NFL fantasy football waiver wire pickups for Week 13

TE Waiver Wire Pickups, Fantasy Football Week 13

Pat Freiermuth, Pittsburgh Steelers (50 percent rostered)

In the first game of the post-Matt Canada era, Pat Freiermuth looks to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the Steelers’ decision to fire Canada. Freiermuth hauled in nine of his 11 targets in the Steelers Week 12 win against the Bengals, leading all pass-catchers in receiving yards (120).

After returning from a five-game absence in Week 11, Pat Freiermuth only saw one target, which he converted into seven yards. Freiermuth is still being ramped up, having played just 54 percent of the Steelers’ offensive snaps in Week 11. However, his role within the offense will be more consistent sans Canada.

Before Week 12, Freiermuth had exceeded double-digit receiving yards in just one of the five games he played this season. The Steelers offense never eclipsed 400 total yards in any of their 58 games with Canada as offensive coordinator. In the first game after his firing, they ended the drought and quarterback Kenny Pickett had the second-most passing yards in a game of his career (278).

Last season’s PPR TE7, Freiermuth has a chance to finish the season strong with the Steelers offense clearly trending upwards.

Cade Otton, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (29 percent rostered)

In recent weeks, Cade Otton has quietly been a reliable PPR TE2 for fantasy managers in a pinch. He’s caught at least four passes in five of his past six games, earning 33 targets in that span, which ranks 11th amongst all tight ends from Weeks 7-12.

That type of consistent workload provides Otton with a reasonable floor while making him less touchdown-dependent than tight ends on the waiver wire. It is tough to rely on scoring touchdowns as a consistent means of fantasy production, so chasing the targets with Otton makes sense.

With tight ends such as T.J. Hockenson, Dalton Kincaid, Isaiah Likely, and Cole Kmet having byes in Week 13, managers could be hard-pressed to find a better fill-in option than Otton.