Fantasy football Week 12 waiver wire Josh McCown, Thomas Rawls, J.J. Nelson viable options
Peyton Manning would rather his body wither away on the football field than be associated with a future-potential-position within the Cleveland Browns’ front office.
In related news, the 2-8 Browns elected to bench their 2014 first-round Draft pick, 22-year-old John Manziel, after video surfaced of him partying during the team’s BYE week. You may remember Manziel entered rehab earlier this year. Not only is he benched, he’s been demoted to third-string status with Josh McCown named the starter and Austin Davis – one of the few practice squad quarterbacks with a two-year deal – second string.
You sure you aren’t interested Peyton?
With a fantasy friendly matchup against the Ravens on Monday night, Josh McCown becomes an appealing quarterback stream and DFS bargain. In case you forgot, McCown set a Browns' franchise record by passing for 457 yards with two touchdowns at Baltimore in Week 5. Gary Barnidge rest-of-season value remains high with McCown behind center. I thought with Manziel starting, Travis Benjamin’s fantasy value received the greatest boost. McCown has a friendly matchup in Week 12 and the Bengals, 49ers, at Seahawks and at Chiefs the rest of the way. So, streaming him would only be wise against the Ravens and 49ers.
Thomas Rawls must be picked up in all leagues. Although nothing is official, I believe Marshawn Lynch is done for the regular season. Plus, if you ignore the last names on the back of their jerseys, most would believe Rawls’ production as a starter to be in line with Lynch week-to-week projections. The undrafted rookie out of Central Michigan is averaging 6.0 yards per rush – tops in the entire National Football League. He’ll be a must-start the rest of the season so long as Lynch is sidelined.
The Ravens season has been one big clusterbuck. So, give rookie running back Buck Allen plenty of touches the rest of the way, right? With NFL players hitting the turf, the sidelines and being carted off on a regular basis, running back depth is critical the rest of the season. To sell the idea to PPR owners, Allen caught 41 passes for 458 yards his final season with the USC Trojans. Marc Trestman may get creative to see if he has another Matt Forte to work with in the backfield. I expect Allen earns 15 touches per game the next five weeks. One caveat to all of this, the Ravens play the Steelers and Chiefs during the fantasy football semifinals and finals. They both rank top five in rush defense. Tough.
Spencer Ware is a speculative waiver claim that Charcandrick West will miss extended time due to his hamstring injury. Ware ran over and through the Chargers’ horrid rush defense, but the good news is after the Bills in Week 12, the Chiefs face the Raiders (YES!), Chargers (YES!! YES!!), Ravens (YES!), and Browns (YES! YES! YES!).
You might even want to consider stashing Knile Davis in deeper leagues.
The 49ers starting running back, Shaun Draughn, has now strung together back-to-back FLEX-worthy PPR performances. He caught eight passes for 40 yards against the Seahawks in Week 11 along with four receptions for 38 yards against the Falcons a few weeks back. Draughn has yet to rack up 60 rush yards in either spot-start since replacing Carlos Hyde who is still working his way back from a stress fractured foot. Draughn is currently a PPR-friendly add that could settle in around RB30-36 the rest of the season. If Hyde isn’t back by Week 14, the 49ers face the Browns where Draughn could really make some noise.
J.J. Nelson is a solid flier with Michael Floyd likely to miss another game with a hamstring injury. Nelson erupted for a breakout game against the Bengals in Week 11 – four receptions for 142 yards with a TD - but he caught three passes for 70 yards against the Browns when he filled in for an injured John Brown in Week 8. Nelson is the definitive flier. However, if Ted Ginn is working he way into starting fantasy lineups, when Floyd or Brown miss a game for the Cardinals, Carson Palmer has now built a rapport with Nelson. The 49ers, Arizona’s Week 12 opponent, allow the sixth-most fantasy points per game to opposing WR – 26 FPAPG.
