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Fantasy Football Waiver Wire for NFL Week 10

Fantasy Football Waiver Wire for NFL Week 10

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By: Zach Thompson

After a busy Week 9, the NFL starts the second half of the season with an unusual schedule in Week 10. There are four teams on a bye week along with a Munich game early on Sunday morning to consider as you plan ahead and look for quality additions from the fantasy football waiver wire.

While the Steelers and 49ers will be returning from their bye weeks, the Browns, Packers, Raiders and Seahawks will be getting the week off. If you’ve been counting on players from those teams, need to recover from injuries, or are just looking to build depth, there are definitely some strong options on the fantasy football waiver wire this week.

Every week, there are new injuries that occur that change the fantasy football landscape and open up new opportunities for players. Finding the players with a chance to step up or who did step up in Week 9 can be the key to giving your team just the boost it needs. As you get ready to jump on the waiver wire and tune up your season-long fantasy team this week, check out my favorite early additions to consider coming into the week.

Before we get to the pickups, though, here are some of the players who left early or were sidelined on Sunday with new injuries to monitor in the coming week

New injuries from Week 9 to watch:

  • QB Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys
  • QB Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears
  • RB James Conner, Arizona Cardinals
  • RB Chase Brown, Cincinnati Bengals
  • WR CeeDee Lamb, Dallas Cowboys
  • WR AJ Brown, Philadelphia Eagles
  • WR Drake London, Atlanta Falcons
  • WR Chris Olave, New Orleans Saints
  • WR Xavier Legette, Carolina Panthers
  • WR Keon Coleman, Buffalo Bills
  • WR Darius Slayton, New York Giants
  • TE Juwan Johnson, New Orleans Saints

With those injuries in mind, here are some of my top names to watch for on the Week 10 waiver wire.

WR Quentin Johnston, Los Angeles Chargers

I went back and forth on this pick several times since there are a few strong options I really like at receiver. For several weeks, I’ve been high on Ray-Ray McCloud ($3,800; 12.5 FPTS), who could get his chance if Drake London’s hip injury sidelines him. I also really like Nick Westbrook-Ikhine ($3,500; 16 FPTS), who was a hero for my fantasy football sleepers at WR for a second straight week and has found the end zone in four straight weeks for the Titans.

Ultimately, though, I opted to go with Johnston, who looked excellent in his return from two weeks off due to an ankle injury.

He finished with 118 yards on four catches with that breakaway touchdown. His ability to stretch the field vertically brings a much-needed explosive element to the Chargers’ passing game. He finished second on the team this week with five targets behind only Ladd McConkey ($5,600; 11.4 FPTS).

Johnston is owned in under 20% of fantasy leagues but looks back to full strength and ready to contribute. The Chargers face the Titans in L.A. next week but then have outstandingly favorable matchups against the Ravens, Falcons and Bucs over the next four weeks after that. The Bolts are past their bye week and now that Justin Herbert ($5,300; 19.5 FPTS) is healthy, Johnston will bring a high ceiling in every matchup.

Depending on your league, Darnell Mooney ($6,000; 19.8 FPTS) or Jakobi Meyers ($5,300; 21.5 FPTS) would also be amazing pickups if available. They’re available in about 30% of leagues but should be universally owned after big weeks with big opportunities ahead.

RB Ray Davis, Buffalo Bills

The Bills rallied to beat the Dolphins, and Ray Davis ($5,200; 17 FPTS) had one of the biggest plays of the day with this catch-and-run in the third quarter.

Davis only had four carries and two targets, but he ran for 20 yards and 70 receiving yards on his way to 17 fantasy points. He continues to cut into the fantasy value of James Cook ($7,200; 11.9 FPTS), but it’s tricky to know when he’ll have enough fantasy value of his own while Cook is healthy.

Davis is available in over 75% of leagues, though, and has enough upside to be stashed in most standard leagues. He has double-digit fantasy points in three of the last four weeks with the only down game the comfortable win over the Seahawks.

The rookie fourth-round pick’s fantasy value is capped by his timeshare, but he would be a great option if he gets the full-time job. If you own Cook, Davis is a must-own handcuff, and he can make sense even as a standalone option.

