Fantasy Football Redraft

Print

Best Week 14 Moves From Our Fantasy Football Pros

Best Week 14 Moves

Whether you're playing redraft, dynasty, or even DFS, knowing what moves to make is crucial to success.

That's why we're having each of our fantasy football pros give you one move to take advantage of this week.

Week 14 Spot Starters For Desperate Fantasy Teams

Jared Smola

The NFL did us dirty putting six teams on a bye in a Week 14 that has lots of fantasy teams fighting for playoff spots.

If you’re hurting at a specific position, here are my favorite spot starters for the week that are still available in at least 75% of Sleeper leagues.

Of course, you should check your Free Agent Finder for the best adds in your specific league.

Will Levis, QB, Titans

Levis has played significantly better since returning from his shoulder injury. His numbers over the last 4 weeks:

• 62% completion rate
• 8.4 yards per attempt
• 240 passing yards per game
• 1.8 passing TDs per game
• 17 rushing yards per game

Levis has scored as a top-10 fantasy QB in two of those four games.

This Sunday brings a Jaguars defense to town that ranks dead last in both pass defense DVOA and adjusted fantasy points allowed to QBs. Jacksonville has coughed up 300+ passing yards and/or multiple passing TDs in eight of 12 games this season.

Levis’ floor is still scary-low. But he has the upside for another top-10 fantasy outing this week.

Ray Davis, RB, Bills

I was frankly surprised to see Davis still available in 76% of Sleeper leagues. He’s a high-end handcuff — and a serviceable start this week if you need him.

Five of Davis’ 12 touches last week came on the final drive of an easy Bills win. But he mixed in early and scored from 5 yards out in the first quarter. Davis has 6+ touches in four of his last six games.

His Bills are 4.5-point favorites with a big 26.75-point implied total vs. the Rams this weekend. Los Angeles ranks 21st in run defense DVOA and 18th in adjusted fantasy points allowed to RBs. Only five teams have allowed more rushing yards to RBs this season.

Josh Palmer, WR, Chargers

Palmer will be an especially good spot starter if WR Ladd McConkey misses this week with his shoulder and knee injuries. In that case, I’d expect Palmer to kick inside to the slot, where the Chiefs defense is weakest.

But Palmer is a viable play even if McConkey suits up. Kansas City’s pass defense simply hasn’t been very good since losing CB Jaylen Watson. Check out the numbers:

#Chiefs with CB Jaylen Watson over the first 6 games:

61% completion rate allowed
6.7 yards per attempt allowed
7 TDs allowed
5 INTs#Chiefs without Watson over the last 6:

70% completion rate
7.4 yards per attempt
10 TDs
1 INT

— Jared Smola (@SmolaDS) December 4, 2024

Over the last five weeks, the Chiefs rank 24th in adjusted fantasy points allowed to WRs.

(Dontayvion Wicks is a viable Week 14 streamer, as well. But I’m sure you’re sick of me writing about him.)

Juwan Johnson, TE, Saints

Dawson Knox will be the top TE spot starter if Dalton Kincaid ends up missing again. But with Kincaid back at practice Wednesday, I’ll highlight Johnson instead.

He’s been relatively steady for a low-level TE this season, catching 2+ passes in 10 of 12 games and 3+ in six. Last week, Johnson saw a season-high seven targets and matched a season-high with five catches. He also registered a season-high 79% route rate.

Most importantly, Taysom Hill’s absence leaves behind extra opportunity for Johnson in Week 14 and beyond. Hill averaged 5.6 targets per game over the last five.

Johnson gets a Giants defense that surprisingly ranks first in adjusted fantasy points allowed to TEs. But there’s nothing scary about the personnel Johnson will be up against on Sunday.

I like his chances to produce 6-8 PPR points, with elevated TD odds with the Saints sporting a solid 22.75-point implied total.

Stash a Handcuff RB (or Two)

Matt Schauf

If you’re reading this, you probably have at least one player on your bench who’s not going to help you the rest of the way – no matter what. Replace that guy with a handcuff RB.

