Fantasy Football waiver wire pickups, Week 12: Cam Newton is back

Fantasy Football waiver wire - Week 12; Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton (1) reacts after throwing a touchdown pass in the first quarter at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
Fantasy Football waiver wire - Week 12; Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton (1) reacts after throwing a touchdown pass in the first quarter at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
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Fantasy Football, Week 12
Fantasy Football waiver wire; Tennessee Titans running back Dontrell Hilliard (40) after a first down during the first half against the Houston Texans at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

The fantasy football waiver wire is certainly not overloaded heading into NFL Week 12 action, but there are players on the radar, including a former MVP.

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Running backs to prioritize on Week 12 fantasy football waiver wire

1. Ty Johnson, New York Jets

As of right now, Ty Johnson is rostered in only 5.3 percent of NFL.com fantasy leagues and that is despite ranking 40th among running backs in PPR scoring formats.

With Michael Carter leaving Sunday’s game with an ankle injury, Johnson should be a priority addition to stream with an intriguing matchup fantasy football-wise against the Houston Texans on Sunday.

Even if he’s splitting work with Tevin Coleman, Johnson has proven he can post double-digit points with his involvement in the passing game.

2. Devonta Freeman, Baltimore Ravens

It seems like we shouldn’t have to be recommending Freeman at this point, given his name and the couple of splashes he’s made this season, but he’s available in almost 64 percent of NFL.com leagues.

How is that even possible?

Dating back to Week 6, Freeman has had 11.3 points or better in all but one game (@ Miami) and he just put up 17 against the Bears.

3. Dontrell Hilliard, Tennessee Titans

The Tennessee Titans haven’t really sorted things out in the post-Derrick Henry situation they have found themselves in, have they?

D’Onta Foreman has been up there in carries, they still have Adrian Peterson, and then you have Dontrell Hilliard who was called up from the practice squad, catching eight passes for 80 yards and averaging five yards per carry in the Titans’ ugly loss to the Texans.

There’s no guarantee he will be called up again for this week, but his production was nice to see and it might be worth the risk.