Hey folks! We cannot understate the importance of being in on Week 12 waiver wire players early while the free agency acquisition budget (FAAB) price is cheapest (or free!), so you can add them to your roster. This is not just for adding them to your roster so your league mates don’t get them first; this will help you build a strong roster that has depth and can provide some additional cover from the chaos of the NFL season.

As we know, nothing goes exactly to plan in the NFL, so we want you to be as prepared as possible to weather the uncertain storm of injuries, role changes, scheme changes and any other general chaos that can happen in a given NFL season.

I’m Kevin Tompkins, and while I may not have drafted a running back ever, I have picked up quite a few in my day as a noted “Zero-RB” guy; luckily, it won’t just be the running back position I’ll be helping you all with this season.

Each week, I’ll provide five players as look-ahead players for the next week, who could be THE waiver wire claims for the following week. But they won’t be available in your league because you already have them.

We’re already looking ahead to Week 12’s players, so you can be ahead of the game with the first six-team bye week that includes the Atlanta Falcons, Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals, Jacksonville Jaguars, New Orleans Saints and New York Jets.

Note: I cannot be held responsible if these players get hurt in Week 11, so please don’t message me @ktompkinsii.bsky.social if that happens.

Note 2: These early waiver wire pickup suggestions are meant for general fantasy football leagues. Some of these players may not be available in your leagues.

~ Check Out Our Week 11 Fantasy Football Rankings ~

Week 12 Waiver Wire RB

Trey Benson (RB – ARI)

ESPN Rostership (17.3%)

Yet another handcuff option at running back, but Trey Benson has shown explosiveness and lately, power in his runs. While he’s not really in line for a standalone role, James Conner’s role is juicy enough to project Benson as a low-end RB1 if Conner misses any time.

Benson has seen 18 of his 49 carries this season in the past two weeks, and you can thank the game scripts that allowed that to happen as the Cardinals took care of business against the Bears and Jets. It’s the time of the fantasy season when you need to be stocking up at the end of your rosters if you’re in a good position to do so. Players like Benson, Blake Corum, Ray Davis, and others with huge contingent value need to be at the end of benches instead of roster-clogger players like Dontayvion Wicks, Troy Franklin, Andrei Iosivas and others who are two injuries away from being two injuries away.

Grab and stash in case the chaos of the NFL strikes again.

Roschon Johnson (RB – CHI)

ESPN Rostership (14.6%)

It’s been pretty doom and gloom for the passing game for the Chicago Bears as we’ve seen Caleb Williams struggle for reasons that led to the firing of fantasy football’s public enemy No. 1, Shane Waldron. At the very least, the run game for the Bears has been pretty fruitful as D’Andre Swift has emerged from “literal worst running back alive” to fantasy’s RB7 since Week 4 by posting a solid 18.7 fantasy points per game in that stretch.

The Bears have also condensed their running back room, trading what they deem excess as they sent Khalil Herbert to the Cincinnati Bengals. Right now, the running back room is Swift and Roschon Johnson with a clear pecking order and what they will do if something happens to Swift.

That’s where Johnson comes in, where the Bears represent one of the more underrated contingent situations since it’s so clear-cut. Travis Homer is the only other running back on the active roster after Swift and Johnson, and he’s been purely a special teams player without a snap on offense since returning from injured reserve a few weeks ago in Week 8.

Johnson hasn’t gotten too much of an opportunity as he hasn’t started an NFL game in his 23 games as a pro. However, the chaos of the NFL season is undefeated, so Johnson is a worthwhile stash on the end of rosters if you have the room. He’s a mid-range RB2 with upside if something does happen to Swift, as Johnson would see roughly 60-70 percent of the running back carries and roughly the same percentage in overall snaps.

Week 12 Waiver Wire WR

John Metchie (WR – HOU)

ESPN Rostership (1.3%)

John Metchie has been one of the best stories in both the real-life NFL and the silly little game of fantasy we play, as Metchie has overcome leukemia to score his first NFL touchdown in Week 10. A former second-round pick in 2022, Metchie spent his rookie season away from the football field but played sparingly in 2023. With the season-ending injury to Stefon Diggs, plus the extended absence of Nico Collins due to his hamstring injury, it’s provided multiple opportunities for players like Metchie, Xavier Hutchinson and others.

