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Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Pickups: Week 10

Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Pickups: Week 10

Imagine traveling back to September and telling everyone that the Dolphins would dominate a waiver-wire column.

Nobody is saying Miami is now an offensive juggernaut. Heck, the team may not win another game after jeopardizing its best tanking efforts with a Week 9 victory over the Jets. None of them are likely to prove the main ingredient to a fantasy championship either. Yet since putting Ryan Fitzpatrick under center, the Dolphins have resembled a legitimate NFL offense capable of moving the chains. Once in a while, they’re even running into that unfamiliar patch of the field located past those orange sticks.

They’re not the only sneaky source of fantasy goodness worth liberating from the waiver wire. Not many active participants of top-tier offenses remain available in under 30% of Yahoo and ESPN leagues, so let’s scour more slept-on squads for some potential value.

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Quarterback

Ryan Tannehill (TEN): 13% Rostered (1% FAAB)
Tannehill has tallied at least 19 fantasy points in all three starts since supplanting Marcus Mariota in Tennessee. He’s already topped 300 yards twice while completing 71.8% (84-of-117) of his passes this season. With Deshaun Watson, Tom Brady, and Carson Wentz all on a bye, the 31-year-old might make the best widely available Week 10 streamer. Kansas City has ceded three passing touchdowns in consecutive games. Tannehill will likely need to pass plenty if Patrick Mahomes returns to action, and he’s displayed commendable dependability in brief work.

Ryan Fitzpatrick (MIA): 5% Rostered (1% FAAB)
Is Fitzmagic back? In three starts since replacing Josh Rosen, the bearded journeyman has recorded 760 passing yards with seven touchdowns (one rushing). He’s the QB8 through that scoring period. Although yet to reach 300 aerial yards after cracking 400 in each of last season’s first three games, he came awfully close when pairing three scores with 288 yards during Miami’s first win of the season. The upcoming schedule (at IND, vs. BUF, at CLE) isn’t particularly pretty for a streamer, but gamers are going to want to keep him in mind next month if the Dolphins keep him under center. In the pivotal Weeks 13-16, Miami faces the Eagles, Jets, Giants, and Bengals.

Running Back

Ronald Jones (TB): 39% Rostered (24% FAAB)
I’m breaking the rules here since there are no other standout options available in a majority of leagues. After accruing 20 touches in his first start of the season, Jones shouldn’t meet that loosened barometer. He hasn’t bested 90 total yards or averaged 4.0 yards per carry in a single game since Week 4, and his snap count dwindled in October. Yet Tampa Bay gave him 18 carries to Peyton Barber‘s four in an overtime loss to Seattle in which the sophomore punctuated his third touchdown. He can still lead the way when not crushed by a poor game script, especially after getting declared Tampa Bay’s starter by Bruce Arians. Week 10’s home matchup against Arizona’s 24th-ranked rushing defense represents the perfect environment for another heavy rushing workload.

Kalen Ballage (MIA): 9% Rostered (9% FAAB)
Given a golden opportunity to shine as Miami’s starting running back, Mark Walton will instead serve a four-game suspension for three offseason arrests. With Kenyan Drake in Arizona, Ballage is the last man standing … for now. It’s nevertheless foolish to bid too much on a player who has run for 70 yards without a single double-digit gain on 35 carries. Walton managed 29 touches in two games without Drake, including a rare triumph, so don’t expect many more chances for his replacement. He’s only someone to start out of true desperation, but a starting opportunity is enough to roster just about any running back.

Gus Edwards (BAL): 3% Rostered (2% FAAB)
Edwards has etched out a steady but subdued role of around five-eight carries in 20-30 snaps per game behind Mark Ingram. That’s hardly spectacular, and it hadn’t led to any fantasy utility until he posted his first touchdown of 2019 in Sunday night’s upset over the Patriots. His scarce involvement, however, is noteworthy because Edwards has handled seven red-zone carries — five inside the 10 — over the last four games. He could get some more chances near the end zone and a higher overall workload than usual if Baltimore bulldozes the winless Bengals. It’s a goal-line touchdown or bust, but he probably makes a better Week 10 dart throw than Ballage. There’s also handcuff appeal for Ingram investors.

J.D. McKissic (DET): 9% Rostered (1% FAAB)
Who’s up for another round of Detroit running back roulette? A week after leading the team in carries, Tra Carson went on the IR. The Lions still used a committee, none of whom handled double-digit carries. McKissic led the way with 32 rushing yards on just four handoffs. More importantly, he turned four targets into 40 yards and a score. Matthew Stafford may air it out 40 times in plenty more games, so receiving could be the only way any of these Detroit backs carves out any fantasy relevance. This remains a deep-league recommendation with the snaps and touches likely to remain too divided to trust anybody.

Wide Receiver

DeVante Parker (MIA): 27% Rostered (17% FAAB)
This should be the last call on Parker, who delivered his fourth touchdown in five games during Week 9’s win. He’s hit 55 yards in six of eight contests and drawn 24 targets in Fitzpatrick’s three starts. This was the year many drafters declared, “Never again.” Naturally, that means he’s now poised to close out December’s soft schedule as a solid WR3.

