Hello there faithful LAFB Network companions! We are back with another week of football in the books and hopefully another fruitful win under your belt. But if you didn’t win, shucks! I hope your opponent knows you are the better fantasy manager in the matchup and your team was having a bad week.
Don’t worry though, you weren’t the only team to have a bad week. The Seattle Seahawks were slain by the Buffalo Bills, the Cowboy game went down to the wire, and Miami pulled off quite an upset against the Cardinals.
There was some fancy football being played but let’s get down to the players.
Week 10 Waiver Wire Wonders
Quarterback
(LV) Derek Carr @ Denver Broncos
owned in about 42% of fantasy leagues
I think writing this article has helped me realize that I might be a closet Raider fan. Derek Carr has been on my waiver articles week-in and week-out, so maybe writing about him so much is what has made me a fan. Well, I guess that and them being one of my surprise teams to make it to the playoffs, but you guys knew that because you check out the LA Podfidential Podcast and have heard me yip-yap about it a few times.
Anyways, this week Carr is going against the Denver Broncos and that should put a smile on all the Raider fans out there. Not only is this a division matchup but the Broncos are currently 3rd worst against QBs in fantasy points. Right now Denver has been averaging 240.9 passing yards per game with a 14:6 TD to pick ratio.
Derek Carr hasn’t been having too bad of a season either this year. In eight weeks, Carr has been averaging 21.9 fantasy points a week and in those eight games, he has logged only two games under 17 fantasy points. There’s something in the water at those Raider practices so pickup Carr for his stream-start ability.
(MIA) Tua Tagovalioa vs Los Angeles Chargers
owned in about 24% of fantasy leagues
So if you read the waiver article last week you might have seen that Tua was a speculative add for the week. There is still no difference, in my opinion, this week but he is definitely building a case to find his way on my roster some way or another.
If you’re in a super FLEX league then you should totally be rostering him and whoever you can get your hands on because it can get pretty dark on the wire for QBs. In standard and PPR leagues I suppose you could play him in a pinch.
He has played and won two games so far this season. Against the Cardinals, his stats didn’t look too bad either, 28 attempts with 20 completions, 248 passing yards with a couple of TDs, and he flashed some rushing abilities with seven attempts for 35 yards. Did I forget to bring up the Chargers have been giving up more than 29 points in the last five games?
(DEN) Drew Lock vs Las Vegas Raiders
owned in about 20% of fantasy leagues
Well, I suppose if I mention that Derek Carr is going against the 3rd worst defense, I should mention that Drew Lock is going against the 2nd worst defense against opposing QBs.
Yes, both QBs have juicy matchups against each other’s defenses so I am expecting a high scoring game. But you know it wouldn’t exactly surprise me if it becomes a sloppy game as well. Division matchups are a little tougher to predict but how can you resist these matchups.
The Raiders have been giving up an average of 267.1 passing yards a game with only three picks on the season. If you have little faith in playing Lock it should at least give you some relief that the Raiders shouldn’t kill you in turnovers.
Running Back
(NYG) Wayne Gallman @ Philadelphia Eagles
owned in about 25% of fantasy leagues
Believe it or not, Wayne Gallman has had 10 rushing attempts or more in the last three games. Believe it or not, Gallman has also scored in the last three weeks he has suited up for the New York Giants.
Surprised? Me too. Sure we never thought anyone would or could replace Saquon Barkley but by golly, Gallman is trying his best. And it shows. Since Devonta Freeman hasn’t been sufficient, Gallman has been looking like the patch that is helping the sinking New York ship barely stay afloat.
(WAS) J.D. McKissic @ Detroit Lions
owned in about 24% of fantasy leagues
Speaking of surprises, who would have thought the Washington Football Team would be on their third QB. Not only that, who would’ve thought they used their change of pace back so much? Well of course you thought of that because you know the Football Team has been behind in a bunch of their games.
Luckily for our “garbage time,” the Washington Football Team has been feeding J.D. McKissic. This past week, McKissic drew in a season and team-high 14 targets. Maybe it’s because of Alex Smith wanting to take the quick dump-off rather than waiting in the pocket. No matter the QB, McKissic has been feasting. Since Week 3 he has only had one game with less than four targets.
(HOU) Duke Johnson @ Cleveland Browns
owned in about 16% of fantasy leagues
(CHI) Ryan Nall vs Minnesota Vikings
owned in about 0% of fantasy leagues
If you’re looking for the backups to your starting RBs David Johnson and David Montgomery, here they are. Or if you are trying to do some homework on your opponent and see that they have one of these players, you are welcome. Both players were sidelined with a concussion, which means they may be doubtful for the upcoming week.
Duke Johnson tore it up without David Johnson on the field. He finished with 16 attempts for 41 yards and a rushing TD, as well as four targets and receptions for 32 receiving yards.
