Now that we are headed toward Thanksgiving, there are only one or two weeks left in the fantasy football regular season. To become your league’s champion, you need to stay one step ahead of the competition. Yes, you need to win your game this week, but you also need to prepare yourself for Week 14, the second Byemageddon in three weeks.
With no teams on a bye in Week 13, you shouldn’t be in as much of a roster crunch as you were in Week 12. All of your top starters should be in your lineup, which should allow you to stock your bench with players who can contribute for your team the following week. Unless your team suffered a rash of injuries this past week, that should be your waiver-wire strategy — adding roster coverage for the avalanche of Week 14 byes, or even swapping out bench players who can contribute down the road.
Titans wide receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine is a perfect example. With six touchdowns over his past seven games, he has been one of the top options for fantasy managers in need of recent bye-week filler. Here in Week 13, with all of your receivers playing, he may not be someone who cracks your starting lineup, but looking ahead to Week 14, he will be matched up against the defensively challenged Jaguars. Their pass defense ranks last in the NFL, and with the improved level of passing we’ve seen from Will Levis, NWI should continue to see targets and red-zone looks.
You may also want to hang onto Saints wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling. Again, not someone you really care to rely on when the rest of your receiving corps is healthy, but if you need someone in Week 14, the Saints are playing the Giants and their struggling defense. Big Blue rank 29th against the pass, and we’ve now seen MVS take over the Rashid Shaheed role, catching five of his seven targets for 198 yards and three touchdowns over his past two games.
Saints tight end Taysom Hill might also be someone you choose to hold onto for another week or two. His matchup in Week 13 comes against the Rams, who have routinely struggled against both the run and pass-catching tight ends, so hanging onto him again for Week 14 against the Giants seems prudent, given the overall state of the position.
Fantasy football managers get a little breather over Thanksgiving week with no bye weeks for anyone, but that doesn’t mean you take a break from your waiver-wire work. Set your Week 13 starting lineups as soon as you can and see what room you have on your bench. If you can stay protected for the Week 14 Byemageddon, you should cruise into your playoffs in style.
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Howard Bender is the head of content at FantasyAlarm.com. Follow him on X @rotobuzzguy and catch him on the award-winning “Fantasy Alarm Radio Show” on the SiriusXM fantasy sports channel weekdays from 6-8 p.m. Go to FantasyAlarm.com for all your fantasy football news and advice.
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