10 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Targets Heading Into Week 12

Devin Funchess

ESPN Ownership: 17%
Yahoo Ownership: 34%

Devin Funchess was drafted to play alongside Kelvin Benjamin to give Cam Newton two really tall targets to compensate for his tendency to overthrow his receivers. But until Week 9, he was barely a factor in the Panthers' passing game at all, largely a result of having dealt with injuries that robbed him of time to develop chemistry with Newton before the season began.

Funchess did suffer from lapses in concentration when he stepped on the field in the first half of the season, but in two out of his last three games he's scored a touchdown and eclipsed 60 yards. And in Week 11 against the Redskins, he was targeted 8 times while reeling in 4 catches to go with a touchdown, which resulted in an impressive 8.32 Reception NEP. Despite his early struggles when given the opportunity, he has actually been fairly efficient this season, registering a 0.75 Reception NEP per target, whereas Benjamin, through his rookie season, recorded a 0.67 Reception NEP per target. So Funchess has definitely begun to show his worth in the Panthers' offense in recent weeks.

Funchess' role moving forward isn't clear given that the current Panthers' number-two receiver, Philly Brown, is likely to return in the next week or two, so adding him comes with the caveat that he will likely be an upside bench stash. But if we begin to see his role expand in the coming weeks, you’ll be happy you got him on your squad before everyone else was onto him.