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Dave Kluge
The Shador Sanders beat Reports are getting to be too much for me. Did you see the tweet yesterday? Like Shador Sanders with the against all odds Throw on the third and 10 where he hits a wide open Jerry.
Alfredo Brown
Judy oh God, so funny dude.
Dave Kluge
Against all odds he completed a pass with four air yards to a wide open receiver.
Alfredo Brown
My favorite is Shaduranon is out here and they keep just looking at the at the there's like a still frame of Shadur when he's dropping back and all three, the center, right guard and right tackle are all on the right side of the protection and there's only one defender there. And then you have an end from the left side, stunts around, he comes right up the middle for a sack and people are hopping on the conspiracies that yep, they're trying to get him killed. Kevin Stefanski does this all the time when he doesn't like a quarterback.
Dave Kluge
I mean you got to see. I don't know if you got a chance to watch the whole game last night, but that Ash and Genti safety. I don't like Troy Aikman was like, you know, I'd like to see Genti, like, do his best to just get past the line of scrimmage. He had, like, six bodies on him in the end zone, and there wasn't a blocker anywhere near. Like, it is just. I feel bad for Jinty.
Alfredo Brown
It's crazy because there are times where he doesn't look good. Right. Like, right on that play. You could say he didn't turn his feet. Turn his feet as much as he should have, or he stopped and slowed down.
Dave Kluge
But he grabs the ball, and there are five defenders just inside of him. Like, what are you supposed to do there when.
Alfredo Brown
When you're getting. When you're getting met in the backfield by three defenders? Like, it just doesn't matter.
Dave Kluge
The fact that Troy Aikman tried putting the onus on Jinty for that. Like, as they're doing it, they show this slow mo where he just has five bodies pulling him back into the end zone. It's like, I don't think anybody. Like, I don't think Prime Jerome Bettis is not getting a safety on that play.
Alfredo Brown
You know why they call him the Bus, right?
Dave Kluge
Why is that?
Alfredo Brown
Because he's afraid to fly.
Dave Kluge
I did not know that. Is that a joke that I'm missing or is that just like.
Alfredo Brown
Yeah, I just need you to watch, like, a minute of tv. Like a minute of TV that has ever happened.
Dave Kluge
You never.
Alfredo Brown
You watched the Office, right? No. You didn't.
Dave Kluge
I did, Yeah. I don't have it. Like, I feel like people who watch.
Alfredo Brown
The Office, I mean, I watched so empty. I did. I did.
Dave Kluge
I watched it. It was funny. But, like, I. I don't. It's like a part of people's DNA, like, where they watch every single episode and have every single line memorized. And I watched it.
Alfredo Brown
I haven't. I haven't seen it in. In, I want to say, like, a year or so. But there's just a funny thing where Steve Carell, Michael Scott, he's at, like, a. Like, an expo type thing, and Jerome Bettis is there as, like, a spokesperson for some company. And then Dwight asks. He's like, why do they call him the Bus? Because he's afraid to fly. Oh, it's just one of those that's, like, always stuck around.
Dave Kluge
Yeah, it's a funny show.
Alfredo Brown
There you go. Win back the crowd. Win back the crowd. The fantasy playoffs are almost here, and we're breaking down the Week 12 waiver. Wow, pickups you need to make. I'm Alfredo Brown joined as Always by Dave Kluge. Welcome into the football guys fantasy football show. Dave, it seems like this week we've got a lot of players that are the handcuffs that are maybe getting a little more action or they're going to get a good one or two week rental here. Some wide receivers with some great upside. But I would say there's probably one crown jewel out of all this that we want to look at here as our top three player in our waiver wire rankings this week.
Dave Kluge
We have a little bit of dissension on that. I've got a different top guy than you do, but yeah, I mean this is the time of year where like it's cuffing season. Like get, get your rookies because we know that those guys can be league winners down the stretch and get your injury away. Running backs. You know, some of the guys that we're going to talk about on the show today are guys that we have talked about all season long saying like, just stash these guys if you can. I would much rather just like have these guys on my bench so that when the opportunity arises I can just move them up into my starting lineup than having to go to the waiver wire and bid 70, 80% of my remaining fab to get them. So we're going to talk about the obvious names today, but like just a good practice I think is to go through depth charts, find who that RB2 is, see if they're available on your waiver wire and just load up your bench with as many of these guys as you possibly can at this point in the season.
Alfredo Brown
Well, let's get started then. Let's start here with the top player we have in our Week 12 waiver wire rankings. That is so hard to say. Week 12 waiver wire rankings. And also do you have the thing.
Dave Kluge
Like on Mondays and Tuesdays when you start making content for the next week, you're like shocked every single week, like, oh my gosh, we're already heading into week 12 because like it doesn't feel like we're heading into week.
Alfredo Brown
Yeah, like it throws me off because our Monday is always like the week 11 recap. And then even though it is week 12 now and I, I just, I mix up the weeks all the time.
Dave Kluge
Feels like the season just started and like here we are just a couple weeks out from playoffs.
