9 Fantasy Football Players to Drop or Hold (Week 12 Waiver Wire)

Let’s take a look at players our analysts consider on the fringe as you weigh your fantasy football waiver wire additions for the week. And check out all of our Week 12 fantasy football waiver wire advice.

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Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Advice: Drop or Hold?

DROP RECOMMENDATIONS

Droppable:

• Pat Freiermuth
• Aaron Rodgers
• Mike Williams

Tight ends are usually heavily involved in Arthur Smith’s offenses, but the Steelers’ offensive coordinator hasn’t exactly carved out a big role for Pat Freiermuth this season. Freiermuth has 31-295-3 in 10 games. He has fewer than 25 receiving yards in five of his last six games. Perhaps most alarming is that Freiermuth hasn’t seen more than three targets in a game since Sept. 29. If you’re still holding Freiermuth, it’s time to bid him adieu.

Aaron Rodgers has a Week 12 bye, and he certainly hasn’t done enough for you to hold him through a bye week in a 1QB league.

Mike Williams failed to draw a single target Sunday in his second game with the Steelers even though Steelers QB Russell Wilson threw a season-high 36 passes. Pittsburgh is one of the run-heaviest teams in the league, and George Pickens has become the Steelers’ clear alpha receiver. Williams simply isn’t playable right now, and there’s a good chance he won’t be for the remainder of the fantasy season.

Droppable with a chance of regret:

• Diontae Johnson
• Tyler Lockett
• Raheem Mostert

The Ravens’ onboarding of Diontae Johnson is moving at a glacially slow pace. Johnson played a total of 22 snaps in his first two games with Baltimore. Sunday, in his third game with his new teams, Johnson played 11 snaps and drew two targets in a revenge-game spot against his old team, the Steelers. He finished with zero catches. You can’t play Johnson this week against the Chargers when he’s been so uninvolved. Even if he shows a pulse this week, Johnson would be hard to play in a tough Week 13 matchup against the Eagles, and then he has a Week 14 bye. It’s possible Johnson pops at some point, but it’s hard to see him becoming startable at any point over the next six weeks.

Tyler Lockett has drawn four or fewer targets in each of his last three games. D.K. Metcalf returned from a knee injury on Sunday, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba seems to be in the midst of a second-year breakout. That leaves the 32-year-old Lockett as a third wheel. The savvy veteran might have a good game here or there, but Lockett can’t be comfortably started even in deep leagues.

Raheem Mostert‘s role had already been reduced to the point that he was sharing backup duties with rookie Jaylen Wright behind Miami lead back De’Von Achane, and then Mostert left Sunday’s game against the Raiders with a hip injury. Even if the injury turns out to be minor, Mostert simply doesn’t have the fantasy appeal he had a year ago as a prolific TD scorer.

Don’t drop yet:

• Romeo Doubs
• Tucker Kraft
• Audric Estime

Romeo Doubs and Tucker Kraft investors were no doubt aghast at how little those two Green Bay pass catchers did on Sunday. Doubs had a single 17-yard catch on two targets. Kraft had zero catches on one target. It was a strange game for the Packers, who ran only 46 offensive plays in their 21-20 win over the Bears. Packers QB Jordan Love attempted only 17 passes. Consider it a low-volume anomaly. Don’t panic-drop Doubs or Kraft.

It certainly looked as if rookie Audric Estime had leapfrogged Javonte Williams to become Denver’s primary early-down back. Estime out-carried Williams 14-1 in the Broncos’ narrow Week 10 loss to the Chiefs. But Williams out-carried Estime 9-6 and out-snapped him 32-14 Sunday in the Broncos’ blowout win over the Falcons. If you spent FAAB money to acquire Estime last week, hold onto him for now. The tectonic plates in the Denver backfield might not have stopped shifting. It’s still possible Estime could become a useful asset down the stretch.