Davis isn’t a slam dunk, but he’s the best widely available option without any league-shattering running back injuries this week or any other sleepers who went off. The only exception was in Arizona where Emari Demercado ($4,100; 16 FPTS) and Trey Benson ($4,600; 12.5 FPTS) had big games in relief of James Conner ($6,600; 17.9 FPTS). Conner was able to return, though, and it isn’t clear if either young back will have enough work to be a fantasy factor going forward.

QB Drake Maye, New England Patriots

After sustaining a concussion in Week 8, Drake Maye ($5,500; 18.74 FPTS) was back in Week 9 to lead the Patriots into Tennessee to face the Titans. The rookie jumped right back into the action, completing 29-of-41 pass attempts for 206 yards and adding 95 yards on eight carries.

At the end of the regulation, Maye made some magic to score the game-tying touchdown.

In overtime, his team’s defense let him down and the Titans controlled the ball for almost the full time. When he did finally get the ball, he had to force it down the field and turned the ball over for the third time in the game.

Maye is only owned in 11% of fantasy leagues, but the Patriots are ready to give him plenty of chances to learn on the job over the rest of the season. With the defense struggling, he will have to keep airing it out and taking shots. The high-risk style will likely result in volatile production but also give him a high ceiling, especially if he rushes as much as he did on Sunday.

Next week, he takes the Patriots to Chicago to face his fellow rookie QB Caleb Williams before matchups with the Rams, Dolphins and Colts before the team’s late Week 14 bye week.

Other than Maye, other QB pickups to consider include Trevor Lawrence ($5,600; 21.56 FPTS) and Justin Herbert ($5,300; 19.48 FPTS), who are both owned in about 50% of leagues. Herbert’s upcoming schedule is especially juicy, and he is a solid play now that he has Johnston back and is past the ankle injury from earlier this season.

TE Taysom Hill, New Orleans Saints

I wrote up Taysom Hill ($3,800; 16 FPTS) as a strong option to start on Saturday when the Saints announced that Kendre Miller was headed to IR and that Jamaal Williams (groin) was out.

With only Hill, Alvin Kamara ($7,800; 30.5 FPTS) and Jordan Mims (4.8 FPTS) as running backs, Hill was more involved this week and converted one of his five carries for 19 yards into a touchdown run.

He also caught four of his five targets for 41 yards and finished with 16 fantasy points, the second-most of any tight end on Sunday’s main slate. Hill is available in over 60% of leagues and depending on how your league classifies him, he can be a sneaky way to get extra potential rushing production from a non-running back position. It’s tricky to know how involved he’ll be from week to week. However, with so many injuries to the Saints coming into their matchup with the Falcons this week, they’ll need him to make plays in some facet of the game.

Other widely available tight ends who had big Sunday include Mike Gesicki ($3,100; 30 FPTS), Theo Johnson ($2,700; 14.1 FPTS) and Ja’Tavion Sanders ($2,900; 17 FPTS). Hill’s teammate Foster Moreau ($2,800; 8.7) could also be more involved depending on who the Saints have next week.

Chargers DST

The Chargers DST ($3,300; 18 FPTS) had six sacks against the Browns and had three interceptions including this impressive diving play by Alohi Gilman:

The Chargers have totaled 11 sacks over the last two weeks. They have 13 takeaways on the season and have allowed 20 points or less in every one of their games this season. Impressively, they have allowed an average of only 12.4 points per game, and next week they get a great home matchup against the Titans. They aren’t much of a long-term option with tough matchups down the road, but for a streaming play, they’re a top pickup from the fantasy football waiver wire for Week 10.

Other options to check out for Week 10 include the Falcons DST (vs. the Saints), the Bears DST (vs. the Patriots), and the Giants DST (vs. the Panthers). 

All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook, lines and odds subject to change.

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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is z.thompson) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.

Zach Thompson
Zach has been part of the DraftKings team since 2017 and covers baseball, basketball, golf, football and any other sport that offers DFS fun. He has been playing fantasy sports since box scores were only available in the newspaper the following day. Even though he grew up almost 8,000 miles away in Guam, he is a diehard Boston sports fan but will take a fantasy value play wherever he can get it, even if it’s from the Yankees.
Disclaimer

I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is z.thompson) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skills and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.