Waiver Wire Wonders: Week 11

One week closer to the fantasy playoffs means one less week to prepare for it. Hopefully, you’re sitting pretty or at least on the bubble of a playoff spot heading into Week 11. As we inch closer to the playoffs, bench stashes are going to become more important. Additionally, with a two of the more fantasy friendly teams such as the Los Angeles Rams and Kansas City Chiefs having a bye next week, most of us will need a few bench players to plug into our lineups.

First of all, I’d like to point out a few players that won’t be in this article that need to be owned at this point in the season, but are owned in less than (or close to) 50 percent of ESPN leagues. Those players include: TE Vance McDonald, Derrick Henry and Courtland Sutton.

Additionally, there’s a few D/STs I’d consider stashing at this point to get ready for the fantasy playoffs that have pretty nice schedules. Those include:

• Washington Redskins D/ST vs. NYG, JAX and TEN
• Tennessee Titans D/ST vs. JAX, NYG and WAS
• Denver Broncos D/ST vs. SF, CLE and OAK

Furthermore, as the bye weeks come to and end, your bench spots will be much more important for handcuffs of your star players. These handcuffs need to be owned as they either have a decent amount of talent or they’ll be thrown into a great opportunity immediately due to resting players or potential injury. At this point, hand cuffs that NEED to be picked up and owned over the next few weeks include: Malcolm Brown, Spencer Ware, Gio Bernard, Austin Ekeler and Latavius Murray.

After all of that, as always, I will be listing my favorite waiver acquisitions of the week. If you haven’t been here before, there will be multiple sections to my article with the main parts including: Standard League Adds (my favorite adds of the week and players owned in 50 percent or less) and Deep League Adds (players owned in less than 25 percent of leagues). Furthermore, there will be mini-sections that include players that you shouldn’t drop just yet (Don’t Stop Believin’) and guys you can cut ties with (The Droppables). So, without further ado, let’s get to it.

Standard League Adds

RBs Mike Davis and Rashaad Penny — SEA (45.7 and 13.1 percent owned)

While I don’t have a top waiver add this week, the duo in the Seahawks backfield are certainly near the top. Chris Carson missed last week’s game against the Los Angeles Rams and the duo filled in admirably. Davis got lead back duties and rushed 11 times for 58 yards while adding four receptions for 22 yards and a touchdown. Meanwhile, Penny had the breakout performance many of us were waiting for. Penny rushed 12 times for 108 yards and a touchdown. While the carries were close to even, it would surprise me if Penny got more and more work throughout the season. The Seahawks spent a first round pick on him so they don’t want that to go to waste, do they? This week I like Davis over Penny just a bit more if Carson can’t go. However, Penny is the better stash for the rest of the season.

RB Josh Adams — PHI (5.9 percent owned)

After a heartbreaking loss to the Cowboys, Doug Pederson made it clear that Adams is going to get more and more work in the upcoming weeks. Sign me up. After carrying the ball nine times for 61 yards against Jacksonville, Adams got just seven carries Sunday night but turned it into a solid 47 yards. The fact that Pederson wants to get Adams more involved makes me very interested because Corey Clement and Wendell Smallwood have both been underwhelming in the ground game. Adams is worth at least a speculative add at this point.

WR Anthony Miller — CHI (13.4 percent owned)

Unbelievable the way the Bears have played this season, isn’t it? Well, maybe more believable now that they have Khalil Mack. However, even the offense is looking good. Mitch Trubisky threw for three touchdowns this past week against the Lions and one of those went to Anthony Miller. Many believed that Miller was the top WR of the draft class, and he’s starting to make a name for himself over the past three contests. Miller has recorded stat lines of three catches for 37 yards and a touchdown, five catches for 49 yards and five catches for 122 yards and a touchdown over the last three games. Miller has scored at least 9.9 in each of those games and has seen at least six targets in four straight games. While he’s sharing targets with Allen Robinson, Tarik Cohen and Trey Burton, the upside is certainly there for Miller and he should be owned in far more leagues.

QB Baker Mayfield — CLE (40.3 percent owned)

Well, I was completely wrong about the Browns coaching change. I honestly thought that Cleveland would be a disaster for a few weeks as they adapted to their new coach and new offensive coordinator. Instead Freddie Kitchens had something cooking in the kitchen the whole time. Instead of a disaster, Mayfield has thrown for 513 yards and five touchdowns with just one interception the past two weeks. While Mayfield hasn’t added that much on the ground, he’s still good for a few points there as well. At this point, I wouldn’t mind having Mayfield as my backup QB or spot starter if I need him. He has plenty of upside and somewhat safe floor.

WR Chris Godwin — TB (42.2 percent owned)

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers receiver carousel continues. Two weeks ago, Adam Humphries got all this work. This past week? It was the Chris Godwin show. The former Nittany Lion hauled in all seven of his targets for 103 yards, leading all receivers. It was the first time Godwin went more than 100 yards all season, but maybe this is a sign of things to come? Godwin is clearly more talented than Humphries and is a more well-rounded receiver than one-trick pony DeSean Jackson, so maybe he develops as the Bucs’ true No. 2? Godwin did go on a streak of six touchdowns in seven games earlier in the year so maybe he’s ready to catch fire once again. Even if he doesn’t catch fire, Godwin is worth stashing on your bench.

