Fantasy Football Waiver Wire NFL Week 12: Zach Charbonnet, Jayden Reed, streamers and more

No byes this week, with a happy Thanksgiving weekend celebration for everyone. Kenneth Walker, Aaron Jones and more injuries popped up, which means Zach Charbonnet, AJ Dillon and even Jayden Reed lead some of the best Week 12 fantasy football waiver wire pickups.

HEADS UP

• Players must be under 60% rostered on Yahoo
• Listed in order of preference — I’ll often prioritize potential upside over immediate middling production
• No FAB suggestions: It varies wildly by league tendencies and always relative (ex: if you lost your RB1 to injury and there is a clear backup, you’re going to be more aggressive)
• Streaming QB and TE are grouped together — weekly ranking can change once projections/ranks run — DST could shift a bit too

** BYES: NONE **

WORRY REPORT (1 to 5)
More Ducks (and Eggs) = More Concern

• Jared Goff, DET 🦆🦆 — Goff has 9.4, 12.7, 21.1 and 13.7, respectively, over his past four games with a 5:5 TD:INT… and only Week 7 was outdoors. Goff’s inconsistency is why he remains a risky QB1 every week. The Packers (at home) are up, but then the Saints (road), Bears (road) and Broncos (home but renewed defense) follow, making Goff a decent worry for the second time this year.
• Derrick Henry, TEN 🦆🦆🥚 — This was supposed to be a bit of a bounce-back effort for Henry, but the Jaguars stomped the Titans a week after the tough Buccaneers run defense stifled Henry. The Panthers give Henry a chance to rebound — Tony Pollard just scored against them, his first TD since Week 1 — but as cautioned after Will Levis’ first start, there are concerns with him and this offense, meaning December Derrick might not bring holiday gifts this year.
• Travis Etienne, JAX 🥚🥚 — A week after getting destroyed, the Jaguars walloped the Titans (as mentioned). Etienne still had 14 carries, but D’Ernest Johnson and Tank Bigsby combined for 16 carries, which at least raises an eyebrow for Etienne’s RB1 value (two eggs could become 2+ ducks soon).
• Quentin Johnston, LAC ♾🦆 — The NFL draft concerns over his routes and inconsistency have re-emerged, and it’s been beyond ugly for Johnston with at least two dropped touchdowns already. If Jalen Guyton is healthy for Week 12, I’d expect him to be the No. 2 for Justin Herbert.
• Marquise Brown, ARI 🦆🦆🦆 — Where is the rapport with Kyler Murray? Brown ran 100% of the routes, but that’s equated to stat lines of 1-for-28 and 2-for-18 in his two games with Murray. The Rams aren’t the best or worst matchup, but with Trey McBride ascending, Brown isn’t overcoming his boom/bust WR3 tag.

STREAMING QUARTERBACKS

Emojis and Acronyms to Know

• 😤 = I Tried to Tell Ya — players included for several weeks (not much more to add if you don’t want them)
• 🔍 = Check if Dropped — players whose managers might have cut for other needs or impatient
• 🎯 = Long-Term Target — players with starter+ upside who require patience (stash picks)
• 🫡 = Backup/Next Man Up — players who have almost no value but starter+ upside if injury ahead of them
• RBTouch% — RB touch percentage — percent of team total RB touches that player had
• TmTGT% — Team target percentage — percent of team total targets going to that player
• G2G and GL — Goal-to-Go (inside the 10-yard line) and Goal-Line (inside the 5-yard line)
• TmAirYD% — Team Air Yard percentage — percent of team total air yards going to that player

WAIVER WIRE RUNNING BACK RANKS

1. Zach Charbonnet, SEA — Proof why — where you can — top backups should be stashed. Charbonnet had worked his way into the mix of late, and now Kenneth Walker will likely miss a short-week matchup. It’s against the 49ers, but Charbonnet will be a solid RB2.
2. AJ Dillon, GB — 🔍 He’s 62% rostered, so he’s over the threshold but could be available. Dillon doesn’t see an enormous uptick if Aaron Jones is out, but he’s a volume play RB2/3.
3. Ty Chandler, MIN — Similar to Jaylen Warren, was doing more with his touches than the lead, Alexander Mattison.
4. Keaton Mitchell, BAL — Mitchell has passed Justice Hill, but his (low) touches will cap his upside, keeping him as a boom/bust RB3.
5. Antonio Gibson, WSH — Just when we finally start picking him back up, he misses a game. If back, Gibson would return to half/full-PPR RB3 floor value.
6. Tyler Allgeier, ATL — 🔍 Dropped under 60% during the bye.
7. Darrell Henderson, LAR — Kyren Williams and Ronnie Rivers can return, but if one of the two can’t, Henderson is the pass-catching option over Royce Freeman, which could lead to him being next up behind Williams.
8. Jeff Wilson, MIA — 🔍 If De’Von Achane misses Week 12, Wilson is back in the high upside/risk RB3/4 conversation. If Achane doesn’t miss time, Wilson is back to droppable.
9. Miles Sanders, CAR — Sanders has pushed back into a 50/50 split with Chuba Hubbard… though, that more ruins both than helps either.
10. Roschon Johnson, CHI — Here if D’Onta Foreman’s ankle issue keeps him out.
11. Tyjae Spears, TEN — Derrick Henry is about to hit December Derrick, but that’s assuming history repeats. Spears has shared the load more than any other recent backfield companion, and there is a small chance that the Titans start giving him more down the stretch in an evaluation scenario.
12. D’Ernest Johnson, JAX — Next man up promotion. Travis Etienne had 17 touches, Johnson 8 and Tank Bigsby 0 until the game score was 34-7, and then Bigsby had all of the touches on the final drive (9).
13. Rico Dowdle, DAL— 🫡
14. Ezekiel Elliott, NE — 😤
15. Kenneth Gainwell, PHI — 😤
16. Jerick McKinnon, KC — 😤
17. Joshua Kelley, LAC — 🫡
18. Latavius Murray, BUF — 🫡
19. Elijah Mitchell, SF — 🫡
20. Matt Breida, NYG — 🫡
21. Jamaal Williams, NO — 🫡
22. Ty Johnson, BUF — 🎯 I wouldn’t expect more games like that for Johnson, but if the Bills continue to get frustrated with James Cook, Johnson is worth a deeeeep stash in case he becomes part of a timeshare (not a committee — all three involved, and you can’t trust anyone).