Ryan Nall on the other hand didn’t have much time on the field after Montgomery’s injury. He saw no rushing attempts late in the game but had four targets and receptions for 35 receiving yards and one TD.
(LAC) Kalen Ballage @ Miami Dolphins
owned in about 1% of fantasy leagues
Looking for the perfect revenge game? Oh wait, this isn’t Kenyan Drake, its Kalen Ballage. The RB who couldn’t stay fantasy relevant in the Adam Gase offense when he was, for the most part, the lone RB in the backfield.
Yes, with the Dolphins, Ballage wasn’t exactly an RB that you would have wanted to play, he was more like the player you were forced to put in your lineup because of an injury. Well I suppose not much has changed except for the coaching and we can already see the difference.
The week he is activated off the practice squad, Justin Jackson goes down leaving Joshua Kelley and Kalen Ballage to lead the backfield. Ballage actually outplayed Kelley against the Raiders with 15 attempts to Kelley’s nine. Not only that, he had 69 rushing yards and a score, while Kelley only had 28 rushing yards. Add Ballage for the possible depth stash for your roster.
Wide Receiver
(CAR) Curtis Samuel vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers
owned in about 30% of fantasy leagues
Can you guess who the leading fantasy WR is for the Carolina Panthers? If you said D.J. Moore you were correct but if I asked what the margin he was in the lead by, that would be the test. He is currently only half a point in front of fellow WR Robby Anderson.
Moore has 82 points, while Anderson has 81.5. What does that have to do with Samuel? Well, the No. 3 WR of the bunch isn’t as far behind the top dogs as you would think. Samuel is actually sitting pretty with 71.1 fantasy points on the season.
In the past four games, Samuel has tallied 25 targets and 24 receptions from Teddy Bridgewater. That’s literally a 96% completion rate between WR and QB. Not only that, the man has been dabbling in the rushing game getting two rushing TDs in the past three games.
(DEN) Tim Patrick @ Las Vegas Raiders
owned in about 21% of fantasy leagues
To combo your stream-start QB Drew Lock, you might want to check out one of his favored WRs Tim Patrick. Surprisingly enough, Patrick actually has more fantasy points (83.3) than the Carolina Panthers top WR D.J. Moore, and he isn’t even the No.1 guy in Denver.
But he too is right behind the No.1 man, Jerry Jeudy (90.4), which makes Patrick a very tempting pickup. Unfortunately, he’s not like a Mecole Hardman or Marquise Brown that needs only one or two receptions to get into the endzone but once this man gets fed targets, he turns to fire for the offense.
(CHI) Darnell Mooney / Cordarrelle Patterson vs Minnesota Vikings
Mooney owned in about 14% of fantasy leagues
Patterson owned in about 5% of fantasy leagues
No matter how you look at it, the winds are changing in the Chicago offense. Anthony Miller is slowly becoming the third option for Nick Foles in the WR corps and it’s all because of the connection that he and Mooney have developed. This past week it was 11 targets, the week before six, then before that seven.
Week after week Mooney has been stealing targets away from Miller which has resulted in the shift in fantasy relevancy. Naturally, Allen Robinson is going to require a lot of attention from opposing defenses so finding that other WR to use for a team’s 1-2 punch has been critical. Luckily, this rookie has been finding his way into the offense.
Now, why bring up Cordarrelle Patterson? Well as we all know, Patterson is one of those Swiss-army knife players. He plays a little bit of WR, some RB, dabbles in punt returns, and goes in there for kickoffs. The man can play practically every position. This week I wanted to highlight him because of the duality in his position. It’s common to find an RB that is involved in the passing game, but a WR involved in the rushing game is a bit unheard of.
That might change depending on this David Montgomery situation. If Montgomery is out for their next game, Ryan Nall and Cordarrelle Patterson are practically the only other RBs on the team. So Patterson could end up finding his way on the field as an RB but then find himself catching a deep pass. To find Patterson relevant in fantasy, you have to keep tabs on Montgomery’s situation.
Tight End
(CHI) Jimmy Graham vs Minnesota Vikings
owned in about 49% of fantasy leagues
Alright so the likely hood that Jimmy Graham is available in your league is literally a coin flip but if he is, here’s some food for thought. On the season, Jimmy Graham is 6th in fantasy points amongst TEs. He is 4th in targets when it comes to TEs, and went a perfect six for six with 55 receiving yards and a TD last Sunday against the Titans. Jimmy Graham might have fallen for a season or two, but he may not be down for the count.
(WAS) Logan Thomas @ Detroit Lions
owned in about 37% of fantasy leagues
Logan Thomas is one of those players that has a very quiet, but good, fantasy finishes by season’s end. There has not been one week that Thomas has suited up that he didn’t receive at least four targets. Sure, it is only four targets. But at least four targets from a TE on a less than great team can mean something. In two of those four target games, he has finished with 13.2 fantasy points and 16 fantasy points. It might not be pretty but Thomas can get it done if you’re in need of a spot start.
