Top 9 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Pickups: Wide Receivers (Week 13)

We will have you covered throughout the fantasy football season with our bevy of tools, including our Waiver Wire Assistant. Find the top available players and get detailed analysis on how potential fantasy football waiver wire adds will impact your team. Of course, our team of analysts will also have written advice each week. Check out some of our top Wide Receiver fantasy football waiver wire targets for the week below. And also be sure to check out all of our fantasy football waiver wire advice.

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Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Targets: Wide Receiver

WIDE RECEIVERS

Written by Pat Fitzmaurice

Keon Coleman (BUF): 43% rostered

• Next Opponents: SF, @LAR, @DET
• True value: $4
• Desperate Need: $7
• Budget-minded: $1

Analysis: A wrist injury kept Coleman out of action in the two games before the Bills’ Week 11 bye. But in Weeks 7-8, Coleman had 9-195-1 on 14 targets and looked like a rising star. The 6-foot-4 Coleman is a dangerous big-play threat who’s averaging 19.0 yards per catch and 11.6 yards per target. Coleman has to share targets with Khalil Shakir, Amari Cooper and Dalton Kincaid, but star QB Josh Allen is the high tide that lifts all ships in the Buffalo offense. Coleman’s Week 13 matchup against the 49ers isn’t very enticing, but then he gets matchup against the Rams, Lions and Patriots. The Rams had allowed the 10th-most fantasy points to wide receivers going into Week 13, the Lions the eighth-most, and the Patriots the 11th-most. It’s possible Coleman takes another step forward late in his rookie season, and if that happens, you’ll want to be along for the ride.

Noah Brown (WSH): 10% rostered

• Next Opponents: TEN, BYE, @NO
• True value: $3
• Desperate Need: $6
• Budget-minded: $1

Analysis: Noah Brown has a team-high 27 targets over the Commanders’ last four games — 10 more than teammate Terry McLaurin over that span. Brown’s 10 targets in Washington’s wild 34-26 loss to Dallas on Sunday amounted to a 26.3% target share and yielded 6-71-0. Brown’s Week 13 matchup against the Titans is a tough one. Tennessee has allowed the fourth-fewest fantasy points to wide receivers and has allowed the fifth-fewest yards per route run (1.35), per Fantasy Points Data. But with pass-catching RB Austin Ekeler likely to be out after sustaining a concussion on Sunday, Brown figures to once again play a prominent role in the Washington passing game.

Marquez Valdes-Scantling (NO): 24% rostered

• Next Opponents: LAR, @NYG, WSH
• True value: $2
• Desperate Need: $4
• Budget-minded: $1

Analysis: We’re not going to fall for this, are we? Just when Valdes-Scantling lures us in with a few big games, he’ll pull the ol’ exploding wide receiver trick on us. Surely we don’t want to spend our precious FAAB dollars on this. Well, I suppose there’s a case to be made for MVS, though that case is admittedly a bit flimsy. Over his last two games, Valdes-Scantling has turned a mere seven targets into 5-196-3. That’s an average of 39.2 yards per catch and 28.0 yards per target. Easily sustainable, right? (Eye roll) But here’s the thing: The Saints’ WR room has been decimated. Rashid Shaheed is out for the year with a knee injury. Chris Olave is out with a concussion and may or may not return this season. Valdes-Scantling is now the designated deep threat for Saints QB Derek Carr, and MVS is about to face the Rams and Giants, who give up some big plays through the air. The Rams are allowing 14.7 yards per catch to WRs and have given up 13 TD catches to WRs. And as my colleague Derek Brown noted in last week’s installment of the Primer, the Giants entered Week 12 having allowed the eighth-most deep passing yards per game, a perfect passer rating (158.3) on deep passes, and the highest adjusted completion rate in deep passes. It’s entirely possible we’ll see MVS haul in a few more long ones in the coming weeks.

Wan’Dale Robinson (NYG): 47% rostered

• Next Opponents: @DAL, NO, BAL
• True value: $2
• Desperate Need: $4
• Budget-minded: $1

Analysis: Much more valuable in PPR leagues than in standard scoring leagues, Robinson gobbles up receptions but offers only modest yardage and TD totals. Robinson has 61 receptions on the season and is on pace for 94. Yet, he’s scored only two touchdowns and is on pace for just 682 receiving yards. He’s averaging 7.2 yards per catch and 5.0 yards per target. Those are the types of numbers you normally see from running backs, not wide receivers. But in PPR leagues, all those empty-calorie receptions have some benefit. The Giants face some wobbly pass defenses in the coming weeks, so Robinson might be worth adding in PPR formats.

