Fantasy football managers are always looking for the next hidden gem as the NFL season heats up. With breakout performances and shifting roles on offense, new opportunities emerge every week for those willing to dig beneath the surface.
Staying ahead of the curve can deliver a real edge as playoff races tighten. Discovering which players are trending up could be the difference between a good and great season.
Alec Pierce, Indianapolis Colts
Rostered: 47%
I guess it’s time to take Alec Pierce seriously. He’s probably not going to outproduce Michael Pittman Jr. most weeks, but he’s definitely ahead of Josh Downs.
Pierce is the primary Z receiver on one of the league’s best offenses. He’s now hit 14.8+ fantasy points in three of his last four. Against the Falcons, Pierce scored his first touchdown of the season.
Since the Colts were on bye this week, fantasy managers weren’t aggressive in adding him. Their loss is your gain. Pierce is well worth adding for the stretch run.
Aggressiveness Rating: 7.5
Xavier Legette, Carolina Panthers
Rostered: 7%
Before anyone runs to grab Xavier Legette off the waiver wire, it’s important to place his Week 11 performance in the proper context. Objectively, four catches for 83 yards and a touchdown are great for fantasy. However, it came in a game where the Carolina Panthers were in negative game script from the jump, resulting in Bryce Young attempting 45 passes.
Young threw for a career high 448 yards in what is essentially 2.5 games worth of production from him. Naturally, all of his receivers were able to eat. That will not happen often, if ever again.
This is Legette’s second spike week of the season. He posted 24.2 fantasy points in Week 7. Then, he managed 6.9 fantasy points in the subsequent three games combined. You can add Legette if you want to see if this is a breakout, but history suggests it’s just a blip.
Aggressiveness Rating: 0.0
Michael Wilson, Arizona Cardinals
Rostered: 47%
With Harrison out, Michael Wilson was elevated to the WR1 role. That was always going to come with an uptick in volume, but no one expected this.
Wilson saw a staggering 18 targets, catching 15 passes for 185 yards. Suffice it to say those are all career highs and unlikely ever to happen again. The main takeaway is that Wilson can be the guy if he needs to.
Harrison is unlikely to return less than two weeks after having surgery. Of course, Brissett is also unlikely (never) to complete 47 passes in a game again. But even if Wilson had a third of his production, that would play in fantasy. We have to add him.
Aggressiveness Rating: 4.0
Christian Watson, Green Bay Packers
Rostered: 34%
Christian Watson essentially puts up the same stat line every week. He’s now seen target counts of 4, 4, 4, and 5. He had 45 yards last week and 46 yards this week. The only difference this time is that he scored…twice.
Both of Watson’s touchdown grabs were high degrees of difficulty. Jordan Love has not played particularly well.
Watson did play 78% of the snaps and led the team in routes run. He will be hard to trust in lineups just yet, but he’s worth adding to see if he can gain any consistency.
Aggressiveness Rating: 2.0