Week #11 Waiver Watch Of Truth
Welcome back to The Waiver Watch Of Truth!
The wire keeps getting thinner and thinner as the season progresses so let’s take a look at what may still be available.
Quarterbacks
Marcus Mariota, Atlanta Falcons – Mariota is a guy who’s been on the waiver report almost every week and I’ll continue to mention him as long as he’s the starting QB. After a rough outing for the Falcons in Week 10, chants for Desmond Ridder could be heard and I’m sure questions about a QB switch will come up this week. But until Ridder is named starter, Mariota can be a solid streaming options that is known to drop a dud every few weeks, but otherwise finished in the Top 12 QBs each week. He’s been over 15 points in 7 games this season and has a juicy matchup against Chicago.
Deshaun Watson, Cleveland Browns – I’ll continue to mention Watson until he returns in Week 13, because there’s a good chance he’s still available – only 44% rostered – and as we get closer to his return, competition will get higher for Watson. If Watson is somewhat close to his previous form, you could be stashing a Top 5 QB for a few weeks.
Running Backs
Gus Edwards, Baltimore Ravens – With bye weeks and injuries, check if Gus Edwards was dropped because of the Ravens’ bye last week, and if so, he would be my #1 priority at RB this week. Gus took a little longer than teammate JK Dobbins to come back from injury, but once he returned, the Ravens fed him 18 opportunities in his first game back. He was on his way to another nice workload in Week 8 until he unfortunately left the game early with a hamstring injury. He’s had time to rest up with the Ravens’ bye last week and should hopefully be good to go in Week 11. I would add him regardless, and if he’s unable to go this week, I believe it’s worth holding him for when he returns. The Ravens have two favorable matchups against Carolina and Jacksonville upcoming, both allowing top ten points to the RB position.
Jerick McKinnon, Kansas City Chiefs – Clyde Edwards Helaire has been relegated to useless apparently, as the Chiefs only gave him 4 snaps this past week. Isaiah Pacheco and Jerick McKinnon are sharing the bulk of the Chiefs’ offensive plays, and they seem to have clearly defined roles. Pacheco is treated as the ground back who the Chiefs lean on in the run game, and McKinnon is used as their passing downs back. I highlighted Pacheco last week, so figure it’s worth it to highlight McKinnon this week. I think both guys should be rostered, and the one who has a better fantasy day most likely depends on game flow. Games the Chiefs are dominating we’ll most likely see more opportunities for Pacheco, like in Week 10 where he saw 16. In games the Chiefs need to throw more, McKinnon will get more opportunity, as in Week 10 against the Titans. It’s hard to predict game flow but it seems the Chiefs have consolidated their backfield down to two guys which helps increase the opportunity for Pacheco and McKinnon, and given this is one of the league’s best offenses, it’s worth stashing both guys.
Keontay Ingram, Arizona Cardinals – Strange news today came out that the Arizona Cardinals were releasing RB Eno Benjamin. Benjamin filled in pretty well over the last few weeks while James Conner was out with injury, and these last two weeks since Conner’s been back, Benjamin has seen his usage virtually go back to zero. Some speculation about Benjamin complaining to the coaches about his role could have led to this release, but none the less that opens the door for rookie Keontay Ingram to serve as the primary back up to James Conner. We’ve seen plenty of evidence in his career, including this season, that Conner is a high risk of injury. If Conner misses anymore time this season, Ingram would be the last man standing. While I doubt the Cardinals would give Ingram bellcow usage, he would most likely own the majority of a committee.
Wide Receivers
Christian Watson, Green Bay Packers – The 2nd round rookie finally showcased his big play ability, hauling in 3 touchdowns from QB Aaron Rodgers. Watson had been plagued by drops and injury up to this points in the season, and might have finally figured it out on Sunday. Watson set season highs in snap percentage (84%), targets (8), receptions (4), yards (107) and touchdowns (3). We know Romeo Doubs will be sidelined the next few weeks at least with an ankle injury, and if Watson has earned the trust of Aaron Rodgers, his athletic ability makes him a good bet for a big play or two each week. He would be my #1 waiver priority this week by far.
