Fantasy football waiver wire: 5 wide receivers to target for Week 14

The fantasy football season is nearing its conclusion and the playoffs are starting this week for many deeper leagues. With the bye weeks over, rosters should be at more-or-less full strength, so owners who made it this far shouldn’t go too crazy with their starting lineup. Play your best players and the rest should sort itself out.

But there are still some potential gems out there on the waiver wire, particularly if you’re in a keeper or dynasty league and looking for 2016 players to stash. So this week’s list of wide receivers has more of an emphasis on younger players, including some who could be a cheap play in DFS formats.

So let’s dig into some waiver candidates this week, owned in less than 50 percent of Yahoo! leagues.

After spending most of his rookie year on the sidelines, Parker is finally getting involved in the Dolphins’ offense with Rishard Matthews recovering from broken ribs. On a day where Ryan Tannehill threw for just 86 yards, Parker came down with 63 of those yards, while scoring Miami’s only offensive touchdown in a win over the Baltimore Ravens. The more telling sign is that Parker played 43 offensive snaps, same as Jarvis Landry, so he’s a regular starter while Matthews is out. Having scored a touchdown in back-to-back games, Parker has WR3 appeal against the New York Giants, whose defense is dead last in passing yards allowed per game.

Wheaton has played a bigger role with Heath Miller out in recent weeks. After blowing up for nine catches, 201 yards and a touchdown against the Seattle Seahawks, Wheaton followed that up with three catches for 50 yards and another score against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday night. Wheaton hasn’t been much of a factor in his second season, and he figures to see his targets scaled down when Miller returns, so watch the injury reports this week. Wheaton will be a boom-or-bust fantasy option if Miller misses another game.

With Jimmy Graham done for the year, it’s up to the Seahawks’ receiver corps to step up more. Doug Baldwin has been the biggest story so far, but the rookie Lockett is holding down a steady role himself recently. Already a special teams ace, Lockett had one of his better offensive games in Week 13, catching seven passes for 90 yards against the Minnesota Vikings. Lockett is still hard to trust in standard fantasy leagues, but he’s a fine DFS play against the Baltimore Ravens’ miserable secondary. Obviously he’s a must-own in all dynasty formats.

DGB has had his ups and downs, which was to be expected for a raw rookie who didn’t play football for over a year. But he had a major breakout game in Week 13, catching five passes for 119 yards and a touchdown against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Green-Beckham still had one mental error when a pass bounced off his hands for an interception, but the coaching staff kept him in the game, suggesting that they trust him more than they did earlier in the season. With Harry Douglas and Kendall Wright continuing to play inefficient football, DGB could have a more consistent role for the home stretch. He’s a risky fantasy play against the Jets, but would get a boost if Darrelle Revis misses another week.

Here’s your speculative stash of the week. Roberts is the clear No. 3 receiver behind Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree, but he’s been getting consistent targets in a Raiders offense that likes to air it out. Roberts has combined for 10 catches, 164 yards and two touchdowns in the past two games. With Cooper and Crabtree set to face the cornerback duo of Aqib Talib and Chris Harris Jr. this week, Roberts could be a sneaky WR4 play in PPR formats.

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