2025 NFL fantasy football waiver wire, Week 14: Add Kyle Monangai, Christian Watson

We've arrived at the final week of the fantasy regular season. Time to put some of the finishing touches on a roster that will propel you to a championship. Don't forget, there are byes to contend with in this critical week, as the 49ers, Giants, Panthers and Patriots will be receiving a hard-earned respite that could create a big hole or two in your lineup.

With that in mind, here are my suggestions for Week 14, 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:

• Another week brought another performance of 18-plus points from Jacoby Brissett. He's reached that mark in all seven of his starts, a remarkably consistent run. Next up is a matchup with the Rams' defense, which was not in its usual elite form against the Panthers on Sunday.
• While Brissett has offered consistency, it's a different story for Trevor Lawrence. If you're up for riding the roller coaster, Jacksonville's quarterback could be catching Indianapolis' secondary at the right time. It looks like the Colts will be without Sauce Gardner, who suffered a calf strain on Sunday.
• Obviously, if Jayden Daniels returns from injury this week, Marcus Mariota won't be in play as a fantasy option. However, Mariota is one of the top streaming options at the position if called upon to make another start. He's the fantasy QB3 of Week 13 heading into Monday night's game after dropping 23.26 points on one of the league’s stingiest defenses.
• Tyrod Taylor is coming off a strong showing against the Falcons (21.28 fantasy points). He both passed and ran for a TD in Week 13. The 36-year-old certainly could do the same against the Dolphins this week.

RUNNING BACKS

Takeaways:

• I didn't expect to be writing this, but the Bears have two of the week's seven highest-scoring fantasy RBs despite having to play the NFC East-leading Eagles on the road on a short week. Let the good times roll, D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai. Of course, Chicago isn't going to have two players rush for 125-plus yards on a regular basis. Monangai has dropped 10-plus fantasy points in five of his last seven games, though. The schedule is tough down the stretch for the Bears, but with the way Ben Johnson's run game is cooking right now, I wouldn't blame anyone for riding the hot hand no matter the opponent.
• While his numbers might not jump off the page, Chris Rodriguez Jr. is clearly the Commanders' preferred rusher at the moment. He's led Washington in rushing attempts in back-to-back games, handling 53 percent of the RB carries in that span and posting a respectable 26 totes for 120 yards and a TD. He's worthy of being more widely rostered.
• The Panthers are on bye this week, but if you want to be prepared for their RB pecking order potentially shifting again, Chuba Hubbard should be on your radar. After falling off fantasy rosters during Rico Dowdle's emergence as Carolina's RB1, Hubbard has 14 more total yards (167 to 153) than Dowdle in the last two games despite handling four fewer touches (30 to 26). This appears to be a truly split backfield for now.

WIDE RECEIVERS

Takeaways:

• It's been a wild season of twists and turns for Adonai Mitchell, but he seems to be quickly establishing himself as the go-to guy for the Jets. Since being traded from the Colts before the deadline, he leads New York in targets by a significant margin in his three games with the team (25; no one else has more than 18 in that span). He put up WR1-like production on Sunday, making eight grabs (on 12 targets) for 102 yards and a TD against the Falcons. With Tyrod Taylor at QB, Mitchell is a late-season breakthrough candidate, especially if Garrett Wilson remains out after he's eligible to return.
• The release of Brandin Cooks has created more opportunities in New Orleans for Devaughn Vele, and he's making the most of them. Vele leads the Saints with 130 receiving yards since the team parted ways with Cooks. Vele has made 11 catches on 15 targets in that span, and he broke out with 23.3 fantasy points on Sunday. Consider me intrigued.

TIGHT ENDS

Takeaways:

• Brenton Strange has the third-most receiving yards of any tight end since returning from injury in Week 12, trailing only Trey McBride and George Kittle in that span. With Strange notching 13-plus fantasy points in each of the last two weeks, I would look to insert him into your lineup unless you have an elite-tier TE.
• Harold Fannin Jr. hasn't surpassed 50 yards since Week 8, but he's led the Browns in targets in each of Shedeur Sanders' two starts, averaging nearly 10 fantasy points per game in those contests. He's seeing the ball enough to be a starting option in most leagues, even with a limited ceiling.

DEFENSES

Takeaways:

• Plenty of blame for Sunday’s shutout will be placed on Max Brosmer's shoulders, but unfortunately for the Vikings, their problems on offense run deeper than the backup quarterback. They have averaged 10.5 real-life points in their last four games, with Minnesota's opponent finishing as the highest-scoring fantasy defense in each of the past two weeks. The Commanders' defense has been one of the league's worst this season, but the upside of this week's matchup against the Vikings calls for taking a chance.
• The Buccaneers' defense bounced back against the Cardinals, which is enough for me to recommend starting the unit versus the Saints. New Orleans still hasn't found its way on offense, with the third-lowest scoring average in the league at 15.2 ppg.
• I know the Eagles have fallen on hard times. I'm still not ready to quit on Philly's defense, though. It's particularly hard to turn away from the group with matchups against the Chargers and Raiders up next. Justin Herbert's status for this week's game is in question, and Las Vegas has the worst offense in the game.