The waiver wire pickings are relatively slim this week and times like these remind me that it’s better to make it rain FAAB dollars early in the season than it is to save them. We’re coming to that tipping point in the NFL season where fantasy free agents can only help your team so much. With bye weeks coming to a close, you and your opponents should both have enough quality options to render most waiver wire finds irrelevant. With that in mind, it’s even more important to be savvy with your claims. Whether you’re using them to handcuff your riskiest/most important players or using them to block an opponent from filling a key vacancy in his or her lineup, the time to flex your waiver wire muscle is now.
QUARTERBACKS
Carson Palmer, OAK – Palmer continued his consistent performance this season and led all QBs in fantasy points on Sunday. With the Oakland backfield in disarray, it’s time to start considering Carson weekly for your fantasy team, which is slightly better than considering Carson weakly and much better than considering Carson Daly.
Ryan Fitzpatrick, BUF – In Week 4, Fitzpatrick threw for 350 yards and 4 TDs against the Patriots. This week, the Bills travel to New England for the rematch. While I wouldn’t bet on 4 TDs again, 300+ passing yards for Fitzpatrick should be in play again.
Russell Wilson, SEA – I’ve been relatively anti-Wilson this season, but over the past four weeks, he’s shown that he can be productive against subpar defenses. His Week 10 opponent, the Jets, don’t necessarily fit that bill, but Wilson is a decent option if you need QB help.
RUNNING BACKS
Isaac Redman, PIT – With Rashard Mendenhall and Jonathan Dwyer out on Sunday, Redman returned to action and finished as a top-10 fantasy running back (147 yards, 1 TD). With the lowly Chiefs on deck, you want any and all active Steelers running backs in Week 10. Keep an eye on practice reports, but I’m ranking them Redman, Dwyer, then Mendenhall for now.
Mike Goodson, Marcel Reece, & Taiwan Jones, OAK – Darren McFadden injured his ankle on Sunday, opening the door for Mike Goodson, who promptly injured his ankle. Reece got a piece of the action, but only in the passing game with 8 catches for 95 yards and a score. Jones only had one carry in the game, making it clear the Raiders weren’t prepared to let him shoulder a significant workload. The real winner in this situation for fantasy is Carson Palmer, who should be forced to chuck it even more going forward. With that in mind, I’d add Reece first, then Jones and Goodson.
Joique Bell, DET – Perhaps overshadowed by Mikel LeShoure’s 3-TD effort on Sunday, Bell had a nice game for his owners with 109 total yards and a touchdown of his own. It’s unlikely that your fantasy team will be saved by Joique Bell, but he should be owned as long as the Lions continue to model their backfield on the Panthers’ Williams-Stewart counterpunch circa 2009.
Shaun Draughn, KC – Speaking of bells, Jamaal Charles had his rung pretty hard against the Chargers. Concussion tests reportedly came back negative and Charles expects to play in Week 10, but adding Draughn is a wise move if you own JC Superstar or if you’re looking for an RB lottery ticket.
Beanie Wells, ARI – Wells is eligible to return on Movember 25th, so get your stash on while you get your ‘stache on.
WIDE RECEIVERS
T.Y. Hilton, IND – Hilton and Donnie Avery both eclipsed 100 yards receiving on Sunday, but Avery left the game with a hip injury and is questionable for Week 10. Hilton is the best option in a sparse crop of free agent fantasy receivers on the chance that Avery misses time.
Danny Amendola, STL – Did Amendola visit Kobe Bryant’s knee doctor in Germany while the Rams were in England? He has healed exceptionally quickly and is ready to return against the 49ers in Week 10. While it’s not the best match-up, Amendola is a nice add for owners looking ahead.
Donald Jones, BUF – According to the Fitzpatrick corollary, if Ryan Fitzpatrick throws for 300+ yards, someone other than Stevie Johnson has to catch some passes. Jones went for 90 yards and a touchdown against the Pats in Week 4. Similar numbers this week are conceivable.
Justin Blackmon & Laurent Robinson, JAC – Blackmon caught his first career touchdown pass on Sunday and Robinson returned from injury to post 6 catches for 41 yards. The fake football community (myself included) may have been too quick to anoint Cecil Shorts the #1 WR in Jacksonville, as Blackmon and Robinson each had 9 targets compared to 4 for Shorts. Keep an eye on this situation going forward, particularly in deep leagues.
TIGHT ENDS
Brandon Myers (OAK) & Dwayne Allen, IND – Consider my own horn tooted, but these guys were in the Week 9 Waiver Wire. Send in the Swedes!
I’ve got to go with Ridley & Cruz. Charles is too much of a liability.
Just traded McFadden and Celek for Chris Johnson. Was that a good trade? My other RBs are McCoy, Mathews, and JStew. My TE is A. Hernandez.
