Week 15 Waiver Wire: Early Pickups and Breakout Fantasy Football Candidates

The 2022-23 NFL season has been strange and, often, seemingly dull, with low-scoring primetime games and poor performances from players and teams that should have been contending for a Super Bowl by this time.

But Week 14 delivered some of the season's wildest and most fun moments, starting Thursday night with Baker Mayfield and the Los Angeles' Rams improbable comeback win against the Las Vegas Raiders.

Week 14 also gave us a Brock Purdy-led San Francisco 49ers blowout over the Tom Brady-led Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 35-7.

And in terms of fantasy results, many of the players atop the leaderboard in scoring totals Sunday evening aren't names you'd typically expect to see. A handful of them are even worth grabbing on waivers this week if they're available in your league.

For our purposes, to be considered breakout fantasy candidates, players must be rostered in less than 55 percent of leagues.

Rostered: 54 percent

Week 14 stats: 17 att, 71 rush yds, 1 rush TD, 2 rec, 6 yds 15.70 pts

New York Jets running back Zonovan Knight appeared on our breakout candidates list last week as a waiver candidate, and some managers made that move, as his rostered percentage climbed from 45 percent to 54 percent.

However, for a running back who sees almost 20 touches a game since making his NFL debut, and who found the end zone for the first time on Sunday in the Jets' 20-12 loss to the Buffalo Bills, Knight is still one of the, if not the, best pickups for the upcoming week. If you're still in contention in your league, especially if it's a points-per-reception (PPR) league, this is the move to make.

Knight has scored at least 13 points in his three NFL starts, emerging as the go-to guy in what appeared to be a crowded Jets backfield. He had 19 touches in Week 14, demonstrating his ability to break tackles and always keep his legs churning for a couple of extra yards.

Now that he's found the end zone for his first NFL touchdown, the sky is the limit for his scoring potential as we approach the end of the fantasy football season.

Rostered: 51 percent

Week 14 stats: 8 rec, 77 rec yds, 1 rec TD, 21.70 pts

Zay Jones has had an up-down season, to say the least, and some fantasy managers would use that phrase to describe his career.

But this year, the highs have been tantalizingly high; Jones' rostered percentage has risen and fallen this year as managers can't help but be lured in by his potential. In four games this season, Jones has scored more than 12 points; in two (and again on Sunday for a third time), he's scored more than 20, making him a high-value WR3 indeed.

Last week, Jones' bevy of drops no doubt worried fantasy managers, and many may have left them on their bench this week. If so, they missed out on a 21-point performance that included a touchdown, only his second of the season.

With a 22.6% target share, Jones is worth adding this week if he's available in your league, despite the boom-or-bust nature of his play.

Rostered: 3 percent

Week 14 stats: 7 rec, 89 rec yds, 15.90 pts

The Los Angeles Rams may be all but out of playoff contention, but an unbelievable performance by Baker Mayfield on Thursday night has given the team something to play for after all.

We all know what Mayfield did after arriving in the building on Tuesday: orchestrated a 98-yard scoring drive within two minutes, the longest such drive in modern NFL history.

And his favorite target while doing so was 2021 seventh-round draft pick Ben Skowronek, who led the team in receptions, with seven. (Tutu Atwell had more targets, nine compared to Skowronek's eight, but had just 50 yards. Van Jefferson had the receiving corps' lone touchdown.)

Mayfield is clearly the guy for the Rams for at least the rest of this season, and he's shown a fantastic rapport with Skowronek. Expect this duo to produce some more big moments as the team enjoys an energizing turned corner in what was looking like a dead-end season.

Scoring and rostered figures via FantasyPros