Fantasy football waiver wire: 5 quarterbacks to target for Week 13

We are now entering Week 13, possibly the most critical week of the fantasy football season. Depending on your league settings, the playoffs start in either Week 14 or 15, so this is one of your last chances to earn a postseason bid, or secure that coveted first-round bye. With nearly every team done with their byes, bench depth and the waiver wire take on less importance as owners should ride their starters to the finish line. But that doesn’t mean the wire should be totally disregarded yet.
There are only two teams on bye this week -- the Cleveland Browns and Tennessee Titans. You probably never bothered with any of the Browns’ quarterbacks in fantasy this year, but Marcus Mariota owners will need a one-week replacement. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the top QB waiver options, owned in less than 50 percent of Yahoo! standard leagues.

Tannehill was left for dead by the fantasy community after struggling early in the season and taking a backseat to Jay Ajayi in the offense. However, he’s been highly efficient in recent weeks, throwing for seven touchdowns to just one interception in his past three games. Tannehill had his best game yet in Week 12, racking up 285 yards and three touchdowns in the Dolphins’ sixth straight win. We should note that came against the San Francisco 49ers, so don’t go too crazy chasing those stats. Tannehill will have a much harder test with the Baltimore Ravens’ top-tier defense this week.

Kaepernick had a vintage 2012 performance against the Dolphins Sunday, throwing for 296 yards and three touchdowns while adding 113 yards on the ground. Although the 49ers still aren’t winning, he’s been a massive upgrade over Blaine Gabbert and the offense has a pulse for the first time all season. They’ll have their best shot at picking up their second wind when they take on the Chicago Bears this week. Kaepernick has legitimate QB1 upside in that game.

Reinserted as the starter after Bryce Petty’s lukewarm cup of coffee in Week 10, Fitzpatrick proceeded to have a decent game against the New England Patriots, putting up 269 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions. Of course, he still had a trademark Fitzpatrick blunder at the end, taking a strip sack that ended the Jets’ comeback hopes. With the Jets’ season circling the drain, they could go back to Petty at any moment, but as long as Fitzpatrick is the starter, he’ll have a nice fantasy ceiling against the Indianapolis Colts this week.

Siemian was heading for a fantasy dud on Sunday night, being terrorized by Justin Houston and the Kansas City Chiefs for most of the game. He then got loose in the second half, unleashing some big-play bombs and ending his night with 368 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions in the overtime loss. It was a seriously impressive effort, but will undoubtedly be his season-best game -- he’s not going to average 10.8 yards per attempt every week. Regardless, Siemian will be on the QB2 map when an angry Broncos team faces the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 13.

After a shaky NFL debut, Goff looked much better against the New Orleans Saints this week, finishing with three touchdowns, one interception, and 214 yards on 20-of-32 passing. He’s still very much a project learning on the job, but the tangible progress was encouraging to see. Although Goff probably won’t be a viable streamer during the fantasy playoffs, he’s worth snatching up in dynasty leagues, especially if the Rams change head coaches. The No. 1 overall pick will be tested by the Patriots this week.