🏈 Futbol??

Waiver wire pickups and real football: Travis Kelce, Ja'Marr Chase and more...

Good morning. There are a few certainties in life: death, taxes, Travis Kelce TE1, and The Athletic's $12 end of year sale being the steal of the year.

$12 for an entire year. Even Jay Cutler couldn't believe it.

If you support the Huddle & want an amazing deal, check out The Athletic's limited time deal of the year. Click here.

NEWS

What is Futbol??

I wish they had a world cup for American Football. Think of the benefits: watching Mahomes, Ja'Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson on Team USA, etc.

But the flopping?

Today's newsletter covers all the critical Waiver Wire talk you need to win your league.

WAIVERS

First, if Isiah Pacheco, Rachaad White and Christian Watson are available, we need to get you better competition. Run to add them. For the rest of us, these are the Week 12 priority pickups.

RB: Captain James Cook

Despite trading for Nyheim Hines, the Bills continue to expand James Cook's (their second rounder) role. In W11, Cook posted season-highs in carries (11), rushing yards (86), and snap share (26%) per FantasyPoints. Cook also had 7.8 YPC and led the entire NFL in rushing yards over expected per carry (3.0). Matt Waldman breaks down Cook's big run in this video. In a lethal offense, any opportunity that comes Cook's way will be huge. Must-stash.

  • Latavius Murray has established himself as the team’s lead runner. With Melvin Gordon cut and Chase Edmonds (ankle) expected to miss time, Murray is worth an add. A pass catching (7 catches in two games) + TD role gives Lat RB2 upside.

  • Mike Boone: The Bronco's wouldn't have cut Melvin if they didn't trust Boone. A career 5.5 YPC makes me suspect that Boone is the best RB in Denver, and could outright win the job.

  • Samaje Perine: When a man scores three TDs, people notice. Elevated into the top role after Mixon (concussion) left in the second quarter, Perine could be the starter next week. It's a tough matchup against the elite Titans run defense, but Perine is a must-add for any RB-needy teams.

Stashes: Keaontay Ingram, who is a James Conner injury away from 15-20 touches. Dontrell Hilliard, who is Derrick Henry's direct backup. Justin Jackson, who seen more touches in the last two weeks than D'Andre Swift.

Don’t buy the hype: Rams RBs (crap), Jerrick McKinnon (decent but hard to trust) or Nyheim Hines (just don't see enough upside).

WR: Treylon Burks

The guy they traded AJ Brown for is here. Treylon Burks returned from his turf toe injury in W10, but broke out on Thursday with 7/111 receiving on 8 targets. We're willing to bet Burks' 50% snap share grows, just as AJ Brown's did before he went nuclear his rookie season. We highlighted Burks as one to grab last week, but now it's urgent.

  • Donovan Peoples-Jones is still available in most leagues. An every-down WR for the Browns, DPJ's upside is massive with Deshaun Watson under center.

  • Parris Campbell continues to produce, putting up 5/67 receiving on six targets. He's now posted over 11 fantasy points in 4/4 games with Matt Ryan at QB.

  • Jameson Williams returned to practice yesterday and could be near a full workload by the time the fantasy finals roll around in Weeks 16-17, per FantasyPoints.

Skyy Moore is finally worth grabbing. With the Chiefs WR room ravaged, Moore stepped up with a season high targets (6), receiving yards (63) and fantasy points. Moore drew a target on 38% of his routes in Week 11. You do love to see it. This could be the change he needed to break out down the stretch.

Still just 25, Darius Slayton is looking like the Giants WR1 and a must add after Wan'Dale Robinson tore his ACL. Honestly, we missed Slayton this entire season. Be better than me. Add him.

