ware a couple weeks ago. In addition, the Bills are paper-thin at linebacker. Per Andy Young of TWC News, Nigel Bradham is likely to miss his second straight game.

The play of Bradham's replacements has been less than ideal. Rookie A.J. Tarpley was the first to step in for Bradham, and he was so bad the Bills cut him after one game's worth of playing time. After Tony Steward left Sunday's game with a back injury, the Bills were left with Kevin Reddick, whom they had just signed earlier in the week.

Needless to say, Eagles runners could be in for a big day against the Bills. Considering Sproles' return capability and the fact he's only owned in 47.7 percent of ESPN leagues, it would be wise to kick the tires on Philadelphia's change-of-pace back.

James White, RB, New England Patriots

If you can't get your hands on Sproles but are still in the market for a running back, have a look at James White, New England's shifty receiving back du jour.

Sunday's game against the Eagles didn't go so well for the Patriots. But perhaps the lone bright spot was White, who hauled in 10 passes for 115 yards and a touchdown. Mike Reiss of ESPN had information on the snap counts for Patriots running backs from Sunday, and the defending champs couldn't keep the guy off the field.

White is only owned in 26.5 percent of ESPN leagues, so unless there's a Patriots die-hard in your league, he probably can be yours for the taking. 

The Patriots are notoriously unpredictable when it comes to their running back usage, but White's abilities in the Patriots' depleted passing attack will likely warrant him another week's worth of work against the Texans.