If you’re seeking NFL Week 12 waiver wire pickups for your fantasy football league, we suggest adding RB Derrius Guice (Washington Redskins), RB Jonathan Williams (Indianapolis Colts), and WR Deebo Samuel (San Francisco 49ers).
The bye weeks are winding down, and if you’re in a large fantasy football league, then you know premier players are scarce heading into Week 12.
Williams is a worthy addition if you don’t already have him as a handcuff for Marlon Mack. Mack left Week 11’s game prematurely with a broken hand, and he’s out a couple of weeks.
NFL Week 12 – Waiver Wire Pickups
Derrius Guice (RB, Washington)
Jonathan Williams (RB, Indianapolis Colts)
Deebo Samuel (WR, San Francisco)
Jimmy Garoppolo and the Niners‘ offense has been cranking out the second-best offense in the NFL, averaging 29.5 points per game. With tight end George Kittle out nursing a sore knee and ankle, Samuel emerged as a favorite target for Jimmy G.
Guice played one game this season before he tore his meniscus, and missed more than two months of action. He returned to the lineup in Week 11 for the Redskins against the NY Jets, and looked like his old self.
Jonathan Williams
When Mack left with a hand injury in Week 11, Williams stepped in as next-man-up in the rotation. Williams rushed for 116 yards on 13 carries, averaging 8.9 yards each time he carried the ball.
Williams has been an underdog most of his football career. He played his collegiate ball at Arkansas, which is in the SEC, but which doesn’t get a lot of recognition as a football school. The Buffalo Bills took a flier on Williams in the fifth round of the 2015 NFL Draft. He bounced around practice squads for the Bills, Denver Broncos, and New Orleans Saints before joining the Colts this season.
Williams finally got a shot to play every down, and he succeeded as a capable backup to Mack even though he started out buried deep on the depth chart.
Mack broke his carry hand, which means he’ll be out a little longer than expected. Mack’s backup, Jordan Wilkins, sprained his ankle and missed Week 11. He returned to practice this week, so it’s now up to Williams and Wilkins to split carries in a short week against the Houston Texans on Thursday Night Football.
Deebo Samuel
Backup tight end Ross Dwelley stepped up for an injured George Kittle, and had a career day with four catches and two touchdowns against the Arizona Cardinals.
Kittle said he will try to practice this week. Whether or not Kittle plays, Samuel is worth a flier.
The rookie emerged as the #1 target for Jimmy G once Emmanuel Sanders left with a rib injury in Week 11. Samuel tweaked his groin, but returned to the Cardinals game to catch eight passes for 134 yards.
In Week 10, Samuel caught eight passes for 112 yards. The rookie has only caught one touchdown in the NFL, but he’s averaging 12.4 yards per reception with most of the damage happening after the catch.
“Deebo Samuel is fearless,” said teammate Richard Sherman. “He’ll run through any catch. You get some receivers running across the middle and they’re looking for who is going to hit them. Deebo is looking for who he’s gonna hit. That’s a much different mentality.”
Derrius Guice
If the name sounds familiar, it’s because we suggested Guice in the preseason as a potential running back sleeper pick. Obviously, we didn’t foresee that another knee injury would potentially derail his season.
Just when you forgot about Guice, he made an under-the-radar return last week. Hey, it’s cool if you missed it. Not too many people watched the Jets/Redskins game, for obvious reasons. The Skins lost another game, but Guice was one of the lone highlights for the inept Skins.
Guice is a LSU legend. He’s the only player in SEC history with three games rushing for 250 or more yards. It’s difficult to pull that off once, let alone twice. Yet, Guice did it thrice.
Guice has had bad luck ever since arriving in Washington. He blew out his knee in the first preseason game of his rookie year, and missed the entire 2018 season. He worked hard in the offseason to be ready for 2019. However, he incurred another bad beat when he injured his other knee in Week 1.
Against the Jets, Guice rushed only seven times for 24 yards. However, he caught a pass and scampered 45 yards for his first-career NFL touchdown. If Guice can stay healthy, he’ll challenge Adrian Peterson for touches. For now, Guice is hungry for the ball, and you should target him for this week’s waiver wire pickups.