2025 NFL fantasy football waiver wire, Week 12: Pick up Sean Tucker, Emanuel Wilson

As we enter the home stretch of the fantasy regular season, the waiver wire gods are being at least a bit more generous to those of us desperate for running back help. It's been desert-like at the position on the wire for much of the season, but this week should provide a little relief due, in part, to injuries. The injury bug took a large bite out of Week 11. As always, you'll need to stay on top of health-related developments and bye weeks before making your moves. The Broncos, Chargers, Commanders and Dolphins are off this week.

With all of those things in mind, here are my suggestions for Week 12, starting with my top 15 players to prioritize on the waiver wire, regardless of position.

The only rule here: Players must be rostered in less than 60 percent of NFL.com leagues to be eligible for the list.

And now, here are my top five waiver priorities by position:

QUARTERBACKS

Takeaways:

• Welcome back, Brock Purdy. After missing six consecutive games with his turf toe injury, the 49ers' prized passer returned on Sunday and dropped 19.3 fantasy points on the Cardinals, making him the fantasy QB5 of the week as of this writing. If you're streaming at the position, Purdy is as good an option as you could hope to find on the wire at this stage of the season.
• Let's give Jacoby Brissett his flowers. In one of the more surprising developments of Sunday, he set the NFL single-game completions record with 47 against the 49ers, even though his Cardinals were without WR1 Marvin Harrison Jr. Brissett connected on 82.5 percent of his passes for 452 yards and two touchdowns (against two interceptions), which makes him the fantasy QB3 of Week 11. Also, he's the first player ever to post a completion rate of 80-plus with 50-plus pass attempts in a game, per NFL Research. Brissett is averaging 21.3 fantasy PPG in his five starts, which is starter-caliber production in fantasy leagues. He should be more widely rostered.
• Josh Allen is the only QB who has more fantasy points than Bryce Young in Week 11, which is not something I expected to be writing. After a truly horrendous stretch in Weeks 9 and 10 (4.54 total fantasy points), Young awoke from his slumber to go off for 31.82 points against the Falcons on Sunday. He threw for a franchise-record 448 yards. I can't be confident that performance is a sign of things to come, given Young's history (less than 200 yards passing in eight of 10 games this season), but if you're in the deepest of leagues and find yourself in a desperate situation, Bryce is worth a dart throw.

RUNNING BACKS

Takeaways:

• Josh Jacobs exited Sunday's game with a knee injury in the second quarter, and Emanuel Wilson assumed RB1 duties, finishing with 11 carries for 40 yards and a TD. Jacobs doesn't need surgery, but he could miss this Sunday's game against Minnesota, per NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero. If Jacobs does indeed remain sidelined this week, Wilson is no worse than an excellent flex option with RB2 upside.
• If Bucky Irving returns from injury this week -- he practiced in a limited capacity last week -- Sean Tucker's stock takes a hit, but Tucker's making a strong case for a significant role regardless of Irving's status. At publishing, Tucker is the fantasy RB2 of Week 11 after breaking out with 140 yards from scrimmage and three TDs against the Bills. There are a lot of mouths to feed in the Bucs' backfield, with Rachaad White still a significant factor, too, but Todd Bowles' willingness to lean on Tucker for much of Sunday's game had to be encouraging for those rostering the third-year back.
• Kenneth Gainwell had his second two-TD game of the season on Sunday, making two catches for scores against the Bengals. He finished with 105 yards from scrimmage (24 rushing, 81 receiving). Of course, his fantasy value will be determined by the status of Steelers RB1 Jaylen Warren, who exited Sunday's game with an ankle injury. Gainwell will be in play as a flex option if Warren is out, but he's not going to be utilized as a true bell-cow back with Kaleb Johnson also involved.
• Bhayshul Tuten had his biggest game since Week 2 on Sunday, rushing for a team-high 74 yards and a TD. Unfortunately, he left the game with an ankle injury. He's yet another RB with an ailment that we'll need to monitor in the days ahead, but if he's active, he's worth picking up as a handcuff to Travis Etienne, at minimum, and still has a chance to be a late-season flex option in deeper leagues.

WIDE RECEIVERS

Takeaways:

• Hello, Michael Wilson! You have our attention. With Marvin Harrison Jr. out while recovering from appendicitis, Wilson went off for 185 receiving yards -- the most in a single game by any player this season -- on 15 catches (18 targets) against the 49ers. Obviously, we can't expect to see such gargantuan production from anyone on a weekly basis, let alone Wilson, who hadn't reached 100 yards in a game in his three-year NFL career prior to Sunday. If Harrison needs to miss another game, though, I'd absolutely recommend putting Wilson in your lineup. Jacoby Brissett clearly trusts him.
• Christian Watson leads all Packers wide receivers with 234 receiving yards and two TD catches (both against the Giants on Sunday) since making his season debut in Week 8. He also has at least four targets in each of his four games in 2025. Green Bay wide receivers can frustrate fantasy managers with the way Jordan Love spreads the ball around, but Watson has led all Packers WRs in snaps in each of the last two weeks and it's possible he's just rounding into form after his long layoff with a knee injury.
• Drake London left Sunday's game with a knee injury, and NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported on Monday that Atlanta's star WR1 will miss this Sunday's game at New Orleans. Darnell Mooney has experienced his own injury issues this season -- contributing to his extremely quiet 2025 campaign (has not posted more than 9.8 fantasy points in a game) -- but he looks like the de facto WR1 for Atlanta in Week 12. Unfortunately, QB Michael Penix Jr. is hitting injured reserve, putting Kirk Cousins in the starting lineup.

TIGHT ENDS

Takeaways:

• Unfortunately, Colston Loveland has gone back into his shell after teasing us with a 29.8-point outburst in Week 9, posting just 16.5 points in the two games since. At least the bottom hasn't completely dropped out on him. He's still getting his looks, playing 75 percent of the snaps on Sunday and making three catches on four targets. The upside remains tantalizing, and I like his matchup against the Steelers.
• AJ Barner has posted 11-plus fantasy points in two his last three games (with a zero-catch performance sandwiched by two strong fantasy outings). He also continues to get looks as the ball-carrier in the Seahawks' version of the tush push. You have to live with some wild swings in production from week to week if you roster Barner, but he has posted double-digit points in most of Seattle's games this season.

DEFENSES

Takeaways:

• With two of Cleveland's next three games against Las Vegas and Tennessee -- the two lowest-scoring teams in the league -- it's a great time to scoop up the Browns defense. Cleveland's D has been a boom-or-bust unit from a fantasy perspective this season, but it has a chance to go on a strong run after scoring 17 fantasy points against a high-powered Ravens offense on Sunday.
• The Jaguars defense had a very rough stretch around midseason, but it appears the group has recovered. Jacksonville has scored double-digit fantasy points in each of the last two weeks (23 total) and draws favorable matchups in each of the next two weeks (at Cardinals and at Titans).
• The Raiders defense has had its moments in an overall disappointing season, and there's a golden opportunity awaiting it in Week 12. Las Vegas will host the Browns, who will be giving Shedeur Sanders his first career start if Dillon Gabriel is unable to go after suffering a concussion on Sunday. Sanders completed just four of his 16 passes for 47 yards and an INT in relief of Gabriel against the Ravens. I'm sure Maxx Crosby and Co. would relish giving the rookie a rude welcome.