Deep League Adds

WR Josh Reynolds — LAR (1.1 percent owned)

Oh no! If you were watching the Seahawks/Rams game like I was, your stomach probably immediately dropped when you saw Cooper Kupp laying on the ground grabbing his knee. We all knew it. It was the dreaded ACL. With Kupp’s season over, someone has to step into his role. I expect Robert Woods and Brandin Cooks to be even better now but I think Josh Reynolds has the potential to fill the number three slot. Kupp had missed Weeks 7 and 8 earlier in the year and Reynolds had mixed performances. Reynolds had just one grab for 19 yards in Week 7, but followed it up with three receptions for 42 yards and two touchdowns the following week. He’ll see plenty of snaps in the coming weeks with Kupp out and has some potential to catch a few touchdowns. However, with so many mouths to feed in L.A., he’s merely a deep league stash for me.

QB Lamar Jackson — BAL (6.7 percent owned)

Boy, was I excited about this one. I read that Joe Flacco could potentially need hip surgery and I sprang to my waiver wire to pick up Jackson everywhere I could. Well…it turns out, Flacco probably won’t need surgery and may even play this week. Even if that is the case, I still think Jackson is worth stashing. Listen, I have no idea what Jackson will do if he ever gets to start this season, but you saw what he was capable of in college right? Even if his passing isn’t great, I imagine there will be plenty of opportunities to run and enhance his value. Jackson has that high ceiling potential that is definitely worth having on your bench.

RB Elijah McGuire — NYJ (23.1 percent owned)

Talked about McGuire last week, so we’ll keep it short this week. I continue to believe that he’s a better running back than Isaiah Crowell and he’s certainly a better pass-catcher and more explosive. This past week, Crowell rushed seven times for 19 yards, while McGuire rushed six times for 30 yards. I think we’ll continue to see McGuire getting more and more work for the Jets and eventually, take over the starting gig.

RB Theo Riddick — DET (19.5 percent owned)

Very quietly, Riddick has had back-to-back weeks of double digit fantasy points in PPR leagues. He’s done all of it as a receiver as well. He has 13 receptions for nearly 100 yards over the past two weeks and should continue to see plenty of work in the passing game on a Lions team that is poised to be behind most games. Kerryon Johnson is the clear work horse of the team going forward, but LeGarrette Blount is getting less and less work as the team is starting to see…well…that he sucks. Riddick is worth a deep league flier, particularly in PPR leagues.

TE Gerald Everett — LAR (1.4 percent owned)

The Rams have kind of split duties at tight end between Everett and Tyler Higbee, but if I’m picking one going forward, I’m taking Everett. From the eye test alone, Everett has looked like the better receiver to me. All of Cooper Kupp’s targets have to go somewhere right? Some will go to Reynolds, but I imagine some will go to Everett as well. If you’re desperate at tight end (Gronk owners), you could do a lot worse than Everett, who’s had back-to-back seven point fantasy weeks.

The Droppables

QB Andy Dalton: No AJ Green for possibly the next month? No thanks. You saw how that went against the Saints.

RB TJ Yeldon: Leonard Fournette is back and looks 100 percent. Unless you’re a Fournette owner, I’m fine with cutting ties.

WR DJ Moore: I’ve been burned by DJ twice in the past two weeks. Not anymore. This offense is focused solely on Christian McCaffrey and maybe a little of Greg Olsen.

WR Doug Baldwin: He’s simply not a top receiver anymore. Tyler Lockett has surpassed him, and Russell Wilson likes to spread the ball around. I’d rather own a guy like Courtland Sutton at this point.

TE Jordan Reed: Anyone else tired of the single digit fantasy performances? Tight end is a thin position, but if there’s someone out there like Trey Burton, David Njoku or Jack Doyle out there, I prefer their upside the rest of the season.

Don’t Stop Believin’

QB Ryan Fitzpatrick: Fitzmagic baby! I mean, who else could throw for more than 400 yards, score just three points in the game and make you want to drop him? The Bucs will be behind in virtually every game the rest of the way and will have to throw a ton. I still like Fitz going forward.

RB Dion Lewis: No way am I cutting bait with Lewis after one bad game. The whole Patriots/Titans game seemed super fluky, didn’t it? Derrick Henry may not outscore him again the whole year.

WR Golden Tate: Yeah, his debut with Philadelphia was totally disappointing, but we have to let it play out a few weeks before we really start analyzing.

WR Larry Fitzgerald: Fitzgerald was totally underwhelming this week but that came after back-to-back stud weeks. He still got 10 targets this week and should continue to see around that many targets every week.

TE OJ Howard: I’m questioning your sanity if you’re considering dropping Howard at this point. One catch for 15 yards is brutal, but much better days are ahead.

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