As the season wears on, the waiver wire understandably thins out. Which makes the process of identifying deep pickups after highlighting the top waiver-wire targets on Sunday increasingly difficult. However, there are a few gems among the 18 players listed below, along with several high-upside stashes. Hopefully some of these players can provide solid fantasy returns in the coming weeks, but if not at least the investment it took to add them to your roster will be minimal.
Here's what else Week 14 has to offer on the waiver wire.
Deep waiver targets for Week 14:
Mike Gillislee, RB, Buffalo Bills - 7.3 percent owned
Jalen Richard, RB, Oakland Raiders - 8.0 percent owned
Denard Robinson, RB, Jacksonville Jaguars - 0.5 percent owned
Troymaine Pope, RB, Seattle Seahawks - 0.0 percent owned
George Farmer, RB, Seattle Seahawks - 0.0 percent owned
Andre Ellington, RB, Arizona Cardinals - 1.1 percent owned
Kenneth Farrow, RB, San Diego Chargers - 0.1 percent owned
Jacquizz Rodgers, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers - 15.5 percent owned
Kapri Bibbs, RB, Denver Broncos - 0.7 percent owned
Damien Williams, RB, Miami Dolphins - 0.6 percent owned
Ted Ginn, WR, Carolina Panthers - 13.8 percent owned
Cameron Meredith, WR, Chicago Bears - 7.6 percent owned
Ty Montgomery, WR (RB?), Green Bay Packers - 11.9 percent owned
Breshad Perriman, WR, Baltimore Ravens - 0.6 percent owned
Tyreek Hill, WR, Kansas City Chiefs - 45.5 percent owned
Taylor Gabriel, WR, Atlanta Falcons - 19.1 percent owned
Quincy Enunwa, WR, New York Jets - 13.2 percent owned
Adam Thielen, WR, Minnesota Vikings - 3.3 percent owned
Running backs
Mike Gillislee has four rushing touchdowns in his last four games, so he could be a deep, touchdown-dependent flex play as the team has an affinity for using him near the goal line. But in reality, he's a high-value handcuff attached to one of the league's best rushing offenses. With DeAndre Washington a healthy scratch again, Jalen Richard remains the handcuff to own in Oakland. Latavius Murray is dominating this backfield at the moment, but Richard is a worthy stash for upside alone.
With Chris Ivory injured (again), Denard Robinson surprisingly led the Jaguars in rushing attempts with 17 in Week 13. The Jags have a brutal upcoming schedule, and this is Denard Robinson we're talking about, but desperate owners in deeper leagues could give him a look. Just beware that he reportedly suffered a high-ankle sprain and his status needs to be monitored. Thomas Rawls appears to be back to his old self after a 106-yard, two-touchdown performance against the Panthers. He left the game briefly in the concussion protocol, but was later cleared. Still, his violent running style puts him in positions like this, which makes backups Troymaine Pope and George Farmer potential adds in deeper leagues.
While we're on the subject of handcuffs, players like Andre Ellington, Alfred Morris, Kenneth Farrow, Kapri Bibbs, Jacquizz Rodgers and Damien Williams all back up workhorse runners and are available in the vast majority of NFL.com leagues. (Yes, this is essentially what I've written the last few weeks, but no I don't care. Sorry I can't muster up more inspiring verse about the same backup running backs after several weeks. Here's a video of a guy fighting a kangaroo to save his dog as an apology.)
Wide receivers
Ted Ginn has now caught a touchdown in three-straight games for the Panthers, though this hasn't coincided with increased playing time as he still plays around 60 percent of the snaps. I'm not writing him up here saying we can trust him to score every week moving forward -- he's still a boom-or-bust play. However, if Kelvin Benjamin draws shadow coverage from Casey Hayward next week against the Chargers, Ginn could once again find room to roam for a big play or two. Cameron Meredith leads the Bears wide receivers in playing time the last two weeks, though he'll slide at least to second-fiddle when Alshon Jeffery returns in two weeks. If Marquess Wilson (groin) remains sidelined for Bears' date with the Lions in Week 14, Meredith could be in play as a deep WR3.
Ty Montgomery played the most snaps in a game since Week 9, with 90 percent of his playing time coming out of the backfield. While he's not RB-eligible on NFL.com (I know, I'm sorry, that's just the way it is), if his health is back to a level where the team trusts him with an increased workload he could have flex appeal in the coming weeks. The Packers take on tough defenses in Seattle, Chicago and Minnesota in the next three weeks. They'd be wise to use the quick-passing game Montgomery excels in to slow down those pass rushes, assuming he's healthy enough for the role. Breshad Perriman isn't playing enough snaps to warrant starting just yet, but if Baltimore begins expanding the speedster's role he'll certainly be more prominently on the fantasy radar. His 53-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown was an impressive display of his natural physical gifts. Hopefully the Ravens took notice.
Tyreek Hill and Taylor Gabriel both came back down to Earth in Week 14, though each team clearly has a defined role for their respective diminutive speedsters. Hill could see some opportunities siphoned away with Jeremy Maclin potentially returning this week, while Garbiel could be relied upon more with Julio Jones and Mohamed Sanu both suffering injuries in Week 13. Both Hill and Gabriel will be volatile plays with tremendous upside from here on out.
We'll see if Quincy Enunwa's recent run of success with Ryan Fitzpatrick continues on Monday night, as he's caught a touchdown in three of his last four games with Fitz under center. Keep an eye on his usage/production and adjust your waivers accordingly. The Jets play the 49ers in Week 14, so Enunwa could be in play as a flex/WR3. With Stefon Diggs still battling through injuries, Adam Thielen remains on the PPR radar. He has four-plus catches or a touchdown in each of his last five games.
-- Follow Alex on Twitter @AlexGelhar
