Week 14 fantasy football waiver wire must-adds

There were plenty of letdowns and injuries to go around in Week 13 of the NFL season. Every week, we will dive into a handful of the top fantasy football pickups available that week and why they could be of value for fantasy owners looking to give their teams an extra boost.

Here are the top waiver-wire adds for Week 14:

1. Noah Brown, WR, Houston Texans (rostered in 22% of fantasy leagues)

Brown only had two targets in his first game back after nearly a month out due to a groin injury, but don’t expect that to be the norm going forward, especially with Tank Dell out for the rest of the year.

Brown was averaging four receptions and six targets per game before his injury and with Dell gone, he will likely surpass those numbers as stepping into Houston’s No. 2 receiver role behind Nico Collins, especially with C.J. Stroud throwing it 34 times per game.

2. Ezekiel Elliott, RB, New England Patriots (rostered in 38% of fantasy leagues)

With Rhamondre Stevenson out for a few weeks with a high-ankle sprain, Elliott should be in line for a RB1 workload in his absence. The 28-year-old has already seen his carries increase over the last three weeks and there’s no reason he shouldn’t come close to the 20-carry mark Thursday against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Elliott has had nine or more caries and 45 or more yards in each of his last three games along with eight receptions on nine targets for 80 yards. He may be too risky to be counted on in an RB1 or RB2 role, but he could be a solid option as a flex play.

 3. Elijah Moore, WR, Cleveland Browns (rostered in 18% of fantasy leagues)

Moore is Cleveland’s second-most targeted receiver behind Amari Cooper (91 to 85) and with Joe Flacco playing quarterback, he seems to have reignited some of the chemistry they had in New York.

Though he only had four receptions, Moore was targeted a season-high 12 times last week and had a season-best 83 yards (20.8 yards per reception) in Flacco’s first start. If Cleveland keeps throwing the ball 40 or more times, expect Moore to approach double-digit targets regularly. He could have some upside as a WR2. 

4. Zay Jones, WR, Jacksonville Jaguars (rostered in 9% of fantasy leagues)

With Calvin Ridley in the picture, Jones’ targets, receptions and yards have all dropped significantly. But with Christian Kirk out for 6-8 weeks after having surgery, Jones should step into Jacksonville’s No. 2 WR role and he should see a significant uptick in targets.

He had five receptions on eight targets for 78 yards – all season highs – in Monday’s 34-31 overtime loss to the Cincinnati Bengals and he should see a similar workload as long as Kirk is out. Jones could be an under-the-radar add for a team needing to add a WR2 or flex starter.

 5. Joe Flacco, QB, Cleveland Browns (rostered in 2% of fantasy leagues)

This late in the season there’s slim pickings for available quarterbacks, but Flacco didn’t look half bad in his first start since Jan. 8, completing 23-of-44 passes for 254 yards and two touchdowns against the Los Angeles Rams this past Sunday.

At 7-5, the Browns are still in the thick of the playoff race (they’re currently the No. 7 seed in the AFC) and Flacco has plenty of incentive to keep slinging it around. Plenty of QBs have been injured this season and Flacco is a solid replacement option for any of them.