Donovan Peoples-Jones, Cleveland Browns – Surprisingly Donovan Peoples-Jones has been one of the most consistent WRs in fantasy, albeit with a low ceiling. He set a high mark for 2022 in Week 10 with 14.9 PPR points, which isn’t exciting, but has been over double digit points in 6 of 9 games this season. He’s been over 50 yards in each of the last 6 games, and over 70 in 5 of the last 6. There’s a high chance he’ll give you a solid floor if you’re stuck with bye weeks or injury this week.
Nico Collins, Houston Texans – After the trade debacle between Houston and Brandin Cooks, we could see an outcome similar to this past week, where Nico Collins out targeted Brandin Cooks in his first game back from injury. Collins is a second year WR who’s shown flashes before and has provided double digit fantasy points in 3 of his 6 games this year – not including Week 7 which he left early with the injury. If the Texans treat Collins as their #1 and he continues to see 8-10 targets a game, he can be a usable WR in PPR leagues.
Parris Campbell, Indianapolis Colts – There’s a high chance Campbell was dropped by many owners when Ehlinger was named the starting QB, as Campbell only saw 7 targets over the last two games combined. Once Frank Reich was fired this past week and Jeff Saturday took over, Matt Ryan was back to the starting QB and targeted Campbell heavily, as he did in the prior 2 games he started. In Ryan’s last 3 starts, Campbell has seen 34 combined targets and has been over 18 PPR fantasy points in all 3 games. As long as Ryan is playing, Campbell looks to be a solid PPR flex that should get you double digits most weeks based on volume.
Ben Skowronek, Los Angeles Rams – Continuing along what seems to be a lost season, it seemingly gets worse as star WR Cooper Kupp suffered an ankle injury where early reports mention he avoided major injury, but a likely high ankle sprain will keep him sidelined a few weeks. Kupp was getting an insane amount of volume from Matt Stafford who should be back next week, and all those targets have to go somewhere. Skowronek hasn’t been much more than a borderline bench WR this year, but he’s been on the field a ton for LA this season and is most likely on the waiver wire. He out-snapped, out-targeted and out-produced Allen Robinson last week, and it seems Robinson doesn’t have much left in the tank. I wouldn’t start Skowronek unless you’re stuck, but definitely worth adding to the end of the bench to see how life without Cooper Kupp works for the Rams.
Tight Ends
Trey McBride, Arizona Cardinals – Reports today said Zach Ertz will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury, which opens the door for McBride, a super athletic rookie who most likely sees the most work at TE for Arizona now, as he saw 91% of the snaps Sunday, by far his highest of the season. While he was on the field a ton, he only received 1 target from Colt McCoy so it’s tough to gauge his involvement in the offense, but we can’t make any assumptions based on last week since Murray should be back soon. Ertz was getting high volume more often than not – 8+ targets in 5 games this year – and had eclipsed double digit fantasy points in all but one game this season. It’s yet to be seen if McBride will just step in and absorb all that work – I think a few extra targets go to Rondale Moore and Deandre Hopkins now – but 4-5 targets a game is reasonable for McBride and there’s a chance the offense continues to heavily involve the TE which gives him a decent upside.
Hayden Hurst, Cincinnati Bengals – There’s a high chance Hurst was dropped this past week given the Bengals bye week, and he’s worth a shot just as much as the other streaming options. He won’t provide a ceiling for your team, but he’s been over 8 points 5 of the last 6 weeks and plays for one of the league’s best offenses with Jamar Chase still sidelined. Hurst has a solid schedule upcoming, against the Steelers, who are middle of the pack this season against TEs, followed by the Titans and Chiefs, who have both given up a high amount of points to the position.
Juwan Johnson, New Orleans Saints – Deeper league idea here as I would prefer the common streams – Tonyan, Hurst, Conklin, Engram, Higbee, etc. – but Johnson seems to be a favorite targets of Andy Dalton near the end zone, collecting 4 TDs in the last 4 games. He’s a risky play given his low floor, as evidenced by his first 6 games, but seems like a solid chance to grab a TD which is all you really need in the TE wasteland.
Good luck and as always, stay true!