2024 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Week 13: Will Levis, Gus Edwards, More

We are in the eye of the storm. Week 12 saw a season-high six teams on bye week. For Thanksgiving, we get a little reprieve with no teams on bye. Then next week we get another week with 6 teams on bye. Our overlord Amazon and their Sports Cloud Solutions has determined that this is what is best for us. All praise to them.

It’s our job to navigate this hurricane down the stretch of the NFL season as best we can. So, we’ll look at the fantasy football waiver wire for Week 13 with an eye on next week - especially in our Streamers article. Let’s get to it!

2024 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Week 13 Top Targets

If this 2024 fantasy football waiver wire for Week 13 is your first time seeing this series, here’s a little idea of how we break it down. 

There are too many articles out there that don’t take into account YOUR team's needs. Whether you just want the best player, you want someone to start now, or you are loaded and you want the best upside stashed, we have you covered. And we break it down like this:

• 2024 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Week 13: This is the current article where we focus on the best waiver wire picks for any format or team needs. Guys that can potentially be started now but also have season-long upside
   
• 2024 Fantasy Football Streamers Week 13: These are players that are decent starts for Week 13 but might not have great long-term upside (perhaps it’s just a good matchup or the starter has a short-term injury, for instance)
   
• 2024 Fantasy Football Stashes Week 13: These are players that are very difficult to trust in a lineup right now. But we believe in the talent and the possibility of upside down the stretch. Every year there are certain rookies or backups that get a big opportunity and run with it at some point - like Trey McBride last year.

The 2024 fantasy football waiver wire for Week 13 you are currently looking at is free for everyone. The Week 13 waiver wire stashes and Week 13 waiver wire streamers articles are for Fantasy Alarm members only.  

If you aren’t a Fantasy Alarm member yet, you can not only get 40% off your annual membership if you sign up right now or 50% off your first month with promo code LETSGO, but we are offering a 7-day free trial RIGHT NOW! You can check out everything we have to offer this week and decide if it's right for you!

P.S. At the very bottom of this article, I will update my Yin & Yang Tight End chart each week!

NFL Week 13 Waiver Wire Quarterbacks

Will Levis - Tennessee Titans, Yahoo: 12% | ESPN: 4% | Sleeper: 18%

The QB waiver wire has become scarce all of a sudden. You could roll the dice on Trevor Lawrence or Derek Carr getting healthy. Carr still has to deal with Taysom Hill, of course (as does Russell Wilson all of a sudden with Justin Fields). Maybe you think Jameis Winston or Aaron Rodgers will keep firing the ball around on 3-8 teams. For me, I’m looking at the schedule for another 3-8 team - the Tennessee Titans.

We’ve mentioned it a few times here in past iterations of this article but the only team with a better passing schedule down the stretch than the Tennessee Titans is the New York Giants. And the QB situation over there is obviously worse. Levis has not been bad since getting healthy as he’s given us between ~16 and ~19 fantasy points in all three games since returning. And he’s thrown for 295 and 278 yards in the last two.

He’s also been willing to run a little bit with 5, 7, and 8 carries. The Commanders this week are actually the toughest matchup he has left before he faces the Jaguars, the Bengals, the Colts, and the Jaguars again. You (hopefully) should have a viable QB for this week with no bye weeks so we are looking ahead a little.

• Waiver Priority: Low or Free Add
• FAAB: 0-5%

Drake Maye - New England Patriots, Yahoo: 19% | ESPN: 22% | Sleeper: 30%

At this stage guys like Bo Nix and Anthony Richardson are already added in the majority of competitive leagues. If you want to play the mobile quarterback game, your options are Drake Maye or hoping for Trey Lance to take over the Cowboys. Though watching the games for Maye can be painful at times, he’s managed to salvage something for fantasy managers out of each one - including the game he exited via injury as he scored a rushing touchdown.

With every team playing this week and Maye having his bye week in Week 14, there’s really no rush to go out and spend up on him unless you are desperate to start him this week against the Colts. It is a good matchup and then he has a decent matchup with Arizona, but he finishes fantasy playoffs with Buffalo and the Chargers which isn’t ideal. 

