Fantasy Football Waiver Wire, Week 12: Sammy Watkins Could Return, and Lots of Injury Uncertainty

Sunday was a costly day for several teams, most notably the Cincinnati Bengals, who lost A.J. Green to a hamstring injury (reports on the timetable and severity have been all over, so hold him for now), and then lost Giovani Bernard to an ACL tear.

C.J. Prosise was another notable injury, after the rookie back had put up two big games in a row. In shorter term injuries, the Eagles’ backfield of Mathews and Sproles both got hurt, and their status is up in the air. Andrew Luck could miss Thursday’s game with a concussion, and LeSean McCoy had to have thumb surgery and is questionable this week.

At the other end of the spectrum, there is buzz that Sammy Watkins could return this week. Robert Woods hurt his knee also, so Watkins’ return would be a big deal. He’s currently available in nearly half of leagues, and he is a clear must add this late in the season if he is close to returning.

Here are the rest of the recommendations:

QUARTERBACKS

No bye weeks, and pickings are slim. There aren’t any great matchup recommendations

The top recommendation is Colin Kaepernick (30%) vs Miami, since he’s been putting up decent fantasy numbers for a month now.

Carson Wentz (46%) gets the struggling Packers defense, but this is only a tepid matchup recommendation based on the Eagles offense.

Scott Tolzien (0%) could very well be the starter. He’s no Andrew Luck, but if you are in a start-2 league, he might be better than 10-12 other options out there for a one-week play against Pittsburgh.

RUNNING BACKS

Average and Shallow Leagues: Mike Gillislee (50%) becomes a great starting option if McCoy is out this week with the thumb injury, and given that possibility is worth a speculative add.

Deep Leagues: Wendell Smallwood (11%) has been impressive in small doses. There’s a decent chance at least one of Mathews and Sproles misses this week, and it’s a great matchup against the Packers.

Will Rex Burkhead (0%) play the Bernard role, or will the team just increase Jeremy Hill’s touches? Burkhead is a low-end flex play in a desperate situation.

Alex Collins (0%) could be next man up for Seattle. The team released Christine Michael because of Prosise’s emergence and Rawls’ return, but with Prosise out now, Rawls was described as “banged up” after the game by Pete Carroll. Another situation to monitor.

WIDE RECEIVERS

Average and Shallow Leagues: DeSean Jackson (55%) returned and scored last week and is worth rostering as a low-end WR3.

Eli Rogers (39%) gets a great matchup against the Colts if you want to watch someone on Thanksgiving.

Deep: Nobody is going to replace AJ Green. But with the Bengals losing 45% of their receiving targets last week, Tyler Boyd (11%) and Brandon LaFell (21%) are probably available and move up the totem pole, and should see increased action.

TIGHT ENDS

Shallow and Average: CJ Fiedorowicz (44%) continues his run of good play, and had 6 catches on Monday night against Oakland. He’s been a top 10 TE for over a month now.

Zach Ertz (54%) against Green Bay is a matchup start this week.

Deep: Vance McDonald (6%) had 6 targets from Colin Kaepernick for the 4th game in a row. McDonald can be a low end starting option if desperate. Austin Hooper (11%) was starting to emerge for Atlanta, you remember them, right? It seems like a while since we’ve seen the Falcons’ top offense in action.

OVERALL RECOMMENDATIONS

AVERAGE AND SHALLOW LEAGUES

WR Sammy Watkins, BUF
WR Brandon LaFell, CIN
RB Wendell Smallwood, PHI
WR Tyler Boyd, CIN
WR DeSean Jackson, WAS
TE CJ Fiedorowicz, HOU
RB Mike Gillislee, BUF
RB Alex Collins, SEA
TE Zach Ertz, PHI
QB Carson Wentz, PHI

DEEP LEAGUES

WR Brandon LaFell, CIN
RB Wendell Smallwood, PHI
WR Tyler Boyd, CIN
RB Alex Collins, SEA
QB Colin Kaepernick, SF
TE Vance McDonald, SF
RB Rex Burkhead, CIN
QB Scott Tolzien, IND
TE Austin Hooper, ATL