Jared already mentioned the surprisingly low rostered rate for Bills RB Ray Davis. We’ve already seen what’s possible for him if James Cook goes down: 152 total yards on 23 touches against the Jets back in Week 6. And Davis has scored TDs in three other games since.

That he’s not more highly rostered shows a global lack of foresight – especially just days after we watched the 49ers lose two RBs in a single game.

Besides Davis, you should consider stashing these potentially direct replacements:

Justice Hill, Ravens (30% rostered on Sleeper). Hill already ranks fifth in targets for arguably the league’s best offense. A Derrick Henry injury likely wouldn’t mean Hill running quite as much as Henry does. But it would add the lead rusher role to already-useful receiving volume (which would likely also get a boost with more playing time).

Blake Corum, Rams (22%). We covered this guy in both the Waiver Pickups article and Waivers podcast this week. Corum’s been the only Rams RB besides Kyren Williams to touch the ball since Week 5. If Williams were to go down, the high-upside backfield would belong to the rookie.

Kenneth Gainwell, Eagles (9%). Saquon Barkley leads the league in carries, yards, yards per carry, and yards per game, and he’s averaging nearly a TD per week. Gainwell wouldn’t come close to that if Barkley were to go down. But he has garnered 58 opportunities to Will Shipley’s 20 in Barkley’s wake.

Sean Tucker, Buccaneers (4%). This one’s a little sneakier, and especially for the “Yeah, he’s already rostered in my league” crowd. We already saw Tucker come out of nowhere for 17 touches with Rachaad White out in Week 6. He has barely touched the ball since, with White and Bucky Irving staying on the field. But an injury to either would present opportunity. And Irving’s already on the Week 14 injury report with hip and back issues off two straight season highs for touches.

Aidan O’Connell Gets It Done This Week

Shane Hallam

O’Connell returned from a broken thumb just in time to go into Kansas City and face the defending Super Bowl Champions.

Everything pointed to an awful performance. Instead, he had the best Raiders QB performance of the season.

Heck, it was the best performance of any second-year QB this season.

O’Connell is far from an outstanding QB, but he plays smart and has crisp footwork and technique. The film of the game was tremendous.

He utilized his playmakers in Brock Bowers and Jakobi Meyers on easy timing routes to set up deep passes.

The Chiefs' pass defense has been leaky lately, but it is still impressive.

In Week 14, O’Connell gets a Buccaneers pass defense that has its issues containing playmakers.

O'Connell is a solid option if you are in a deep or Superflex league and have Lamar Jackson or Jayden Daniels on bye. 

Probably opt for Jared’s suggestion of Will Levis first, but tiering down to O’Connell should pay off with QB2 numbers.

Tighten Up Your Roster

Kevin English

If you’re reading this, you’re either close to – or already in — the fantasy playoffs. Congrats!

Competition is toughest at this time, so make sure you utilize these edges to help win a title:

Check the Weather

Think about the 49ers-Bills game on Sunday night. 

Jake Moody and Tyler Bass combined to miss 1 of 4 FGs in snowy, windy conditions. 

Our kicker rankings always factor in projected weather conditions, in addition to matchups.

Stash a Defense

Matt had some great advice above on RBs to stash. Here, I’ll mention some widely-available defenses with favorable rest-of-season schedules.

I don’t mind holding a second or even a third defense, depending on your league/bench size:

Tampa Bay: They’re usable Week 14 (vs. Vegas), Week 16 (at Dallas) and Week 17 (vs. Carolina)

Tennessee: Usable Week 13 (vs. Jacksonville), Week 16 (at Indianapolis) and Week 17 (at Jacksonville)

Indianapolis: Usable Week 16 (vs. Tennessee) and Week 17 (at New York Giants)

Arizona: Usable Week 15 (vs. New England) and Week 16 (at Carolina)

You can also check out your Free Agent Finder for recommendations based on your exact scoring system.

Shane Hallam, Writer

Shane has over 20 years of experience creating content and playing every fantasy football format including redraft, dynasty, devy, IDP, and more. He is a multi-year winner of $500 dynasty leagues on the FFPC and utilizes deep film and scheme study to enhance his fantasy performance.