Week #11 Waiver Watch of Truth
We’re in the home stretch where every win or loss could make or break your entire season! Let’s take a look at this week’s top waiver wire additions to get your team every advantage possible.
Quarterbacks
Jameis Winston, New Orleans Saints (2% rostered) – Derek Carr left the game early this week with an injury, and Winston injected some life back into the Saint’s offense. Winston looked his usual self, making some incredible highlight throws, followed up with some bonehead interceptions. While Winston isn’t ideal for your real-life football team, he can certainly put up big numbers for fantasy. The Saints are on bye this week which makes Winston unusable this week, and gives Carr extra time to heal up. Given that, Winston is someone you can most likely get for free in the morning, or possibly even wait until next waiver round to acquire. However, you’ll most likely be bidding against many more teams in a week, so if you’re streaming QBs this season, grab Winston for free in the morning and throw him on the end of the bench to see how it plays out.
Joshua Dobbs, Minnesota Vikings (60% rostered) – Dobbs has a real high ownership so most likely not available, especially given the headlines around his heroic victory last week against Atlanta after showing up a few days before the game. However, if Dobbs is still out there, he’s firmly in the QB1 conversation with expectations of Justin Jefferson coming back soon, and great matchups against Denver and Chicago the next two weeks. Dobbs has looked like a set and forget option for the rest of the season and should be the #1 priority if you need a QB.
Running Backs
Ty Chandler, Minnesota Vikings (15% rostered) – Chandler was a name softly getting mentioned around when Cam Akers was lost to the season, and this past week the Vikings suffered another injury when Alexander Mattison left early to a concussion. We’ve seen more often than not players miss at least a game with a concussion this season, and if that’s the case Chandler could be a plug and play RB2in a solid matchup against Denver. Chandler should be the #1 waiver priority if you’re in need at RB given the possibility he could lead the backfield in Week 11, but we also saw Chandler mixed in even while Mattison was in the game. I think Chandler can be a low-end FLEX option with Mattison around, and should be a low-end RB2 without Mattison.
Rico Dowdle, Dallas Cowboys (6% rostered) – Dowdle isn’t a high priority add, but an end of the bench stash if you can afford the roster space. Tony Pollard had a ton of hype taking over the backfield once Zeke Elliott left, but he’s been pretty disappointing this season. Over the last 6 games, Pollard has been in double digit fantasy points only once. Dallas has stuck with Pollard so far this season, and I certainly don’t expect Dowdle to take over, but we could see Dowdle given a few more opportunities in the upcoming weeks to lighten Pollard’s load, and try to get him back to last year’s version. He’s one of the best handcuffs in the game, so at worst he’s an insurance policy against Pollard.
Devin Singletary, Houston Texans (55% rostered) – Singletary’s ownership is a bit higher, but I think you can find him in a few leagues after the dud he laid last week. Dameon Pierce has now missed two games, and last week with the backfield to himself, Singeltary put together 26 yards. He delivered in a tough matchup in Week 10 against Cincy for 160 total yards and a touchdown. Singletary won’t see 32 opportunities again if Pierce is back, but he’ll be at worst in a timeshare within an explosive offense, and if Pierce misses another week, he’s in a smash matchup against Arizona.
Wide Receivers
Noah Brown, Houston Texans (37% rostered) – We mentioned Brown last week after a monster performance, and he followed it up with another in Week 10. Seeing a season high 8 targets, he turned in a day with 7 catches and 172 yards. Brown should be the #1 WR target this week if he’s out there. Some might argue Brown saw an uptick from Nico Collins’ absence, but he’s been at a steady 72%-75% of snaps each of the last 3 weeks. His production certainly exploded once Collins exited, but he can be a usable FLEX option with Nico in the lineup, and a WR2 with a monster ceiling while Nico is out.
Jalen Guyton, Los Angeles Chargers (1% rostered) – Guyton is a deeper-league target, but looks to be a beneficiary of Josh Palmer’s absence. Everyone’s been waiting for the Quientin Johnston breakout, but it’s been everyone but QJ this season. Once Mike Williams went down Palmer has stepped into that role, and now with Palmer on IR, there’s opportunity to be had in this passing offense. Guyton saw 79% of the snaps this past week, and I wouldn’t trust him in lineups just yet, but worth a stash to see if he continues to see time with Palmer sidelined.
Trenton Irwin, Cincinnati Bengals (14% rostered) – Irwin has certainly been useful this season when Tee Higgins has missed games, turning in 14 PPR points in Week 5, and 13.4 this past week. Irwin played over 76% of snaps in both games with Higgins out, and we’ve already gotten report that Higgins will miss the Thursday night game this week. Expect Irwin to be out there around 75% of the snaps again, and see 4-5 targets. It’s a tough matchup against Baltimore so I wouldn’t be eager to start him, but in a pinch he should give you a decent floor.
Tight Ends
Tanner Hudson, Cincinnati Bengals (0% rostered) – Hudson could be fool’s gold as we’ve seen many times at the TE position, but he’s seen 5+ targets each of the last two week’s since returning and been over 8 PPR points in each game. The Bengal’s offense is clicking which gives Hudson some decent TD upside, and a decent floor if he keeps seeing the same level of targets.
Trey McBride, Arizona Cardinals (64% rostered) – There’s very little chance McBride is available, but if so he’s shown a monster ceiling in 2 of 3 games since Zach Ertz went on IR. Might be #1 overall priority add this week if available.
DST Stream of the Week
Jacksonville Jaguars (17% rostered) – The Jags defense has been strong this season, but most likely available given they were on bye last week and got spanked by the 49ers this week. They’re in for a bounce back at home against Tennessee as 6-5 point favorites in a game with a 40.5 Over/Under, the 3rd lowest on the week. Tenneessee looked to have some life in Will Levis’ first start, but has stalled the last two weeks. They’ve averaged 17.1 points per game since Levis has started, including the explosion in his first game. They’ve averaging 3 sacks a game with Levis back there, and I think the Jacksonville defense gets home several times in a low-scoring game.
Good luck all and as always, stay true!
