Hungry for More: The Fantasy Footballers’ Predictions for Week 14

We may be past the biggest feast day of the year, but that doesn’t mean that fantasy football managers don’t need to be searching for ways to improve their rosters, especially with just a week left before most playoffs begin! The Ballers are back in the kitchen, cooking up a trio of players they’re ready to sprinkle some salt on and turn into a delicious fantasy treat in this week’s Hungry for More presented by Uber Eats!

Each week throughout the fantasy season, Andy, Mike, and Jason each find a player that they want to see take a step forward and expect to make a bigger difference for fantasy rosters!

Browns Passing Offense

What started the season as one of the WORST offenses to have receiving options on has turned into one of the BEST groups to be involved in over the last six weeks and has Jason licking his chops to get more of the Browns for fantasy. Since Jameis Winston took over the starting QB duties in Week 8, Cleveland’s offense has averaged more plays run per game (70) than any other in the league. Winston being under center has resulted in three games of over 300 passing yards in the Browns’ last five matchups, and that includes a game with heavy snow in Week 12. What’s more encouraging for Cleveland’s fantasy output is that each of the main pieces in the receiving game—Jerry Jeudy, Cedric Tillman, Elijah Moore, David Njoku—have seen a drastic boost in usage and production since Winston took over the starting QB role, so there should be plenty of positive things to come down the stretch of the season.

The only thing that might make fantasy managers pause before playing any of the various receiving options is a pretty tough stretch of matchups for WRs as we head into the fantasy playoffs. In three of the Browns’ four remaining games in the fantasy season, they’ll face a defense that’s allowing negative fantasy points above expectation to opposing WRs. That said, that’s also been the case in three of their last four matchups and their output has been great during that run. What should have fantasy managers drooling is the great schedule for TE David Njoku. Every remaining matchup for Njoku will be against a team allowing positive points above expectation, so there should be fantasy goodness in store there. Overall, each of these pieces in the Browns’ offense should be rostered and in lineups for the high-end possibilities they present for the rest of the season.

Upcoming Schedule: at Pittsburgh, vs. Kansas City, at Cincinnati, vs. Miami

Maybe one of the more disappointing fantasy assets throughout 2024 has been the lackluster production from Jaylen Waddle, but an uptick in usage over the last two weeks has Mike going back to the buffet of the Dolphins’ offense for another helping. While Weeks 1-11 were frustrating based on what we’ve seen from Waddle in years past, the last two weeks have given fantasy managers reason to believe again. Waddle has averaged an average depth of target of 15.2 per target over the last two weeks, which is up from 8.9 in his first 10 games and behind only Jerry Jeudy since Week 12. During that stretch, Waddle has as many top36 WR finishes as he had in those first 10 games of the year.

Waddle’s increased involvement comes at the most important time of the fantasy season, and just before a very appealing set of matchups to finish the year. Half of the Dolphins’ final four games in the fantasy season come against teams that are allowing at least 3.7 fantasy points above expectation to opposing WRs. The other two matchups—NY Jets and San Francisco—aren’t quite the same teams that were great against WRs earlier in the year and might still be solid opportunities for Waddle to be more productive down the stretch of the season. The only concern for fantasy managers with Waddle should be if the Dolphins find themselves out of playoff contention and decide to sit some of their main offensive pieces to help ward off any potential injuries that might roll into 2025.

Upcoming Schedule: vs. N.Y. Jets, at Houston, vs. San Francisco, at Cleveland

Andy’s absence means I get a chance to talk about a sneaky RB pickup in Sincere McCormick. While the Raiders’ rushing offense has been one of the absolute worst this season, McCormick was a very bright spot in an otherwise black hole of a running game. McCormick’s 64 yards on just 38% of snaps last week against the Chiefs was the second-most by a Raiders RB in a game this season (Alexander Mattison in Week 7 was the most). While there’s potential for Mattison or Zamir White to return to the lineup and possibly keep McCormick from seeing more work in the coming weeks, Raiders Head Coach Antonio Pierce has made it clear that McCormick deserves more work and just signed him to the 53-man roster. 

If McCormick does indeed continue to see his role increase in the Las Vegas offense, he’ll have a great schedule ahead of him in the last month of the fantasy season to help fantasy managers. In each of the Raiders’ last four games through the fantasy playoffs, McCormick will face defenses that are allowing positive fantasy points above expectation to opposing RBs. In fact, in two of their next three matchups, the defenses Las Vegas will face are giving up at least 4.6 points above expectation to fantasy RBs. Even with Ameer Abdullah getting most of the receiving work, McCormick could be a late-season gem for RB-needy fantasy rosters.

Upcoming Schedule: at Tampa Bay, vs. Atlanta, vs. Jacksonville, at New Orleans