Alfredo Brown
Time is a flat circle, Dave. It's just a construct made by the government. All right, top player we have on our Week 12 waiver wire rankings. Tier number one is Bashal Tootin, running back for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Dave, he's available in 78% of leagues, which feels just kind of crazy. This was a player that. I don't know, I don't know. I don't know. Everyone was ghost.
Dave Kluge
I was like baja altin. Isn't he in like 90% of leagues rostered? I'm. My flabbers are gassed.
Alfredo Brown
Yeah, yeah, check your flabbers. All right, dude, 70% availability is just, is nuts. And I know that's going to range on various fantasy platforms. We're using Sleeper and that's usually a sharp fan base that is using that platform. But this was a player that everyone was clamoring to draft. He was a sleeper. He was the guy that people were spending mid round picks on. And this is the point of drafting a guy like this when you have this handcuff. Yes, they might not be getting all of the work, but that's the point of having a handcuff. And then especially if it is a talented rookie, you're waiting for them to actually get some sort of play out there on the field. And in this game, finally this past week, he outcarries ETN 15 to 12 before his injury, he gets eight touches in the first half. This wasn't like some sort of oh, we're leading and we're just going to give this guy the garbage time touches. He got six touches in the first quarter, scores the first touchdown of the game. Dave, I think. And we have to check the injury, right? Like we have to wait for whatever the news is there. Bashal Tutin seems to believe that he's good to go. There are reports and people on Twitter that think, I don't know, it looks like a high ankle. We've. It could be the lowest part of the high ankle, who knows? But either way, to me, this is the guy that not only continues to have the high handcuff value, but now he's got flex appeal where you can actually start him if he's going to be getting double digit touches every week. Yeah.
Dave Kluge
And I think the only concern here is the ankle injury. Like I don't want to dump a bunch of my fab on a guy who's not going to play over the next few weeks. But again, like this is one of those. Again, just, just shocked. And I like just looked up right now to make sure we didn't make a mistake on the show sheet. I pulled up Sleeper and looked and yeah, like he's still available in all of these leagues and he was somebody that like everybody was talking about during.
Alfredo Brown
The office how dare you think I made a mistake?
Dave Kluge
Because it doesn't sound believable. Like this guy, you know, when we were doing like our industry drafts or high stakes drafts or best ball drafts, he was going in like the seventh round. Like this is a guy that people were putting like legitimate draft capital into. And we, we saw the flashes like multiple times throughout the season. We saw the burst, we saw the touchdowns, like we saw the breakaway runs. This is a gu that had off the charts athleticism and that's when people got really excited. He came out of the NFL combine and just torched it. Left the NFL combine with the highest relative athletic score of any rookie in this draft class. And we talked so much this off season about looking at what happened last year in Tampa Bay in a Liam Cohen offense where they drafted this day three running back who was able to usurp the role from their inefficient veteran, Rashad White. Bucky Irving is obviously the rookie I'm talking about. And you can just see the same blueprint here where Bashal Tutin comes in and takes the job for from Travis etn. So it seems like that is happening now. The only pause I have about making him the top waiver wire pickup is the ankle sprain. You know, we hear it all the time. Like guys come out of the game, they're like, oh, I feel good, everything's fine, no issues whatsoever. Wake up the next day, it's a little bit stiffer. By the time Wednesday practice rolls around, they can't practice. So we're recording Tuesday. We'll see what happens Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. But I do have some concern just seeing the way that his ankle got twisted around that he might miss sometimes.
Alfredo Brown
Yeah, I mean his own words after the game was that he was good, he'd be ready to go next week. However, like you said, you can show up on Tuesday, Wednesday and it's going to feel very different. So it's, we're going to have to pay attention to those reports. If for any reason he does miss time. I think Laquin Allen becomes like one of those guys that we'd probably just slide into the bottom of the waiver wire here as you know, someone just to stash, hold on to. He's got some receiving upside, especially as the Jags find themselves in a lot of these two minute drills here. Dave. So Bashal Tutin was my number one player and obviously that's going to depend on the injury. He was your number two player in the waiver wire. Let's go down to the Second tier where your number one player is in here, my number two players in here. So we've got Chris Rodriguez, running back for the Washington Commanders, and then Emmanuel Wilson, running back for the Green Bay Packers. And so I want to go out of order here a little bit and talk about Emmanuel Wilson because this was your number one waiver wire ad. But I think there's also like, if we're going to do the asterisk of injury for Bashal Tootin, we have to do the same thing for Emmanuel Wilson and, and Josh Jacobs. Right now, reports are that he could play this week. But also on the other side of that, packers medical staff are notoriously cautious where they will make players miss a week or two. Even with Emmanuel Wilson missing a week or two. The reason I ranked him lower than Baysholt, and I want to hear your reasoning for it as well, is I don't necessarily want a guy that's going to be a one or two week rental. I'm going to value Bashel Tutin and Chris Rodriguez higher because they could be guys that I can put in my flex for the rest of the season throughout, like the rest of the fantasy playoffs here. So that was the tiebreaker for me with Emmanuel Wilson.
