It’s getting down to crunch time in the fantasy football season. With about three to four weeks left in most fantasy football regular seasons, there are high stakes games coming up. Some teams are fighting to make it into the playoffs, while others may be playing to earn a first-round bye. Fantasy football waivers are always important, but Week 11 waivers may be your last chance at a real difference-maker.
Six teams will be on bye in Week 11: The entire AFC East along with the Cleveland Browns and San Francisco 49ers. While there may not be a ton of fantasy relevance on most of those teams, some key players will be on bye. Some important stars like Brock Osweiler and Zay Jones are out. But seriously, you might have someone like Nick Chubb, Kenyan Drake, or anyone in the Patriots starting lineup that needs to be replaced for this week.
Even if you don’t need someone to play this week, there are some players that might be available and will help your team through the rest of the regular season and fantasy playoffs. In either case, look below for potential waiver pickups for Week 11:
Before Week 10, Corey Davis had only had one truly fantasy viable game all season. Many people expected the Titans number one receiver to do a lot more this year, but questionable quarterback play combining with Davis’ own inconsistency has hurt his production. This may have caused someone in your league to drop Davis within the last few weeks.
Corey Davis makes a catch over top Patriots corner Stephon Gilmore (Image from ESPN)
However, when it was least expected, Corey Davis had a fantastic game against the New England Patriots last week with 7 catches for 125 yards and a touchdown. Not only did over a third of Marcus Mariota’s throws go in his direction, but Davis also accounted for over half of Mariota’s passing yards.
Davis will continue to see a lot of targets; if he can continue to make use of them, he will be a great fantasy asset going forward. Look for Davis on the waiver wire in case someone dropped him.
Rashaad Penny played extremely well against a good rams run defense on Sunday. He got more carries than Mike Davis and turned his 12 carries into 108 yards and a touchdown. This is looking like it will stay a committee backfield, but as long as Chris Carson is out, Penny will continue to see a moderate workload.
Penny looked explosive during his runs and was able to make the moves the Seahawks expected after drafting him first round. That fact, that they did take with their first pick in this year’s draft is important for fantasy purposes. More touches may come the rookie’s way if he builds off this performance and continues to be productive out of the backfield. Teams want to give their high picks more playing time and almost immediately will do so if they can find a reason to.
If you need a streamer this week, Rashad Penny might be worth it against an average Packers run defense. Otherwise, Penny is worth a stash for the fantasy playoffs in case he earns a larger workload.
Thomas (83) catches a key TD in a win over the Denver Broncos (Image from Fansided)
In fantasy football, great tight ends are hard to find. This year, only Zach Ertz, Travis Kelce and George Kittle have been reliable. Jordan Thomas, a rookie the Texans drafted in the sixth round out of Mississippi State, is a flyer most should be willing to take. Before the Texans Week 10 bye, Thomas scored three touchdowns over the last two games. He has been getting more involved in the offense recently, having run more routes (29) in the last two games than he had previously run all season long (22). If you are going to play an unpredictable tight end, why not play one on the upswing with a high ceiling?
Prescott has not been very good this year on the field and that has translated to mediocre fantasy numbers. He is coming off possibly his best performance of the season against the Eagles, where he threw for 270 yards and a touchdown with no picks. But at the end of the day, this pickup is only for this week and due to the defense, he is playing against.
Prescott will be facing an Atlanta Falcons defense that has been downright awful this season. Now, a major reason for their performance is that they have been absolutely shredded by injuries, with arguably four of their best five players on injured reserve.
The fact, though, is that they are coming to a performance where they allowed Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield to go 27/30 with 216 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. There is a good chance Dak will put up similar passing numbers along with some rushing yards. If you have Brady on a bye or are simply looking for a quarterback this week due to matchup issues, pick up Dak Prescott.
Cardinals DE Chandler Jones sacks Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes (Photo by Arizona Cardinals)
Streaming defenses is all about matchups and this week, the Cardinals have the ultimate matchup: they are facing the hapless Oakland Raiders.
Diving a little deeper, the Cardinals this past weekend held the Kansas City Chiefs to their lowest scoring output of the season. In fact, they were only the second team all year to hold that powerful offense to under 30 points.
With that kind of momentum and a terrific matchup, the Cardinals defense is a great streaming option this week. They may even be worth keeping for the rest of the season.
Featured image courtesy of Yahoo Sports
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