For what it’s worth, Preston Williams would have joined Parker if not for suffering a season-ending knee injury following his two-touchdown outing. His absence vacates 7.5 targets per game, some of which could carry over to Parker. Nobody else is worth grabbing beyond the deepest of leagues, but keep an eye on Allen Hurns and Albert Wilson.

A.J. Brown (TEN): 17% Rostered (7% FAAB)
In Tannehill’s three starts, Brown has corralled 12 of 18 targets for 156 yards and a touchdown. He’s led the Titans in targets in two of those games while appeasing investors with a score the other time. While far from a safe option, the rookie is a better bet than Corey Davis — or any of Tennessee’s pass-catchers — to capitalize on an advantageous matchup against Kansas City. Let’s remember that the landing spot in a spotty offense was the main deterrent to the second-round pick’s preseason popularity.

Zach Pascal (IND): 13% Rostered (6% FAAB)
True to Frank Reich’s word, the Colts shared the wealth without T.Y. Hilton. Pascal’s six targets narrowly bested Parris Campbell and Chester Rogers, who each registered five. Campbell, the only one of the trio not to find pay dirt,  matched Pascal’s five catches before suffering a hand injury. This was all despite Brian Hoyer throwing for just 168 yards in place of Jacoby Brissett, who left the game with a knee injury. Indianapolis’ entire receiving group takes a hit if Brissett misses time with what the team believes to be a sprain, but a matchup against Miami keeps Pascal relevant in a smaller slate. Despite churning out some duds along the way, he’s already pocketed four touchdowns.

Hunter Renfrow (OAK): 3% Rostered (4% FAAB)
He’s streaky and strikes out in bunches, but Hunter Renfroe is a massive home run hitter … Wait, wrong guy. After gaining some preseason buzz, Renfrow started his NFL career in obscurity. He totaled 115 yards through Week 7 before taking a 65-yard play to the house in Week 8. Perhaps it was more than one big long ball, as he secured six of seven targets for 54 yards and a game-winning touchdown in Sunday’s shootout against the Lions. Oakland’s offense is firing on all cylinders with at least 24 points in each of the last five games. If he stays around as one of Derek Carr’s top receivers, Renfrow will demand much more attention. The upcoming schedule (LAC, CIN, at NYJ, at KC) isn’t too shabby either.

Josh Reynolds (LAR): 1% Rostered (2% FAAB)
Prior to their Week 9 bye, the Rams placed Brandin Cooks back in concussion protocol for the second time this season. They will, of course, proceed with caution and give the wideout all the time he needs to recover. Reynolds, who had gone the prior two games without a catch, collected 73 yards and a touchdown in place of Cooks. He had opportunities to inflict even more damage; his eight targets went for 138 air yards. This wouldn’t be the first time Reynolds transformed from total afterthought to a viable contributor. Last season, he provided 365 yards and five touchdowns in eight games without Cooper Kupp.

Tight End

Mike Gesicki (MIA): 3% Rostered (4% FAAB)
Gesicki was averaging 15.4 yards per game over his career with a high of 51 before breaking out for 95 in Week 9. Although he’s still searching for his first touchdown this season, the second-year pro now has 147 yards on 20 targets over the last four games. According to Next Gen Stats, his 9.3 average air yards per target ranks fifth among active tight ends. The physical tools are also undeniable. Per Player Profiler, his 40-yard dash, speed, burst, agility, and catch radius all rank above the 95th percentile among tight ends. Maybe he’s not the next Rob Gronkowski just yet, but Gesicki could at least be emerging into an interesting TE2 in an improved Miami offense that will likely go back to immense garbage-time volume. The targets should be stickier with Williams out of commission.

Noah Fant (DEN): 10% Rostered (2% FAAB)
One typically doesn’t want to bet on replicating a 75-yard touchdown, but how many tight ends are capable of even one play of that magnitude? While that accounted for just one of Fant’s four targets, he had received nine in Denver’s first game after trading Emmanuel Sanders. Brandon Allen at least doesn’t look like a downgrade from Joe Flacco. Like Gesicki, Fant is more talented than the other meandering TE2 options, so keep him in mind once the Broncos return from their Week 10 bye.

Defense/Special Teams

New York Giants: 4% Rostered (1% FAAB)
The Jets couldn’t get the job done at Miami, so they can’t be trusted in another cozy matchup against their MetLife roommates. In a week where a handful of managers need a streamer, there are no strong options with a consensus rostered rate below 30%. Perhaps their opponents can help instead. No team has steered defenses to more fantasy points than the Jets, who rank last in total yards and have permitted 37 sacks in eight games. While the last one occurred after the refs robbed Ryan Griffin of a touchdown, Sam Darnold has forfeited nine interceptions in his last four games. This is, however, another case of rolling the dice on a bad defense besting a bad offense. Streaming the Giants won’t be necessary in leagues where the Ravens (41%) or Colts (38%) are available.

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Andrew Gould is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Andrew, check out his archive and follow him @andrewgould4.

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