The official halfway point of the NFL regular season has come to a close. At this point and with every passing week, the fantasy football waiver wire becomes more and more scarce. However, there will continue to be gems to be found each and every week. In Week 9, we suggested adding Mike Gesicki who finished the week as the TE1 (baring the results of Monday Night Football.) We also suggested the likes of Cedric Tillman and Jalen Tolbert who posted double-digit fantasy performances. Now’s not the time to become complacent in your leagues, keep playing that waiver wire. Even if it isn’t to add someone to slot into your starting roster, but to keep them away from your opponents.
Each week, I will develop a list of must add targets for fantasy football leagues. My goal is to keep each suggestion under 40-percent owned in Yahoo and/or ESPN leagues. At least one of my suggestions will be owned in less than 10-percent of Yahoo and/or ESPN leagues. I will also strive to have at least one player per position (QB, WR, RB and TE.)
Gesicki will likely finish the week as the TE1 in Week 9, catching five-of-six targets for 100 yards and two touchdowns to total 27 fantasy points. Tillman continued on as the go-to guy for Jameis Winston as he caught six-of-11 targets for 75 yards and a score. Tolbert too found the endzone in Week 9, catching three-of-six targets for 19 yards and a score. Ray Davis scored a 67-yard passing touchdown for the Bills to record 17 fantasy points as well.
Week 9 Results
Bo Nix (Denver Broncos) - 17.7 Points
Matthew Stafford (Los Angeles Rams) - 18.9 Points
Jameis Winston (Cleveland Browns) - 13.1 Points
Braelon Allen (New York Jets) - 0.9 Points
Dalvin Cook (Dallas Cowboys) - 0.8 Points
Roschon Johnson (Chicago Bears) - 4.1 Points
Ray Davis (Buffalo Bills) - 17 Points
Isaac Guerendo (San Francisco 49ers) - N/a
Khalil Herbert (Chicago Bears) - 0 Points
Cedric Tillman (Cleveland Browns) - 19.5 Points
Rashod Bateman (Baltimore Ravens) - 5.5 Points
Michael Wilson (Arizona Cardinals) - 0 Points
Ricky Pearsall (San Francisco 49ers) - N/a
Jalen Tolbert (Dallas Cowboys) - 10.9 Points
Darius Slayton (New York Giants) - 9 Points
Parker Washington (Jacksonville Jaguars) - 7.1 Points
Mike Gesicki (Cincinnati Bengals) - 27 Points
Jonnu Smith (Miami Dolphins) - 9.6 Points
Week 10 Byes
Cleveland Browns
Green Bay Packers
Las Vegas Raiders
Seattle Seahawks
Week 10 Suggestions
Quarterbacks
Justin Herbert (Los Angeles Chargers) - Owned in 44% of Yahoo and 43.3% of ESPN Leagues
First off, I know Herbert is above my standard 40-percent owned mark, but he’s close enough so we’ll go with it. The arrival of Jim Harbaugh combined with the lack of receiving talent put a squash to Herbert’s fantasy value to start the season and his ownership numbers reflect that. However, if the last three games have shown, Herbert is coming around in this new system. Across his last three outings he’s scored 14.76 fantasy points against the Cardinals in Week 7 but threw for 349 yards. In Week 8 he threw for 279 yards and two touchdowns for 26.06 fantasy points against a rather good Saints’ defense. Last week he threw for 282 yards and two touchdowns against the Browns. Now, his rest-of-the-season schedule (well at least to week 16) is also ideal. Coming up he gets the Titans (allowing the 18th most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks,) the Bengals (fifth most,) Ravens (third most,) Falcons (eighth most,) Chiefs (17th most,) and the Buccaneers (the most.) Now’s the time to add him.
Russell Wilson (Pittsburgh Steelers) - Owned in 16% of Yahoo and 21.6% of ESPN Leagues
Wilson has started two games for the Steelers prior to their Week 9 bye. He put together two strong performances in those two outings. He scored 26.86 fantasy points in his first start of the season against the tough Jets’ secondary, throwing for 264 yards and two touchdowns while adding a score on the ground. He followed that up in Week 8 by throwing for 278 yards and a score for 14.82 fantasy points. He also gets a favorable schedule through Week 14. He gets the Commanders in Week 10 (allowing the 19th most fantasy points to opposing defense,) then the Ravens (third most,) Browns (15th most,) Bengals (fifth most,) and then the Browns again.