• Waiver Priority: Low or Free Add
• FAAB: 0-5%

NFL Week 13 Waiver Wire Running Backs

Gus Edwards - Los Angeles Chargers, Yahoo: 26% | ESPN: 24% | Sleeper: 29%

Gus Edwards was already a guy on our streaming radar due to his virtually guaranteed touches in a run-heavy offense. After JK Dobbins exited the Monday Night Football game last night with a knee injury, Edwards becomes an even more obvious pickup.

The conspiracy theories started on social media about JK Dobbins getting injured once again in the city of Baltimore. And there is already speculation as to the severity of the injury, as always. We will update this when we find out but even if it is something shorter term or that just requires a brace like an MCL sprain, Edwards already had standalone value. 

So, he’s our top option if you need an RB. When you play through a sprain, sometimes it gets worse before it gets better.

• Waiver Priority: Medium or Late Priority
• FAAB: 5-10%

Jeremy McNichols - Washington Commanders, Yahoo: 1% | ESPN: 1% | Sleeper: 0%

Brian Robinson hurt his ankle very early in this one. He tried to go again briefly before exiting the game completely in the first half and not returning. Austin Ekeler took over most of the work but he too left the game with a concussion, leaving them both in doubt for Week 13. 

The team released Chris Rodriguez so they would need to re-sign him to bring him back to help out if that was the plan. If both Ekeler and Robinson are out, McNichols could be in line to start this week against the Titans. 

In games when just one of them has been out, McNichols has played a 30-40% snap share so he’d be on the streaming radar regardless if that were the case. This to me is really only a move you do if you are going to start him this week and, again, there are no teams on bye. 

• Waiver Priority: Free Add or Late Priority
• FAAB: 0-5%

Ameer Abdullah - Las Vegas Raiders Yahoo: 25% | ESPN: 19% | Sleeper: 33%

It is a short week this week for the Raiders with them playing on Black Friday against the Kansas City Chiefs. We don’t know if Zamir White or Alexander Mattison will be able to play or not. Keep an eye on the news right up until Tuesday night when waivers run but, with them both out, Abdullah got virtually the whole job to himself with 69 total offensive snaps. 

At the very least, he has the pass-catching chops to offer a decent floor in PPR. If either other Raiders RB is active, they are likely the lead running back but the pass-catching back might be in a better spot anyway against the Chiefs. 

• Waiver Priority: Low or Free Add
• FAAB: 0-5%

NFL Week 13 Waiver Wire Wide Receivers

Nick Westbrook-Ikhine-Ikhine - Tennessee Titans, Yahoo: 12%| ESPN: 8% | Sleeper: 21%

Our sentiments from last week have not changed much on Nick Westbrook-Ikhine-Ikhine. We don’t chase guys that are ONLY scoring touchdowns. Which, at face value, is what our guy NWI might look like. He only has two games this season with more than two catches. But he’s scored six touchdowns over the last seven games.

But behind the scenes, there is just enough there for us to be in. For starters, the snaps share is there. Since Week 8, Westbrook-Ikhine has played 92%, 97%, 100%, 85%, and 90% of the snaps. He actually played more snaps than Calvin Ridley in each of those games except for Week 11. And the targets have been there as well to some degree. 

He hasn’t been super efficient but he’s gotten at least four targets in five of the last six. Combine that with their great schedule for passing that we mentioned in the Will Levis section, and we are ready to jump in. Plus, this guy does seem to have a knack for finding paydirt.

• Waiver Priority: Late or free add
• FAAB: 0-5%

Noah Brown - Washington Commanders, Yahoo: 10% | ESPN: 11% | Sleeper: 19%

Every time we think we can trust Noah Brown, he has pulled the rug on us with a one-catch game. It happened in Week 7 following an 8 target game. And it happened in Week 11 following a 7 target game. This past week he had his best game yet in terms of targets with 10. So we’re certainly ready to get hurt again here in Week 13.

