Fantasy Football Week 14 WR Sleepers
It’s the fantasy football playoffs, and I am going to level with you. You probably shouldn’t be looking at this article. If you’re at this point in the season, you should have a solid roster, ready for glory. Still, things change, and the best-laid plans of mice and men, and whatnot. Your A.J. Green-Emmanuel Sanders one-two punch is dead, or Corey Davis wet the bed on TNF for you and you need some additional punch. We are here to help, with three WR sleepers available in at least 70% of Yahoo! leagues. One of these guys, for you deep divers, is out there in over 90% of leagues. WR sleepers and their ownership percentages are as of Wednesday morning when waivers ran. If they don’t match what your league says, then feel free to not bother me with your protests.
Curtis Samuel at Cleveland (28% owned)
I wrote about Samuel last week on the WR sleepers list, asking if he could make it four out of five games with double-digit fantasy points. Now I ask: can he make it five out of six? For the denser among us, that means that he came through for us last week, posting a 6/88 line on eleven targets. The eleven targets were the most he’s had all season, and I don’t think it is a coincidence that they came in a game where the Panthers lost Greg Olsen. Here’s my fever dream scenario: Funchess gets more Olsen routes, where he would be better (because he’s big, slow, and bad), and Samuel gets more intermediate and deep routes (because he’s #ActuallyGood). That is a recipe for fantasy success for Samuel against a Browns defense that has trouble stopping opposing WRs (ten double-digit fantasy days in their last seven games) and who could be without the services of star rookie CB, Denzel Ward.
Antonio Callaway versus Carolina (15% owned)
The Antonio Callaway Experience has been an interesting one for the Mistake by the Lake. He’s received a ton of passes (5+ passes in eight of his last ten games), but he’s done relatively little with them. That is, until the last couple of weeks. He put in 62 and a score and 85 yards in the last two weeks, catching seven of eleven passes. The rising tide of the Browns offense has finally lifted his (and Jarvis Landry’s) boat. That should keep rolling this week against the Panthers defense that can’t get QB pressure to save its life. That leaves Antonio Callaway streaking deep to catch some Baker Bombs (patent pending). There will be plenty to go around for Callaway and Landry, as three of the last four teams to play the Panthers had two wideouts score at least 15 fantasy points against them. The one team that didn’t (the Lions), had Kenny Golladay go for 113 and a score. He could be one of the WR sleepers who catch a heater down the stretch and slot right in as a WR3 for the rest of the year.
Zay Jones versus New York Jets (10% owned)
In week ten, the Jets played a one-two punch very similar to Zay Jones and Ramon Foster. The duo that week went off for a combined 198 yards and a touchdown. That game gave the Bills the blueprint to beat the Jets this week, if only they had the players to pull it off. That duo? Zay Jones and Ramon Foster. The Bills do have the firepower to pull that off again. The only question is if they will pull it off again. Zay Jones should be the main beneficiary of a downfield assault on the Jets, as he has at least six targets in four of his last six games. The targets are the easy part, the hard part for Jones has been catching them. He’s caught 62.5% of his targets over that stretch, while is a huge improvement on his 0.00% catch rate from his rookie year (note: this catch rate may be exaggerated for effect). Outside of all of this improved performance is the loss of Kelvin Benjamin. Zay Jones is in line for a huge increase in target share this week, and that lands him in the deep dive spot on the WR sleepers list.
Need more sleeper help? Check out our weekly sleepers at every position!
Forgot About Zay (WR Sleepers)
Riding Ridley (RB Sleepers)
Scraping the Bottom of the Barrel (TE Sleepers)
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