Dave Kluge
Yeah. And a lot of times, you know, when I am going to the waiver wire, I'm looking for running backs that I can pick up and immediately put in my lineup. And I think Emmanuel Wilson, the Josh Jacobs injury is weird too. I think we need to start there before talking about anything else. I mean, reports are that this is a potential PCL sprain, which is the same injury that we heard Drake London picked up this week. And it's the same injury that Brock Bowers and Ricky Pearsall both suffered earlier in the season. Now, it's one of those injuries, injuries that like players can play through, but we see that it really zaps their explosiveness and it's one like where it isn't a terrible injury. So I mean, our Adam Hutchinson said it could vary anywhere from like one to six weeks. These guys can miss. Based on the severity. We saw that he was quickly ruled out. What we're hearing is like no structural damage. The, the, the X rays came back negative. Like we're hearing all of the good things. But if this is a PCL sprain, it's one of those that like, you feel like you can play through and you just can't. So I think like probably not going to see Josh Jacobs this week. But I do think that if you pick up Emmanuel Wilson, it Could be more than a one week rental. It could be six weeks like we thought. You know, Brock Bowers played through this injury for four weeks, just wasn't good and had to rest up for a month before he could come back. Ricky Piersol, it took him what, six, seven weeks to get back to his pre injury speeds where he could be activated again. So I think there's a lot of optimism right, right now around Josh Jacobs and maybe it's just me, you know, having a lot of Brock Bowers, having a lot of Ricky Pierce all being scorned by this injury earlier in the season. I am hesitant to, to believe that, that Josh Jacobs is just going to come back and be his normal self two weeks from now.
Alfredo Brown
Well, maybe he's not going to be his normal self, but I, I do think he comes back, right. If they're saying he could potentially play this, it's just one of those things, like we have to. I also think it comes down to like your game theory of how you're going to play this, right? Like, yes, we could have Josh Jacobs out for six weeks. Right now the packers are saying they're not putting him on ir. So it kind of comes down to.
Dave Kluge
Like Bowers and Pearsall also didn't go.
Alfredo Brown
I know they did.
Dave Kluge
That's the trickiness of this injury.
Alfredo Brown
Yeah, I know they didn't. But then it also comes down to like, these are going to be the top waiver wire ads. So if you want to get a guy like Emmanuel Wilson, you're probably having to spend at this point in the season, 50% of your budget at least to go and get a top running back. And so that's where like mentally do I want to do that? Where I'm doing the mental gymnastics of let me spend 50% of my fab or more, maybe even 70% of my fab on a guy that I get for maybe one week versus a tutor, Rodriguez, who they could be leading their backfield through the rest of the season. So I get what you're saying though, because like right now you do have Emmanuel Wilson as potentially the surefire guy this week and he just gets you the win and that's really what you need in fantasy. The tough part here for me is you got Minnesota, Detroit, Chicago, three tough run defenses over the next few weeks, and packers offense Jordan Love has looked kind of wonky as of late.
Dave Kluge
He has. That's, that's an understatement. I don't really know what's going on with, with Jordan Love right now in this packers offense. But yeah, it just comes down to what you're looking for. Like if you're complet set up right now, you've already got a playoff spot locked up. Sure. Stash Tootin, I think that he is, you know, probably going to be more valuable through the fantasy playoffs. But if you're looking for immediate production right now, you're going to get that from Emmanuel Wilson. Like, I just had a first pass on my rankings this morning on Tuesday morning, and Emmanuel Wilson's going to be inside my top 18. I mean, I'm looking at him as like a high end RB2 if Josh Jacobs can't play. So again, it's just kind of what you're looking for with Chris Rodriguez. You know, I think he's another guy that you can pick up and immediately play as an RB2 or a flex. I do just worry a little bit that the ceiling here is limited because he seeds all of the passing down work to Jeremy McNichols and it's kind of like a, like a Derrick Henry, but less talented, not a worse offense.
Alfredo Brown
He does seed a lot of it. He got, I think he got like two passes this last week.
Dave Kluge
He had one target or one catch. Maybe it was one catch on one target.
Alfredo Brown
Maybe. Yeah, like it's not a lot. I get that.
Dave Kluge
And if you and and the thing like I was very aggressive in my Chris Rodriguez rank this week and like if you look at it like 16 opportunities, 85 yards, that feels great. But because he doesn't score a touchdown and because he doesn't catch multiple passes, he's really not doing all that much for you in your fantasy lineup. Like, you know, you're getting nine points from him. If he scores a touchdown, it's a completely different story. But I think that's the issue with Chris Rodriguez because he doesn't have the very big play upside. You know, he doesn't have that breakaway speed. He doesn't really have the best pass catching chops either. And then he also is going to, you know, give maybe 20, 30% of his work to Jakory Crosky. Merit was, I think you were the one that made the comp to the the Chiefs backfield a couple of weeks ago. This is like very reminiscent of the Chiefs backfield and the Commanders are going to score half as many points per game as the Chiefs are. So I mean like you're hoping Chris Rodriguez can score a touchdown. I think he's one of those like very safe flex plays. But unless he's scoring multiple touchdowns I just don't know if there's a ton of upside there.
