Week 15 in the NFL regular season marks the start of fantasy football’s postseason. The goal at this time of the year is to dump anyone with a multiple-week injury and pickup any player with upside off your league’s waiver wire. Shrewd fantasy football managers should also have an eye on blocking their opponents from fixing their injury holes.
Week 15 Early Waiver Wire Pickups
Quarterback Pickups
Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers are down to their third-string quarterback but their offense didn't skip a beat in Week 14 as Purdy led San Francisco to a 35-7 win over the Buccaneers. Purdy was a great surprise for fantasy purposes, throwing for 185 yards, two touchdowns while also running in for a score. The 49ers are loaded with offensive playmakers and even if Deebo Samuel was to miss some time, Purdy will remain fantasy relevant thanks to players like Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle and Bradon Aiyuk.
Desmond Ridder, Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons will turn to Ridder as their starting quarterback after their Week 14 bye. He brings a running skill set (2,180 yards and 28 touchdowns) out of college while showing a reasonable floor in pass production (10,239 yards with 87 touchdowns and 28 interceptions). Atlanta wants to run the ball, but they need a better passing quarterback to be more competitive in the NFL. Over the next three weeks, the Falcons face New Orleans and Baltimore on the road, with a home matchup vs. the Cardinals in Week 17. All three defenses rank below the league-average defending quarterbacks.
Running Back Pickups
J.K. Dobbins, Baltimore Ravens
For the most part, Dobbins is alread rostered but in the event he isn’t (available in 30% of Yahoo leagues) the Ravens rusher is priority No. 1 on the waiver wire. Early in the season, Dobbins didn’t look healthy when he returned from his torn ACL. He gained 123 yards on his 35 rushes with one score while having a limited role in the passing game (6/39). Baltimore gave him seven weeks off before activating him against the Steelers ink Week 14. A 44-yard run set up his best game (15 rushes for 120 yards and one touchdown) since Week 17 in 2019. The Ravens will rotate in multiple backs, which doesn’t bode well for any consistent production. But if he finds the endzone as he did in Week 14, he’ll certainly remain in the RB2 range. Based on his success in his first game back from nearly two months of missed action, he should be picked up in all formats.
This late in the season, finding a viable running back on the waiver wire tends to be challenging. Most of the time, the best options are players that are an injury away from a bump in snaps. Saquon Barkley battled a neck issue heading into his game against the Eagles, but he ended up playing. Brieda is a player to follow this week until Barkley is no longer on the injury report.
Ty Chandler, Minnesota Vikings
Week 14 is the final waiver period in high stakes fantasy football leagues like the Fantasy Football World Championship. So I scoured the running back pool looking for a potential sneaky play. In the end, I landed Chandler. He missed seven games with a broken thumb. Minnesota cleared him to return this week, but he still needs an injury to have a backup role. If Dalvin Cook has an injury, Chandler could split action with Alexander Mattison.
Wide Receiver Pickups
With the Texans’ top two wideouts inactive against a very good Dallas Cowboys’ defense, Moore caught 10 of his 11 targets for 124 yards. He is a journeyman player who has never been a star over his seven seasons in the NFL. However, Moore has already set career highs in catches (37) and receiving yards (434). Next week, Houston should chase the Chiefs on the scoreboard at home, inviting another potential playable game if Brandin Cooks and Nico Collins don’t play. Moore only makes sense in deep formats with weakness in the free agent pool at wide receiver.
Jauan Jennings, San Francisco 49ers
Deebo Samuel left this week’s game with an ankle injury that looks like a multiple-week injury. Jennings moved to WR2 in the 49ers’ offense while being the fourth option in their passing game behind Christian McCaffrey, Brandon Aiyuk, and George Kittle. In 2021, he surprised in Week 18 (6/94/2) with a playable game as well this season in Week 12 (6/49/1). I don’t expect big stats, but Jennings may bridge a short-term fix for a fantasy team looking for waiver wire help at wide receiver.
The complete waiver wire pickups list will be published on Tuesday morning.
