Fantasy football waiver wire, Week 15: 5 receivers to target in deep leagues
Have you been playing the WR3 stream game in your deep fantasy league? Here are a view guys that might be helpful over the next two or three weeks.
Dustin Bradford
More often than not, a team in the playoffs for fantasy football isn't combing the waiver wire for their matchup. That's not always true and those in 16-team leagues or deep could have someone that sneaks under the radar and the sudden big day makes them very appealing. Da'Rick Rogers is a great case (more on him in the standard-league version), but here are some guys that picked up some steam.
Justin Hunter (owned in two percent of leagues)
It’s been an up-and-down season for Hunter and he hit a new high against the Broncos on Sunday. He caught a 57-yard touchdown on a post pattern to highlight his 114-yard day -- a career-high.
The Tennessee Titans have finally made Britt inactive on Sunday. Not that it really mattered since he did not have a target since Nov. 3. Hunter has been in Britt's spot on numerous snaps all season in the split end spot and his snaps have been on the rise. Subsequently, he's been targeted at least six times for three weeks in a row.
Looking ahead, this could be an interesting week for the Titans. They will host the Arizona Cardinals. It's really all about what the Cardinals opt to do with Patrick Peterson. It makes sense to put him on Nate Washington, so that could mean a big day for Hunter. He's a high-upside WR with a lot of risk.
Jeremy Kerley (owned in four percent of leagues)
The New York Jets actually have a healthy receiver corps for the first time since September. Santonio Holmes was back in the lineup and they also had slot guy Jeremy Kerley ready to go. Kerley has been a big part of the offense and he's really the best player on the team when it comes to getting open.
Before going down, he saw six or more targets in three of his four games. Fantasy owners can look at him as a low-end PPR guy. The Jets will have to stick to short routes against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. There obviously isn't much upside here.
Ace Sanders (owned in three percent of leagues)
There are always a lot of trends that develop through the course of the season. One of them is how rookie receivers seem to get it figured out. Sanders was targeted six times on Thursday, catching three of those balls for 26 yards. Obviously, those aren’t great numbers. But he had an eight-catch, 67 yard game back in Week 12 and has been worked into the offense more.
He gets a nice matchup this week against the Buffalo Bills. The Bills have been gashed as a whole on defense and they also have a lot of holes in their secondary. Aaron Williams and Da'Norris Searcy are better run-stopping corners and are solid tacklers, but they give up a lot of receptions. Williams is among the league leaders in tackles while Searcy takes a lot of chances.
Sanders seems to be lapping the field for the WR2 spot with the Jaguars. Plus, Chad Henne has been effective at moving the ball this year.
Jerricho Cotchery (owned in 29 percent of leagues)
It's puzzling to see how much Ben Roethlisberger loves Jerricho Cothery in the red zone. He has nine TDs on the season with his 41 catches. More shockingly, he has seven scores in his last six games. There are almost no deep targets to Cotch and he's only had one reception for more than 20 yards in that span. He's been a Wes Welker-like guy for the Steelers.
The Steelers get their division rival at home for Sunday Night Football with the Cincinnati Bengals coming to town. Cotchery actually had one of his worst games of the year with no scores, three catches and 59 yards in the first contest against them. Interestingly, he saw a season-high nine targets in that game.
He’s a desperation play this week and is better suited for TD-heavy leagues.
Andre Caldwell (owned in 0 percent of leagues)
Denver Broncos wide receiver Wes Welker is becoming more unlikely to play in Thursday's game against the San Diego Chargers. The short week is definitely a factor, so the team will have to look for a new slot guy to help. Jacob Tamme took over that role last week, and he's a better pickup than Caldwell, but Caldwell does have some value, as well. He only has five catches on the year, but there could be some chances for him.