Alfredo Brown
Yeah, I think it just comes down to like what we're spending our. I mean, let us know in the comments, guys who you would rather let's put put a line here. Let's say you're getting one of these running backs for at least 50% of your fab. Who is it that you're going for? Is it Bial Tutin with his injury and a shared backfield with etn? Is it Chris Rodriguez with a bye week and a shared backfield with two other guys in a bad offense? Is it Emmanuel Wilson with potentially Josh Jacobs out one week, maybe more? Their offense hasn't been great. So who are you going to be putting your money on? Dave and I, we have our own opinions here, so why don't you guys be the tiebreaker. Let us know in the comments. And by the way, as always, I want to remind everybody you have multiple ways you can enjoy this show. First, it's going to be right here on YouTube. So if you're watching, take a sec to like this video. Comment down below like I said and make sure you're subscribed. We also have the audio version of this podcast available to you right after we finish recording over on Apple and Spotify. So while you're there, leave a review. It's a big help for us. Dave. Let's go down to the third tier here where honestly it's just kind of the same guy. Christian Watson, Luther Burden I'd say Christian Watson is ahead obviously because he has the opportunity here to be the top receiver on his team. That still hasn't quite happened because of Romeo Dobbs. But when it comes to just making plays, catching touchdowns like this is what Christian Watson does and he can be a top 12 fantasy wide receiver on any given week. More likely just one of those low end fantasy wide receiver twos. High end wide receiver three with some big time touchdown upside down. Luther Burton is interesting to me and I want to continue to get your take on this because we talked about it a little bit yesterday. Luther Burton's interesting because that role continues to grow. But do we think it's going to grow to the point where, hey, he's right up there with Roma dunes a catching, you know, five, six passes in a game and making plays, being one of the top receivers in the Bears.
Dave Kluge
Yeah, I think the, the path for Burden to get there is going to be tough just because Ramadoons is there, DJ Moore is there, Colson Loveland, Colcomed of course we got DeAndre Swift catching balls as well. It is good to see him finally outrunning Olamide Zakas and running more routes than he did and getting more snaps than he did. I think for Burden to really break out though, we'd probably need to see DJ Moore or Roma Dunze miss some dime and that's just the unfortunate reality of it. That being said, Amon Ross St. Brown, who we saw in this Ben Johnson offense as a rookie, did like nothing for the first 10 weeks of the season and then TJ Hawkinson got hurt, DeAndre Swift got hurt and all of a sudden the entire offense focused around Amon Ross St. Brown. So I think that's kind of what you're doing if you're stashing Burden. You're. You're not hoping. Hope is the wrong word, for lack of a better term though. Like you're hoping that Adunze or DJ Moore misses some time and then Luther Burton becomes that kind of plug and play wide receiver too. But I think as long as everybody is healthy there, it's going to be really tough for him to get the volume required.
Alfredo Brown
Yeah, I think he's probably more of like a low end wide receiver. Three with some, some sexy upside of maybe he gets a rushing attempt by the goal line or one of those little like pot passes, you know, underneath. Christian Watson though is like he's the guy. We've seen him do it before but like I said on yesterday's show that never actually went out because of technical difficulties. So sorry everybody, but be ready for the Christian Watson experience. You know, you're going to have these games where he's going to catch four passes, two of them are for touchdowns and then you're going to have the games where it's going to be one catch, 63 yards on a bomb and. And that's about it. So just be ready for those. I think these guys are belong in the same tier together. And there's another wide receiver we'll talk about later that I think kind of just like right behind them nipping on their heels if I'm going to be honest. And that's actually how you have them ranked as well.
Dave Kluge
Yeah. And Christian Watson, maybe this is just because I've done this song and dance so many times over the last few years. But like we know the Christian Watson experience. He's on waivers, he has a huge game, you pick him up, you wait to see what's going to happen, he has another big game and then as soon as you're like, okay, here he goes in the lineup and then you get like two catches for 21 scoreless yards. I mean, that's just. Or he leaves the game early with an injury. Like, it does feel like it's so hard to predict when these big games come because he's got minimal usage and he can have the touchdown upside and he has the big play upside, but there's a high risk of injury here, as we have seen throughout his career, and then just really, boom, bust tendencies. So I think he's one of those guys, like, if you're an underdog in your matchup, like, you're projected to lose and he's out on waivers and you want to pick him up and put him in your flex, he gives you really nice upside. And I think, like, two of these guys that are available, let's say you've got an open flex spot. If you're a favorite this week and you just need like a little bit of something. Chris Rodriguez, that's a guy you want to put up and put in your flex spot. If you're an underdog this week and you need that really high ceiling, then I think you go for a guy like Christian Watson.
