5 breakout fantasy football stars to pick up for Week 14
It's do-or-die for fantasy football playoff hopefuls in Week 14. These five pickups could be the difference between a spot in the playoffs or a spot in the loser's bracket.
The fantasy football regular season is almost over and the playoffs are in strike for a lot of owners. Picking up a win in Week 13, which was a killer with six teams on bye, is massive as it could either lock up a playoff spot, improve seeding, or keep hopes alive entering Week 14, when most standard leagues wrap up the regular season.
While teams in need of a playoff push can definitely use this space for pickups to help them win immediately, teams already in the playoffs can start to plan ahead by picking up some of these options as either lottery tickets or bench pieces to block a rival from snagging them. Let's take a look at the five top pickups of Week 14 with all rostered percentages based on Yahoo! leagues.
5. Houston Texans D/ST
We mentioned the Atlanta Falcons defense and special teams in this space last week as an opportunity to pick on the historically inept New York Jets' offense. Owners who streamed Atlanta got a strong day from the Falcons as they gave up just six defensive points, recorded four sacks, an interception and two fumble recoveries in a 13-8 win.
The Jets switched quarterbacks from Tim Boyle to Trevor Siemian late in the game and the move made no difference. Head coach Robert Saleh said after the game that he had no idea where the team was going at quarterback in Week 14 but it likely doesn't matter given the offense's dysfunction regardless of who's under center.
The defense to grab this week is Houston, which is playing the Jets in New York on Sunday. The Texans are rostered in 13 percent of leagues and are the recommended streaming play of the week on defense.