Week 10 Priority Waiver Targets

I wanted to include some players for all you home league heros out there! These are some of my favorite players that should be available in most home leagues based on inclusion criteria of being rostered in <50% of ESPN leagues. I will list out the players in my ranked order instead of breaking into tiers for how I prioritize them. If you are in need of a spot start at certain position then feel free to prioritize those players. You may also move QBs and TEs up in priority if you play in a Super Flex or TE Premium league. I will offer FAAB suggestion ranges for each player followed by a list of droppable players. Please note you do not have to drop these players and all suggestions are general as it is impossible to cover all nuances of individual leagues. Feel free to reach out to me on twitter @stephmiller57 or find me in the Deposit Kingdom Discord with any questions, good luck everyone!

All stats and data for this article are pulled from Fantasy Life, PFF, Ben Gretch of Stealing Signals, and ETR defense v position FPOE chart and PROE.

Zach Charbonnet (30.4% Rostered ESPN, Suggested FAAB 15-30%) Pete Carroll spoke glowingly about the rookie on multiple occasions recently and we saw Charbonnet again lead the Seahawks in snaps (56.9%), routes run (53%) and handle the entire 3rd down role and 2 minute drills. Charbonnet still fell short of Kenneth Walker with fewer rush attempts (31% to 62%) and team target share (5% to 10%). Charbonnet remains a priority handcuff whose role has chance to expand in early down work and should not be on the wire.

Devin Singletary (49.1% Rostered ESPN, Suggested FAAB 15-30%) played the early down role with Dameon Pierce sidelined seeing 72% of rush attempts, while Mike Boone maintained the third down role. Ultimately, Singletary had a disappointing fantasy finish against a tough Buccaneers team rushing 13 times for 26 yards and catching 2 passes for no gain, but the usage remains elite, especially if Dameon Pierce misses more time.

Tyjae Spears (Rostered 33.1% ESPN, Suggested FAAB 15-30%) saw a big boost to his usage in week 9 where he played a season high 60% of snaps, more than Derrick Henry 49%, ran more routes (58% to 27%), and had a higher share of targets (16% to 11%). Henry still dominated the early down rushing with 74% of rush attempts to Spears 22%. Spears remains one of the best handcuffs should anything happen to the Big Dog and continues to see a strong receiving role.

Quentin Johnston (34.3% Rostered ESPN, Suggested FAAB 15-30%) lead the Chargers with 95% route share, but ultimately had a quiet game with 2 receptions for 14yds. and 1rush for 2 yds. I am prioritizing Johnston based on this usage and letting the poor efficiency slide due to the difficulty of the matchup and seeing Sauce Gardner for much of the night.

Keaton Mitchell (12.9% Rostered ESPN, Suggested FAAB 15-30%) returned from injury (again) and saw his biggest game time action in the Ravens offense week 9. Gus Edwards was limited with a toe injury most of the week and saw his playtime get cut back in the second quarter, which is where the rookie, Mitchell had an opportunity and boy did he seize it… 9 attempts for 138yds and 1 TD, earning the highest PFF run grade (93.0) on the week. Anyone familiar with Mitchell’s collegiate profile should not be that surprised as the kid ran a 4.37 40-yd dash at the combine and was tied for first in career explosive rush rate amongst RBs in the 2023 draft class (23%). Mitchell saw less work than Justice Hill who played deep in the 4th quarter, which was mostly garbage time. The reality of this situation is this is most likely a 3 man backfield going forward, but it is hard to put a rookie that flashed that much talent and explosiveness back in the bottle, kinda reminds me of another explosive rookie named Devon Achane… I am willing to take a shot that the rookie could earn a bigger role after Justice Hill has been unspectacular thus far, and am willing to make a sizable bid, especially since we are nearing the end of the season where we see these types of opportunities dwindling.

Taysom Hill (39.7% Rostered ESPN, Suggested FAAB 10-20%) continues to be an intregral part of the Saints offense. Hill led the Saints with 52 yds rushing while throwing and catching a TD. Hill continues to be a red zone weapon in this offense and his role appears here to stay, he remains a solid streaming option.

Trey McBride (43.6% Rostered ESPN, Suggested FAAB 10-20%) is a player I am excited about with the imminent return of Kyler Murray. I am willing to throw out last week’s game as the entirety of the Cardinals offense was a joke with a season low 58 yards of offense, also the lowest of any NFL team this season.

