Waiver Wired: Waiver Wired: Week 13

Welcome to the thirteenth edition of Waiver Wired for the 2015 season. As is always the case, this column is your guide to the best players available in at least 50 percent of Yahoo fantasy leagues. Some of these players are plug-and-play options who can help this week while others are stashes who may become useful in the future.

Each profiled player comes with a recommendation of what size league they should be owned. This does not mean they cannot be owned in shallower leagues, but they are not must-adds in the smaller formats. Also, a watch list will follow every position group. These are players who could be useful in deeper formats, but they are not yet must-own players in shallower leagues. Finally, the deep cuts section highlights running backs and wide receivers who are owned in less than five percent of Yahoo leagues. Now that the explanation is out of the way, let’s move on to the action.

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The Drop List
QB: Tony Romo, Peyton Manning
RB: Rashad Jennings, C.J. Spiller, Shane Vereen
WR: Pierre Garcon, Rishard Matthews, Andre Johnson
TE: Jimmy Graham, Jordan Cameron, Zach Ertz

Quarterbacks
1. Marcus Mariota
2. Ryan Fitzpatrick
3. Matt Hasselbeck

Running backs
*Ameer Abdullah (55 percent) and Antonio Andrews (50 percent) would be my No. 3 and 4 adds if available.
1. David Johnson
2. Shaun Draughn
3. Alfred Morris
4. Jay Ajayi
Playoff Stash: Duke Johnson, Dan Herron

Wide receivers
*Devin Funchess (51 percent), Kamar Aiken (53 percent) and Anquan Boldin (58 percent) are all great adds if available.
1. Doug Baldwin
2. Dontrelle Inman
3. DeVante Parker
4. Kendall Wright
Playoff Stashes: Marquess Wilson, Phillip Dorsett

Tight ends
1. Scott Chandler
2. Jacob Tamme
3. Kyle Rudolph
4. Vance McDonald

Defense/Special Teams
1. Tennessee Titans
2. Minnesota Vikings
3. Chicago Bears
Looking Ahead: Chicago Bears

Kickers
1. Cairo Santos
2. Jason Myers
3. Shayne Graham
Looking Ahead: Cairo Santos

QUARTERBACKS
1. Marcus Mariota, Titans – Owned in 42 percent of Yahoo leagues
If Marcus Mariota gets some weapons this offseason, he could be primed for a breakout reminiscent of the one Derek Carr is enjoying this season. Even without any real weapons, Mariota has managed to put up back-to-back solid fantasy days, finishing as the QB10 and QB15 the last two weeks. This week he gets a Jacksonville defense he struggled a bit against on Thursday night two weeks ago, but the game is in Tennessee this time, Kendall Wright should be healthier after playing limited snaps in his first game back, and the Jaguars just gave up 300 yards and four touchdowns to Philip Rivers. Mariota should be on the borderline of the QB1 tier the rest of the way, and this is a good matchup.
Recommendation: Should be owned in 12-team leagues.

2. Ryan Fitzpatrick, Jets – Owned in 23 percent of Yahoo leagues
Ryan Fitzpatrick made a splash by putting up four touchdowns last week, but the bearded one has been stream-able all year in good matchups. He has a great one this week. The Giants looked overmatched last week against the Redskins. Kirk Cousins made easy throws to people running wide open across the middle of the field all game, and New York again struggled to cover the tight end in important situations. If Cousins needed to he could have had more than 302 yards and two total touchdowns. Fitzpatrick does not have a tight end to lean on, but Eric Decker can exploit the Giants’ weaknesses at linebacker and safety. Fitzpatrick has been a rock-steady option this season, and he has some upside this week.
Recommendation: Should be owned in 14-team leagues.

3. Matt Hasselbeck, Colts – Owned in 11 percent of Yahoo leagues
This might be a bit point-chase-y, but Matt Hasselbeck is worth a look as a deep league streamer this week. Hasselbeck utilized play action effectively on his way to 315 yards and two scores against a below-average secondary last time out. This week he gets another shot against a reeling pass defense which just gave up five touchdowns to Russell Wilson a game after giving up 372 passing yards to Johnny Manziel and two games after giving up 301 yards and four scores to Derek Carr. I still struggle to see GPP winning upside with Hasselbeck, but he has two touchdowns in each of his last three starts and this spot is too good to pass up.
Recommendation: Should be owned in 14-team leagues.

Watch List: Tyrod Taylor had not been playing well, was banged up, and was facing a red-hot defense, so he obviously went off for 291 yards through the air, 46 on the ground and three touchdowns. He gets another scorching defense this week in the Texans. We will see if it was just a one-half fluke. … Josh McCown was on his way to a good game before again exiting with a possible broken collarbone. We will see another Johnny Manziel start this season, but I am not interested in using Manziel even if he starts against Cincinnati this week. Same goes for Austin Davis … Jay Cutler has been playing great real football, but the Bears have designed their offense so that he does not need to open it up. Cutler has 33 or fewer attempts in four of his last five games and has broken 20 fantasy points just twice this season. It is doubtful he is forced to throw 40 times against the 49ers at home. … Brock Osweiler has played well in two starts and has a good matchup this week, but this offense wants to run the ball and should win this game easily. There is a real concern he does not reach 30 passing attempts. … Alex Smith had one of his better fantasy days against the Bills, but he was forced into it by an early deficit and aggressive defense. Smith has still not proven he is a reliable option even in good matchups. … I like what I saw from Jameis Winston even in a loss last week, but Tampa remains a team which wants to run first, and Atlanta has a sneakily solid secondary. … Brian Hoyer was so-so in a great matchup against New Orleans and draws a tougher test this week. … Sam Bradford was not a fantasy asset when healthy, and we have no idea if he will play. … Kirk Cousins hooked up with DeSean Jackson on a deep touchdown and then game-managed his way home against the Giants. That should be Washington’s plan most weeks. … Blaine Gabbert does not take many deep shots and does not have great weapons around him, but he has been shockingly competent in three starts. If this matchup against the Bears was in San Francisco I would be interested. … Matt Cassel has an opportunity to have a decent game this week against Washington, but I am not putting my eggs in that basket. … Landry Jones would have a good matchup against the Colts, but it looks like Ben Roethlisberger will be ready to start.

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