It's do-or-die season for a lot of folks with the fantasy postseason nearly here. My goal in the Week 14 kickoff waiver wire article is to help plan for the weeks to come, while also tossing in a few players who could help extend your fantasy season for another week. Just a reminder I will post a an update to the site every day leading up to Thursday's kickoff. Let's make this week count!
For the audio and video component of the article, I also went through a fully developed list on the RotoWire YouTube channel that you can view below.
Be sure to keep an eye on our NFL injury report and the latest fantasy football news. For player usage updates and roster context, check out RotoWire's NFL depth charts, and don't miss the weekly projections to see how this week's matchups shape up.
Teams on bye: 
New England Patriots, 
New York Giants, 
San Francisco 49ers, 
Carolina Panthers
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Quarterback
C.J. Stroud, Texans - We're at the point of the season where this article is better served planning for the fantasy postseason. With a handful of critical teams on bye this week, streaming quarterbacks will be useful, but it's a frustrating week for that with the usual suspects all in relatively difficult spots. Stroud is somehow less than 50 percent rostered and, more important, has favorable matchups Week 15 (against Cardinals) and Week 16 (against Raiders) where the third-year signal caller is probably in QB1 territory. Houston's offensive line was the biggest hurdle for Stroud to be a fantasy option entering the year, and while the big uglies seem to be getting better, neither opponent will really test them either. FAAB: top priority if you're in need better QB play come fantasy postseason
Tyrod Taylor, Jets - If you need a streaming option for Week 14, you can probably do worse than Taylor, who has quietly produced more than 17 fantasy points in each of his three starts this season. Miami's defense isn't a complete push over, but the veteran quarterback can give you a bit of rushing yards and is at minimum a more competent thrower than Justin Fields, which has made both John Metchie and Adonai Mitchell (more on him below) relevant options in deeper leagues. FAAB: 2 percent of FAAB budget if Week 14 starter is needed
Running Back
Blake Corum, Rams - Both of the recommended running backs to start the Week 14 waiver wire article will focus on the fantasy postseason aspect of things. Kyren Williams missed a portion of Sunday's loss to the Panthers with an ankle injury, but regardless of his status, Corum needs to be rostered more. At this point of the fantasy calendar, I want to remove any risk of my opponents stumbling into a league-winning player off waivers. Any of the wide receivers or tight ends who have a ceiling of 14 PPR points? You're gone. Same goes for any of the backup quarterbacks someone might be rostering when you have the likes of Josh Allen, Jalen Hurts, etc. Depth matters far less in the fantasy playoffs. Removing any wild-card options that a league mate could scoop up for nothing is far more concerning. The second-year back is getting plenty of volume (60 carries the last six weeks), but if Williams were to miss significant time, Corum would immediately become must-start territory in the most critical juncture of the fantasy playoffs. FAAB: Must roster at this point
Ray Davis, Bills - Similar concept, but likely more applicable in deeper leagues. I loved Davis as a sleeper rookie last season, which obviously never really came to pass. James Cook's offseason extension effectively ended any fantasy value in dynasty leagues for the 2024 fourth-round pick, but Davis would immediately step into a major redraft fantasy situation in the event Cook, who is six carries from a career high despite entering Week 14, suffered an injury of some sort. Ty Johnson would likely platoon in a pass-catching role and absorb some PPR value from Davis in that scenario, but Davis is talented and would make good use of the opportunity if it were to arise. FAAB: Pickup if you have a roster spot to churn
Wide Receiver
Isaac TeSlaa and Kalif Raymond, Lions - Raise your hand if you had a wonderful start to your fantasy Thanksgiving watching Amon-Ra St. Brown give you a fantasy zero? Yes, that probably aided in my Packers pulling off the upset win, but the pumpkin pie didn't taste as good watching the Pro Bowl receiver ruin any shot I had in a handful of fantasy leagues. TeSlaa saw a whopping 58 snaps Thursday with St. Brown injured, while Tom Kennedy saw 41 snaps after being a healthy inactive much of the season. Both saw a season high in snaps in part because Raymond (ankle) was unavailable on the short week. I assume the popular opinion will be that TeSlaa, the fun rookie who makes cool catches, will just immediately become a 10-target guy opposite Jameson Williams, but I think Raymond might be the more lucrative call. For one, TeSlaa likely won't play the slot even if Raymond is unavailable again, as we saw with the Kennedy workload in Thursday's loss. And another, if Raymond does play, he's had his moments with Jared Goff over the years to be an impactful threat in the slot and useful on deeper routes as well. Both need to be picked up, but I'd be willing to bet Raymond outscores TeSlaa in Week 14 against the Cowboys. FAAB: TeSlaa = 13 percent of budget if you need a streaming option with high upside. Raymond = 3 percent if you need a streaming option with a safer floor
Devaughn Vele, Saints - New Orleans is just not a good football team, and I don't know how that's supposed to change at any point this year. I mentioned Vele all the way back in Week 12 just off the premise a bad football team would want to try to make good on the foolish preseason trade, and while the Saints' process has been comically bad, it's at least useful for us in fantasy. Tyler Shough is averaging 33 passing attempts per game since taking over in Week 8. That's more than enough volume to sustain Chris Olave, Juwan Johnson and a third pass catcher, possibly Vele (15 targets the last two weeks) or Devin Neal (10 targets the last two weeks). You could argue Vele is the exact type of WR I recommended dropping for the likes of Blake Corum and Ray Davis, but I'll let you be the judge of how useful a 12 PPR floor receiver is for your roster.
Adonai Mitchell, Jets - If I'm high on Tyrod Taylor, it's only fair to acknowledge that Mitchell has quietly been useful in his own right. The 2024 second-round pick never worked out in Indy, but he's rightly earning opportunities (25 targets the last three weeks) for a moribund New York passing attack that now has some teeth thanks to Taylor. Mitchell is prone to plenty of boneheaded plays, but he's obviously talented and finally with a team that can afford to deal with the bad plays while waiting out for the obvious good ones. FAAB: 6 percent of FAAB if you need a ceiling WR
Tight End
Harold Fannin, Browns - The rookie's roster rate dipped down to 33 percent this week. I assume that's due to fantasy manager's lack of confidence in Cleveland's quarterback situation (entirely fair, by the way), but Fannin is clearly the team's only hope of a functioning weapon as a pass catcher. He's going to have at minimum five targets per week and Fannin does enough after the catch with those looks that I think he's effectively in must-roster territory at this point. Matchups against the Titans and Bears in the coming weeks are also good spots from a fantasy perspective. FAAB: Really should be the top replacement if you're missing a TE on bye
Isaiah Likely, Ravens - Likely was about the only offensive player to show up for the Ravens in Thursday's shocking loss to the Bengals. I have no idea what to make of Lamar Jackson, or this offense in general, at this point. On paper, Baltimore has one of the easiest schedules to end the fantasy season, and the TE position in particularly should be in a lucrative spot. I think Likely is part of the solution toward fixing an offense that seems to be rudderless, but he's had a combined 16 targets in the five weeks prior as the Ravens have fuddled around to this point. FAAB: Complete dice roll with upside