Alfredo Brown
Yeah, Fab. I know we never. It's going to change based on league and need and all that stuff. I don't think Watson or burden are 50 and above kind of guys. I think these are probably more of like the five to eight. Okay, Okay. I was going to go a little bit higher. I was going to say around the 20% guys to see, like, you know, it obviously depends too. Like, if you're desperate at wide receiver and you've had enough injuries and players going on ir, whatever it may be. I'm probably lean more on like the 20 for those guys. Let's go down to the next tier, tier number four, where it kind of feels like more of the same. We've already had this same archetype of player. Sean Tucker, running back for the Tampa Bay buccaneers, available in 71 of leagues, and Jaden Higgins, rookie wide receiver for the Houston Texans, available in 80 of leagues. And when I say that we've had the same archetype. Jaden Higgins, meet Luther Burton. Luther Burden, meet Jaden Higgins. Sean Tucker, meet Bashal Tutin. Bashal Tootin, meet Sean Tucker. Like, it's the same archetype that we've been talking about. So I think a lot of the same theories and practices apply here, but there's going to be some added context for Sean Tucker. He has this big game. He has this game against the Bills run defense who has just not been good throughout the entire year. And then we've got Bucky Irving practicing. It's another one of these things. We don't know if he's actually going to be back. So Dave, with Sean Tucker, you've got him as your seventh player. I've got him as my sixth, honest. I should probably just have him as my seventh if we're going to be honest because I think I like Jaden Higgins better here. I always just tend to lean running backs. Sean Tucker, any interest in him as a waiver wire option this week?
Dave Kluge
We saw this last year, right? Like Sean Tucker had that huge blow up game that just kind of came out of nowhere. It was unpredictable. It happened and then there was like nothing for the rest of the season. So we have seen this song and dance before. I do think that once Bucky Irving is back, the role is going to be his. And I really think that there's going to be no usage from Sean Tucker. Once Bucky Irving is back, then we're going to see Bucky Irving, we're going to see Rashad White kind of go into that role as the passing down back. And I think Sean Tucker gets completely put to the back burner here. I think though, what we have seen is that Sean Tucker is better in the lead role, like when he gets a rhythm going, like he is a better between the tackles runner than Rashad White. So I think what you're doing with Sean Tucker is picking him up and stashing him in the event that Bucky Irving can't return or that he re injures himself or misses some time. But I don't think there's any standalone value here with Sean Tucker. It is just 100% contingent upside.
Alfredo Brown
Sean Tucker like coming out of college very much. He and Chase Brown are similar dudes where they didn't test well. They're a little undersized but man, once they get going, they've got a great rhythm. You put them out in space, they can make guys miss. They look so much faster on the field than they actually time. There's all these Sean. Sean Tucker's just like a lot thicker like he is. He's. He's Chase Brown who's just been doing neck exercises. I don't know.
Dave Kluge
Jake Irving is another one too that like you know, bomb the combine and then the like you can't watch Bucky Irving run the ball and say that he's not a good athlete but like he didn't have good Athletic testing. And I think what that tells me is that, you know, Jason Licht and the rest of the, the, the, the Bucks front office there. I don't care about athletic testing. Like they're, they're gonna trust the film and, and those are the guys that they go after.
Alfredo Brown
Yeah, man, Bucky Irving, he's just so good in space. Like that's, that's it. Like if you're gonna watch film, you're gonna see that's exactly what it is. Especially in that Oregon offense. He came out of Jaden Higgins, the other player in this tier that we're talking about, wide receiver for the Houston Texans. We're finally seeing a role grow for him. The problem is, is that it's on the Texans and we don't know how good this offense can actually be. But it does seem like they're finding their stride here now with rookies and young players kind of taking over the reins here with ironically with CJ Stroud out of the lineup. So Jaden Higgins, as exciting as it is, I do worry we hit the bumps and bruises again when CJ Stroud gets back into the lineup. Just this offense also not being all that great. There's some excitement there, but that's why I keep them a tier lower than the packers and, and Bears wide receivers that we have on here earlier because it's the Texans and they also have another rookie wide receiver, Jalen Noel, and they have Christian Kirk and they have a lot of guys that are going through this rotation here.
Dave Kluge
Yeah, and, and I like Jaden Higgins a lot. Like we talked about him a lot this off season, like one of my favorite rookies coming in. I'm still keeping a light on for him long term, but the problem is like he's still a part time player. We were hoping that he would just be, you know, getting 100 of the snaps playing at Nico Collins and it hasn't really happened. Last week he only ran routes on 65% of the passing plays. Like you look at it, Nico Collins is running 42 routes and Jaden Higgins is running 27. So it's like Nico Collins is the only full time receiver here. And then there's just kind of this rotation of Jaden Higgins and Christian Kirk and Jalen Noel. And then we even like, you know, get some, some Xavier Hutchison and, and some other guys in there. So I like Jaden Higgins and I think that there is big play upside, but very similar to Luther Burden. Like the, the snaps just aren't there and, and it's going to be tough for him to find a fantasy relevant role without his role on the field growing substantially.