Seems fine. You unloaded an injured RB for a healthy one. CJ2K seems to have turned the corner since starting off slow.
10 Team PPR, in 1st place. Would you rather have Eli or Luck ROS? I have both Cruz & Wayne.
Thanks!
As good as Luck has been, I’d rather have Eli. His schedule gets a lot easier from here on out.
Thoughts on trading Brandon Lloyd for D. Sproles (0.5pt PPR)? I heard he would be away 1 to 2 weeks and I’ve got a very good shot at the playoffs so I’m thinking down the road. One would replace the other as my flex.
Thanks!
I’d be wary of trading for an injured player when the player you have has been almost as productive. If your league counts return yards, I like the deal a lot, but otherwise, I would stick with the currently healthy commodity.
got it, thanks. That makes sense.
MJD just got dropped in my league. Pick him up and store him?
If you have the roster space, sure. Why not?
Hilton or Reece? Non ppr Thx.
Reece.
Trade Matthews/Dwyer for Ridley/F.Jones ?!
If not, should i try to get CJ?K for Matthews straight up ?!
Tks!
Both deals seem good for you. I like both Ridley and Chris Johnson more than Mathews.
Should i drop Shorts/Britt to add Hilton/D. Jones ?!
Tks!
Stick with your current options.
Im trying to sell MJD for Hernandez.
Is this a good deal ?!
If you can absorb the loss of MJD at RB and need a TE, yeah, that’s a fine move.
Hi Greg,
Would you trade Brandon Lloyd to receive M Jones Drew? I will likely make the playoffs and I think MJD might be back in a couple of weeks. Thoughts?
0.5pt PPR (either would be my flex).
Thanks!
It’s a decent gamble if you can handle the loss of Lloyd in the short term. Trading for an injured player is pretty risky, though. High risk, high reward.
12 Team PPR: TB vs. SD or NYJ vs. Sea? I’m thinking TB, this is a bye week fill in for GB.
Thanks!
Go with the Bucs.
Always a good read, Mr. Sauce.
I’m in an auction and spent $10 on Titus Young, would it be wise to drop him for Reece or Ty Hilton, or should I stick it out with Young? Hopefully he’s healthy. Thanks.
I’d stick with Titus over Hilton, but if you need RB help, dropping Titus for Reece is reasonable.
In general, though, I’d lean towards keeping Titus Young. We don’t know exactly which Oakland RB is going to gain the most from McFadden’s injury.
14 Team PPR: I have Crabtree or TY Hilton as my WR3 right now, would you start Emmanuel Sanders over either of them?
I’d rank them Crabtree, Hilton, then Sanders for this week.
I also have Britt on my bench, would you start him over Crabtree? Would you trade Crabtree for maclin?
I’d start Britt over Crabtree this week and yes, I would trade Crabtree for Maclin.
10 Team PPR: Flex: Dez, Joique or Amendola?
14 Team PPR: Andre Brown or Kendall Hunter as RB2 this week. Would you drop Hilton & stash Beanie?
Brown over Hunter. For Hilton vs. Beanie, it depends on which position you need more, but Beanie has more long-term upside.
Here is my team, Staff, Mega, Decker, Crabtree, Britt, Hilton, Martin, Alex Green, Andre Brown, Hunter, Bennett, A Smith, Janikowski, SF. I’m thinking I either start Britt or Crab, drop Hilton for Beanie cuz my RB2 situation is looking rough. Thoughts?
Yeah, in the case of that team, you need the help more at RB than WR, I’d stash Beanie.
Which side? Mcgahee and Wallace or Green Ellis and Julio
McGahee/Wallace.
Think JC Superstar is a buy low right now? Are you concerned about his injury and lack of productivity? I am thinking owners might be panicking on him right now. What would you give away for him?
He’s a buy-low, but an abnormally risky one. If I had depth at WR, I might offer a mid-to-high end WR2 for Charles.
10 Team PPR: Eli or Luck ROS? I have both Cruz & Wayne. Flex: Dez, Joique or Amendola?
Eli over Luck, Dez at flex.
need advice. I am in a 8team, 2QB league, 6pts/QB TD, I have Rodgers & Ryan. Would u trade Ryan for Al Morris & Cam? I do not have very good RB’s and I am thinking Ryan might be shutdown at the end of the year due to Atlanta having the division wraped up. My RB are Charles, Matthews and Mcgahee.
It’s not a bad idea, but in my experience with 2-QB leagues, it’s best to have two consistently good QBs and you have that with Rodgers and Ryan. I would stick with what you’ve got or maybe shop Ryan for an even better RB.
Hi Greg,
I am in an 8 team standard scoring league. I have been offered Brees and Gates for McCoy. I currently have RG3 as QB with Foster and R Bush being my other RBs and Witten as my TE. I really like Brees and feel like RG3 may be starting to fade.