QB: Handsome Jimmy

The case for Jimmy Garoppolo: Look, Jimmy won't win you weeks. But he won't lose them either. And for anyone with a mobile QB (Fields, Jackson, Hurts, Allen), a backup is valuable come playoffs. Jimmy has recorded at least 230 yards in six straight and has thrown 8 touchdowns in his last five. Six of the 49ers' last seven opponents are in the top half of the league in terms of fantasy points allowed to quarterbacks, per PFF. Surrounded by talent, Jimmy G is a top QB2.

Deshaun Watson was featured a few weeks ago, but is the priority QB pickup if he's still available. Watson is eligible to return in W13 and was a top-five fantasy QB whenever he played.

Keep an eye on:

Following an MRI, Kyle Pitts is believed to have suffered a torn MCL that would require surgery. It's a sad ending to a sad season from the former fourth overall pick by the Falcons, who is the highest drafted TE in NFL history.

QB Justin Fields either suffered a left shoulder dislocation or a separated shoulder, sources say, a painful injury he somehow played through on Sunday. Coach Matt Eberflus described Fields as “day-to-day.” His status for this Sunday is still to be determined. Eberflus also did not out rule a season-ending situation as worst-case. So many seasons are on the line.

Like water is wet, Mike Williams injured his ankle and Kadarius Toney injured his hamstring. The Chargers will "find out a lot more in the next couple days" but Mike Williams' ankle is not considered "a significant re-injury."

WR Ja’Marr Chase reportedly has a chance to play against the Titans. HC Zac Taylor said Ja’Marr Chase will start working back this week. “Everything has gone according to plan.”

STATS

Ten Stats You Should Know

1/10: Travis Kelce is averaging 7.4 more fantasy points per game than any other tight end. Over the past six seasons, Travis Kelce has been the overall TE1 (16) in more weeks than he's finished outside of the top-12 (15)

2/10: Kyler Murray hasn't played football since COD Warzone 2.0 was released.

3/10: Patriots have allowed under 125 yards of offense in back to back games. Since 1978, only one other defense has done that.

4/10: Damien Harris averaged nearly 10 yards per touch yesterday and was graded as @PFF's third-best rusher of Week 11.

5/10: D'Andre Swift is averaging 6.1 yards per carry this season, but has only seen 12+ touches once (in Week 1).

6/10: Tony Pollard has averaged 6.8 yards per touch, the most of any running back with 100 or more touches.

7/10: Davante Adams is the sixth player in league history with six or more seasons with 10 or more receiving touchdowns, joining Hall of Famers Randy Moss, Jerry Rice, Marvin Harrison, Terrell Owens and Cris Carter.

8/10: If you take away the opening week 0, Devonta Smith is WR15 overall for the season. Saw a big increase in target share in the first game Philadelphia played post Dallas Goedert injury.

9/10: Two running backs have a 90+ PFF receiving grade: Christian McCaffrey & Rhamondre Stevenson. Stevenson has at least 5 targets in 5 straight games and is averaging 6.6 per game over that time frame.

10/10: EA Sports is expected to announce tomorrow morning around 10 AM ET that EA Sports College Football will be delayed until 2024...

QUICK SLANTS

  • A trade to watch in the offseason could be the Packers swapping QBs with the Raiders: Aaron Rodgers for Derek Carr. This would also be the only trade that keeps Davante Adams in place, per Sports Illustrated.

  • For the first time this season, Jets coach Robert Saleh left the door open for a QB change, saying all options are on the table. Zach Wilson has been informed his job is up in the air. FREE MIKE WHITE.

  • Cowboys and Odell Beckham Jr. believe a deal can get done when the two sides meet, per CBS Sports. Jerry Jones really wants OBJ.

  • Broncos’ Russell Wilson era remains a dud. What’s new ownership’s plan to fix it?

Thankful we have Thanksgiving games this week. I am also grateful for you, for reading/putting up with this newsletter. What are you grateful for?

Jake, Eddie, Matt

Tweet of the Day

There's a bet that Russell Wilson doesn't score as many TDs (currently: 7) as he has bathrooms in his house (12). Imagine signing this guy's checks...

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