2012 Fantasy Football Waiver Pickups: Week 14

Posted by Ryan Hallam on 12/04/2012 | 5 Comments

Tags: Jordan Todman, Golden Tate, Greg McElroy, Chris Givens, Bilal Powell, Joique Bell, Brady Quinn, Josh Gordon, Vick Ballard

For many of you, this is the start of the fantasy playoffs.  It has been a long season filled with injuries, bye weeks, and surprises and disappointment.  But even though you have made the playoffs doesn’t mean that you don’t need to make changes to your roster.  Do you have dead weight that you can replace?  Do you want to make a defensive move so that your opponents don’t get a player that can help them?  That and so much more are right here in the Week 14 Waiver Flavor.

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Questions about your team or a waiver move?  Lineup decisions?  You can email me at ryan@fantasyalarm.com for answers to those questions.  You can also hit me up by following me on Twitter @ryanhallamFA or if you just want to read some of my incoherent babbling in 140 characters. 

Golden Tate, WR, Seattle Seahawks.  He’s gone from a guy who is a touchdown or nothing, to someone who is now a regular part of the Seahawks’ passing game.  I was surprised to find he is owned in just 29% of Yahoo leagues, but I’m guessing after his five catch, 96 yard performance that number is about to go up.  Tate is a very talented receiver, and with the Seahawks showing the ability to play on the road, Tate is a guy that is becoming one of those guys that you didn’t think about in the beginning of the year that could help you win a championship.

Jordan Todman, RB, Jacksonville Jaguars.  With Jalen Parmele placed on Injured Reserve and Maurice Jones-Drew still unable to return, Todman was signed from the Vikings’ practice squad.  He wasn’t active for this Sunday’s game, but Rashad Jennings was absolutely awful again and left the game with a possible concussion.  Considering that the Jags were willing to give Parmele a big chance a few weeks ago when Jennings was bad, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see Todman get some run if MJD is still unable to go in Week 14.

Greg McElroy, QB, New York Jets.  Well, it took long enough, but finally Mark Sanchez was taken out of the game in favor of McElroy with Tim Tebow inactive with the broken ribs.  I’m somewhat surprised that Tebow wasn’t miraculously healed on the sideline and put into the game, but that’s another story for another day. McElroy came into the game and “led” the Jets to the only touchdown of potentially the worst game I have ever witnessed in my life.  He didn’t do anything spectacular, the talent around him still sucks, and more than anything Bilal Powell is the one that led that drive.  I can’t see any possible reason to think about picking up McElroy even if he is named the starter unless you are in a deep keeper league and you could possibly take a major chance on him for 2013.

Chris Givens, WR, St. Louis Rams.  I know he doesn’t get a lot of press because he’s in St. Louis, but the passing game has been improving for the Rams, and Givens has been a big part of it especially with Danny Amendola being in and out of the lineup.  He had five catches and over 100 yards in Week 12, and eleven catches for nearly 100 yards on Sunday.  The Rams have a pretty favorable schedule against poor pass defenses down the stretch, and if you have any need for a receiver at all, definitely take a look Givens’ way.

Bilal Powell, RB, New York Jets.  It wasn’t long ago that Powell was on this list, and after watching some of him on Sunday he is showing up again. If you watched the game on Sunday, and I have no idea why you would have tortured yourself like that, you would know that Powell was the more impressive runner even if Shonn Greene had better stats.  He runs with purpose, doesn’t usually go down on first contact, and brings some energy to the Jets inept offense.  I’m not sure why he doesn’t get more run, but he has double digit carries in three straight games, and I believe he is definitely worth rostering, and in deeper leagues worth starting in a pinch.

Joique Bell, RB, Detroit Lions.  The first time I wrote about Bell it was more because he was very involved in the passing game.  This time it is because he is eating into Mikel Leshoure’s carries, and he has been very productive as well. Bell had just seven carries, but they went for 81 yards although 67 of them came on one rush.  He did have three catches for 21 yards against the Colts, which is more than he had in the previous two games combined.  This is more of a pickup for the playoffs in case you have a player that is going to be rested down the stretch and you need some sort of fill in more than someone you should be starting on a weekly basis. 

Brady Quinn, QB, Kansas City Chiefs. The former first round pick from Notre Dame must have been inspired by his alma mater being projected to be in the National Championship game for the first time since I was in elementary school.  But for the first time in the last three years Brady Quinn actually threw a touchdown pass, two even, and he appeared to be fantasy relevant at least for a week. After Dwayne Bowe there isn’t much talent in the Chiefs’ receiving corps so I see no reason to even consider Quinn for a spot on your roster or your starting lineup. 

Josh Gordon, WR, Cleveland Browns. I know it isn’t exciting to have members of the Cleveland Browns on your fantasy team outside of Trent Richardson, but quietly Gordon has been pretty good the past two months. Since Week 5 Gordon has surpassed 50 receiving yards or scored a touchdown in six of the last eight weeks.  Sure the Browns offense kinda sucks, but right now Gordon has been a pretty consistent threat and could help your fantasy team in the last month of the season.

Vick Ballard, RB, Indianapolis Colts. Since Donald Brown was hurt during Week 6, Ballard has been carrying the load for the Colts as he has at least 12 carries in every week…….until this week.  However, Ballard has been the best back in Indianapolis and while he will be sharing carries for the rest of the year, if you are in desperate need for a runner, Ballard is going to be the “workhorse” out of all of the guys in Indy. It’s a long shot where you could possibly use him, but at least he’s a guy who should get the majority of the carries, and there’s something to be said for that in Week 14. 

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