Thanksgiving week has arrived, which is probably the most frustrating week of regular-season football for fantasy managers. You have three Thursday games instead of just one, so the short week messes up some rhythm, and it also doesn't give banged-up players the extra few days to heal that you might want.
That might mean you're going to spend your Tuesday evening digging through all the names on the waiver wire in your fantasy football league, searching for the right guys to add to help you survive this week of football action — whether because of injuries or because you've had enough of certain guys and just need to bench them. Well, guess what? There are some pretty good names out there for you to consider!
Note: Roster percentages are in ESPN fantasy leagues. All scoring numbers are in PPR formats.
Quarterbacks to add from the fantasy waiver wire
Jacoby Brissett, Arizona Cardinals (46.8% rostered)
Jacoby Brissett is still available in a little under half of all fantasy leagues and I just want to scream WHAT ARE YOU DOING at the managers in every league where he remains unrostered.
Brissett has started six games for the Cardinals so far. He's finished as a fantasy QB1 — i.e., as a top-12 player at his position — in all six of those games. He's thrown over 100 pass attempts in the past two games! Arizona's content to just let Brissett go out firing right now, and while the results haven't been great as far as Arizona winning football games, he's provided fantasy managers with consistently strong production for the cost of nothing. Stop trotting out guys like Jordan Love, Sam Darnold and Tua Tagovailoa and just grab Brissett off the wire.
Running backs to add from the fantasy waiver wire
Devin Neal, New Orleans Saints (1.9% rostered)
Alvin Kamara suffered an MCL sprain this week. He's going to miss some time, but it's not clear yet how much time. Considering the terrible situation that the Saints are in and Kamara's commitment to this franchise, it might be wise to just shut him down for the year.
Devin Neal should take over as the lead back with Kamara out. Neal's numbers in his limited touches this season don't inspire a ton of confidence, but he's still a starting running back who is available on the waiver wire in almost all leagues. Volume alone makes him worth adding.
Chris Rodriguez Jr., Washington Commanders (8.8% rostered)
It looks like the whole Jacory Croskey-Merritt thing isn't happening, but maybe the Chris Rodriguez Jr. thing will happen instead?
Rodriguez had a season-high 15 carries against Miami, and more importantly, he played 44.8 percent of Washington's snaps, his first time this season over 40 percent. Croskey-Merritt played 27 percent of snaps, while Jeremy McNichols was at 25 percent.
This doesn't mean Rodriguez has some unassailable grasp on the lead back role in Washington, but trends matter, so if you're a fantasy manager with a hole at running back, follow the trend.
Wide receivers to add from the fantasy waiver wire
Jayden Reed, Green Bay Packers (38.5% rostered)
Jayden Reed hasn't played since Week 2 because of a broken collarbone and a foot fracture, but it sounds like he's nearing a return as Green Bay has opened his practice window and he got in a limited practice on Monday.
I wouldn't necessarily expect Reed to play when Green Bay faces Detroit this week, but a Week 14 return is definitely in the cards. Grab him off the waiver wire now to get ahead of other fantasy managers who are going to wait for his official return.
Parker Washington, Jacksonville Jaguars (20.2% rostered)
Parker Washington posted a dud two weeks ago against the Chargers that dulled some of the excitement around him, but this week against Arizona, he was targeted seven times, catching five of those for 71 yards and a touchdown.
That game marked the fourth time in the last five games that Washington saw at least seven targets. He's gone over 50 yards three times in that span and caught a touchdown in one of the other games. Is Washington going to single-handedly win you a week of fantasy football? No, but he can be a flex option against the Titans in Week 13.
Jayden Higgins, Houston Texans (23.3% rostered)
A funny thing happened while C.J. Stroud was out with a concussion: Houston finally started using rookie wide receiver Jayden Higgins, who averaged 7.7 targets per game with Davis Mills starting.
Maybe — maybe — this just happened because Mills liked to target him and he'll go back to getting inconsistent looks with Stroud returning to the lineup, but I think that's a pretty pessimistic way of looking at this. Higgins is a talented receiver who Houston should be working hard to get the football to, and Stroud is a clear upgrade over Mills when it comes to delivering the football to players. We could be looking at a late-season breakout here as Houston tries to claw its way back into the playoff picture.
Tight ends to add from the fantasy waiver wire
Colston Loveland, Chicago Bears (35.1% rostered)
At the beginning of November, Colston Loveland had what appeared to be his breakout performance, catching six passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns against the Bengals. He hasn't sustained that level of play, but he does have 40 or more yards in four consecutive games and caught a touchdown this past week against the Steelers.
Is Loveland a league-winner? No — that Bengals game was just a weird fluke. Still, he's getting a handful of targets each game and has a shot to score touchdowns, so a fantasy manager with a hole at tight end could do much worse than just adding Loveland and rolling with him.