Fantasy Football Waiver Wire, Week 13: Add Pat Freiermuth and Curtis Samuel

I have only included players who are rostered in less than 50 percent of Yahoo fantasy football leagues. A player’s roster percentage will appear in parentheses next to their name. Denny Carter is mercifully handling the kicker section of this article which will be added Tuesday mornings. Updates from Monday Night Football will be added on Tuesday mornings as well. Be sure to check out the Waiver Wire Q&A Monday at 6PM ET.

Quarterback

Gardner Minshew, Colts (16%)

I thought quarterback was weak on the waiver wire last week. I had only scraped the surface of how dire things were about to get. Among all quarterbacks rostered in less than half of Yahoo leagues, Minshew ranks second in EPA per dropback. Matthew Stafford is the top available quarterback by that metric. He faces the Browns’ buzzsaw defense in Week 13, so that’s a no-go. Minshew has averaged 15 fantasy points per game in his starts this year. He gets a Tennessee defense that ranks 31st in EPA per dropback allowed.

Derek Carr, Saints (44%)

Carr is tied for second in the NFL in 300-yard passing games at five. He’s 16th in the NFL in passing yards. He gets a Lions defense that ranks 21st in EPA per dropback allowed and has given up the seventh-most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks.

Running Back

Zack Moss, Colts (50%)

A Not in My League world champion, Moss could be the most important add for the remainder of the year. Jonathan Taylor suffered a thumb injury in Week 12 and is a candidate to go on injured reserve. That would sidelined him for at least four weeks. Zack Moss has been the only backup to get touches since Taylor returned and will dominate the Colts' backfield until Taylor is healthy again.

Moss could spend the better part of the next month, including the opening round or two of the fantasy playoffs, as an RB1. He is someone you should be emptying out the remainder of your FAAB for.

Royce Freeman, Rams (13%)

If you thought things would get better at running back, think again. Freeman was Kyren Williams’ backup in Week 12. Williams turned 22 touches into 204 yards and two scores. Still, with the Rams logging a negative pass rate over expected in a blowout win over Arizona, they amassed 33 rush attempts, allowing Freeman to get home as well.

He rushed 13 times for 77 yards and a score. The Rams will play a low-scoring, run-heavy game versus the Browns next week, putting Freeman in the FLEX conversation.

Samaje Perine, Broncos (20%)

Like Freeman, Perine is a backup who sees the ball just often enough to occasionally put together a useful fantasy day. He has eight touches and at least a dozen PPR points in back-to-back games. He has played on 77 percent of the Broncos’ two-minute drill snaps and 62 percent of their long down and distance snaps this season. As 3.5-point underdogs to the Texans this week, the Broncos should be forced to throw often, putting Perine in position to rack up receptions and easy PPR points.

Antonio Gibson, Commanders (50%)

Gibson returned from a one-game absence because of a toe issue last week. He was targeted four times and logged nine touches. He now has at least four targets in four consecutive games. Since Week 5, Gibson has averaged 10 PPR points per week. In a likely loss to the Dolphins, there will be plenty of passes to go around in the Washington offense in Week 13.

Wide Receiver

Curtis Samuel, Commanders (28%)

Samuel was another beneficiary of the Commander’s pass-heavy game plan in Week 12. He totaled nine catches for 100 yards on a 27 percent target share. Samuel now leads the Commanders in targets per route run and yards per route run. With an eight percent pass rate over expected on the year, Samuel’s PPR WR3 status will march on into Week 13.

Jalin Hyatt, Giants (3%)

Hyatt earned 26 percent of the Giants’ targets and a hilarious, 65 percent of the team’s air yards. Since Week 6, he has a 36 percent air yards share. That’s despite having three games with two or fewer targets in that stretch. Whenever the Giants want to make a big play happen, they are only looking for Hyatt. The Giants are on bye in Week 13, so fantasy managers have to wait a week to see the encore to Hyatt’s five-catch, 109-yard outing.

Jayden Reed, Packers (48%)

Reed’s route rate has topped 75 percent in back-to-back games. He has eight catches for 80 yards and a touchdown in those games plus five carries for 62 yards and another touchdown. Reed is still third in the pecking order for routes among Green Bay's receivers, but his usage on the ground is helping him close the gap to WR3 numbers.

A.T. Perry, Saints (3%)

The Saints lost Rashid Shaheed to a hamstring injury and Chris Olave to a concussion in Week 12. Both players’ statuses for Week 13 are up in the air. Rookie wideout A.T. Perry ran a route on 80 percent of the Saints’ dropbacks versus the Falcons. Perry is an elite athlete with solid college production, making him a strong stash in deep leagues.

Tight End

Pat Freiermuth, Steelers (48%)

The most shocking performance of Week 12 has to go to Freiermuth. He caught nine passes for 120 yards and earned a 35 percent target share. In his first game without Matt Canada on the headset, Kenny Pickett peppered the middle of the field with pass attempts, allowing Freiermuth to rack up catches, yards, and fantasy points.

If this structural change sticks, Freiermuth could enter the fantasy playoffs as a weekly TE1.

Tucker Kraft, Packers (1%)

With Luke Musgrave on injured reserve and Josiah Deguara sidelined, rookie tight end Tucker Kraft got the starting nod on Thanksgiving. He ran a route on 88 percent of Jordan Love’s dropbacks and scored his first career touchdown. Kraft was only targeted twice, making him a deep league stash and a dynasty add.

Tyler Higbee, Rams (39%)

Versus the Cardinals, Higbee topped three targets for just the second time since Cooper Kupp returned from injured reserve. He scored two touchdowns and finished as the TE2 on the week. Higbee hasn’t done much with Kupp and Puka Nacua hogging most of the targets for LA, but he’s worth an add in leagues where Freiermuth is unavailable.

Kickers (Presented by Denny Carter)

Chris Boswell, Steelers (17%)

I am once again declaring Boswell Szn. The Boz -- we’re calling him the Boz now -- has multiple field goal tries in seven of his ten games. Any time the Steelers manage some neutral or positive game script, Boswell gets at least a couple chances to put the ball through the uprights. We like that.

With the Steelers’ new offense -- one designed to actually gain yards -- Boswell should be in a good spot for the remainder of the year. This week the Steelers are 5.5-point home favorites against the down-unfathomably Cardinals. Pittsburgh’s backs should run roughshod over Arizona’s Swiss cheese front seven, and Boswell could (should) reap the benefits. Arizona has allowed more than one field goal try in six of their past eight games. Boz Szn is in full swing.

Brandon McManus, Jaguars (46%)

McManus, a Not In My League special, is again a viable option in Week 12 against the Burrow-less Bengals. Jacksonville is an 8.5-point favorite with one of the week’s highest implied totals. That odor you smell is that of good process.

McManus has 11 field goal attempts over his past four games thanks largely to a heaping of positive game script. The Jags should win this one comfortably against a Bengals team that last week allowed three field goals to the aforementioned Boz.

Matt Gay, Colts (21%)

The Colts love their field goals folks. Almost no one is more conservative in the red zone than the Minshew-led Colts, and Gay has benefited bigly. He has multiple field goal tries in seven straight games. That’s the good stuff.

The Colts are two-point road favorites this week against a Titans team that has allowed the fifth most field goal attempts this season. In fact, seven of the past eight kickers to face the Titans have logged at least two field goal tries. Indy’s perfectly functional offense has been quite good for Gay’s fantasy prospects.