We’re finally past the hard part of the fantasy football season with the bye weeks over. That means we head right into the other hard part of the fantasy season -- the run to the playoffs. Most leagues start their playoffs in Week 14 or 15, so there are only a couple weeks left to secure your spot ... or start looking towards 2016, if your keeper teams is out of the chase.
Fantasy football waiver wire: 5 wide receivers to target for Week 12
With the bye weeks over, it’s time to start making your fantasy playoff pushes. Here are our top receiver targets for Week 12.
With no byes and rosters close to full strength, the waiver wire doesn’t have as much importance as it did the past two months. However, that doesn’t mean you should stop hunting for undervalued gems on the wire. Here are some potential options at wide receiver, owned in less than 50 percent of Yahoo! leagues.
Terrance Williams, Dallas Cowboys (41 percent)
With Tony Romo back, the Cowboys could finally establish their deep passing offense, and Williams scored a touchdown for the first time since Week 4. Fantasy owners know the drill on Williams by now: When he doesn’t fine the end zone, he has one of the lowest floors around. It’s a gamble, but one that might pay off on Thanksgiving with Josh Norman possibly following Dez Bryant around the field, theoretically opening up more looks for Williams. Just be ready to accept a goose egg.
Devin Funchess, Carolina Panthers (35 percent)
After slowly getting more playing time in recent weeks, the Panthers finally took the reins off Funchess in Week 11. He played a season-high 61 snaps and got eight targets from Cam Newton, turning them into four catches for 64 yards and a touchdown. Funchess remains as raw as ever, but it looks like the Panthers are ready to trust him with a regular role, even when Philly Brown comes back from injury. He’ll be on the WR4 radar against the Cowboys on Thanksgiving.
Dorial Green-Beckham, Tennessee Titans (20 percent)
Green-Beckham has become a regular starter with Justin Hunter and Kendall Wright both out injured. However, he hasn’t done much with his opportunities and is way more raw than originally expected. Last week, DGB caught just three of six targets for 40 yards. He has a good matchup with the Oakland Raiders’ burnable secondary this week, but DGB is too much of a gamble outside of deeper fantasy leagues.
Tyler Lockett, Seattle Seahawks (15 percent)
Lockett had something a career day last Sunday, scoring two touchdowns on four catches for 48 yards against the San Francisco 49ers. Of course, that was the 49ers defense, which had no answer for Thomas Rawls on the ground and let the diminutive Lockett drag two defenders into the end zone on one of his scores. Lockett remains a touchdown-dependent WR4 in a run-first Seahawks offense, though he has a good chance to find holes in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 28th-ranked pass defense this week.
Dontrelle Inman, San Diego Chargers (12 percent)
With Keenan Allen and Malcom Floyd both out injured, Inman became the No. 2 receiver more-or-less by default. He had three catches for 51 yards against the Kansas City Chiefs and had trouble doing much with the Chiefs’ defensive line harassing Philip Rivers all day. Inman and Rivers will both have easier matchups against the Jacksonville Jaguars’ 25th-ranked pass defense. Inman has good size at 6’3, 205 pounds, but he’s still something of an unknown commodity at this point. Only use him if you’re running out of options at your flex spot.
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