There were a ton of injury replacement running backs on the deep league waiver wire last week. If you got a piece of Jordan Todman or Matt Asiata, you were rewarded with a nice chunk of free fantasy points. This week, the pickin’s are slim and we’ll have to make do with running backs that have potential value rather than guaranteed touches. On the bright side, there are plenty of receiver options out there if you’d rather go wideout at flex. Let’s take a look at all of this week’s running back and wide receiver waiver wire pickups to get you set for your playoff battle.
Jordan Todman (Owned in 19 percent of Yahoo leagues): Todman had a great matchup against the Bills and made the most of his first NFL start, carrying the ball 25 times for 109 yards and catching four passes on eight targets for 44 yards. Maurice Jones-Drew is iffy once again for this week which would leave Todman as the feature back once again. If he does start, he’ll face a shaky Titans defense that gave up 35 fantasy points to Rashard Mendenhall and Andre Ellington on Sunday, 31 points to Knowshon Moreno and Montee Ball the previous week, and double-digit points to Donald Brown, Rashard Jennings, and Marcel Reece over the previous two weeks. The last time the Jags faced the Titans in Week 10, MJD and Todman combined for two touchdowns and over 20 fantasy points.
Benny Cunningham (9 percent): Like MJD, Zac Stacy is dealing with an injury and his status is questionable. The last time Cunningham stepped in for an injured Zac Stacy, he ran the ball 13 times for 109 yards and a touchdown. The Buccaneers have been tough on running backs, though, and haven’t given up a double-digit fantasy point day since Week 12 to Reggie Bush so he’ll need volume or a touchdown if he does start.
Edwin Baker (0 percent): I really liked Chris Ogbonnaya in his matchup against the Bears last week but, even though he had a solid PPR day, he was overshadowed by a huge debut effort from Edwin Baker. Baker, a seventh-rounder in 2012 out of Michigan State, ran the ball eight times for 38 yards and a touchdown and caught all four of his targeted passes for 46 yards. With the Browns backfield playing fairly poor all season, Baker could be a sleeper this week after earning some added respect. He’ll face a Jets defense that had been tough on running backs but gave up 168 total yards and a touchdown to DeAngelo Williams on Sunday (and another touchdown to Mike Tolbert) and 160 total yards and a touchdown to Marcel Reece the previous week.
Rod Streater (25 percent): Even with Denarius Moore back, Streater remains Matt McGloin’s favorite target and has been targeted 19 times over the past two weeks. He only came up with four catches on nine targets for 59 yards against a tough Chiefs defense last week but will face a Chargers defense that’s not quite as tough. The last time the Raiders played the Chargers, both Streater and Moore put up double-digit fantasy days. Over the last few weeks, the Chargers have given up double-digit days to the likes of Andre Caldwell, Hakeem Nicks, A.J. Green, Dwayne Bowe, and Dexter McCluster.
Nate Washington (23 percent): Washington was targeted nine times against a tough Arizona defense and came up with seven catches for 92 yards on Sunday. He’s been targeted at least six times in four straight weeks and has a great matchup against the Jaguars this week. The Jags have given up double-digit days to Robert Woods, Andre Johnson, Josh Gordon, Larry Fitzgerald, and Michael Floyd over their last five weeks.
Greg Little (6 percent): Little was targeted seven times by Jason Campbell on Sunday as he showed that Josh Gordon isn’t the only receiver in Cleveland. Gordon seems all but guaranteed a big game against the Jets’ highly questionable secondary but Little will certainly factor in as he faces off against rookie corner Dee Milliner. The Jets have given up big days to Rod Streater (19 points), Mike Wallace (14.2), Brian Hartline (18.7), Jacoby Jones (16.3), T.J. Graham (13.1), and Marquise Goodwin (15.8) over just their last five weeks.
Ace Sanders (6 percent): It looks like Cecil Shorts is likely out for the rest of the season which means Sanders is likely to slide into the number one receiver role. Although he was only targeted three times against the Bills on Sunday, he is averaging 6.8 targets per game over his last five weeks, and that was mostly with Shorts in the lineup. Of course, he’ll need to be targeted heavily against a tough Titans secondary that has given up a double-digit fantasy point day to a receiver just once since Week 2, and that was against the Broncos.
Andre Caldwell (1 percent): With Wes Welker out with a concussion, Caldwell led all of Denver’s receivers with a Welker-esque day on Thursday, catching six passes on 11 targets for 59 yards and two touchdowns against the Chargers. Welker remains out of practice as of now which means there’s a chance that he sits again versus Houston, leaving Caldwell to see a healthy dose of targets once again.