WAIVER WIRE WIDE RECEIVER RANKS

1. Romeo Doubs, GB — 😤
2. Tutu Atwell, LAR — 🔍 If Cooper Kupp misses time again, Atwell jumps back to a weekly WR3 play.
3. Odell Beckham, BAL — 🔍 Beckham has 40+ yards and 10.5+ fantasy points in each of the past three games, and assuming he’s okay from the Thursday night tweak.
4. Josh Downs, IND — 😤 Was hurt, then the bye, and now widely available.
5. Jayden Reed, GB — The Packers started using Reed more — the second-most routes to Christian Watson — and giving him some carries. With Aaron Jones hurt, Reed could turn into Deebo Samuel for the Packers, albeit a lesser WR3 version.
6. Jalen Guyton, LAC — Assuming he’s back, Johnston might have seen his last chance to provide value as a rookie. Yet another dropped potential touchdown and issues with routes for Johnston  means Guyton is likely the one alongside Keenan Allen.
7. Demario Douglas, NE — 😤 Back off a bye and still a Top 2 option for the Patriots.
8. Noah Brown, HOU — Widely picked up, then benched as he missed Week 11. Still worth stashing, as Brown has shown his Top 20 potential… if healthy.
9. Elijah Moore, CLE — Moore is intriguing whether it’s Dorian Thompson-Robinson or Joe Flacco. If DTR, the short-area volume will help Moore be a WR4. If it’s Flacco, Moore will have more volatility but still hold WR4 value. Flacco would be a bigger boost for Amari Cooper.
10. A.T. Perry, NO — Michael Thomas is hurt, and Perry has more potential as an all-around receiver than Rashid Shaheed. The ceiling is higher than Shaheed’s but the risk is too.
11. Rashid Shaheed, NO — The devil we know. Well, maybe angel, because he’s good? Shaheed can be a boom/bust WR3 if he holds off Perry for a Top 2 role.
12. Michael Wilson, ARI — 😤 Assuming he’s back.
13. Jameson Williams, DET — 🎯 Working his way into more opportunities and usability.
14. Zay Jones, JAX — No more than a WR4 with weekly upside for the Top 25, but the bigger takeaway is his boost to Calvin Ridley’s value.
15. Wan’Dale Robinson, NYG — Tommy DeVito isn’t trash, and with Darius Slayton hurt, Robinson is an Elijah Moore type for the Giants.
16. Khalil Shakir, BUF — The three-wide use is exciting, but the minimal targets per game keep Shakir in the boom/bust WR4 group (could get 15 points, could just as likely get 2 points).
17. Rondale Moore, ARI — He’s this low because he’s Shakir but with a lesser offense and more threat of others. Moore had just one target with Greg Dortch back, who finished 8-6-76-0 and flashed quite a few times last year when used as a Top 3 receiver.

MEH 😒

• Greg Dortch, ARI — See: Moore, Rondale. This was also a big result of no Michael Wilson. I’m not saying Wilson is a lock to be WR4+ when he returns, but more that Wilson would block Dortch and be the better play.
• Dontayvion Wicks, GB — Hasn’t run more than 50% of the routes since Week 4, when others were injured.
• Chris Moore, TEN — One big catch. That’s it. The Titans have a rotating value

STREAMING TIGHT ENDS

• Isaiah Likely, BAL — He’s a must-grab. With Lamar Jackson at QB, Likely has 66.5% routes run when Mark Andrews is off the field compared to 25.1% when Andrews is on the field, and he jumps from 5.5 TmTGT% to 12.0. It’s not as big as the jumps when both LJax and Andrews are out (79.0% compared to 50.8% and 28.1% compared to 13.2%), but the potential TE1 ceiling is worth picking up in all leagues.
• Donald Parham, LAC — If Gerald Everett is out again.
• Pat Freiermuth, PIT
• Hunter Henry, NE
• Luke Musgrave, GB

STREAMING DST

Week 12

• TEN vs CAR
• DEN vs CLE
• CIN vs PIT
• NE at NYG
• NO at ATL
• MIN vs CHI
• NYG vs NE

Week 13

• TB vs CAR
• LAC at NE
• TEN vs IND
• ATL at NYJ
• IND at TEN
• LAR vs CLE

(Photo by Jevone Moore/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)