The Watch List: Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Sleepers to Stash Ahead of Week 13

The fantasy football landscape changes so quickly that you should always be thinking weeks ahead. It's a short season, and you can't neglect your current week's lineup, but with the roster spots at the end of your bench you should be taking some gambles.

The following three players, all owned in fewer than 15 percent of Yahoo! Fantasy Football leagues, may not offer much fantasy appeal in Week 13, but their long-term upside could make them worth a roster spot.

1. Patrick Laird, RB, Miami Dolphins (1% Owned)

A recent mainstay of the Watch List, Patrick Laird's time looks to be coming. He has seen an increased workload in each of the last three weeks, and Kalen Ballage's leash as the Miami Dolphins' lead back appears to be getting very short. After playing 75-plus percent of the Dolphins' snaps in his first two starts, Ballage was down below 40 percent last week as his rushing averaged remained on the wrong side of 2.0 yards per carry. This offense isn't an exciting one, but a lead back is always going to bring some fantasy value, and Laird's work in the passing game (nine targets in the last three weeks) gives him the upside to become a true every-down back down the stretch. Ballage is still starting this week, but after seeing a huge reduction in workload in Week 12, he could easily lose control of the backfield this week.

2. Zay Jones, WR, Oakland Raiders (2% Owned)

Hunter Renfrow went down with a broken rib and punctured lung in Week 12, and his absence will vacate some significant volume in the Oakland Raiders' passing game, as he's averaged 5.8 targets per game over the last four. When he went down in the last game, Zay Jones stepped up and played 90 percent of the offensive snaps — up from 69 percent in the previous game. Jones is averaging just 2.8 targets per game since becoming a Raider, and it remains to be seen if he soaks up Renfrow's entire workload, but if he does then he'll be in consideration as a viable WR3 or FLEX option in PPR formats.

3. Reggie Bonnafon, RB, Carolina Panthers (2% Owned)

With no more bye weeks, we can start to expand the type of player we're stashing on the bench since we have more space — and that makes handcuffs even more interesting. Christian McCaffrey is the no-doubt fantasy football MVP this year, but this is also one of the more interesting handcuff situations. No RB is playing a higher percentage of their team's snaps than he is (94 percent), and his absence would vacate an average of 27.3 opportunities (20.2 carries plus 7.1 targets) per game. Bonnafon wouldn't just step into that massive RB1 workload, but he is the only Panthers' RB other than McCaffrey with even five carries or one target on the season, and he'd get enough volume to be a must-start option without McCaffrey. Bonnafon is quietly one of the most valuable handcuffs available on the waiver wire.

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Jason Schandl is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Jason Schandl also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username Jaymun. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.