But, if you look at the entire body of work here, the profile for Brown is pretty good. It’s a good offense that we want pieces of.  He’s clearly become the WR2 behind Terry McLaurin as he’s been top two on the team in snaps for 7 straight weeks. And, in the other five games besides the two brutal ones, he’s gotten at least 6 targets in each of them.

There just aren’t many guys out there getting that kind of work. Unfortunately, he still has his bye week in Week 14 but this Titans pass defense hasn’t been as good since L’Jarius Sneed was put on IR so he’s not a bad option this week. 

• Waiver Priority: Late or free add
• FAAB: 0-5%

Devaughn Vele - Denver Broncos, Yahoo: 5% | ESPN: 2% | Sleeper: 13%

It’s difficult to trust Sean Payton. He’s not afraid to go with the hot hand and god forbid you land in his doghouse. Greg Dulcich found that out the hard way and was just released this week. 

Devaughn Vele has been a healthy scratch at times himself when Josh Reynolds was healthy, so we have to be cognizant of that. But Vele has quietly played the second most snaps behind Courtland Sutton three weeks in a row now for this Broncos teams. We like what we are seeing from Bo Nix so, in deep leagues, maybe it’s worth a shot. 

I will now reiterate that I don’t trust Sean Payton or things that he reportedly said before I share this report that he reportedly said he wants to get Devaughn Vele more touches. Whether or not you believe that one is up to you, but it can’t be a bad thing, right?

• Waiver Priority: Late or free add
• FAAB: 0-5%

NFL Week 13 Waiver Tight End + Yin & Yang TE

Theo Johnson - New York Giants, Yahoo: 2% | ESPN: 7% | Sleeper: 6%

The guys we’ve been promoting in this article in previous weeks like Jonnu Smith, Hunter Henry, Zach Ertz, and Will Dissly are finally rostered in over ~50% of leagues. So hopefully you already grabbed one of those guys when you had the chance. If they are available, I would target them in that order (keep in mind that Henry and Ertz are on bye in Week 14). 

Your best bet for any level of consistency from guys rostered in less than 30-40% of leagues is probably going to be Theo Johnson. Despite being limited in practice each week, he has continued to suit up so we expect him to be a go on Thanksgiving. With so many tight ends caught up in rotations, it’s Johnson who at least has the bulk of the role to himself. 

And he’s caught at least three passes in six straight games. He offers the best floor even if the ceiling is close to that plus a random touchdown. We’re not going to lie to you about what we’re looking at here.

• Waiver Priority: Late or free add
• FAAB: 0-5% 

Chig Okonkwo - Tennessee Titans, Yahoo: 54% | ESPN: 31% | Sleeper: 57%

If you want a little more high risk, high reward than Theo Johnson, Chig Okonkwo is probably the guy. And we just saw why this past week. For 50 minutes, he did nothing. And then he scored a 70 yard touchdown. Which isn’t a fluke as, over the last half decade, the only three tight ends to have three or more 40+ yard plays in a season are George Kittle, Kyle Pitts, and Chig Okonkwo. Yes, that is something that even the great Travis Kelce has not done.

TChig has outsnapped his competition in Nick Vannett and Josh Whyle 7 straight games now though there have been times where the split is fairly close. Whyle is the bigger threat to Chig as Nick Vannett is more of a blocking TE. The schedule for the Titans is great for passing the rest of the way so Chig could pop down the stretch but just know that there are times where he’s really not involved all that much. 

• Waiver Priority: Late or free add
• FAAB: 0-5%

Week 13 Rest of Season Tight End Rankings

At this stage in the season, we are gearing up for playoffs. You may still be hanging onto two tight ends using our Yin & Yang tight end strategy, but we will increasingly be focusing on having one guy we can trust for the three weeks of fantasy playoffs. 

With that in mind, we’ll be going with a linear set of “rest of season” rankings for the next few weeks before we start focusing on actual playoff matchups.