Daniel Jones (New York Giants) - Owned in 10% of Yahoo and 12.4% of ESPN Leagues
Jones looked pretty back against the Commanders in Week 9 but still finished with 26.36 fantasy points. It’s the rushing upside that keeps Jones fantasy relevant. He ran the ball seven times for 54 yards and a score while throwing for 174 yards and two touchdowns. He’s rather streaky is the problem as he’s had four 20-plus fantasy point performances on the season but also four weeks with less than 11.8 fantasy points. He does get the Panthers this week who have allowed the fourth most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks prior to the team’s Week 11 bye. He then gets the Buccaneers (the most,) Cowboys (6th most,) Saints (23rd most,) Ravens (third most) and the Falcons (8th most) to finish his fantasy season.
Runningbacks
Issac Guerendo (San Francisco 49ers) - Owned in 17% of Yahoo and 8.3% of ESPN Leagues
I know that Christian McCaffrey can return to action in Week 10, but he won’t be at a full workload for some time upon his return. As Jordan Mason battles a shoulder injury that took him out of the 49ers’ last outing against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 8, Guerendo could be the guy to offset McCaffrey’s workload. Cuerendo ran the ball 14 times for 85 yards and a score in Mason’s absence in Week 8 and also ran ten times for 99 yards in Week six against the Seahawks.
Ray Davis (Buffalo Bills) - Owned in 21% of Yahoo and 13.9% of ESPN Leagues
I listed Davis as more of a stash candidate last week but he caught a 67-yard touchdown to propel himself to 17 fantasy points. Now, he saw just six touches (four rushing and two targets) but he’s now seen six touches in each of his last three games with James Cook healthy. As a stand alone value, there isn’t much there for Davis outside of his little work in the passing game but he’s one injury away from being a quality fantasy option.
Tyler Allgeier (Atlanta Falcons) - Owned in 39% of Yahoo and 49.6% of ESPN Leagues
Allgeier’s usage on a week-to-week basis is too hard to understand. Some week’s he’s heavily involved and others he’s a non factor. A touchdown last week on six carries against the Cowboys saved his week. He had 12 touches in Week 8, but only 6 in Week 7. He also had 19 touches in Week 6. He obviously deserves a roster spot but I don’t know when to tell you to play him.
Justice Hill (Baltimore Ravens) - Owned in 20% of Yahoo and 20.8% of ESPN Leagues
Hill saw eight chances in Week 9 against the Broncos with three of them coming through the air as he tacked on 43 receiving yards. We know Hill is much more involved in the passing game as Derrick Henry is essentially a non-factor there. The Ravens are entering one of the toughest stretches of games for running backs for the rest of the season. We know John Harbaugh is one of those masterminds in exploiting opposing defenses. I feel as the Ravens get a tough go-of-things against good rushing defenses, they’ll rely on Hill to catch passes out of the backfield.
Jaleel McLaughlin (Denver Broncos) - Owned in 17% of Yahoo and 23.6% of ESPN Leagues
As with my same breakdown of Hill above, Jaleel is much more involved in the Broncos’ offense via the passing game. Now, he has seen eight chances in each of the Broncos’ last two games with three coming through the air last week against the Ravens. The Broncos to get a tough end-of-the-season schedule in terms of opposing rushing defenses. The Broncos may struggle to move the ball via the ground so using McLaughlin out of the back field will make sense.
Khalil Herbert (Chicago Bears) - Owned in 7% of Yahoo and 4% of ESPN Leagues
I’ll continue to list Herbert in this series until the trade deadline. He was an inactive coaches decision in Week 9 against the Cardinals. There are good teams who need running back help in a bad way. Herbert seems to be one of the best available trade options for those teams. If he winds himself up in a good place, he could have an instant fantasy impact.
Wide Receivers
Quentin Johnston (Los Angeles Chargers) - Owned in 16% of Yahoo and 21% of ESPN Leagues
Johnston needs to be taken seriously. Week 9 was his third week of the season with at least 44 receiving yards and a score. He caught four-of-five targets for 118 yards and a touchdown against the Browns. As we already talked about Herbert finding his footing in his Harbaugh offense, Johnston is going to be the biggest benefactor of that, as Week 9 showed.
