Hello Fantasy nerds! NFL Week 11 has wrapped up, so it is time to discuss the 2023 Fantasy Football Week 12 Waiver Wire!
What a wild ride Week 11 was. We had a good week of football, and a good week for the waiver wire article. Unfortunately, we lost a handful of impactful players to injury.
Joe Burrow tore a ligament in his wrist that will cost him his season, and in the same game, we lost Mark Andrews to a season-ending ankle injury as well. That was just on Thursday night. We also had, De'Von Achane come back, and then get injured in the first quarter. Aaron Jones left the Packers game early as well. Then we got into the afternoon games and we lost Kenneth Walker and Cooper Kupp with injuries as well. For all of the injury news make sure to check out the Injury Impact article.
At this point of the season, every fantasy team is dealing with injuries or draft-day busts on their teams. That means the waiver wire is more imperative this week, even though there are no teams on bye this week.
In this article, we will be targeting players on the waiver wire who are under 50% on the FantasyPros consensus roster percentage.
At this point in the season, we have gotten a larger sample size so it can be harder to find that waiver wire darling because the cupboards are bare. I am here to help with that. Now let's jump into the 2023 Fantasy Football Week 12 Waiver Wire!
2023 Fantasy Football Week 12 Waiver Wire
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Top Waiver Adds
Zach Charbonnet, RB, Seattle Seahawks (38.1% Rostered)
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Kenneth Walker went down with what looks to be an oblique strain, that could cause him to miss some time. I have mentioned a few weeks now that Zach Charbonnet now has at least a high-end handcuff. Now is his time to shine. He had already out-snapped Kenneth Walker for three straight weeks, but we saw what it looked like with him seeing the bulk of the workload.
Charbonnet played 55 snaps and rushed the ball 15 times for just 47 yards. Those numbers aren't great, but he did have some nice, hard runs. What we love the most though is the passing game usage he saw. He caught all six of his targets for just 22 yards, but that is eight PPR fantasy points right there. If he sees that each week, he has a fantastic floor.
The matchup this week is not a great one going against the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers are allowing the 5th fewest fantasy points per game to opposing running backs. However, they have allowed 54 receptions to the position which is 9th most in the NFL.
Jayden Reed, WR, Green Bay Packers (27.3% Rostered)
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If I told you that Jayden Reed is a top-36 wide receiver in PPR formats would you believe me? He and his teammate Romeo Doubs both deserve to be mentioned here, but Jayden Reed has been better as of late and played one more snap than Doubs.
Reed has seen just 11 targets over the past few games, however, he has found the end zone in back-to-back games, in different ways. Jayden Reed is a playmaker and they do what they can to get him the ball including running plays, as he saw three carries including one for 32 yards and a touchdown.
Jayden Reed is almost strictly the slot receiver in this offense, as he is 12th in the league in slot snaps. The Lions pass defense has struggled all season against the slot. The Lions have allowed 5th most fantasy points to opposing teams slot receivers according to razzball.com. In the first matchup, Reed caught three of five targets for 55 yards.
Ty Chandler, RB, Minnesota Vikings (47.8 Rostered)
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It was a surprise to see Alexander Mattison suit up for the Vikings, but Ty Chandler still saw a nice workload.
Mattison played 23 snaps to Mattison 48, which we do wish was a bit closer. But when Chandler was in the game, he was outstanding in this one.
Chandler saw 14 touches in this including 10 on the ground for 73 yards and also catching all four of his targets for 37 yards. I said last week that I would expect him to see more work in the passing game, and that's exactly what happened and we love to see it.
Ty Chandler and the Vikings get a matchup against the Bears who have been good against opposing running backs on the ground. However, the passing game running backs smash against the Bears. The Bears have allowed the second most receptions to running backs, and the most receiving touchdowns to running backs this season. Ty Chandler could be started in a pinch this week.
Tutu Atwell, WR, Los Angeles Rams (25.7% Rostered)
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With Cooper Kupp being diagnosed with a low ankle sprain Tutu Atwell becomes relevant once again if Kupp misses some time. When Kupp missed the first four games of the season Atwell saw at nine targets three times, and eight targets once finishing as a top-36 wide receiver in three of those four games.
Since Week 3 he has not finished as a top-36 receiver once, so this play does bring some uncertainty. The matchup is a decent one for Atwell and the Rams passing against the Arizona Cardinals. The Cardinals allow the 10th most fantasy points to opposing wide receivers. If Kupp misses this week, and you are dealing with injuries, I believe you can fill the void with Atwell this week, as a dart throw option.
Demario Douglas, WR, New England Patriots (28.2% Rostered)
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I am a little confused about Demario Douglas's rostership. I get it, it isn't sexy playing someone in this New England Patriots offense outside of Rhamondre Stevenson. But Douglas has seen at least six targets in four straight games and is the number-one option in this passing game.
Douglas has finished as a top-30 wide receiver in three of his past four games as well. Teams may have had to drop him because of their bye week last week, but now you need to take advantage of that situation. JuJu Smith-Schuster led the team in snaps before the bye week but only saw one target compared to nine targets from Douglas.
The Patriots get a Giants defense that has struggled at times this season. The Giants have allowed 5th most fantasy points to opposing wide receivers, so the matchup is extremely juicy. Douglas is a sneaky flex play in my opinion this week.
Rondale Moore, WR, Arizona Cardinals (25.2% Rostered)
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I wrote about Rondale Moore behind the paywall last week as I liked his usage the prior week. Well, part of it worked out but not for the reasons I stated. In Week 10 Moore saw eight targets catching five of them for 43 yards with Kyler Murray back at quarterback.
In Week 11 Moore saw just one target but made the most of it taking it 48 yards for a touchdown, from a beautiful ball from Kyler Murray. Outside of the big play, the Houston Texans defense slowed this Cardinals pass-catchers down as Marquise Brown also struggled. It was Greg Dortch who led the team in targets with eight. Very weird game.
The Cardinals get a matchup with the Rams this week, who are allowing the 19th fewest fantasy points to opposing slot receivers which Rondale Moore is. This week may not be the week to start him, but in Week 13 with six teams on bye, that's when you may need him when the Cardinals take on the Pittsburgh Steelers who allow the 4th most fantasy points to the slot.
Best of the Rest
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