John Ross (WR, CIN) - Week 14 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14-Team PPR Leagues

OWNED IN: 9% of Leagues

ANALYSIS: The Cincinnati Bengals have place wide receiver A.J. Green (toe) on IR, opening up space for second-year receiver John Ross to take on a bigger role in the Bengals offense.

Ross was targeted 20 times in the first three games that A.J. Green missed this season. He wasn't particularly effective in those games in terms of yardage, finishing with seven catches for 97 yards, but he found the end zone in all three of those games.

That's what you're buying my grabbing John Ross at this point: the idea that while he won't pile up yardage and he won't be very efficient in hauling in his targets, he's going to have a chance to find the end zone. Sure, he's got a catch rate of just 41 percent, which ranks as the second-lowest among qualifying receivers (Kelvin Benjamin is at 37.1 percent). And sure, he hasn't topped 52 yards in a game this season. But Ross has five touchdowns on the season, and for a deep league waiver option this late in the season, that scoring upside -- especially when you remember that three of those came without Green -- is big.

The one real hesitation here is the Jeff Driskel situation. Driskel wasn't bad against the Broncos, but he wasn't great either, throwing for 236 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. His yards per attempt numbers are nearly a yard below Andy Dalton's, and Ross is sixth on the Bengals in receptions when targeted by Driskel. There hasn't been much of a connection between the two yet, though that could definitely change with Green out.