Alfredo Brown
All right, let's go down to the next tier. This is our final tier, our fifth tier where we've got Michael Wilson. This is all wide receivers, by the way. Michael Wilson, wide receiver for the Arizona Cardinals, which I know some of you are like, what? He was incredible this week. We'll talk about it. AD Mitchell, Adonai Mitchell, wide receiver for the New York jets and Tyrell Shavers, who, man, he is the second highest trending player on sleeper right now. It we see this so often where everyone gets really excited for this one guy. They're like, oh, none of my league mates know him. They become the hottest trending player and then the next week it just goes away. So Dave, out of these three, I mean it's very possible all of these guys just go away. AD Mitchell didn't even have a very good game. But the idea here is he was getting targeted, he was getting open. He's dropping passes though. We got Tyrod Taylor starting. I think he's my favorite out of these three because Michael Wilson is sort of on that ticking clock here of when Does Marvin Harrison Jr. Get back? He's also probably not available in a lot of leagues, only available in 61 of leagues. Tyrell Shaver's just a fun name to say and he had a big performance. It felt like we needed to talk about him over in Buffalo.
Dave Kluge
That turtle Shavers thing is fluky. Like this isn't a guy that like they called up that had a big game. He's been a full time receiver all year. It's just we never know where the targets are going into Josh Allen offense on any given week. This week they found Terrell Shavers, which is weird because like we get the Keanu Coleman inactive and then they're like, you know, Josh Palmer's coming back from ir, Gabe Davis is back in the lineup. We want to see what we've got with these guys. We want to see what we've got. Nicole Hardman, what do they do? They focus on Terrell Shavers, who's been with the team running. Does that tell you something though season.
Alfredo Brown
Like just for the sake of conversation here, if they bring in Gabe Davis, they bring in Nicole Harmon, they bring back Josh Palmer off of off of injury and they deactivate Keon Coleman. Is that telling you anything about a potential role here for Shavers or we're just going to chalk this up to dumb luck this week?
Dave Kluge
I think it's kind of a fluke. And like so much of his production was on like that big 40 yard touchdown catch, which is awesome. Like you know, I love receivers that can catch big touchdown bombs. Like not everybody has that in their wheelhouse, but that was a play where he was just like wide open, got hit in the back of the end zone. So I'm not really buying into the Terrell Shaver stuff. I think what we've seen over the entire season is probably telling us a lot more than what we saw in this random game where Josh Allen scored six touchdowns. So you know, I get that he's trending, but I'm not really buying into that. Ed and I. Mitchell is the one that intrigues me the most. And he was cooking Christian Gonzalez out there like just consistently getting open. He just has feet for hands and everything bounced off of his hands like you get wide open, like looks like he's gonna have this big play and then just out of his hands. Like we saw multiple times like that. Some of them were Aaron throws, some of them were drops, some of them were kind of somewhere in that gray area where they weren't perfectly placed, but they still hit him in the hands. I do think that with to Rod Taylor out there, we're just going to see a better passing environment as a whole. And if A.D. mitchell is operating as the team's primary receiver with Garrett Wilson on ir, I mean you look at the rest of the guys out there, it's like guys I, I haven't even heard of, like just like these random no name players out here, these NPC creative players, NFL players. Yeah. Just like running around catching passes in The jets like 80. Mitchell should be the wide receiver one in this offense. I think we're going to see a little boom for Mason Taylor as well. But you know, not, not a guy that I'm like clamoring to pick up and like your, your 10 team leagues with five bench spots. But I think in your deeper leagues, AD Mitchell is definitely worth a look just because he is kind of the last man standing. He's like the only receiver that has any talent in this room right now.
Alfredo Brown
Is the Justin Fields experiment over in New York. Tyrod Taylor is reported as the starter now.
Dave Kluge
Told us on Monday. Didn't wait until Saturday afternoon, you know, hiding those cards.
Alfredo Brown
Yeah, well, I mean I don't even think he said it. It got reported and then he's like ah, yeah, okay, you got me. You know, I, I just like you can't bench Justin Fields again and then bring him back again. And snap, snap, snip, snap. I think it's over. I think it's Tyrod for the rest of the year. So I think we're going to find out a lot about this jets offense in the first Tyrod Taylor game. Who is he going to target most? What is he going to be doing? I do think the offense just looks a little smoother. Like there's actually a passing game when Tyrod is out there. So just something to consider. That's why I think both of us like AD Mitchell the best out of this tier. Well, Dave, that's the top 10 players we're looking at on the waiver wire this week. There are other players that we didn't mention, guys that you should be looking out for. Dave, like I know you, you asked me before, what about Trey Tucker and, and Trey Benson and I can't think of a third tray. I just wanted to throw one out there. But a lot of those guys are right.
Dave Kluge
He's not available in any league.
Alfredo Brown
Sure, yeah, he's not available. Those guys are heavily rostered. But if they are available, obviously going double check your waiver wire for that and, and do the thing that we love to do, which is check and see who people have been dropping. There was probably people who dropped Alec Pierce this past week because of the bye week. And he could be out there on your waiver wire. We're not talking about him this week because he's heavily rostered everywhere. But let's do this. We, we always like to do our QB streamers and defense streamers. We've got three QB streamers and four defense streamers this week. Dave and I want to get your favorite of the the three at quarterback. We've got Jacobe Brissette going up against Jacksonville, Bryce Young against the San Francisco 49ers, and then Joe Flacco versus the New England Patriots. Do you have a favorite amongst these three that you'd be gone with here in week 12? You okay?
