Fantasy Football Waiver Wire: Moss, Freeman, Dortch

It’s a critical week for fantasy football teams batting for a playoff spot, with two weeks left in the regular season for most leagues. The NFL didn’t get the memo with six teams on bye in Week 13. 

Baltimore, Buffalo, Chicago, Las Vegas, Minnesota and the New York Giants on bye. Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Justin Fields, Stefon Diggs, Dalton Kincaid, Josh Jacobs, Davante Adams, T.J. Hockenson and Saquon Barkley are among the big names not playing this week. For many, the waiver wire will be critical this week. Here are the top adds…

Quarterbacks

Derek Carr, New Orleans Saints
If only Carr was better in the red zone — he has five 300-yard games, which is tied for second in the NFL, but only 10 touchdown passes. The Lions have allowed the seventh-most fantasy points to quarterbacks.

Gardner Minshew, Indianapolis Colts
Minshew is another streamer for the week. He passed for 251 yards with a touchdown and rushed for a score on Sunday in a good matchup against the Buccaneers. He gets another good one against the Titans, who are more susceptible against the pass.

Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers
Love is playing better over the last few games with multiple touchdown passes in three straight. He has completed at least 67.5% of his passes over the last two games and hasn’t thrown an interception in either game. 

Running Backs

Zack Moss, Indianapolis Colts
Moss saw a diminished role before the bye week with a 21% snap rate in Week 9 and 16% in Week 10 and he might have been dropped. It was surprising to see Moss on the field for 41% last week, but it turns out Jonathan Taylor has an injured thumb that needs further evaluation and his status going forward is in doubt. Moss was excellent when Taylor missed the beginning of the season and is a must-add. This is another example of why you want as many backup running backs on the roster as possible. 

Roschon Johnson, Chicago Bears
Johnson has been mentioned here several times this season and could still be available after being behind D’Onta Foreman and Khalil Hebert last week. Foreman was out with an injury on Monday against the Vikings and Johnson played more snaps than Herbert (Johnson played 50 snaps to Herbert’s 15). Johnson had 10 carries for 35 yards and caught five passes for 40 yards. The Bears have a bye this week and Foreman could be back in Week 14. 

Jeff Wilson Jr., Miami Dolphins
Wilson’s value for the week is dependent on the status of De’Von Achane, who sat out last week with a knee injury. If Achane is out again, Wilson can be considered as a flex play. Wilson had 11 carries for 56 yards and caught three passes for 17 yards against the Jets. 

Royce Freeman, Los Angeles Rams
Kyren Williams is the main back for the Rams, but Freeman is the backup. The Rams had control against the Cardinals and Freeman had 13 carries for 77 yards with a touchdown. It won’t be like this every week, but he’s the handcuff.

Samaje Perine, Denver Broncos
After being the third back for several games, Perine has been more involved the last two games and often plays in Denver’s hurry-up offense. Against the Browns on Sunday, Perine had seven carries for 55 yards with a touchdown and caught an 11-yard pass. The Broncos led most of the way, so he wasn’t needed much in the passing game. The week before, with the Broncos trailing most of the way, Perine caught all seven targets for 60 yards.

D’Ernest Johnson, Jacksonville Jaguars
Johnson was mentioned last week since he passed Tank Bigsby as the backup. Travis Etienne briefly left the game on Sunday and Johnson replaced him. He had seven carries for 17 yards and caught a 42-yard pass. Having as many backup running backs on your bench as possible is important as we get later in the season.

Michael Carter, Arizona Cardinals
James Conner played 42% of the snaps, while Carter played 38% on Sunday. He had four carries for 19 yards and caught four passes for 15 yards. Carter appears to be the handcuff to Conner. 

Wide Receivers

Jayden Reed, Green Bay Packers
Reed is long gone in competitive leagues but the ownership numbers on some platforms are too low — he should be on a roster in every league. He has 28 targets over the last five games with two receiving touchdowns and has five carries for 62 yards with a touchdown over the last two games.

Demario Douglas, New England Patriots
Douglas left last week’s game with a head injury, so check on his status before determining if he helps your roster. Douglas has received 32 targets the last four games. He hit double-digit points in PPR formats in three of those games.

Curtis Samuel, Washington Commanders
When Samuel has been healthy, he has been productive. Washington is likely to be playing from behind often, meaning more pass attempts. Washington has lost five consecutive games, including two to the Giants. Samuel had a season-high 12 targets against the Cowboys and caught nine passes for 100 yards on a 27% target share.

A.T. Perry, New Orleans Saints
Michael Thomas is on injured reserve, Rashid Shaheed is going to miss this week with a quad injury and Chris Olave is dealing with a concussion. Perry ran a route on 80% of the Saints’ dropbacks last week.

Greg Dortch, Arizona Cardinals
Dortch has become a frequent target for Kyler Murray. Michael Wilson has missed the last two games and Dortch has been targeted 17 times. He had six catches for 76 yards on eight targets in Week 11 and caught three of nine targets for 27 yards and a touchdown last week.

Jalin Hyatt, New York Giants
The Giants have a bye, so Hyatt can’t help this week. Rookie receivers often finish the season strong after acclimating to the NFL. The Giants aren’t a great offense, but Hyatt can be a big playmaker if he gets the targets. He caught five of six targets for 109 yards against the Patriots on Sunday. 

Justin Watson, Kansas City Chiefs
One week after getting 11 targets, Watson only had three targets against the Raiders. His lone catch went for a touchdown as he scored for the second straight week. He played 57% of the snaps, which tied Skyy Moore for second-most among Chiefs wide receivers. After Travis Kelce and Rashee Rice, there are no standouts. Watson is worth a bench spot in deeper leagues to see if his role grows.

Tight Ends

Pat Freiermuth, Pittsburgh Steelers
Freiermuth had one of the shocking performances of Week 12; he was clearly a big part of the game plan and caught nine of his 11 targets for 120 yards. Injuries have held him down this season, but he had a 34.4% target share in the first game since offensive coordinator Matt Canada was fired. Obviously, he won’t be this good every week, but if you need a streamer this week or help at tight end he should be added. 

Cade Otton, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Otton is on the field almost every play most weeks. He has at least four receptions in five of the last six games. 

Juwan Johnson, New Orleans Saints
Johnson could be a consideration due to the Saints’ injuries at wide receiver. Johnson had seven targets in Week 12, catching four passes for 45 yards. The Lions have allowed five touchdowns to tight ends.

Tucker Kraft, Green Bay Packers
Luke Musgrave is on injured reserve and Kraft played 96% of the snaps last week. The rookie caught both of his targets for 15 yards with a touchdown.