Demario Douglas (21.9% Rostered ESPN, Suggested FAAB 8-15%) maintained solid usage running 83% of routes in a game where the Patriots posted a +6.08 PROE tying Juju Smith-Schuster and Hunter Henry for team lead with 7 targets. Douglas remains a solid high floor play, but as a slightly undersized lead receiver, who plays mostly in the slot, for one of the the worst scoring offenses it is fair to question what the ceiling looks like.

Michael Wilson (7% Rostered ESPN, Suggested FAAB 8-15%) is the Cardinals WR 2 and despite the rookie missing week 9 he has flashed some talent on a limited role. We can presume Murray will be a sizable upgrade at QB position who will elevate the entire passing offense and raise the ceiling on the rookie’s second half of the season outlook.

Kyler Murray (35.6% Rostered ESPN, Suggested FAAB 8-15%) was officially activated to the Cardinals 53-man roster and should play week 10. Hopefully you have already picked up Murray if you have been reading this newsletter the last couple of weeks. Murray should be a big upgrade to the entire Cardinal’s pass game and has more upside than any other QB you will find at this point in the season on waivers.

Joshua Dobbs (16.3% Rostered ESPN, Suggested FAAB 8-15%) was the feel good story of week 9 because a victory over Arthur Smith is a victory for all of us. Dobbs led a come from behind win after unexpectedly being thrown into action when rookie Jaren Hall suffered a concussion. Dobbs had not even learned his teammates’ names and was teaching them his cadence on the sideline, but none of that mattered as a 3 TD performance was enough to ensure a Falcon defeat. We could see Justin Jefferson return soon, and now that the Vikings have lost Cam Akers to another achilles injury (my deepest condolences) the Vikings will be forced to lean on the passing attack that much more. Dobbs has shown he can be a duel threat with solid rushing floor combined with an improved pass catching corps could easily finish as a low end QB1 this season.

Cade Otton (7.8% Rostered ESPN, Suggested FAAB 3-8%) was the highlight of the Buccaneer offense week 9. Otton has had a sizable role all year with a seasonal average 86% of routes, but finally flashed an ability to earn targets leading the team with 0.68 wTPPR and was used more downfield with an 8.67 aDOT. It remains to be seen if Otton can continue to earn targets consistently going forward as the Texans rate as the 5th best matchup for TEs this season giving up an average 14.2 PPR fantasy points to the position.

Jonnu Smith (27.1% Rostered ESPN, Suggested FAAB 3-8%) was the main beneficiary to Arthur Smith’s absurd player usage tying Khadarel Hodge for a team high 6 targets, one in which he caught as a screen pass that went for a 60 yd TD.

Zay Jones (21.5% Rostered ESPN, Suggested FAAB 1-5%) could return to action this week following the Jaguars week 9 bye. The last full game played was back in week 1 where Jones ran in 2 wide sets and saw a 23% target share. Jones only played part of week 2 and limited action in week 5, but is worth rostering based on presumed role we saw at start of season and play last year. I suggest continuing to monitor reports on Jone’s health heading into the week.

Jameson Williams (20.7% Rostered ESPN, Suggested FAAB 1-5%) could see a post bye rookie bump, or the entirety of his role decimated by recently traded for Donovan People-Jones, or this role dissolve into an unusable WR rotation. Williams is worth the stash if you have space as a former first round pick to see if there is any reason to leave the light on down the stretch.

Marvin Mims (5.1% Rostered ESPN, Suggested FAAB 1-5%) similar to the above situation minus any new additions, this stash is predicated on Sean Payton seeing the light over the bye week and increasing the rookie’s role in which he flashed explosiveness early in the season. If we don’t see a substantial change this week I may finally be ok turning off the light on this one for good.

Drops

Kirk Cousins, Daniel Jones, Desmond Ridder, Cam Akers, Miles Sanders, Jeff Wilson, Roschon Johnson, Dalvin Cook, Justice Hill, Dameon Pierce, KJ Osbourn, Brandin Cooks, Josh Palmer, Curtis Samuel, Treylon Burks, Kadarius Toney, Skyy Moore, Darren Waller