Dave Kluge
Sorry. Yeah, it's Kobe Brissette, but I don't feel good about it.
Alfredo Brown
Like I gotta say I don't hate it.
Dave Kluge
Yeah, I mean he's. Dude, he's been top like how many at every start he broke like he set the all time completion record, the all time NFL completion record for the most completions in a game. Only quarterback in NFL history to attempt more than 50 passes and complete over 80% of them. It's not going to happen every week. Like he's not just going to keep throwing for 450 yards, but it's been there. And if Marvin Harrison Jr. Is back, you know, we've seen Trey McBride looking good. Now the crazy thing is he did.
Alfredo Brown
It without his best receiver.
Dave Kluge
I know. Well, I think Trey McBride's the best receiver, the best wide receiver.
Alfredo Brown
Receiver, yes.
Dave Kluge
Even like just turning Michael Wilson into a 15 catch, 185 yard guy. Like this is a franchise that has had Larry Fitzgerald, DeAndre Hopkins, Anquan Bolden, and now you've got Michael Wilson. It's like holding all of these records for the franchise. Just. Just wild. Yeah. I did not expect this to happen, but said he's looked darn good.
Alfredo Brown
I. I want to. He's been a top 12 quarterback in every single start that he's had this year. And I'm trying to look it up so I can see exactly the games. Dave, let's see. Over the past few weeks, it was Quarterback 4, Quarterback 10, Quarterback 10, Quarterback 12, Quarterback 7. He has thrown two touchdowns in every single game. This was the first week that he really looked, I don't want to say human, but like he. He looked a little rough. He threw a couple of interceptions, by the way. He had a rushing touchdown back two weeks ago against Dallas. So like Jacoby Brissette, there's a lot. There's so many worse options you could have a starting quarterback and some of them are just the more comfortable names. But I think I like Jacoby Brissette going up against Jacksonville this week the most out of any of these guys. Let's go over to the defense streamers that we're looking at for this weekend. We got four here. Okay, so these are funny. The Raiders versus the Browns and then the Browns versus the Raiders.
Dave Kluge
Yes.
Alfredo Brown
Both of these going against each other.
American Giant Advertiser
Man.
Alfredo Brown
It's going to be just a defensive slug fest here, I'd say obviously Raiders going up against Shadur Sanders starting for the Browns this week. Yeah.
Dave Kluge
That bad? Yeah.
Alfredo Brown
That's an easy one.
Dave Kluge
Was it like 4 for 17 with a pick and two sacks? I think was his final stat line. Yeah. I'm firing up Eddie defense. It's going up against that.
Alfredo Brown
I'm all for, like, let's give players time. I am all for. Let's be understanding and humanize players and we should. That doesn't mean that it's unlikely that Shadow Sanders will play bad again this week. It's just something to bet on when you're looking at the defense to stream. Watching the game last night and how often Max Crosby was getting to Dak Prescott and creating pressure on him. The Quarterback hurries on Dak Prescott from Max Crosby were absolutely insane. They were having to use running backs, extra linemen, tight ends to come and chip and get Max Crosby out of there. If he's creating any kind of pressure on Shadir Sanders, we're going to be looking at a very, very rough game for the Cleveland Browns.
Dave Kluge
That's why we also like the Raiders because their offensive line is terrible and we know that the Browns pass rush is very good. I mean, I don't even know how the Raiders. It's unbelievable how bad their offensive line is. Like, it is so, so bad. They can't pass block, they can't run block. It's just, it's awful.
Alfredo Brown
The team, like there's such an incredible malpractice. Are we seeing Tom Brady be sort of the Michael Jordan now of the NFL where like these guys come in and decide to run organizations and the organization just absolutely sucks at the sport they play? I mean, it's, it's, it's nuts everyone.
Dave Kluge
To do what they did and it's not the way it works. Yeah, I'm looking right now. Our Mapitanti who does his offensive line rankings, he has Las Vegas at 29th out of 32.
Alfredo Brown
Surprised he didn't put them at 33.
Dave Kluge
Well, for pass blocking, they're 32nd, so they are 29th in run blocking and 32nd in pass blocking, which grades out to be the worst offensive line in football.
Alfredo Brown
Not good, Bob. Not good. Two other defenses to look at, by the way, this week. Jaguars defense going up against Arizona. Arizona, weirdly enough, over the last four weeks have been giving up the most points to opposing defenses. Just sack city back there for going. And this is kind of a, a reach, but I think it's worth it.
Dave Kluge
I don't think it's worth it. I don't think this is a reach at all. This is a good defense.
Alfredo Brown
Yeah, no, I was gonna. The last one I'm going to talk about. Yeah, I mean, okay, Saints defense going up against Kirk Cousins. I know that there's a little bit of a fugazi here of the Atlanta Falcons not giving up a lot of points to opposing DSTs. That was with Michael Penix. That was a very different time and those were against very different opponents. Saints defense, a good defense. Okay defense and above average defense going up against Kirk Cousins. We're looking at a potentially multi sack game, multi interception game. And especially if Drake London is out, you got to imagine there's going to be a lot of forced passes and focus on guys like Darnell Mooney, Kyle Pitts, the defense is pretty much going to know where the ball is going to.
