Week 12 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire: Emanuel Wilson, Ollie Gordon and More Players to Add

What the hell was happening in the early slate of games on Sunday?? It's like every time you looked away another player was going down with an injury. 

The backup running backs highlighted the early games, with Kenneth Gainwell, Bhayshul Tuten and Sean Tucker all finding the end zone. We'll have to wait for all the injury updates throughout the week, but this is a prime example of why handcuffs are so important in the NFL. If Josh Jacobs isn't good to play in Week 12, for instance, we will see a big shift to Emanuel Wilson. We saw RJ Harvey and Jaleel McLaughlin step up in the absence of J.K. Dobbins. We never want injuries, but we always have to try and stay one step ahead of the game.

In Week 12 we have four teams on a bye — the Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Chargers, Miami Dolphins and Washington Commanders. We are three weeks away from the start of the fantasy playoffs, keep your foot on the gas and let's go get these championships!

All rostership percentages are from Yahoo and, as always, I try to focus on highlighting players less than 40% rostered. Also, don't forget our Waiver Wire Tool, which will have even more targets on a weekly basis.

Week 11 NFL Injuries

• J.K. Dobbins (season-ending surgery)
• Calvin Ridley (season-ending fibula injury)
• Aaron Rodgers (left hand)
• Michael Penix Jr. (knee)
• Dillon Gabriel (concussion)
• Drake London (knee)
• Josh Jacobs (knee)
• Kimani Vidal (thigh)
• Jaylen Warren (ankle)
• Bhayshul Tuten (ankle)
• Emari Demercado (ankle)

Week 12 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire

Emanuel Wilson, RB, Packers (7% rostered)

Josh Jacobs left Sunday's game with a knee injury in the first half and was unable to return, but his backup, Emanuel Wilson. stepped up in his absence.

 In the four games leading up to Week 11, Wilson was the clear RB2 — he outsnapped Chris Brooks 31% to 11%, and averaged 5.8 attempts and 1.8 targets. Now without Jacobs, Wilson finished with 11 carries for 40 yards and one touchdown along with one reception for nine yards. This is exactly why handcuffs are so important in fantasy football — Wilson is about to get a huge workload if Jacobs cannot return for their Week 12 matchup against the Vikings. He is the top priority on the waiver wire this week.

For a little more on Wilson, check out Jake Trowbridge's "players to stash" column from... THREE weeks ago. LISTEN TO JAKE, PEOPLE!!!

Sean Tucker, RB, Buccaneers (26% rostered)

Yes, Bucky Irving returned to practice last week, but Sean Tucker needs to be added just in case Irving is not able to return in Week 12. 

Tucker was unleashed against the Bills and finished the day with 19 carries for 106 yards and two touchdowns! Oh no, that's not it. He also locked down two receptions for 34 yards and another touchdown through the air. If you started Tucker this week please pat yourself on the back, because that was all good for 34 fantasy points.

Kenneth Gainwell, RB, Steelers (32% rostered)

The Steelers could not stay healthy on Sunday. They not only lost quarterback Aaron Rodgers at the end of the first half, they also had to finish things out without Jaylen Warren. Kenneth Gainwell was the next man up in the running back room and he finished the day with nine carries for 24 yards along with seven receptions for 81 yards and two touchdowns! This was all good for 29.5 fantasy points and was more than enough to put him on the waiver wire radar.

I know this was against the Bengals defense, but as Dwain McFarland pointed out in last week's Utilization Report, the Steelers running backs have a manageable schedule through the fantasy playoffs:

• Week 12: Bears (0.7 fantasy boost)
• Week 13: Bills (1.7)
• Week 14: Ravens (2.6)
• Week 15: Dolphins (1.8)
• Week 16: Lions (-3.6)
• Week 17: Browns (-5.6)

Hopefully Warren is able to return for Week 12, but if he can't then Gainwell is the guy to target.

Christian Watson, WR, Packers (34% rostered)

He's not as widely available as the other players in this column, but it's still worth mentioning Christian Watson here because of his two-touchdown day against the Giants. While Romeo Doubs led the team with eight targets, Watson was second with five and he hauled in four of those for 46 yards and the two touchdowns. 

We all know by now that this Packers team is going to spread the ball around (10 different players were targeted by Jordan Love and Malik Willis), but Watson is doing enough since his return from injury to be stashed on your bench or a flex play in deeper formats.

Ollie Gordon, RB, Dolphins (9% rostered)

This is a stash play more than anything else, but if we saw De'Von Achane go down at any point throughout the remainder of the season then it would be Ollie Gordon getting a bulk of the workload. They're heading into their bye week so watch out for any leaguemates that drop him because they need immediate production elsewhere. Gordon found the end zone against the Commanders off of nine carries and 45 yards.

Chris Rodriguez Jr., RB, Commanders (12% rostered)

Are you sensing a theme here yet? Chris Rodriguez is not the sexiest pick up on the waiver wire and he is ALSO heading into his bye week, but he still led the Commanders with 15 carries and 79 rushing yards. It hasn't been the season that many expected for Jacory Croskey-Merritt and Rodriguez is now worth a pickup, especially if your running back depth is light on your bench.

Jayden Higgins, WR, Texans (16% rostered)

I mentioned Jayden Higgins last week in this article because he could, at some point, emerge as the WR2 on this team. In Week 10 Higgins had his highest route participation of the season (53%) and scored 15.2 points. In Week 11 he was third on the team in targets (7) behind Nico Collins and Dalton Schultz, finishing with four receptions for 55 yards for 9.5 fantasy points.

Joshua Palmer (6% rostered / Tyrell Shavers (0% rostered), WRs, Bills

I know, this is gross and probably a situation you want to avoid, but these two names are for fantasy managers in those deeper leagues. First off, Keon Coleman was a healthy scratch _ and that was reportedly not related to his on-field performance, but because he missed a team meeting Friday morning. I don't know what Week 12 looks like for Coleman, but Joshua Palmer was on the field for the first time since Week 6 and was tied with Tyrell Shavers for the team lead in targets (5). He only had two receptions for 17 yards against Tampa Bay, though. 

Shavers is another deep name and I don't know how serious he'll be for this team moving forward, but without Coleman and with Dalton Kincaid on IR, maybe he can stay on our radar. Four receptions for 90 yards and a touchdown isn't anything to look away from.

Tyler Shough, QB, Saints (3% rostered)

It's not pretty, but there were a handful of quarterback injuries on Sunday that we need to address somehow. The Saints were on a bye in Week 11, but against the Panthers last weekend Tyler Shough completed 19-of-27 passes for 282 yards and two touchdowns, all good for 18.98 fantasy points! We'll take a 128.9 passer rating any day! I know we usually just like to stream a quarterback that's facing the Bengals or the Cowboys, but I doubt Drake Maye or Jalen Hurts are available to you this week.

The Bucs DST

Shoutout to Ian Hartitz, who has been flagging Nov. 18 for weeks now to make a low-key pickup of the Bucs DST, as they have a run of possibly epic proportions in terms of easy offenses coming up. From his Week 9 "10 Things" column:

The Other Guys

• Devin Singletary, RB, Giants (20% rostered)
• Greg Dortch, WR, Cardinals (3% rostered)
• Tez Johnson, WR, Buccaneers (41% rostered)
• Luther Burden, WR, Bears (8% rostered)