Fantasy Football Waiver Wire: Ezekiel Elliott, Spears, Gainwell, Mingo

This is the last week of the regular season for many fantasy football leagues. It’s also the last week of byes in the NFL; Washington and Arizona are the teams off this week. 

The strategy of picking players up off the waiver wire will vary in Week 14. If you’ve clinched a spot in the playoffs, a long-term approach is a way to go, such as stashing a backup running back. Those in need of a win this week to get into the playoffs should focus on the players that can help get a win now.

Here are the top players to add off the waiver wire in Week 14.

Quarterbacks

Gardner Minshew, Indianapolis Colts
At this point, most teams have a good quarterback. If streaming, Minshew is a consideration. He had one of his better matchups against the Titans last week and took advantage with 312 passing yards and two touchdowns in an overtime win. Minshew gets another great matchup against a bad Bengals defense this week.

Jameis Winston, New Orleans Saints
Winston is an add for superflex leagues and those that start two quarterbacks. Derek Carr is in the concussion protocol and dealing with shoulder and back injuries. Winston will be a roller coaster since there will be turnovers, but he will take a lot of chances and has shown the ability to put up good fantasy stats as long as turnovers aren’t penalized heavily.

Running Backs

Ezekiel Elliott, New England Patriots
Rhamondre Stevenson left Sunday’s game with an ankle injury and will miss several weeks. Elliott is the next man up and while he’s not that good and the Patriots’ offense is putrid, the volume is there. New England can’t score and face the Steelers on a short week Thursday night with the game total of 30 points. After Stevenson left the game, Elliott had 17 carries for 52 yards and caught four of five targets for 40 yards. If you’re desperate at running back, he’s in play.

Roschon Johnson, Chicago Bears
The Bears are coming off a bye and D’Onta Foreman was out with an injury the last game. In the previous game against Minnesota, Johnson played more snaps than Khalil Herbert (Johnson played 50 snaps to Herbert’s 15). Johnson had 10 carries for 35 yards and caught five passes for 40 yards. Foreman could return to be the lead back, but Johnson should be on a roster in case he has a bigger role.

Tyjae Spears, Tennessee Titans
All backup running backs should be on a roster by now — the Colts’ Zack Moss was the perfect example from last week. Spears is not available in most competitive leagues, but with six teams on bye last week, he could have been cut. Derrick Henry left Sunday’s game with a head injury, but coach Mike Vrabel said Henry isn’t in concussion protocol. Regardless, Spears should be added. Spears played every snap after Henry left the game. He finished with 16 carries for 75 yards with four catches for 13 yards on six targets.

Kenneth Gainwell, Philadelphia Eagles
D’Andre Swift took a big hit at the end of the game against the 49ers on Sunday and there has been no update. Gainwell played 54% of the snaps compared to 42% for Swift; it was the most snaps Gainwell has played since Week 1. Gainwell caught five passes for 42 yards. He gets a boost if Swift misses time.

Antonio Gibson, Washington Commanders
This is for teams that clinched a playoff spot since the Commanders are on bye this week. Brian Robinson left the game early against the Dolphins with a hamstring injury, so there’s a chance he’s back in Week 15. If not, Gibson is in line for a big role and he’s the pass-catching back and Washington should be trailing often. Gibson had 10 carries for 35 yards and caught four of five passes for 37 yards. 

DeeJay Dallas, Seattle Seahawks
Dallas becomes more appealing as a volume play if Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet are out. Walker has missed the last two games with an oblique injury and Charbonnet left the game on Thanksgiving with a knee injury. The Seahawks have a difficult matchup this week against the 49ers.

Chase Brown, Cincinnati Bengals
Brown is the handcuff for Joe Mixon. Brown had nine carries for 61 yards against the Jaguars on Monday. Brown played 11 snaps and touched the ball on nine of them.

Chris Rodriguez, Washington Commanders
This is for deeper leagues and depends on the status of Brian Robinson. Washington is on bye this week, but if Robinson misses time, Rodriguez will get some carries. However, Antonio Gibson is the preferred play.

Wide Receivers

Noah Brown, Houston Texans
Tank Dell is out for the season and it opens up a big opportunity for Brown. After missing two games with a knee injury, Brown returned and played 81% of the snaps. Brown had two targets and didn’t have a catch, but he had six catches for 153 yards with a touchdown and seven catches for 172 yards in the two games before getting injured. 

Elijah Moore, Cleveland Browns
Amari Cooper suffered a concussion last week and is in the protocol. He could miss this week and Moore had 12 targets from Joe Flacco. Moore had a 28% target share and caught four passes for 83 yards. Flacco has a good rapport with Moore going back to their days with the Jets. 

Jonathan Mingo, Carolina Panthers
There seemed to be an effort to get Mingo the ball more with the coaching change. Mingo had a season-high 10 targets against the Buccaneers and had six catches for 69 yards. The rookie has double-digit points in PPR formats in two straight games. 

Jalin Hyatt, New York Giants
The Giants are coming off a bye and Hyatt could finish the season strong. We often see rookie wide receivers struggle early before adjusting to the NFL. Hyatt can be a big playmaker if he gets the targets; he caught five of six targets for 109 yards against the Patriots in Week 12.

Dontayvion Wicks, Green Bay Packers
Christian Watson hurt his hamstring late in the game on Sunday night and he could miss time. If he’s out, Wicks becomes appealing. The Packers offense is playing better and has a good schedule to finish. Wicks has big-play potential and has at least 43 receiving yards in four straight games.

Curtis Samuel, Washington Commanders
Samuel had a 27% target share in Week 12 and led the team in receiving again last week. The offense struggled, but Samuel caught four of five targets for 65 yards. Washington is on a bye this week.

Cedric Tillman, Cleveland Browns
The rookie has 11 targets the last two games. Tillman played 93% of the snaps on Sunday, the most for any receiver on the team. If Amari Cooper has to sit due to a concussion, Tillman is a streamer in deeper formats against a Jaguars secondary that is struggling.

Joshua Palmer, Los Angeles Chargers
It’s not clear when Palmer will return, but the Chargers desperately need another receiver to help the offense. If you’re in the playoffs and have room to stash a player, Palmer is an option.

Tight Ends

Brevin Jordan, Houston Texans
Dalton Schultz missed last week with a hamstring injury and it’s unclear if he will be back this week. Jordan played 75% of the snaps and ran a route on 69% of C.J. Stroud’s dropbacks. He caught three of his four targets for 64 yards.

Tucker Kraft, Green Bay Packers
Kraft has played 96% of the snaps the last two games with Luke Musgrave on injured reserve. The schedule is favorable the rest of the way and Kraft caught three of his six targets for 37 yards last week. The week before, Kraft scored a touchdown.

Chigoziem Okonkwo, Tennessee Titans
He has 11 targets in the last two games. Okonkwo caught four passes for 45 yards in Week 12 and had three catches for 62 yards last week.