Pigskin Papers: 2023 Waiver Wire Week 11
Devin Singletary Tames the Bengals
(Published November 13, 2023)
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Welcome to the Waiver Wire, Week 11. We are officially into the fantasy football playoff push, and hopefully your team is in decent position. For the second straight week, the Waiver Wire isn’t amazing, although it’s better than last week as there are some decent RB choices, which is always a plus. But even when the Wire is weak, that doesn't mean you shouldn’t be working it to try to improve your team for the stretch run, and especially with 4 teams on Bye again this week. You ALWAYS need to be working the Waiver Wire, and ideally, winning it! I’ll try to help you do just that.
*****WEEK 11 FANTASY PREVIEW COLUMN: Fantasy-preview-week-11. *******
The Process: Each week, I try to identify the top Waiver Wire targets and evaluate the short and long term prospects of those players. I also do my best to reveal which players who are coming off a big week are fool’s gold. Finally, I endeavor to find streamers who might help you in a pinch. Note that this advice is primarily intended for Season-Long leagues, and NOT Dynasty leagues.
Some of the players I’ll talk about won’t be available in your league. As a general rule, I list players who are available in more than 50% of leagues. But what does that even mean? A 10 team league with 6 bench spots will have a much larger free agent pool than a 14 team league with 8 bench spots. Most leagues fall somewhere in between. This isn’t “one size fits all.”
WEEK 11 BYES: ATL, IND, NE, NO (and note - there are no BYES for Week 12, but they resume in Week 13, so plan ahead)
Week 11 Waiver Wire:
QB: Injuries at the QB position have been a major story this season, and 2 more QBs went down in Week 10 (D. Carr and T. Heinicke). NO and ATL are both off this week, so it might be that neither player misses a start (although it’s conceivable that ATL could decide to make a change regardless). In any case, listed below are some QBs to think about if you’re in need. NOTE: I’m going to assume that at this point Josh Dobbs is rostered everywhere, but since I’ve mentioned him as a waiver target almost every week this season, I’ll throw his name out there again. He’s the QB7 on the season, folks. What more do you need to see?
Others:
Deshaun Watson. He’s been injured and/or ineffective often enough this year that he’s actually available in a surprising number of leagues. He just played his best game as a Brown, and is definitely worth adding, at least as a stash. His rushing upside gives him a decent floor, as does the Browns’ defense, which creates lots of possessions and some short fields. He got banged up this week (ankle), but played through it, so he’s probably good to go for Week 11.
Baker Mayfield. Here’s another guy I’ve mentioned multiple times. Baker is quietly having a productive season and is the QB14 on a points per game basis. He’s got a safe floor with some upside, most weeks. You won’t want to start him this week at SF, but he’s a good longer-term add to your QB room if you need help or quality depth, or have a QB on Bye in Week 13.
Derek Carr. The combination of him getting hurt in Week 10 and having a Bye in Week 11 may lead to him getting dropped by some. He continues to be a fairly safe QB2 in Superflex—something that’s been hard to find this season with all the QB injuries and poor play from a number of lower-end guys (I’m looking at you, K. Pickett, Z. Wilson, M. Jones, and B. Young, among others). He also has the easiest remaining fantasy schedule of any QB, which is a big plus. If you’ve been relying on him as your second QB in a 2-QB league, you may want to pick up Jameis Winston just to be safe.
Jordan Love. He hasn’t been good for over a month, and I mention him for one reason and one reason only: The Packers host the Chargers and their abysmal pass defense in Week 11. If you’re stuck this week, stream Love and thank me later.
Tyrod Taylor. This is a stash to consider only if you’re desperate, and nothing more. He should return in a couple of weeks, and the reeling Giants should be playing catch-up almost every week.
Opportunity Knocks for Ty Chandler
RB:
Devin Singletary. His roster percentage is just below 50% on most of the major platforms, which is surprising considering that Pierce has been hurt. Then again, before this past weekend he hadn’t scored a TD all season, nor had he been particularly effective. Wow, did he pop off this week! With the Texans starting to look legit, he’s definitely an RB to target, but I wouldn’t go overboard. The Texans have really struggled to run the ball this season, and I don’t see many more 30 carry games in his future. Still, he's an attractive depth add and streaming starter if Pierce misses more time. Even when Pierce is back, you have to figure that Singletary will continue to see double-digit touches.
Ty Chandler. I nuriews are paving the way for Chandler. First, Cam Akers tore his achilles. Alexander Mattison then left the Week 10 game, and is in danger of missing Week 11 (concussion). Enter Chandler, who looked good in his first featured duty in relief of Mattison this past week. That makes him a great streamer to target in Week 11, but the value could go beyond this week. The Vikings are on a roll, and while Chandler doesn't figure to supplant Mattison once the starter returns, it’s not like Mattison is Adrian Peterson. Chandler has a great opportunity to carve out a bigger role by building on what he did in Week 10.
Keaton Mitchell. I was surprised to see that he’s barely 50% rostered on some of the big platforms. He showed his big-play ability again this week. He’s a risky start for now, given the usage and the competition for RB touches on the Ravens, but I expect his role to slowly expand over the second half of the season. Grab him if he’s available. The upside is definitely worth it.
Antonio Gibson makes the column again. Nobody plays in more shootouts than the Commanders. That’s helping out Gibson, who has 5 catches in each of the last 3 games, and is averaging about 13 points per game in Full PPR over that stretch. He’s also playing about half the snaps and running half of the RB routes in a share with Brian Robinson. At a thin position, he’s the kind of depth you want— a guy you can plug in if you’re stuck.
