It’s Week 14 of the fantasy football and boom, you just found out the Julio Jones will not be active for Sunday’s matchup against the Chargers. So, now what? You more than likely have his replacement already on your roster but if you are forced to the waiver wire in hopes of finding a replacement let’s go ahead and take a look at the top adds you should be targeting.
Russell Gage , ATL – This is the obvious pick right here, Gage is available in 90-percent of ESPN standard leagues and 93-percent of Yahoo standard leagues. He will step into the WR2 role for the Falcons this weekend and early in the year he showed a ton of success as part of the team’s high volume passing attack. Now, he has been rather inconsistent for most of the season and plays better when in the team’s WR3 role, but he is coming off some strong performances which included catching a touchdown pass in Week 12.
Allen Lazard , GB – Lazard was a popular add a few weeks ago but hasn’t done much since which has resulted in his ownership numbers dropping almost 10-percent in over the past week. That said, he is the WR2 in this Packers offense with MVS not catching a football in a few weeks. The Packers have a great matchup against the Lions in Week 14 and you know that Aaron Rodgers is going to be throwing the football. Let’s hope some of those passes continue to head Lazard’s way.
Michael Gallup , DAL – Is it time to start believing in Michael Gallup again? It seems as if he and Andy Dalton have a nice connection and this week against the Bengals is a great matchup for him to continue his success. Over the last two weeks he has totaled 13 catches on 19 targets for 127 yards and a touchdown. He is a big play receiver that can pay off for your fantasy roster in an instant.
Quintez Cephus, DET – The Lions released Marvin Hall last week because they wanted to give their younger receivers a chance to play over the final few weeks of the season. With Kenny Golladay still on the shelf this opened the door for Cephus to play 46-percent of the team’s offensive snaps which was the second most among the receiving group for the Lions behind Marvin Jones . With the likelihood that Jones is going to be covered by Jaire Alexander , Cephus should have the easier matchup in a game where the Lions likely play from behind and are forced to throw the football a ton. He is a boom or bust play but he did have 63 yards and a touchdown last week with his increased role.
Breshad Perriman , NYJ – With Denzel Mims already ruled out this week there is great opportunity here for Perriman against a bad Seattle secondary. Perriman has already put up some WR1/2 type of weeks this season and his target share has generally been strong as well most weeks. Now, yes, he is coming off a dud of a performance in Week 13 but few players on the waiver wire preset the type of volume and upside he can bring to the table this late in the season given the matchup.
Collin Johnson, JAX – The return of DJ Chark and Chris Conley cut into Johnson’s playing time in Week 13 but he still managed to put up a solid performance, grabbing four of his six targets for 66 yards. It’s clear that he and Mike Glennon have developed a little bit of chemistry of late and though the likes of Chark and Conley returned last week we still saw Johnson play over 50-percent of the offensive snaps. The Week 14 matchup against the Titans is a juicy one for this Jaguars offense and taking a shot on Johnson could pay off.
Keke Coutee , HOU – Not quite sure why but Coutee is still available in over 70-percent of leagues on ESPN and 60-percent of leagues on Yahoo. Now, if you are in a deeper league there is a good shot he was nabbed but if Coutee is on the wire he is a great add this week against the Bears. In Week 13 we saw Coutee lead the Texans in receiving as he filled in for the suspended Will Fuller , catching eight of nine targets for 141 yards. In Week 14 the Texans may be facing the Bears but Coutee gets a solid matchup out of the slot against what could be Buster Skrine , pending his concussion, and we love attacking the Buster Skrine matchups whenever we can.
T.Y. Hilton , IND - Hilton has found the end zone in back-to-back weeks and in Week 13 he had his best performance of the season, catching 8-of-11 targets for 110 yards and a touchdown. In Week 14 the Colts get a very nice matchup against a Raiders team that barely beat the Jets last week. Now, Hilton's ownership numbers have been on the rise in recent weeks so there is a chance he has already been nabbed but definitely put him on your short list of considerations if he is still floating out there as he is the WR1 on this Colts team.
Gabriel Davis, BUF - With John Brown being placed on IR last week you would have figured that Davis would have been a very popular add to fantasy rosters however that doesn't look to be the case as he still finds himself available in nearly 70-percent of fantasy leagues. Davis has touchdown in three of the last four games with at least 14 fantasy points in half-point PPR leagues over that stretch. With John Brown out, we see Davis play nearly 100-percent of the team's offensive snaps and in Week 14 he gets a solid matchup against a Steelers secondary that has given up points in recent weeks to lesser competition than they will face with this Bills passing attack.