Waiver Wire Watch: Week 14

Dec 01, 2014

Editor’s Note: We’re happy to announce that 4for4 Contributor Pat Fitzmaurice (formerly of Pro Football Weekly) is back on the Waiver Wire Watch this year. He will continue to work in conjunction with Senior Editor John Paulsen to compile this list of the top pickups each week.

Here is a look at the top waiver wire pickups for Week 14. To be eligible for discussion, the player must be owned in 50% or fewer Yahoo leagues, though we’ll stretch the rules a bit for the RB position, which is usually very thin. We’ll also include suggested bid prices (with a $100 budget) for those leagues that use Free Agent Acquisition Budgets. Of course, player value depends on league characteristics and team needs. Players are listed by position in order of importance. For extremely shallow or extremely deep leagues, be sure to review our Rest-of-Season Rankings (updated every Tuesday) to get an idea of how to value players not on this list.

* Players with an asterisk next to their name were mentioned in last week’s Waiver Wire Watch.

Texans QB Ryan Fitzpatrick ($4)

FitzMagic was back with a vengeance on Sunday, reacquiring his old starting gig after a season-ending injury to Ryan Mallett and dropping 358 yards and six TD passes on the beleaguered Titans. Setting aside Sunday’s deal-with-the-devil performance, there are still some reasons for QB streamers to consider firing up Fitzpatrick in a neutral matchup against the Jaguars this week. Fitz has thrown for at least 200 yards in eight of his 10 starts this season, and only once has he failed to throw at least one TD pass. It was also exciting to see Fitz click with young WR DeAndre Hopkins, who exploded for 238 yards and two TDs on Sunday. For an oft-maligned quarterback, the floor here is fairly high.

Next up: Jaguars, Colts, Ravens

Bills QB Kyle Orton* ($4)

Let’s face it: You aren’t going to feel great about starting Orton in a playoff game. But Orton has proven to be a decent matchup play, and he has a mildly favorable matchup this week in Denver, with Broncos QB Peyton Manning likely to set a brisk pace. It’s not as if the Bills couldn’t stay competitive in this one, but Orton certainly has the potential for garbage-time production against the Broncos.

Next up: Broncos, Packers, Raiders