Metchie ran routes on a season-high 71 percent of C.J. Stroud’s dropbacks last week, and his 5-71 line with a touchdown was by far his best outing of the season. With Hutchinson running the Collins role on the outside, Metchie may find a slot role with Collins and Tank Dell as the outside receivers. Metchie being on the field 65-75 percent of the time would greatly boost his stock for the rest of the season. With at least 65 percent routes in the last two games, this could be coming to fruition.

Metchie is a nice under-the-radar stash for fantasy managers looking to capture upside in an underperforming Houston passing game. We know the potential, so I’m going out to put Metchie at the end of my bench wherever I can.

Kayshon Boutte (WR – NE)

ESPN Rostership (2.2%)

Kayshon Boutte has been on the field the most of any New England Patriots wide receiver, with 94 percent routes per dropback in the past four games. While that’s not exactly the most attractive role, it’s something you have to take notice of. The fantasy production has NOT been there for Boutte, with just one top-24 week this season, but Boutte has already done the hard part by getting on the field.

Offensive improvement via the quarterback, Drake Maye, is Boutte’s main path to becoming fantasy viable. He feels a bit “Donovan Peoples-Jones”-y, as he’s been running a consistently high 18.6-yard aDOT over the past six weeks. Even then, he’s earned six targets in the last three weeks and at least 96 air yards in that same span. The intent of the offense has been to target Boutte a decent amount and get him in line for big plays. We love big plays, but of course, they’re not always the most reliable.

But the reliable thing is that the Patriots keep trying, and sooner or later, it’s going to hit. While DeMario Douglas and Hunter Henry are the two most rostered Patriots pass-catchers, the hierarchy has been inconsistent, so there will be weeks where Boutte is going to hit. He’s no immediate start; let’s get that right. But he’s a good stash right now that could turn into a possible league-winning wide receiver if Maye continues to improve and grow.

Marquez Valdes-Scantling (WR – GB)

ESPN Rostership (12.9%)

I said I wasn’t going to write about Marquez Valdes-Scantling this week. This marks the THIRD time I’m writing about him, but in this article, it makes much more sense because of the lack of options for the Saints. It’s easy to dismiss MVS based on his performance in Week 10, where he put up a three-catch, 109-yard, two-touchdown outburst.

But there are literally no pass-catchers left in New Orleans. For context, the Saints were on their WR6, WR8, WR9, WR10 and WR11 that were active in Week 10. Saying the Saints are up against it from a personnel standpoint is putting it mildly.

If you’re hard up for wide receivers, you could do better than MVS… you can do BETTER, but theoretically, you could do worse. Valdes-Scantling only ran routes on 67 percent of Derek Carr’s dropbacks in Week 10, but despite that low percentage, that still led the wide receivers. Another red(ish) flag was his 30.7-yard aDOT last week. It’s near-impossible to earn targets at such a massive aDOT. Even a normalization into his career 16.4-yard aDOT before this season would still make it difficult for Valdes-Scantling to earn targets.

IS there even target-earning potential here? For MVS to be anything close to a consistent fantasy option, he’s going to have to earn targets. The thing is, he has never earned targets in Green Bay, Kansas City, or Buffalo and hasn’t been in New Orleans.

At this point, we know what he is: a deep threat that can give your lineup a jolt when he hits. Conversely, MVS also has a near-zero fantasy floor. The risks are why MVS is still out there on the waiver wire in the majority of fantasy leagues, so buyer beware. Yes, MVS is on bye in Week 12, but he should be a contributor for the rest of the season, given the injuries and lack of depth in New Orleans.

Kevin Tompkins is a contributor to Optimus Fantasy Football. Find more from Kevin on BlueSky @ktompkinsii.bsky.social and right here on Optimus Fantasy.