Nick Westbrook-Ikhine (Tennessee Titans) - Owned in 1% of Yahoo and 0.3% of ESPN Leagues
Don’t look now, but Westbrook-Ikhine has scored a touchdown in four straight games for the Titans. He’s seen at least four targets in three consecutive games and is fresh off his best performance of the season, catching five-of-six targets for 50 yards and a score. As the saying goes, someone needs to catch the football in Tennessee.
Xavier Legette (Carolina Panthers) - Owned in 27% of Yahoo and 32.6% of ESPN Leagues
Leggette has now seen at least six targets in back-to-back games. He’s also scored a touchdown in each of those two games as well. He’s now scored four touchdowns on the season. The Panthers also get some plus matchups for receivers for the rest of the season with the Giants (allowing the 16th most fantasy points to opposing wide receivers) im Week 10, the Buccaneers (6th most) in Week 13, the Eagles (tenth most) in Week 14 and the Cardinals (ninth most) in Week 16. Let’s also not forget that Diontae Johnson has left town.
DeMario Douglas (New England Patriots) - Owned in 22% of Yahoo and 27.4% of ESPN Leagues
Douglas saw nine targets in Week 9, making that his fourth game of the season seeing nine targets. He caught seven of the targets for 35 yards. He isn’t doing a lot with the targets but we talk about it often when it comes to waiver wire additions, volume is key. Douglas is definitely seeing that volume, especially with Drake Maye under center.
Jalen Coker (Carolina Panthers) - Owned in 13% of Yahoo and 4.6% of ESPN Leagues
In Week 8 against a very good Broncos’ secondary, Coker caught four-of-six targets for 78 yards and a score. His Week nine performance against the Saints wasn’t anything to write home about (three targets, two receptions for 36 yards) but just as I mentioned with Legette, Johnson has left town. The targets need to go somewhere.
Ricky Pearsall (San Francisco 49ers) - Owned in 28% of Yahoo and 18.3% of ESPN Leagues
The 49ers were on a bye in Week 9 which helped keep Pearsall’s ownership in check. With the slew of injuries the 49ers have seen, mainly to its receiving corps, Pearsall is going to be featured much more for the remainder of the season. He saw nine targets through his first two games of his season after coming back from a gunshot wound. Now that he’s past the bye, he’s going to be even more involved moving forward.
Jalen McMillian (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) - Owned in 34% of Yahoo and 35.6% of ESPN Leagues
We have yet to see McMillian in Week 9 at the time of writing this as they play on Monday Night Football but with both Chris Godwin and Mike Evans sidelined he and Sterling Shepard are the next man up. In his last two games he’s seen 15 targets. Again, he hasn’t done a ton with them (catching seven for 50 yards) but once again, volume is key. He also has a rush in each of his last two games as well. The Buccaneers want to get the ball in his hands as much as possible.
Parker Washington (Jacksonville Jaguars) - Owned in 4% of Yahoo and 3.9% of ESPN Leagues
As it feels like every single receiver on the Jaguars’ roster is dealing with injury, Washington had a good outing in Week 9 against the Eagles. He caught three-of-six targets for 41 yards. He now has ten targets, six receptions and 87 yards in his last two outings. The Jaguars also get the Vikings next week who are allowing the most fantasy points to opposing wide receivers. They then get the Lions (third most) and the Texans (eighth most) through Week 13.
Tight Ends
Mike Gesicki (Cincinnati Bengals) - Owned in 13% of Yahoo and 10.8% of ESPN Leagues
Gesicki will likely finish Week 9 as the TE1. He caught five-of-eight targets for 100 yards and two touchdowns. In Week 8 against the Eagles (who have allowed the second fewest fantasy points to opposing tight ends) he caught seven-of-eight targets for 73 yards. I don’t think I need to say anymore. He’s a must add, especially with how bad the tight end position has been as a whole this season.
Taysom Hill (New Orleans Saints) - Owned in 37% of Yahoo and 26.8% of ESPN Leagues
Hill has seen his production increase in each of his last two games since returning from injury. He ran the ball five times for 19 yards and a score last week against the Panthers. We know the Saints love to use him in any way possible and as the Saints fell to 2-7, they’ll likely be trying as much trickery as they possibly can for the rest of the season.
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