This article is part of our NFL Waiver Wire series.
While some of us are licking our wounds with the Bills losing in dramatic fashion Sunday night, others are happy knowing half the league won. This week, though, is a weird one in that six teams have a bye. A lot of fantasy teams need replacements for those bye-week players, but there's not a ton of free-agent help this week.
As always, hit up the comments section or DM me @KCPayne26 on X (formerly known as Twitter) as many of you already have.
This column is geared toward "standard" 12-team leagues and based upon a $100 free-agent budget. Please adjust for your league based on both the number of teams (I'm in a 24-team league, for example) and remaining budget.
Quarterback
Primary Targets
Jordan Love, GB - Love has been in this place a few times this season yet is only rostered in 52 percent of Yahoo leagues. He's coming off a solid performance on Turkey Day and scored 23.6, 24.1 and 29.3 fantasy points in his last three games. He doesn't have easy matchup this week against the Chiefs, but this game could be a shootout with the Packers abandoning the running attack if they fall behind early. FAAB: $5-$10
Hail Mary
Bailey Zappe, NE - You aren't really going to feel comfortable starting Zappe this week if he's the starter, but for those in Super-Flex leagues (me), he's noteworthy. The good news is if Bill B starts him, he'll get a week's worth of practice with
While some of us are licking our wounds with the Bills losing in dramatic fashion Sunday night, others are happy knowing half the league won. This week, though, is a weird one in that six teams have a bye. A lot of fantasy teams need replacements for those bye-week players, but there's not a ton of free-agent help this week.
As always, hit up the comments section or DM me @KCPayne26 on X (formerly known as Twitter) as many of you already have.
This column is geared toward "standard" 12-team leagues and based upon a $100 free-agent budget. Please adjust for your league based on both the number of teams (I'm in a 24-team league, for example) and remaining budget.
Quarterback
Primary Targets
Jordan Love, GB - Love has been in this place a few times this season yet is only rostered in 52 percent of Yahoo leagues. He's coming off a solid performance on Turkey Day and scored 23.6, 24.1 and 29.3 fantasy points in his last three games. He doesn't have easy matchup this week against the Chiefs, but this game could be a shootout with the Packers abandoning the running attack if they fall behind early. FAAB: $5-$10
Hail Mary
Bailey Zappe, NE - You aren't really going to feel comfortable starting Zappe this week if he's the starter, but for those in Super-Flex leagues (me), he's noteworthy. The good news is if Bill B starts him, he'll get a week's worth of practice with the first string. The other good news is the Chargers defense has been awful against quarterbacks, ranking 29th in the league against them. FAAB: $2-$4
Running Back
Hail Mary
Samaje Perine, DEN - Perine has established himself as the No. 2 running back in Denver and scored his first touchdown of the season Sunday. There's clearly and opportunity for him to get a greater share of the touches as he's averaging a yard per carry more than Javonte Williams (4.8 to 3.8). FAAB: $2-$4
Elijah Mitchell, SF - Mitchell has looked much more like his old self the last two games, rushing 11 times for 63 yards. The 49ers have the ability to blow out anyone in any given week, opening potential garbage-time opportunities for Mitchell. Even if something happened to Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco would remain a run-heavy offense using Mitchell. FAAB: $1-$2
D'Ernest Johnson, JAC - Johnson logged a season-high eight touches for the second week in a row and appears to have the backup spot to Travis Etienne over Tank Bigsby. The Jaguars have used him as a receiver (four catches for 104 yards the last three weeks), so he has the potential to be a three-down back if anything happens to Etienne. FAAB: $1-$2
Wide Receiver
Primary Targets
Jayden Reed, GB - I'm not sure how much more Reed has to do to get noticed. He's scored double-digit fantasy points in five of his last six games. The schedule sets up nicely down the stretch as the Packers face the Giants, Buccaneers and Vikings, all of which are good matchups for wide receivers. FAAB: $5-$10
Secondary Targets
Curtis Samuel, WAS - Samuel had his best game of the season on Thanksgiving, finishing with nine catches for 100 yards against the Cowboys. He's been wildly inconsistent this season, a boom-or-bust player on a weekly basis. But the matchup this week against the Dolphins could end up being a track meet, and Miami ranks 21st against wide receivers. FAAB: $3-$6
Hail Mary
Jalin Hyatt, NYG - Hyatt would be higher on this list if he and the Giants didn't have a bye this week. But that should make it easier to acquire him for those who have the roster space. His 6-5-109 line Sunday was easily his best game this season and there is pedigree here as he was a third-round pick out of Tennessee. FAAB: $1-$2
Tight End
Primary Targets
Pat Freiermuth, PIT - Freiermuth made this list last week and perhaps the firing of Matt Canada has elevated his fantasy value. He finished with a career-high 120 receiving yards Sunday against the Bengals, though it's worth noting Cincinnati ranks 31st in the league against tight ends. The next couple weeks should be tougher sledding for him facing the Cardinals (10th against tight ends) and Patriots (3rd). FAAB: $5-$10
Defense
Hail Mary
Los Angeles Chargers - There's two ways to look at the Patriots-Chargers matchup this week. Zappe or Mac Jones could show up and ball out or the Chargers defense could show up an finish with a few sacks and turnovers. I'd say the latter is the more likely scenario. FAAB: $1-$2
