Waiver View: Week 14

It's playoff time! Well for some of you. Others are waiting until Week 15 (or, in the worst way to do it, Week 16). We're doing this a little bit different. It's by position only because I firmly believe that come playoff time, anyone who's made it this far probably has a pretty solid roster. But, in the spirit of assumptions, here's a few guys who could help bolster your playoff lineup (or playoff push).

Week 14's Waiver View:

Thin at QB?
Definitely check if someone dropped/availability of guys like Joe Flacco (even though I hate him on the road, he's playing a Redskins team on pace to give up a historic amount of passing yards), Ben Roethlisberger (nothing great about Chargers matchup, but come on, it's Big Ben), and Josh Freeman (Eagles give up the second-most fantasy points to opposing QBs). If you're still looking after checking those guys out, these may be serviceable:

Colin Kaepernick, QB - San Francisco 49ers - Sure I may hate him, but I've written about him before and there's no reason his *fantasy* success won't continue against the Dolphins.
Ownership: 45.7% ESPN, 53% Yahoo!, 27.4% NFL

Jake Locker, QB - Tennessee Titans - He gets the Colts this week and he looked completely healthy. If (IF) he can limit the turnovers, I can easily see a 350-yard game with two or even three TDs. He'll likely sweeten the deal with around 30 rushing yards as well, but again it just depends on how many picks he throws along with it. The Colts have exactly one interception in each of their last four games save for Week 11 against the Patriots (which makes sense). BUT, on the flipside, they've allowed a passing touchdown in every single game this season (with NO exceptions).
Ownership: 6.9% ESPN, 17% Yahoo!, 36.3% NFL

Sam Bradford, QB - St. Louis Rams - This is a total gut call. They're a run first team, I get that. They're playing the Bills who are awful against the run, I get that. He's only scored over 14 in standard leagues three times this year, I get that. BUT, the Bills could start taking a page out of the playbooks of several teams this year and sell out to stop the run (think Jaguars forcing OT against the Texans) to stay in this game. Bradford's no superstar, but he's a high-IQ guy with enough around him to get the job done if challenged.

Ownership: 38.8% ESPN, 21% Yahoo!, 10% NFL

Thin at RB?
Bryce Brown is an obvious pickup that I've already written about, You can always check on guys who may have been dropped due to injury (DeMarco Murray, Darren Sproles, Fred Jackson, etc.), but since RBs are thin as it is, it'd be quite a lottery grab to snag of them up. These guys will be your best bets:
 

Knowshon Moreno, RB - Denver Broncos - He's logged exactly 20 rushing attempts and four catches in each of the past two games. Only difference between those games and this one coming up is that those two came against Kansas City (gives up a lot of yards but no TDs) and Tampa Bay (gives up TDs but average yardage), while this week Moreno gets to face the Raiders, wh ogive up a lot of yards and lot of scores and puts them at second-worst overall in fantasy points allowed to runningbacks.
Ownership: 48.8% ESPN, 63% Yahoo!, 33.4% NFL

Montell Owens, RB - Jacksonville Jaguars - This IS a pretty desperate move if you grab him but he is slated to start and you never know, the Jets are in the bottom portion of fantasy RB defenses. Just  temper expectations because while everything adds up to a great game, there's a reason Owens is fourth on the depth chart. Maybe he's a surprise guy, maybe he's not.
Ownership: 0.0% ESPN, 2% Yahoo!, 0.0% NFL

Thin at WR?
There surprisingly haven't been TOO many altering injuries this season, which is nice. But, there are always ways to improve your roster. I'm going to rattle off several guys who are worth at least looking at. I think that every one of these receivers could have weeks making them startable in even mid-sized leagues. If you want specifics as to why, I'm on Twitter at @ppatel760.

Cecil Shorts - Jacksonville Jaguars - Ownership: 77.6% ESPN, 76% Yahoo!, 49.8% NFL
-(keep an ear out for word on Shorts's concussion)

Pierre Garcon - Washington Redskins - Ownership: 81.1% ESPN, 72% Yahoo!, 74.4% NFL

Josh Gordon - Cleveland Browns - Ownership: 24.3% ESPN, 59% Yahoo!, 16.9% NFL

Mike Thomas - Detroit Lions - Ownership: 0.2% ESPN, 2% Yahoo!, 0.1% NFL
-(Titus Young, Ryan Broyles both on IR, Nate Burleson has a broken leg, Thomas starts by default)

Anquan Boldin - Baltimore Ravens - Ownership: 90.7% ESPN, 80% Yahoo!, 89% NFL

Kenny Britt - Tennessee Titans - Ownership: 69.4% ESPN, 47% Yahoo!, 62.8% NFL

Kendall Wright - Tennessee Titans - Ownership: 13.4% ESPN, 33% Yahoo!, 2.6% NFL

TY Hilton - Indianapolis Colts - Ownership: 33.6% ESPN, 36% Yahoo!, 17.6% NFL

Chris Givens - St. Louis Rams - Ownership: 3.1% ESPN, 16% Yahoo!, 3.4% NFL

Thin at TE?

My goodness the tight end has been a fantasy wasteland. Even the "elite" guys have been rendered useless (Gronk, Vernon Davis, Gates, etc.) so, while there aren't any world-beaters left available, these guys could help:

Brandon Myers, TE - Oakland Raiders - He's been on this list for weeks now and will absolutely be a monster addition to your roster. He put up some crazy stupid numbers this past week: 14 catches, 130 yards, 1 TD. I really can't put this any simpler: if you are in a PPR league and this guy is available, you're doing yourself a disservice by not picking him up and not starting him. He gets the second-best matchup you can ask for in a Denver defense that allows just over 10 fantasy points per gam eto tight ends. So, unless you have a Jimmy Graham, an Aaron Hernandez, a Tony Gonzalez, or even an Owen Daniels, this should be your guy. Warning: the Raiders tend to let people down, and all of the niceties add up really well for a letdown game here. Just saying.

Ownership: 22.1% ESPN, 54% Yahoo!, 21.9% NFL

Martellus Bennett, TE - New York Giants - Well, Eli finally remembered that he was on the team, so it's a step in the right direction. This is a game against the Saints where, you guessed it, they're going to have to throw so with the wideouts requiring so much defensive attention, I think we're all expecting Bennett to repeat his performance from Monday night.

Ownership: 52.3% ESPN, 52% Yahoo!, 35.1% NFL

Tony Scheffler, TE - Detroit Lions - I know I plugged Mike Thomas, but Scheffler seems to have the biggest bump in production. When Broyles went out last week, Scheffler essentially played slot receiver the rest of the game and while he may not line up off the line this week, there's still something to be said about the chemistry he's developed and the trust he's earned from QB Matthew Stafford.

Ownership: 0.9% ESPN, 1% Yahoo!, 0.6% NFL