Week #10 Waiver Watch Of Truth
Let’s dive right in and take a look at this week’s top waiver wire additions.
Quarterbacks
Joshua Dobbs, Minnesota Vikings (20% rostered) – No practice, no problem for Dobbs, as he showed up in Minnesota this past week via trade, and led the Vikings to a thrilling victory with less than a week of practice. Not only did the Vikings win, Dobbs looked electric in his first start in Minnesota, providing his 4th fantasy game of the season over 20 points. Dobbs provides a nice baseline as you can expect 6-7 rushes a game, and has been a top QB option in back to back weeks, even with different teams. Next week the Vikings play the Saints, but Dobbs has proven he can come through in tough matchups, putting up 17+ points against some of the league’s tougher defenses like Baltimore, Dallas and San Fran. The Viking’s defense is still mediocre, and if Justin Jefferson returns as expected in a few weeks, Dobbs could easily remain a Top-10 QB rest of season.
Taylor Heinicke, Atlanta Falcons (24% rostered) – We mentioned Heinicke last week, and he’ll continue to be a solid streaming candidate while his ownership is low, especially this upcoming week in a great matchup against Arizona. Atlanta’s offense in general doesn’t seem to provide a high ceiling for QBs given Arthur Smith’s scheme, and Heinicke has never been a high-ceiling player, but 15 points this past week sometimes gets the job done, and I think you could expect another 15+ this week. Arizona is near the bottom of the league in almost every pass defense metric, and ranks near the bottom in fantasy points allowed to QBs. Heinicke is a must-add in Superflex leagues, and a solid streaming option even for 1 QB leagues
Running Backs
Keaton Mitchell, Baltimore Ravens (3% rostered) – Mitchell was a hot name for the waiver wire a few weeks ago when he came off IR, but he had barely seen the field until this last week. It’s hard to imagine Mitchell is an immediate contributor to the fantasy team, seeing as he only saw 18% of snaps and 10 opportunities. Baltimore was out in front by a ton all game against Seattle, so in a tighter game you might not see Mitchell get anything. He showed his homerun ability this week and if Baltimore gives him some consistent work, he could turn into a boom/bust flex option.
Zach Charbonnet, Seattle Seahawks (52% rostered) – Charbonnet might possibly be on your wire and if not, there’s a good chance he gets dropped after a 2-point performance in Week 9. Seattle got destroyed by Baltimore and while no one on Seattle had a fantasy worthy day, Charbonnet quietly out-snapped Ken Walker for a second week in a row. A lot of Walker’s fantasy value early in the season was propped up by touchdowns, and now Walker has put up 3 straight games under 15 PPR points and 3 of his last 4. Walker continues to lead the backfield in opportunities, but if Charbonnet continues to see more snaps, it’s only a matter of time before the touches start to go his way as well. If you grab Charbonnet I wouldn’t start him yet, but absolutely worth stashing at this point to see if he takes over.
Antonio Gibson, Washington Commanders (48% rostered) – Gibson has fallen from the grace of the RB1 days early on in his career, but in a pinch he’s shown some usable production over the last two weeks. He’s seen 51% and 44% of the snaps respectively, and got 11 touches this past week, his highest of the season. Curtis Samuel missed last week and if he remains sidelined, it could keep Gibson in the double-digit range for opportunities. A lot of his opportunities come the way of targets, which makes Gibson a solid floor option in PPR leagues if you’re stuck.
Wide Receivers
Tank Dell, Houston Texans (61% rostered) – Dell is most likely rostered in leagues, but had to at least mention him after his dominant performance in Week 9, going off for 6 catches, 114 yards and 2 touchdowns. CJ Stroud looks like the real deal and as long as he continues dealing, Dell and Nico Collins should be high-upside plays the rest of the way. The Texans can’t run the ball for anything, and their defense is still a step behind, which should keep funneling tons of pass volume through Stroud. Dell gets a tough matchup against the Bengals this week, although the game script should favor the pass game, and then gets Arizona, Jacksonville and Denver the 3 games after. Dell should be #1 waiver priority if he’s available.
Noah Brown, Houston Texans (4% rostered) – Unlike teammate Tank Dell, there’s a very high chance Brown is on your waiver wire, and provides an inexpensive way to get a piece of the Texan’s passing game. Brown has seen over 5 targets in 3 straight games, and while he’s most likely the 4th option in the offense after TE Dalton Schultz, he showed last week he can provide explosiveness, and at least seems to have a consistent target output for a solid floor. Brown is still most likely a low WR3 or high WR4, but you can look to start him in 3 WR or deeper leagues.
Demario Douglas, New England Patriots (45% rostered) – Douglas was a hot name last week on the wire, but lower ownership means he might still be around in your leagues. He saw a second straight game with 7 targets and had 55 yards, his most of the season. He played a season-high 83% of the snaps last week, and absolutely looks like the #1 option in the Patriot’s offense. The Patriots offense isn’t a dynamic one you want to invest heavily in, but Douglas has shown he can be used as a flex option that will provide consistent targets.
Zay Jones, Jacksonville Jaguars (32% rostered) – a deeper league stash, Jones has been sidelined with injury the last several weeks, but has been an involved part of the offense when he’s been out there. He’s appeared in 3 games this season, and has seen 5+ targets in all 3 games, scoring touchdowns in 2 of 3. If Jones is available, he might be worth a stash to see when he returns from injury how involved he continues to be, because if he keeps getting 5+ targets, the Jags have some favorable matchups coming up against San Fran, Tennessee, Houston and they get Carolina in the Week 17 championship.
Tight Ends
Taysom Hill, New Orleans Saints (59% rostered) – Hill is another player with higher ownership, but has now proven to be an every-week starter if you’re middling at TE. He’s put up double digits in 4 straight games, going over 20 in each of the last two. He’s involved in a variety of ways in the offense, and consistently gets double digit opportunities each game. If you’ve been streaming the position or stuck with a mediocre option, Hill has proven to provide a ceiling most tight endscan’t. He’s currently the TE9 on the season, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see him get close to Top 5 if his usage continues.
Cade Otton, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10% rostered) – Otton exploded this week for 23 PPR points on the back of 2 touchdowns, but his workload has been consistent recently, seeing 6+ targets in 3 straight games. Otton has been on the field for virtually every snap this season, and provides a solid base given his target volume. I wouldn’t bank on multiple touchdowns each week, but targets are hard to come by at the TE position, and Otton has been getting them.
D/ST Stream of the Week
Last week’s Packers play came through as they took advantage of backup Brett Rypien, and this week’s stream takes advantage of another backup. Zach Wilson has been abysmal for the Jets this season and outside of a few moments, has made every opposing defense look like superstars. This week the Jets travel out West to take on the Raiders, who seem to be invigorated with the departure of Josh McDaniels. The Raiders ran over the Giants last week, and the defense should do the same again. There is no one on the Jets line who will be able to block Maxx Crosby, so expect a handful of sacks along with a game that has the lowest Over/Under on the week.
Good luck all and as always, stay true!