Dave Kluge
Yeah. And I'm trying to look it up right now and I'm, I'm struggling for some reason. But you know, we talked so much about. We wouldn't say Miami is a good defense, but there was that one game where we talked about like how did Miami bottle up Bijan Robinson. And then I remembered because Kirk Cousins was starting that game. Like Bijan Robinson couldn't even get going against the worst run defense in the NFL.
Alfredo Brown
That's how it came in that game. I think. I think Penix left injured. Yeah, right.
Dave Kluge
Yeah. So I'm sorry he didn't start. But like that was the Kirk Cousins game. Like Kirk Cousins not the player he was in the Minnesota system. Whether it's the Achilles or the age or the system, whatever it is, he has looked horrendous since he joined the Falcons. So yeah, I'm like, I'm more than happy to fire up the Saints against the Falcons this week.
Alfredo Brown
Kirk Cousins has thrown one touchdown over his last eight appearances. These are not full games but is over his last eight appearances. He has thrown one touchdown and three interceptions. There we're at, there we are. Like there's. And there's no rushing upside to Kirk Cousins. This is. Yeah, I actually think the Saints might be the fun defense to go and grab this week because everyone is going to be rushing to go grab the Raiders defense up against Shador because that was the one that caught a lot of eyeballs. I kind of like these like going out and grabbing Saints defense, getting AD Mitchell and doing all these for like a dollar here. A dollar. There's grab a Jaden Higgins for a dollar. You know, doing some of these like kind of low key moves and then really go out and put a ton of your money on guys like Bashaw, Tootin, Emmanuel Wilson, Chris Rodriguez up at the top.
Dave Kluge
Yep.
Alfredo Brown
Well Dave, we did it. Week 12 waiver wire pickups for all of you. Let us know in the comments what you think players that you're going to be valuing a little bit higher. Guys we didn't put high enough in the rankings. Players we missed in this episode. Let us know in the comments down below. And we're going to be back again tomorrow with the players to stash for the fantasy playoffs. And Dave, if I'm not mistaken, we might be doing a little bit of planning right here on air that might end up just being our last trade episode because trade deadlines are here for fantasy football leagues. So that's going to be our last trade episode of the season. And then Thursday, we'll be back again to give you guys our starts and sleepers for week 12. We are just, oh, so close to the fantasy playoffs. Guys, this is the time to lock in. Make sure you're joining us for each and every one of these shows. As always, I want to thank everybody for watching and listening all the way through. For myself, for Dave. We'll see you next time. Adios.
Episode: Week 12 Waivers || Fantasy Football 2025
Date: November 18, 2025
Hosts: Alfredo Brown & Dave Kluge
This episode focuses on the most impactful waiver wire pickups ahead of Week 12 in the 2025 fantasy football season. Alfredo and Dave break down their top recommendations for league-winning moves in the crucial playoff stretch, discussing running backs taking over starting roles, wide receivers with breakout potential, and highlighting the nuances of game theory for the end-of-season grind. The discussion features in-depth player analysis, injury contexts, and actionable FAB (Free Agent Budget) advice, while keeping the show lighthearted and fun.
| Tier | Player | Position/Team | Upside | Risk | FAB Estimate | |------|----------------------|-------------------------|----------------------|-----------------------|---------------------| | 1 | Bashal Tootin | RB / Jaguars | Flex & RB1 Potential | Ankle injury status | 30–50% (if healthy) | | 2 | Emmanuel Wilson | RB / Packers | Immediate RB2 value | Short-term rental | 20–50% | | 2 | Chris Rodriguez | RB / Commanders | Safe flex | Low ceiling, shares | 20–30% | | 3 | Christian Watson | WR / Packers | High ceiling | Boom/Bust, injury | 5–20% | | 3 | Luther Burden | WR / Bears | Growth potential | Blocked by others | 5–20% | | 4 | Sean Tucker | RB / Buccaneers | Only if Bucky out | Role likely gone soon | <10% | | 4 | Jaden Higgins | WR / Texans | Playmaking upside | Playing time unclear | <10% | | 5 | AD Mitchell | WR / Jets | WR1 on team atm | Volatile situation | Deeper leagues | | 5 | Michael Wilson | WR / Cardinals | Volume spike | Marvin Harrison return| Deeper leagues |
With fantasy playoff spots on the line, Alfredo and Dave urge listeners to focus FAB on running backs with league-winning upside and to use streaming options strategically at quarterback and defense. They encourage checking the waiver wire for dropped players and monitoring injury updates, especially at RB. Listener engagement is requested in the comments to discuss which RB waiver target they'd prefer to spend big on for Week 12.
"This is the time to lock in. Make sure you’re joining us for each of these shows as we hit the crucial run to fantasy playoffs.” – Alfredo Brown (37:21)
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