Wide Receiver Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 16: Top Free Agent Adds Include Zay Jones, K.J. Osborn, Drake London, Chris Moore

December 20, 2022

Justin Carter's fantasy football wide receiver waiver wire pickups for Week 16 of the 2022 NFL season. His free agent WRs to add, stream and stash off waivers.

It's crunch time. If you're reading this, you're still alive in at least one of your leagues and need some last minute help at wide receiver. Moving forward, we're done with speculative adds. You only get on the list if you can help someone win a fantasy playoff game.

Below, you'll find some wide receivers that you should be targeting on the fantasy football waiver wire ahead of Week 16. Not all of these waiver wire options are the same. Some players may be better in PPR or deeper leagues, so it’s not a one-size-fits-all comparison. Use your best judgment when deciding which of these players is the right fit for your roster.

Be sure to also check out our Waiver Wire Adds for Week 16 for help at all the skill positions. All players on this list here are around 50% rostered or below.

Wide Receivers Fantasy Football Waiver Wire

Zay Jones, Jacksonville Jaguars - 55% rostered

Look, you should have picked Jones up last week, when he caught eight passes for 77 yards and a touchdown. Coming into this week's game, he'd had at least eight catches and 68 yards in three of the past four games. The signs were there. And even in the one game where he struggled, he was still targeted seven times. Trevor Lawrence wants to get the football to him.

And then came Sunday, when Jones found the end zone three times. Overall, he had six catches for 109 yards, and was targeted eight times. The Jaguars passing offense has hit its stride, and Jones is the 1B to Christian Kirk. He should be rostered and played in most leagues.

Drake London, Atlanta Falcons - 61% rostered

The Falcons made a change at quarterback this week, moving rookie Desmond Ridder into the lineup. And he was...not great, going 13-for-26 for just 97 yards.

But, 70 of those yards went to Drake London, who was targeted 11 times, catching seven passes. If we assume that this week was the low point of Ridder's season, then that should mean that London's numbers have room to rise from here.

Also of note: London's been targeted 23 times over the last two games. One came with Marcus Mariota throwing. One came with Ridder. The important thing isn't who's throwing the ball right now—it's that the Falcons are working to get the ball to the rookie wideout.

K.J. Osborn, Minnesota Vikings - 5% rostered

How about those Vikings? Minnesota had the largest comeback in NFL history on Saturday, and K.J. Osborn was a huge part of that. He was targeted 16 times, catching 10 passes for 157 yards and a touchdown. That's the same number of targets as and more yards than Justin Jefferson had. Meanwhile, Adam Thielen was targeted just four times.

Osborn now has touchdowns in consecutive games, and he's trending toward having a bigger role than Thielen. The problem, which is why he's so low in this section, is that the Vikings shouldn't need to come back from down 30 every week, so the number of opportunities shouldn't be this high every week. Still, Osborn showed how important he can be for this offense, so he's worth adding. I said no "speculative" adds in the opener, but Osborn could be useful in Week 17 if he goes out this week and continues to play a big role.

Chris Moore, Houston Texans - 19% rostered

Moore was supposed to be a playoff week winner on Sunday. Brandin Cooks and Nico Collins were both out, and last week when that was the case, Moore caught 10 passes for 124 yards.

This week, the Texans tried to get Moore the ball, but he just didn't manage to do a ton, catching four of his nine targets for 42 yards.

But here's the thing: yeah, if you went heavy on Moore this week, you aren't happy. But if we assume Cooks and Collins are going to continue to be out—which they should be, since the Texans have one win and are heading for the No. 1 overall pick—then the process still works for Moore. Someone has to be targeted in Houston. He's been the guy getting the targets the last two weeks. Thus, he should get those targets next week too, so you just have to hope he can actually produce with them.

Jahan Dotson, Washington Commanders - 17% rostered

Dotson caught four of his six passes for 105 yards and a touchdown on Sunday, giving him touchdowns in consecutive games. One of those catches was for 61 yards. Dotson's rising role lately gives him some interesting fantasy appeal for managers who are in need of a boom-or-bust WR4 play.

Elijah Moore, New York Jets - 36% rostered

With Corey Davis out, Moore's going to be the No. 2 receiver for the Jets going forward, which is a surprise since he was demanding a trade and not touching the field for a full month earlier this year.

But now, Moore's seen six or more targets in three consecutive games, and this week he caught four passes for 51 yards, his second week in a row with at least 50 yards. Moore's not an exciting option, but if you're dealing with injuries and need someone to fill in, Moore's definitely an option.

Wide Receiver Deeper League Waiver Wire Pickups

Noah Brown, Dallas Cowboys - 2% rostered

Not many deep league options this week, which makes sense at this time of year. But if you're desperate, here's a couple options, starting with Noah Brown.

The reason you might want to add Brown: he was targeted nine times, the most on the Cowboys, and he caught six passes for 49 yards and two touchdowns. And last week, he caught four passes for 85 yards.

The reason you might be wary of Brown: a matchup with the Eagles next week, who held him to one catch for 10 yards earlier in the season, and the potential for T.Y. Hilton to make his Cowboys debut, cutting into Brown's potential.

Rashid Shaheed, New Orleans Saints - 5% rostered

Shaheed was targeted four times, catching three passes for 95 yards and a touchdown. That's now three games in a row with 50 or more receiving yards for Shaheed. And yet...I don't know, I'm still concerned that it's a fluke, just because of how weird this Saints offense has been, especially considering his touchdown came on one of those rare Taysom Hill plays.

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