This is the week you've been saving your FAAB budget for. Virtually all of the top Week 13 fantasy waiver pickups are running backs who are poised for high-volume workloads for at least one week, and with the fantasy football playoffs right almost upon us, getting one of those RBs could be the difference between staying alive in your season-long league or turning to DFS. Alexander Mattison, Jamaal Williams, Boston Scott, Chub Hubbard, Dontrell Hilliard, D'Onta Foreman, Matt Breida -- all available in over 50 percent of leagues. Some will require higher waiver claims and FAAB bids than others, and because there are so many options, some backs might even make it to free agency.
As we'll do every week this season with the help of our friends at Fantasy Alarm, let's break down the top pickups and project how much of your FAAB budget you should bid on them.
DOMINATE YOUR LEAGUE: Get the Fantasy Alarm NFL Season Pass!
Week 13 Fantasy Football FAAB Advice: Waiver wire QB pickups, streamers
Taysom Hill (NO). The Saints are prepping Hill to make a start this week against Dallas. Obviously, Hill’s presence is a knock to almost everyone else in this offense, but he alone has plenty of value. His tendency to run the ball and vulture touchdowns in the red zone give him a massive boost. Would it really surprise anybody if he finished as a top 12 quarterback this week, as he often did last year when starting? Projected FAAB Bid: 8% of total FAAB budget
Tua Tagovailoa (MIA). Another waiver wire acknowledgment for Tua this week. Truthfully, it was a tossup between him and Mac Jones once again, but Tua gets a far easier matchup at home against the Giants while the Patriots visit the Bills. Tua’s been providing a decent floor for fantasy, and we've seen a couple high-ceiling games, too. Between the run game and the defense, the Dolphins haven’t been challenged with putting the game in Tua’s hands lately. If you stream Tagovailoa this week, you should once again get that decent floor with some modest upside for more. Proj. FAAB Bid: 5-6%
WEEK 13 STANDARD RANKINGS:
Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker
Week 13 Fantasy Football FAAB Advice: Waiver wire RB pickups, streamers
Alexander Mattison (MIN). While the recommended bid is a lowly 60-80 percent here, realistically spending the rest of your FAAB could be the way to go. We have been waiting for this kind of waiver wire and if you’ve been patient then well done. Reward yourself. Dalvin Cook (shoulder) is going to miss at least two games, likely more, and we know what Mattison is capable of when given the full workload. He is probably the closest thing you’ll find to a league winner if he’s available to you. Sell the farm to get him. Projected FAAB Bid: 60-80% of total FAAB budget
Dontrell Hilliard and D’onta Foreman (TEN). Both recorded 100-yard rushing performances against the vaunted Patriots defense last week. Foreman landed more carries, but it feels like Hilliard is the guy to own in PPR formats. After this week's bye, these two get a nice matchup against the Jaguars, who just let Cordarrelle Patterson run all over them. Proj. FAAB Bid: 20-25% each
Boston Scott (PHI). As tough as it is to admit, Scott might be the play in Philadelphia’s backfield. He received a very nice amount of work on Sunday in a game where the Eagles offense looked lost. Miles Sanders was apparently dealing with a second half injury that limited him, and Jalen Hurts is apparently beat up, as well. Scott is emerging as a nice low-end RB2 option this week, but we can’t trust the long-term appeal as much as we can with some other options. Regardless, Scott had 17 touches last week and found the end zone. He could very well score again this week against the Jets. Proj. FAAB Bid: 12-20%
Chuba Hubbard (CAR). It's tough to be overly optimistic about Hubbard, which might sound strange because Christian McCaffrey (ankle) is done for the season. That should lead to a heavier FAAB recommendation for Hubbard, right? Well, not really. The Panthers don’t play next week, so if you’re spending money on him you won’t be able to use him until Week 14. Additionally, the fantasy playoff schedule for Carolina is brutal. In Weeks 15-18 the Panthers are tasked with matching up against the Bills, Buccaneers, Saints, and Bucs again. Cam Newton is there to vulture touchdowns, as well. Previously, when Hubbard was the lead running back with CMC sidelined, he was a low-end RB2, at best. So, he's worth picking up, but don't go overboard with your bid. Another player worth keeping an eye on out of this backfield is Ameer Abdullah, who may have some appeal in deeper PPR formats. Proj. FAAB Bid: 12-15%
Jamaal Williams (DET). This is a make-or-break waiver wire grab this week. D’Andre Swift (shoulder) left Thursday’s game against Chicago early, but all that means is he has extra time to be ready for Sunday’s game against Minnesota. Most reports are saying Swift is day-to-day and has a fighting chance of playing this week. Truthfully, we won’t have a good idea until we get practice reports later this week. But even then he’s likely a game-time decision, so we won’t know until Sunday morning. If he’s out, Williams is going to be heavily involved against the Vikings. Proj. FAAB Bid: 10-12%
