Justin Boone identifies under-the-radar stashes to consider adding to your roster before they become top fantasy football waiver-wire pickups in future weeks.
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While the bar might move occasionally, the general focus is to search among the group of players who are rostered in around 15% or less of the Yahoo leagues.
Devaughn Vele, WR, Saints (8% rostered)
Vele has been a major beneficiary of Rashid Shaheed landing with the Seahawks before the trade deadline.
The move allowed Vele to become a near full-time player in the Saints’ offense, leading to a 91% route participation rate over the last three games. While the production took some time to catch up, Vele has seen his stat lines rise from 1-15-0 to 3-37-0 to 8-93-1 during that span.
In the past two weeks alone, he’s tied for the 13th-most targets among wide receivers with 15.
Though we don’t want to overreact to his most recent performance, the upward trend in his usage is pushing Vele into the WR4/flex conversation for fantasy.
Honorable mention: Isaac TeSlaa, Lions (10% rostered), Pat Bryant, Broncos (2% rostered), Jalen Coker, Panthers (4% rostered), Luther Burden III, Bears (9% rostered), Greg Dortch, Cardinals (7% rostered), Dontayvion Wicks, Packers (4% rostered)
Ray Davis, RB, Bills (7% rostered)
The Bills have been dealing with injuries on their offensive line and the result has been questionable pass protection in front of Josh Allen.
That caused the team to take an extremely run-heavy approach in Week 13 vs. the Steelers and it wouldn’t be surprising to see them continue to lean on their rushing attack against the Bengals.
James Cook is a rock-solid fantasy RB1, but last week we saw Davis get more work than usual – leading to nine carries for 62 yards. It’s a reminder that Davis is a competent runner who’s done well with his limited opportunities.
That could make him a startable fantasy option versus a Cincinnati defense that’s allowed nine different teams to have a second back put up at least 50 scrimmage yards and/or a touchdown this season.
Davis is a quality one-injury away stash normally, but this week he could sneak into your lineup as a flex play.
Honorable mention: Ollie Gordon II, Dolphins (8% rostered), Michael Carter, Cardinals (4% rostered), Samaje Perine, Bengals (4% rostered), Keaton Mitchell, Ravens (3% rostered), Jaleel McLaughlin, Broncos (2% rostered), Jeremy McNichols, Commanders (2% rostered)
Isaiah Likely, TE, Ravens (6% rostered)
Mark Andrews may have signed a three-year extension, but Likely is coming off his best game of the year with five catches for 95 yards on six targets, which were all season highs.
Now he gets to square off with a Steelers’ defense that’s giving up the sixth-most fantasy points to tight ends.
In his last three outings versus Pittsburgh, Likely has posted at least 75 yards or a touchdown in every contest. That made him the TE8, TE15 and TE9 in those games., which puts him on the streamer radar this week.
Even if Likely fails to come through against the Steelers, he gets a favorable spot in Week 15 facing the same generous Bengals’ defense that just let him finish as a top-10 fantasy tight end.
Honorable mention: AJ Barner, Seahawks (12% rostered), Colby Parkinson, Rams (2% rostered), Dawson Knox, Bills (3% rostered)
Marcus Mariota, QB, Commanders (10% rostered)
The deep stash options at quarterback are limited this week, so we’re taking a chance on a player whose fantasy value depends on the availability of Jayden Daniels.
The Commanders’ starter missed the last three games and remained limited in practice at the beginning of the week as he attempts to return from an elbow injury.
The Vikings are far from an easy matchup, but neither were the Broncos last week and Mariota was able to throw for 294 yards and two touchdowns with another 55 yards on the ground.
Mariota has finished as a top-13 fantasy QB in four of the six games where he’s played the majority of Washington’s snaps.
If he gets the call this week, he’ll be in the mix as a strong streaming option once again.
Honorable mention: Tyrod Taylor, Jets (12% rostered), Tyler Shough, Saints (8% rostered)
