Week 14 is wrapping up and chaos continues to roll on. Backfields continue to turn over and the new realities the NFL reveals constantly remind us not to cling to our conceived notions. It's a reminder that pain is always present in the joy that is fantasy football. Now we must look forward to options to assist in beefing up our fake teams to move forward, whether it be long-term replacements or a streamer just to get by.
It's just those sort of symptoms that the Deep Dive is prescribed to help alleviate. NFL Fantasy's editorial overlord Alex Gelhar dutifully attacks the waiver wire to give you the top adds for the coming week in hopes of bolstering your roster. However, in this arena, we'll look at options to help those of you looking to go a little bit further down the rabbit hole, whether you play in a deeper format or are at the mercy of your incredibly sharp league-mates who scour the waiver wire relentlessly. A player can only qualify for the deep dive if they're owned in less than 10 percent of NFL.com leagues. With that, here are 11 players you can consider adding before Week 15 either as deep FLEX plays or simply as bench stashes.
Carson Wentz is out for the year with a torn ACL, because life is merely a futile exercise in pain and misery.
Nick Foles will take his place at the helm of a high-powered
Eagles offense flushed with playmakers. Philadelphia gets a sweet schedule to close the fantasy season with matchups against the
Giants and
Raiders in Weeks 15 and 16. If you're in desperate need of a streamer, Foles could help you in New York this week. The
Giants have allowed seven touchdowns of 20-plus yards since their Week 8 bye.
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Tion Green didn't provide any sort of encore to his Week 13 debut where he scored a touchdown. He posted just 15 rushing yards against the
Buccaneers on Sunday, despite
Ameer Abdullah being a healthy scratch. However, the
Lions
did not commit to Abdullah as their starting back, which means Green could continue to get work. He's worth holding on to for another week in pure speculation.
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Alfred Morris is entrenched as the starting running back through and through, but
Rod Smith is providing juice as a big-play change-of-pace back. Smith has four touchdowns in his last three games and finally turned his passing game usage into a massive 113-yard receiving line against the
Giants.
Ezekiel Elliott will return in Week 16 but Smith and Morris will get one last week of run against the
Raiders this coming Sunday night.
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The rookie back hasn't turned into a standalone fantasy option and has single digit touches in each of his last four games. However, Austin Ekeler fits right in with the type of handcuff back you want to hold during the fantasy playoffs. If something happens to Melvin Gordon, Ekeler would be the presumptive favorite to inherit the starting job for a team that is red hot on offense right now. The Chargers finish the season with matchups against the Chiefs, Jets and Raiders.
Orleans Darkwa appealed to have a strong grip in the top running back job in New York before Sunday when rookie
Wayne Gallman popped back up to lead the backfield in carries (12) while drawing nine targets. We have three possible explanations for Gallman's sudden show of relevance. Ben McAdoo, now fired, was always seemingly a big
Orleans Darkwa fan. The New York brass may want to get a look at their rookie back as the team's meaningless 2017 season unwinds. Lastly, Darkwa fumbled in the Week 14 loss. No matter for what reason, Gallman saw more work and that puts him back on the deep dive fantasy radar.
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After a stretch of struggles, it appears the Chiefs offense is starting to heat back up again. Kansas City has scored 57 points over their last two games and cleared 400 yards in each. If this offense is even close to the high-flying unit from the early months of the season, we should be stashing the backup running back in case Kareem Hunt misses time before the close of 2017.
Jimmy Garoppolo has the
49ers winning and the offense moving once again.
Matt Breida has been on our shortlist of running back deep adds all season. However, the running back spot becomes much more appealing in an offense run by a true starting-caliber quarterback. Breida should be on rosters of teams still alive in the playoffs just in case he turns into a usable fantasy asset before the season ends.
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We've highlighted rookie playmaker Dede Westbrook in this space before and he paid off with over 80 yards and score in Week 14. However, fellow first-year receiver Keelan Cole has made noise of late too. It's a thin play, as Cole has just three targets in each of his last two games but he's also scored in both. Cole gets plenty of deep game work and averages over 16 yards per reception this season. The Jaguars take on the poor Texans defense in Week 15.
With Breshad Perriman a regular on the inactive list, Chris Moore is now the Ravens No. 3 receiver. A depth wideout on a middling, at best, offense isn't exactly a fantasy must-have, but Moore bears watching. He was a college deep threat and found the end zone in Week 15.
After his two-touchdown reappearance, Cameron Brate fell quiet again in Week 14 with just a single catch for 11 yards. The Bucs may want to get more looks to their rookie tight end as their season comes to a close. O.J. Howard's snaps have gone up in each of the last three games with 53, 55 and 56. Howard has gone over 50 yards and scored a touchdown in two of his last four games. The Bucs will play the Falcons on Monday night in Week 15.
Jesse James popped up for a season-high in catches and yards on Sunday Night Football in Week 14.
Vance McDonald also had his best game in a
Steelers uniform with four catches for 52 yards, following up a Week 13 performance where he scored a touchdown. With the Pittsburgh offense looking like the unit we've always dreamt of over the last month, these two tight ends can find their way onto the streaming radar. The
Steelers will take on the
Patriots in an ultra-important and likely high-scoring affair in Week 15.
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Matt Harmon is a writer/editor for NFL.com, and the creator of #ReceptionPerception, who you can follow on Twitter _@MattHarmonBYB_ or like on Facebook.
