Pivot Plays and Post-Waiver Pickups: Week 14

This is the week that will define your fantasy football season. Do not pull a Gregg Williams and make a mistake at the worst possible time.

You MUST have healthy bodies at each starting position in your fantasy football lineup this week. No excuses! If one of your players has a hangnail or a common cold that has him listed as “questionable” on the NFL’s dreaded injury report, you better have a backup ready to take his place in case your guy bows out before his game. If you do not make the right pivot play or post-waiver wire pickup, your playoff and title dreams will be dashed faster than you can say, “Wow, Patrick Mahomes does a lot of commercials!”

Without further ado, here are my pivot plays and post-waiver pickups for Week 14 --- and the questionable superstars who you might need to replace:

Potential Pivot Plays for Fantasy Lineups

If Las Vegas Josh Jacobs (ankle) is still not ready to give it a go on Sunday, you could go with…

Tony Pollard (DAL, RB) at CIN

Pollard has shown flashes of brilliance, speed and toughness during his short stints in Dallas’ backfield this season. At times he has appeared fresher and more explosive than top tailback Ezekiel Elliott. But while his 4.7 yards per carry and his increased workload have been nice to see, Pollard’s 300 rushing yards, 94 receiving yards and two touchdowns have not helped many fantasy managers win games this year.

A door may open for more touches for Pollard this Sunday, however. Elliott has a calf injury he is nursing, which could lead to Pollard carrying more of the tailback weight and/or maybe garner him a start. If Pollard does have an expanded role in Dallas’ offense this weekend, he will get to run against Cincinnati’s 29^th-ranked run defense. Couple that with a possibly pumped-up Andy Dalton at QB looking to gain revenge against his former team and Pollard’s fantasy opportunities could be boundless this weekend.

If Kansas City’s Tyreek Hill (illness) cannot be cleared in time for Sunday’s game, you could go with…

Gabriel Davis (BUF, WR) vs. PIT

John Brown can take his time healing from his latest injury. Davis has manned Brown’s vacant spot as if he is a Pro Bowl pass catcher. The fourth-round rookie might be a Pro Bowler some day, but fantasy managers were not expecting this type of magical production from this kid so soon, especially when Stefon Diggs and Cole Beasley demand the bulk of the targets due to their talent and track record.

Davis has scored touchdowns and racked up at least 68 receiving yards in three of his past four contests and should be an integral part of Buffalo’s passing plan this Sunday night in a home tilt against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Diggs and Beasley limit Davis’ ceiling (as does Pittsburgh’s second-ranked pass defense), but the first-year phenom is bound to have a few Josh Allen missiles headed his way deep downfield and inside the red zone this week.

If Tennessee’s A.J. Brown (ankle) cannot limp onto the field on Sunday, you could go with…

Breshad Perriman (NYJ, WR) at SEA

Let me set the record straight – I do not believe there is a chance in hell that the Jets will win at Seattle after the Seahawks just lost at home to the Jets’ roommates, the Giants, this past weekend. I think there is a better chance of Donald Trump quarterbacking the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to a Canadian Football League Grey Cup win in 2021. That said, I do believe the Jets will score some points and that Perriman will have a hand in scoring some of them.

Perriman was probably dropped in a ton of leagues after his worthless one-catch fantasy flub against Las Vegas last weekend, but let’s take advantage of those impatient fantasy players! Perriman had 234 receiving yards and three touchdowns in the three games prior to that fantasy disaster, and now is will run fly patterns against the worst pass defense in the NFL. While Perriman would be better off with long-ball tosser Joe Flacco at quarterback and not dink-and-dunk Sam Darnold, chances are Perriman will break a couple big plays against the Seahawks’ severed secondary. Pick Perriman up and hope for a home run or two.

If Tennessee’s Jonnu Smith (knee) misses another game on Sunday, you could go with…

Dan Arnold (ARI, TE) at NYG

Arnold is rostered in zero percent of fantasy leagues at the writing of this column, despite coming off the first two-TD game of his four-year career this past Sunday against the division rival L.A. Rams. He has three scores over his past three games and has earned the tough trust of head coach Kliff Kingsbury, who is known for calling plays for his tight ends about as often as Cris Collinsworth is known for calling cricket matches.

Arnold does not have an easy matchup this week. The Giants Defense, which was a porous, pathetic unit at the onset of the season, is now playing as if Lawrence Taylor, Michael Strahan and Harry Carson are part of the front seven again. The tight end pickings are slim on fantasy waiver wires, though, and Arnold is a decent low-cost bet this late in the season. Arnold might only see three or four targets on Sunday afternoon, but the trend is that he will turn one into either a touchdown or a big gainer.

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