Thanks.
I wouldn’t make that deal. You downgrade too much at RB for a small upgrade at QB and a lateral move at TE.
Was offered his Demaryius Thomas for my Ryan Mathews in my 12 team nonPPR. Looking for a legit WR1 with Fitz and Bowe dealing with QB woes. My other RBs are Forte, Spiller, SJAX, DRich and Daniel Thomas. My WRs are Fitz, Bowe, DHB, Lance Moore and N. Washington. Should I take it?
If you only start 2 RBs, I would make the deal, but if you can start 3 RBs, I would keep Mathews and play WR roulette with DHB, Moore, and Washington every week. The remaining schedule for the Rams’ running backs is pretty tough, so I wouldn’t want to lose Mathews and rely on S-Jax/D-Rich as my RB3. Plus, with McFadden injured, DHB should step up his game going forward and heal some of your emotional WR wounds.
Got Cobb and Morris on BYE, so I need a Flex play. 0.5 PPR, 3 point bonus at 85 yards receiving and 100 yards rushing, 6 point bonus at 135 yards receiving and 150 yards rushing. These are my options, who you playing:
Andre Brown
Titus Young, Sr.
Broyles
F. Jones
J. Bell
K. Britt
E. Sanders
DHB
Reece
Thanks man.
If you want to play it safe, go with Felix Jones (assuming DeMarco Murray sits again). If you want to swing for the fences, go with Britt and his favorable match-up against Miami.
I’m tied for 3rd (I’m actually in 5th by 8 points) and I’m playing the guy in 3rd. For me to get Britt in the lineup I’d have to drop Jones, Andre Brown, or Titus. Would you drop any of them to plug in Britt?
My starting lineup is M. Ryan, Nicks, Dez, DJax, Forte, LeShoure, Witten, Graham, and then the flex spot that is the subject of this question.
Thanks!
I’d use Felix.
Would you pick up Britt to play for Nicks if he’s out? Or use Titus for the fill-in?
I was just offered this trade Aaron rodgers, martellus bennet, and jonathan stewart for cj spiller andrew luck, and kyle rudolph. If DMC didnt just get hurt I wouldnt even have to ask. Heres my team, what do you think?
qb; Luck/romo
rb: forte
rb2: Mcfadden
wr: Cruz
wr: J. Jones
te: Aaron Hernandez
flex: Cobb
Bench: Spiller, T. Smith, m. Bush
Forgot I also have Rashad Jennings
It’s a pretty fair deal, but I wouldn’t do it. The downgrade from Spiller to Stewart/Jennings is pretty significant considering that Jennings will lost most of his value if/when MJD returns. Rodgers is certainly an upgrade over Luck, but I don’t know how much of an upgrade because Luck has a cakewalk schedule for the rest of the year (Rodgers, meanwhile, faces the Bears in Week 15, a.k.a. the fantasy playoffs). I’d rather take my chances with Luck and keep my RB depth.
12 Team PPR: 7-2, 2nd place, looking ahead to playoffs, trying to trade for Spiller. Here’s my team: Brees, Cruz, Bryant, Martin, JStew, Pierre, Graham, James Jones, Rudolph, Freeman, Hawkins (dropping for a bye week D fill in), Garcon (dropping for K bye fill in), Beanie, Crosby, GB D. His team: Rodgers, Colston, Floyd, Spiller, Leshoure, Gronk, D Thomas, Titus, Bradshaw, D Clark, Desean, SJax, Gibson, Henery, Miami. Any suggestions?
Thanks!
It’s tough to match up your team with his for a trade. You could offer a WR like Dez or James Jones for Spiller, but with Colston, Floyd, and Demaryius, your opponent doesn’t especially need another wideout. You should shop Josh Freeman to the other owners in your league. You won’t start him over Brees, but one of your opponents may be buying in to Freeman’s recent hot streak.
I hear ya, last place has Vick but also Dalton: Dalton, Moore, Welker, Forte, Rashad, O Daniels, Hartline, VIck, Percy, Morris, Pettigrew, D Rich, Wright. Or: Cam, Bowe, D Moore, CJ, McGahee, Tamme, DHB, T Rich, Jordy, S Moss, Romo, Gordon. Beyond that, I don’t think anyone will bite on Freeman.
Thanks!
What about Brian Hartline? Should I drop Titus Young and snag Hartline? Or does Young have higher upside for ROS?
I prefer Hartline.
12 Team PPR: I need a bye week fill in defense: NYJ vs. Sea, Det vs. Min or Min vs. Det, Dal vs. Phi, Ind vs. Jac?
Thanks!
Detroit.
[...] Jones, BUF – I recommended Jones last week, but his Week 10 performance actually makes for three nice games in a row. He’s averaging 5.3 [...]
4:33:12 pm
ros: Charles and Wallace or Ridley and Cruz