Here we are ladies and gentlemen. This is either the last week before playoffs, or the week of them for all teams. Some survived. Some didn’t. Still, the teams who made it this far cannot be content. They cannot just sit tight and think their current squad is going to bring them home that championship. There are still plenty of players out there waiting for their chance to make an impact. Find out who they are in this week’s watch list.
Week 14 NFL Fantasy Football Watch List
The Start of a New Era
We start off this week with San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Marquise Goodwin. With the arrival of a competent quarterback to the starting lineup in Jimmy Garoppolo, Goodwin has shown up on some waiver wire add lists this week. If he wasn’t claimed yet, he could turn into a priority add next week.
Even before Garoppolo made his first start, Goodwin was silently putting up solid numbers. He has at least 60 yards in seven games this season, including all of the last four. He only has less than five targets in three games this season as well. The reason he has been under the radar is because he only has one touchdown on the season.
His catch rate leaves something to be desired though. Until two weeks ago, he was converting no more than 50% of his targets into catches. Many times the receiver and quarterback both have something to do with this, but it is probably no coincidence that Goodwin had his first game where he caught all of his targets. This resulted in eight catches for 99 yards.
If Goodwin can keep up his production and build his trust with Garoppolo, he likely adds a touchdown or two. This could make him a boon for receiver needy teams in the fantasy playoffs.
Another Arizona Cardinals Running Back
It seems like we have had every running back who has touched the ball for the Arizona Cardinals on our watch list. None of them have panned out. Well, our newest addition, Kerwynn Williams might actually have a shot. With the Adrian Peterson train quickly running out of steam, Williams got his chance to show what he is made of last week.
He definitely didn’t disappoint, gaining 97 yards on 16 carries. It’s the most carries he has had by far in a game. Even though he started the year as the number two running back, he never really got a shot to take the job after David Johnson went down. Instead of giving Williams, only in his fourth year, his chance, they kept going for the over the hill greats whose glory days were done and gone.
Chris Johnson was signed off the couch, and then when he didn’t work out, Arizona went for his fellow senior home resident, Peterson. While Peterson has had a few good games, he’s been mostly inept. Now that he is injured, Williams is likely going to force him to rest his weary bones on the bench, even when gets healthy.
Williams will get another start this week with Peterson nursing a neck injury. He faces a tough matchup against the Tennessee Titans, but if he pumps out another solid performance, he might just take the starting job. Watch him closely this week, and add him next week if all goes well.
Taking Advantage of Opportunity
Returning to wide receivers, we have Oakland Raiders Swiss army knife, Cordarrelle Patterson. The Raiders brought Patterson over from the Minnesota Vikings mostly for his expertise on kick returns, but also for depth at wide receiver. Well, Michael Crabtree was ejected early in the game against the Denver Broncos, and then suspended last week for fighting. Amari Cooper got hurt that same game, and still hasn’t practiced once since then.
Patterson has made the most of his opportunities. Against the Broncos, he hauled in four catches for 72 yards. Then last week, he turned four catches into 97 yards. In both of those games he had a catch that went for over 50 yards. With how explosive he has been, he is likely to get more opportunities even when Coop and Crab get back.
It’s not like the Raiders current third receiver Seth Roberts has done much anyway. He only has 308 yards on the season and doesn’t have one game where he went over 50 yards. In reality, Cooper hasn’t done much either this season. He’s only gone over 60 yards twice this season. Patterson has over 60 yards in his last two games.
Don’t be surprised if the playing time with quarterback Derek Carr gives him some chemistry that translates to more playing time. The Raiders have struggled this year to put together the same high-octane offense that they had last year, and Patterson just might be the guy to give it to them as they try to make a playoff run.
Redux in the Desert
Last week we focused in on Cardinals tight end, Ricky Seals-Jones. He came out of nowhere with double-digit fantasy points in his first two starts of the season along. He was obviously a favorite target of Blaine Gabbert, but with only two games under his belt, no one could know if it was just a fluke or not.
Although he did come back down to earth a bit last week, he still put up decent numbers for a tight end. He only managed two catches, but turned them into 44 yards. He still stayed strong and got five targets though. As long as he keeps his targets up, last week’s statline was probably his floor.
He does have some favorable matchups for the next few weeks too. He faces the Tennessee Titans, Washington Redskins, and New York Giants. The Giants are the worst in the league against tight ends, and Seals-Jones faces them in the fantasy championship.
For teams who have shaky tight ends, or have been streaming all season, Seals-Jones is a player to keep on their radar.
