Monday, November 23, 2020

Week 12 Fantasy Football RB Waiver-Wire Rankings

Every week, we examine players that may be available on your league's waiver wire that could help your team in the short and/or long term.

For a player to be listed, he must be owned in 50 percent (or less) of Yahoo! leagues. The goal is to provide recommendations of players that have a greater chance of being available on your league's waiver wire. Of course, your league's size and settings could significantly impact whether these players (or better options) are available in your particular league(s).

With that said, here are some running back waiver-wire options to consider heading into Week 12 (Yahoo! % rostered in parenthesis):

[Note: Players listed below are sorted by our preference to add.]

1. Gus Edwards, Baltimore Ravens (29%)

As much as I expected COVID-19 to lead to many surprise inactives throughout the season that would lead to a fantasy football version of the Wild, Wild West, that hasn't really materialized (yet). Perhaps it will in the final month-plus of the season as cases explode across the country, but so far, so good.

That said, Edwards gets a COVID-infused bump in workload as both J.K. Dobbins and Mark Ingram have been placed on the COVID-19 reserve list today and will miss Thursday's game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The general rule with the team's backfield was the trio negating each other's fantasy relevance with a generally even workload split, although Dobbins handled 17 (73.9%) of the team's 23 backfield touches in Week 11.

As Garafolo says (or tweets), "all about the Gus Bus."

2. James White, New England Patriots (40%)

White had five carries for 19 yards and added six receptions for 64 yards on nine targets in Week 11 against the Houston Texans. White's workload (11 touches) was nearly as much as his previous four games combined (13).

Sony Michel was a healthy scratch as Damien Harris continued to handle the bulk of early-down work, but the versatile Rex Burkhead tore his ACL in Week 11. While neither Harris nor Michel are involved much as receivers, White should see his role expand as the team's primary pass-catching back going forward.

3. Frank Gore, New York Jets (10%)

Gore had 15 carries for 61 yards and a touchdown and added two catches for 10 yards in Sunday's loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. It's easy to root for Gore as a player in a real life, but he's generally a low-upside, uninspiring option in fantasy. That said, La'Mical Perine will "miss time" due to a high-ankle sprain. With the injury, Gore should have more opportunities to handle 15-20 touches like he did in Week 11.

It's possible that kind of volume pushes Gore into flex range, but he's had 14-plus carries in six games this season. Here are Gore's weekly finishes in those weeks: RB44 (Week 2), RB37 (Week 3), RB48 (Week 4), RB23 (Week 6), RB36 (Week 9) and WR11 (so far in Week 11).

4. Carlos Hyde, Seattle Seahawks (46%)

Recovered from his hamstring injury and returning after a three-game absence, Hyde turned 16 touches into 95 scrimmage yards and a score against the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday Night Football. Pete Carroll has said that Chris Carson (foot) will play in Week 12 and that Rashaad Penny is a couple weeks away. Even if Carson is active in Week 12, Hyde is a high-end handcuff.

5. Tony Pollard, Dallas Cowboys (19%)

As the clear handcuff to Ezekiel Elliott, Pollard has received a larger workload over the past six weeks. During that span, Pollard has a minimum of eight touches in five games and has averaged 8.83 touches per game over that span. More efficent than Elliott, the second-year back from Memphis has 157 rushing yards (7.48 YPC) and three catches for 25 yards (8.33 Y/R) over the past three games.

At this point, the Cowboys are very much in the thick of things in the NFC Least. If the team falls out of contention for the division, however, Pollard could earn an even larger role towards the end of the season.

6. Cam Akers, Los Angeles Rams (30%)

Here's what I wrote in last week's Waiver Wire post:

Darrell Henderson and Malcolm Brown had eight touches each.) Akers now has at least nine carries in back-to-back games and the second-round pick has the talent to earn a larger role down the stretch. If you have the bench space, Akers is worth a stash.

While Akers and the Rams won't play until Monday Night to give us any potential additional clarity with the backfield, Akers remains worthy of a RB stash as we head down the stretch.

+ More Fantasy Football Waiver-Wire Advice Heading Into Week 12

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