Week 14 RB Waiver Pickups & Adds: The Cam Akers Train Has Left The Station

Week 14 RB Waiver Wire Pickups

MLS Planned Expansion Teams

Damien Harris – New England Patriots

Over the past five weeks, Damien Harris ranks 14th in PPR scoring. He has the 5th most rushing attempts in that span. While he doesn’t get work in the passing game, I use the PPR scoring to show where he lands in the more popular format. Harris has a high workload in attempts and has been effective on the year. He is rushing for 5.1 yards per attempt and has three 100+ yard games on the year. The matchups over the next three weeks are not bad. The Rams have a good defense and that will be the tough matchup, but the Dolphins and Bills are plus matchups for Weeks 15 and 16. Miami is allowing 4.6 yards per attempt this season and that is the 7th-worst. Buffalo is bottom-eight, allowing 4.7 yards per attempt. The Bills are also allowing 1.5 rushing touchdowns per game. Overall this is a strong spot for Harris and the workload. He is floating around in about half of leagues and shouldn’t be an expensive FAAB option for whatever dollars you have left.

Phillip Lindsay – Denver Broncos

Phillip Lindsay has played second fiddle to Melvin Gordon this season, which has been unfortunate because he has been very productive. He has averaged 4.6 yards per attempt this season and the big game came in Week 8 against the Chargers. He does find himself with double-digit touch weeks at times this season. Denver has a solid rest of the season schedule against the Panthers, Bills, and Chargers. Buffalo has allowed the 11th most fantasy points per game to running backs and 4.7 yards per attempt. The Panthers are allowing the 6th most fantasy points and the Chargers are allowing the 12th most. All three teams rank in the bottom half in DVOA against the run. Lindsay can have some success in the next few matchups and is one of those guys who should linger on your bench as a just in case option for the next few weeks.

Latavius Murray – New Orleans Saints

The Saints offense has certainly been operating at a different level with Taysom Hill. Alvin Kamara finally had a solid game with Hill under center. This cause Murray to have a down game in touches. We still don’t know when Drew Brees will return but it sounds like he could be back soon. Either way, Murray is a legitimate handcuff who has 12+ touch upside each week and has been productive behind a good Saints offensive line. Murray will face the Eagles, Chiefs, and Vikings over the next three weeks. Both the Chiefs and Vikings are in the bottom half against the run this season. Philadelphia is a solid run defense but has allowed some solid games to RB1s over the last five weeks. Murray is another last-ditch effort play if you need off the bench.

Cam Akers – Los Angeles Rams

We got a bit of a surprise with Cam Akers against the Cardinals. He saw a career-high in touches (22) and had a strong day with nearly 100 all-purpose yards and a touchdown. This is now a couple of strong weeks in a row but the 22 touches and 63% of the snaps were major for Akers. We have usually seen him as a second option but not as a lead. There were always talks about Akers taking over late in the year and this might be coming true. Can we trust it fully? No, but Akers deserves to be picked up and after another big week with the workload included, we are going to see an increase in rostered percentage. Akers has a good matchup schedule the rest of the way with the Patriots, Jets, and Seahawks over the next three weeks.