DeMario Douglas (NE): 31% rostered

• Next Opponents: IND, BYE, @ARI
• True value: $2
• Desperate Need: $4
• Budget-minded: $1

Analysis: Douglas is the AFC version of Wan’Dale Robinson, piling up receptions without offering much in the way of receiving yardage or touchdowns. Douglas drew seven targets against the Dolphins on Sunday and had five catches for a team-high 62 yards. For the season, he has 48 catches for 477 yards and one touchdown. Douglas offers fantasy managers in PPR leagues a sturdy weekly floor. But his ceiling is only slightly higher than you’d find in a crawlspace. Douglas has produced fewer than 60 receiving yards in 10 of his 12 games this season, and he has one touchdown in 26 career games with the Patriots. Consider adding Douglass in full-point PPR leagues only.

Adam Thielen (CAR): 25% rostered

• Next Opponents: TB, @PHI, DAL
• True value: $2
• Desperate Need: $4
• Budget-minded: $1

Analysis: The Panthers showed Thielen some veteran deference on Sunday by deactivating promising rookie slot receiver Jalen Coker ahead of Thielen’s first game back from a hamstring injury. Thielen saw four targets against the Chiefs and had three catches for 57 yards. On one hand, Thielen is 34 and playing in one of the least potent passing attacks in the league. On the other hand, it’s worth remembering that heading into the week of Thanksgiving a year ago, Thielen was WR10 in PPR fantasy scoring, averaging 9.7 targets and 7.6 catches per game. With Coker brushed aside, Thielen is back to being Carolina’s slot receiver, and there might be at least a little bit of fantasy value to that role.

Xavier Legette (CAR): 27% rostered

• Next Opponents: TB, @PHI, DAL
• True value: $1
• Desperate Need: $2
• Budget-minded: $0

Analysis: Although Legette has yet to enter fantasy managers’ circle of trust, it might not be long before he’s admitted. The rookie had another solid game on Sunday, with four catches for 56 yards against a Kansas City defense that’s been tough on outside receivers this season. Legette has scored four touchdowns and he’s had at least three receptions in four consecutive games. In deep leagues, Legette might be playable this week against a Buccaneers defense that has yielded the sixth-most fantasy points to wide receivers.

Nick Westbrook-Ikhine (TEN): 12% rostered

• Next Opponents: @WSH, JAX, CIN
• True value: $1
• Desperate Need: $2
• Budget-minded: $0

Analysis: With his 38-yard TD catch in the Titans’ Week 12 upset of the Texans, Westbrook-Ikhine has scored a touchdown in six of his last seven games. He’s done it despite drawing no more than six targets in any game this season. In fact, Westbrook-Ikhine has only 30 targets and 17 receptions all year. He’s scored a touchdown on 35.3% of his catches and 20.0% of his targets. We can’t encourage you to chase this kind of production, because that would be irresponsible. But nor can we tell you that this type of production is unsustainable, because … well, because Westbrook-Ikhine has sustained it for nearly two months. You probably won’t be interested in starting Westbrook-Ikhine this week with all 32 teams in action and no one on bye. But when we get a six-team bye week in Week 14, Westbrook-Ikhine will conveniently be facing the flammable Jacksonville defense. That seems like a reasonable spot to use an enigmatic receiver with a nose for the end zone.

Devaughn Vele (DEN): 5% rostered

• Next Opponents: CLE, BYE, IND
• True value: $1
• Desperate Need: $2
• Budget-minded: $0

Analysis: The Broncos’ WR corps has been an unpredictable mishmash beyond No. 1 receiver Courtland Sutton for most of the season. But seventh-round rookie Devaughn Vele seems to be staking a claim on the No. 2 role. Sunday against the Raiders, Vele played 44 snaps, ran 31 routes and had nine targets. (Hat tip to PFF’s Nate Jahnke for the snap and route data.) Sutton was the only Denver receiver who surpassed Vele in those categories. Vele finished with six catches for a season-high 80 yards. Although Vele has scored only one touchdown this season, his 6-foot-5 frame suggests that he could become a formidable red-zone threat.