Matt Breida (BUF). Running backs are deep this week on waivers. Breida may go overlooked based on the injury news that came from Sunday’s action and the fact he played last Thursday. But Breida now has three touchdowns in his past three games. While he didn’t run as well last Thursday, keep in mind he was playing against the Saints' top run defense. Zack Moss was still inactive, and Sean McDermott even went on radio last week and acknowledged Breida deserved more carries. The downside is the schedule doesn’t get much easier over the next couple weeks against the Patriots and Bucs, but Breida still has upside because of the Bills' offense. Proj. FAAB Bid: 10%
Jaret Patterson (WFT). We’ll need to see what the diagnosis is on J.D. McKissic, but it didn’t look good on Monday night. McKissic had to be carted off after scoring twice against Seattle. It’s hard to tell what kind of workload Patterson could get behind Antonio Gibson, but he’s almost a must-add in deeper formats, especially when you account for the injuries Gibson has had to play through. Proj. FAAB Bid: 4-5%
WEEK 13 PPR RANKINGS:
Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker
Week 13 Fantasy Football FAAB Advice: Waiver wire WR pickups, streamers
DeSean Jackson (LV). FAAB Bid: 7-8%) The wide receivers aren’t as sexy as the running backs this week, but we’ll still throw some names out there to look at. Jackson made his presence known on Thanksgiving, putting up over 100 receiving yards and scoring. He wasn’t on the field much, but keep in mind the Raiders might be without Darren Waller (shoulder) this week and Bryan Edwards hasn’t emerged like we thought he would (just nine total targets since the team’s bye week). We’ve seen D-Jax and Carr connect on a couple deep passes already, and with more targets available with Waller’s injury, a larger role could be in store in the short-term. Projected FAAB Bid: 6-7% of total budget
Josh Reynolds (DET). Reynolds could emerge as the WR1 in this offense rest of season. He was finally reunited on the field with Jared Goff last Thursday and while he saw just five targets, he did catch three passes for 70 yards and he found the end zone. Truthfully, the schedule isn’t terrible for Reynolds the rest of the season so long as the offensive line can keep Goff on his feet. You won’t start him with confidence each week, but he could warrant flex consideration with some upcoming matchups. Proj. FAAB Bid: 6-7%
Cedrick Wilson (DAL). The lone concern with Wilson at this moment is the unknown of who could return to the lineup for the Cowboys this week. However, there is a small COVID outbreak among the team, and they have to play on Thursday, so he’s looking like a potential flex play. He led the team in targets last week and put up over 100 receiving yards, as well. You’ll definitely need to pay attention to practice reports and inactives prior to Thursday’s game before you know whether you should play him or not. Proj. FAAB Bid: 4%
Laviska Shenault Jr. (JAC). We didn’t quite see the "Deebo Samuel" role as we thought, but Shenault did see nine targets. Did he do much with them? Hardly. He finished with five catches for 33 yards, which is a bit disappointing. But he has 22 targets over his past three games and the schedule from Weeks 14-16 isn’t awful. Avoid using him in Week 13 against the Rams, but there’s intrigue here as a playoff stash. Proj. FAAB Bid: 3%
MORE WEEK 13: Top waiver pickups
Week 13 Fantasy Football FAAB Advice: Waiver wire TE pickups, streamers
Cole Kmet (CHI). It’s good to see all the signs finally paying off for Kmet this year. While the Bears continue to struggle offensively, Kmet's usage and routes have gradually been trending in the right direction. Sure, the performance against Baltimore in Week 11 was a bummer, but he bounced back nicely on Thanksgiving. This week, the Cardinals are coming off their bye week, but you can roll the dice on Kmet given the rapport he’s developed lately with whoever is playing quarterback. Projected FAAB Bid: 10-15% of total budget
Foster Moreau (LV). The injury to Darren Waller (knee) isn’t considered serious for the remainder of the season, but it’s possible he misses this week’s game against Washington. If that’s the case, Moreau is worth streaming. When Waller missed time earlier this season, Moreau caught all six of his targets and found the end zone. Tight ends can put up decent stat lines against Washington, as Gerald Everett caught five passes and a touchdown Monday night against it. It’s time to foster this tight end on your roster. Proj. FAAB Bid: 5-6%
Gerald Everett (SEA). We can assume Russell Wilson corrects things and finishes the season strong, but this offense as a whole looks awful. However, Everett has benefited from that. Over the team’s past three games since their bye week, Everett has 21 targets and double-digit fantasy points in two contests. Some difficult matchups are on the horizon, but there are still games against Houston, Chicago, and Detroit that look great on paper. Proj. FAAB Bid: 2%
Week 13 Fantasy Football FAAB Advice: Waiver wire Defense pickups, streamers
As we always caution, you shouldn't spend more than one percent of your FAAB budget on a D/ST. Here are this week's potential streaming pickups:
- Miami Dolphins (vs. Giants)
- Minnesota Vikings (@ Lions)
- Kansas City Chiefs (vs. Broncos)
- Las Vegas Raiders (vs. Washington)
- New York Giants (@ Dolphins)