Let’s talk about useful backup RBs. I’ve mentioned Rico Dowdle and Zach Charbonnet multiple times already this season, as backup RBs who are great stashes. I’ll mention them again after good “second string RB” games for both. Dowdle looked great in mop-up duty, and it was he, and not Tony Pollard, that looked like he had juice and found the end zone. Dowdle and Charbonnet have flashed at times and each would have a ton of value if the starter ever misses time. While we’re here, it wouldn’t be right if I didn’t mention Tyjae Spears as a depth/stash add for the 10th time this season. And Lat Murray continues to have a role with the Bills, including in the red zone. Finally, if you’re really stuck, Zeke Elliott continues to see enough work to warrant a roster spot.
Jerick McKinnon. He’s a stash play. Roster him, and wait and see if his TD and slightly increased usage in Week 9 was a sign of things to come. He had real value down the stretch last season, on a potent offense (but was very TD-dependent, and that’s the risk if you do put him in your lineup).
Brandin Cooks: Breakout or Mirage?
WR:
Noah Brown. I was skeptical that his breakout performance in Week 9 was a fluke, and after Week 10 (with Nico Collins out) I’m still skeptical, but you can’t ignore this kind of usage and explosion (13 catches for 325 receiving yards and a TD across 2 games). The Texans’ passing game is really showing out, so if you want a piece of it, add Brown and see what happens.
Brandin Cooks. I recommended Cooks several times earlier in the season and he kept disappointing. Coming into Week 10, he had yet to top 50 receiving yards in a game. The breakout finally came this week (9-173-1) in a non-competitive blowout win vs. a terrible team, so the natural question is whether or not this was a one-off. Cooks is still good, but so is Michael Gallup, plus Jake Ferguson is emerging as a real option and of course CeeDee Lamb is the clear alpha. Is there enough volume to allow Cooks to be consistent? I think Dak found something with him this week and that he’ll be a serviceable WR3/Flex going forward, but I’ve been wrong about this once (at least) already this season, and as the Fantasy Wise Men always say, one game does not a trend make. Proceed carefully.
Demario Douglas. For the third straight week, he makes the column, and makes it loudly as a player to target. The Pats are bad. Their QB is bad. They don’t score a lot of points. But despite all that, Pop has emerged as the best receiving option on a team that’s often trailing, and he’s seeing targets (at least 7 in 3 straight games). That’s the kind of player I want on my roster and especially in Full PPR. Note - the Patriots are mercifully off this week.
Rashid Shaheed has been featured in this column multiple times. He’s here again, and with good reason. With Michael Thomas leaving Sunday’s game with a knee injury, Shaheed is definitely a WR to target if you need some quality long-term depth. The Saints are another team that’s off this week, however.
Jaylen Guyton and Quentin Johnston. The Chargers won’t get into ridiculous shootouts every single week, but given how porous their defense has been, they’ll get into some, and they have a QB who can sling it with authority 50 times a game. When they do get into high-scoring affairs, these 2 WRs will have the potential to produce in fantasy as they did this past week, and especially with Josh Palmer out and Gerald Everett also banged up. They’re worthwhile stashes.
Others to consider, for depth: C. Wilson, M. Wilson, M. Gallup, and R. Moore.
Trey McBride’s Flex—8 Catches for 131 Yards
TE: Well, well, well…The TE position isn’t the dead zone that it has been for most of the last 2-3 seasons, and there are now close to a dozen worthwhile starters at the position. An infusion of young talent has saved the day. If you need help at TE, can I interest you in:
Trey McBride. Over the last 3 weeks, he’s sandwiched a stinker in Week 10 (vs. Cleveland’s suffocating defense) with a pair of big performances in Weeks 9 (10-95-1) and 11 (8-131). He’s now part of the TE1 conversation. Having Kyler back, and being on a bad team, should help solidify a nice floor. He should be rostered everywhere already, but if he’s available, grab him.
Luke Musgrave. He followed up his best yardage total in Week 9 (51) with an even better one (61). That’s not exactly a torrent, and he’s only averaging around 4 targets per game, but it’s nice to see him making some plays downfield. He’s part of a large group of higher-end TE2s that are worth stashing, and can stream-start for you if needed.
Michael Mayer. He isn’t in that “Musgrave” group yet, but he did score his first TD on Sunday night (an impressive high-point grab over a shorter defender), and is someone to consider stashing, in this, the year of the rookie TE. The target volume still isn’t enough to consider starting him.
Donald Parham. He’s very much a TD-or-bust option, but if Gerald Everett misses time, and you’re dead at the position, he’s worth a flier.
PK Streamers, Week 11: R. Patterson (vs. CHI), J. Sanders (vs. LV), J. Slye (vs. NYG).
D/ST Streamers, Week 11: JAC (vs. TEN), WAS (v. NYG), MIA (vs. LV).
Good luck with your Waiver claims!
DH
***This column (Waiver Wire) appears each Monday, and the Weekly Fantasy Preview each Thursday. Please bookmark the site and come back often. You can also follow on Social Media - on Instagram (thepigskinpapers) and Twitter (@PigskinPapers). I appreciate your patronage and welcome your feedback. You can post in the comment boxes or email pigskinpapers@gmail.com.***
