Fantasy Football 2017: Waiver wire targets for Week 14

Executing the waiver wire in fantasy football is what will separate the champions from the chumps. Here are some players you should target in Week 14.

If you’re reading this, then you more than likely made the fantasy football playoffs. If that’s the case, then congratulations! However, the celebration has to be short-lived because if you don’t construct the best possible lineup for Week 14, your season will be over a week from now. So let’s take a look at some players who can help you win this week.

For these purposes, we will being using ESPN Fantasy Football as a guideline. Any player that is 50 percent owned or less is eligible.

5. Marquise Goodwin, WR, San Francisco 49ers (15.2 percent owned)

In Jimmy Garoppolo’s first ever career start for the 49ers, he targeted Goodwin a team-high eight times. Goodwin was able to come down with all eight of those targets and finished with eight receptions for 99 yards. The former Texas Longhorn now has three-straight games with double-digit PPR points with Week 13 being his best fantasy game of the season. With Jimmy-G starting for the rest of the season, there’s a good chance Goodwin remains his go-to guy in 49ers the passing game.

4. Jameis Winston, QB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (46.2 percent owned)

Winston missed some time due to an injury but in his first game back in Week 13, he threw for 270  yards and two touchdowns. His 18.6 fantasy points helped him finish as the eighth-best quarterback last week. This week he will return home to take on a Detroit Lions defense who just gave up 269 yards and 2 touchdowns to Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco. If the quarterback in one of the worst offenses in the NFL can have a strong fantasy outing against the Lions, so can Winston.

3. Giovani Bernard, RB, Cincinnati Bengals (22.1 percent owned)

On Monday Night Football against the Steelers, Bengals starting running back Joe Mixon left the game with a concussion and did not return. In his absence, Bernard finished with a season-high 15 touches for 96 yards. Mixon now has a short week to recover from his concussion and if he can’t, Bernard will be a RB2 in Week 14 against the Chicago Bears.

2. Peyton Barber, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1.5 percent owned)

Barber got the start in Week 13 and he responded in a big way with 27 touches for 143 yards. It was easily the best performance by a Tampa Bay running back this season. Even if Doug Martin returns from his concussion in Week 14, there’s no guarantee he’ll see many touches after performing so poorly this season. If you are looking for a running back to help you out in Week 14, this Barber definitely makes the cut (Yes, that was a horrible joke. I know).

1. Mike Davis, RB, Seattle Seahawks (2.9 percent owned)

In Week 11, Davis looked like he could be that dude in Seattle’s backfield (8 touches, 59 yards) but he left the game early with a groin injury. That same groin injury forced Davis to miss Week 12 and it was hard to predict what kind of workload he was going to get in Week 13. As we know now, he got plenty of work. Davis finished last week with 20 touches for 101 yards and is the clear favorite in the Seahawks backfield. Davis has a tough matchup in Week 14 against the Jaguars, but with Jacksonville having arguably the best cornerback-duo in the NFL, Davis should see plenty of dump-off passes.

Others Receiving Votes

Andy Dalton, QB, Cincinnati Bengals (38.1 percent owned) – Dalton has now gone four-straight games with 2+ touchdowns and zero interceptions. In that time, he has been the ninth-best fantasy football quarterback. This week he’ll take on a Chicago Bears defense who is more than beatable.

Jimmy Garoppolo, QB, San Francisco 49ers (14.5 percent owned) – Jimmy G’s first start with the 49ers didn’t go all that well (10.6 fantasy points), but he did show a lot of promise. I think he scores at least 15 fantasy points against a bad Houston Texans secondary in Week 14.

Next: NFL QB Power Rankings 2017: Week 14

Jermaine Kearse, WR, New York Jets (39.3 percent owned) – He now has back-to-back games with 23.5+ PPR points and goes into Week 14 as the 22nd PPR wide receiver. He has a difficult matchup against the Broncos this week but he could start for owners in deeper leagues.

Mike Wallace, WR, Baltimore Ravens (33.8 percent owned) – Last week Wallace finished with 100+ receiving yards for the second time this season. He now has 11.9+ PPR points in three out his last four games and as averaged 13.5 points during that time. He’ll get a banged up Steelers defense in Week 14 who is also coming off a short week.