Rizzla shares and ranks the hottest pickups for week eleven.
Its week eleven and there are still some impact players available on the wire in some leagues. The most notable names that may be available include Lamar Jackson and Anthony Miller, two players who look to have long high upside futures ahead of them. With the fantasy season winding down and the bye weeks almost at a close it is advisable to even make waiver adds even if it just to block your rivals.
Lamar Jackson time could be upon us. With Joe Flacco dealing with injured ribs, rumors have been swirling that Lamar could be installed under center coming out of the Baltimore Ravens bye week. After a torrid start to the season Joe Flacco has cooled considerably leading many to call for the QB change even before reports surfaced of an injury possibly necessitating it. Lamar Jackson is a future fantasy star in waiting and those of us in redraft leagues need to act accordingly. Available in 93 percent of yahoo leagues, add the future QB1 star wherever possible, even if it is just to block your opponents from unleashing him.
Anthony Miller finally broke out for the Chicago Bears and will be one of the hottest adds of the week in competitive leagues. Available in 87 percent of yahoo leagues popular rookie Anthony Miller went off for a 5/122/1 line off of six targets in week ten and should have passed the struggling Taylor Gabriel in doing so. Miller has raised his rest of season fantasy ceiling with this outing at the same time dropping Gabriel’s. Miller is looking like an upside WR4 with WR3 upside and a bench floor the rest of the way. Add Miller where possible, and remember, this is blocking season.
The 89 percent available Donte Moncrief once again operated as the Jacksonville Jaguars number one receiver in week ten, this time in a revenge game against his former team in the Indianapolis Colts. Moncrief posted a 3/98/1 line on four targets and has consistently stood out for the Jags of you disregard the Conor McGregor fueled dubbing they took at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys in week six. Moncrief leads the team in air yards, targets, receptions and receiving yards over that time frame and has another plus matchup on tap in week eleven versus the Pittsburgh Steelers. Moncrief needs to be owned in competitive leagues.
The 86 percent available Rashaad Penny posted a sublime 12/108/1 line in week ten as the first round back finally flashed his true talent. Expectations should be tempered here however as this backfield will only get more crowded once Chris Carson returns from injury. While there is a distinct possibility that Penny is elevated over Davis into a strict 50/50 plus timeshare with a healthy Carson, there is no reason to believe that Pete Carroll will come along to that line of thinking as long as the Seahawks remain in the playoff hunt. What Penny essentially has done has transformed the Seahawks backfield into the feared three headed monster.
Available in 87 percent of yahoo leagues Josh Adams may be seizing the reins in the Eagles backfield. Touted the last two weeks here and here as the Eagles best runner, coach Doug Pederson seems to have realized the same and is now deploying the promising undrafted free agent as his lead on the ground. Adams paced the Eagles backfield with seven carries and 47 rushing yards in week tens loss and could see a much larger role when game script allows for it. Likely to get crushed in week eleven by the surging New Orleans Saints Adams will have a plus matchup in week twelve against the New York Giants. Add the talented back where possible as he could be the lead back for the rest of 2018 by the time week twelve is over.
Available in 73 percent of yahoo leagues, the ageless Frank Gore dazzled us all once again in week ten. Finishing this weekend’s contest with 90 rushing yards and 12 receiving yards off of two receptions, Gore became the first running back ever to run for over 500 yards in fourteen consecutive seasons. If you have been living under a rock or just paying zero attention to the Miami Dolphins backfield, Frank Gore is the lead runner in Miami, yet is only 27 percent owned, while his understudy in receiving back Kenyan Drake is 93 percent owned. It is true that projected game script dictates that Gore may have inconsistency issues but a lead runner on any team should be on fantasy rosters, especially with the bye weeks coming to an end. Still no more than an upside RB3 Gore should be added in all competitive leagues. Say it with me now ‘even if it is just to block rival owners’.
Brandon Marshall is visiting with the New Orleans Saints on Monday following their most recent signee Dez Bryant being lost for the season with a torn achilles. Marshall is not as talented as Dez Bryant is at this point in their respective careers but could still make a fantasy impact playing with one of the best to ever do it in Drew Brees. Marshall is more of a deeper league WR5 or bench stash but could plausibly find his way to WR3 value in time for the fantasy playoffs. Available in 93 percent of Yahoo leagues Marshall is worth an add, even if it is just to to utilize him as a trade asset.
Finding the end zone for the first time since week four, John Ross managed a meager 2/39/1 line on six targets, but the big takeaway here is that Ross saw more targets than Tyler Boyd on the heels of news circulating that AJ Green could possibly be sidelined until December. Available in 83 percent of Yahoo leagues Ross will look to finally solidify himself a weekly role in the Bengals game plan going forward.
Maurice Harris had a solid five target, five reception, 52 yard afternoon in week ten and looks to be close to taking over slot duties full time. Harris once again looked like the best healthy receiver in the team and outplayed fellow hot pickup Josh Doctson who actually had the better afternoon due to finding the end zone. Doctson finished with a 4/46/1 line and remains a touchdown dependent option in a middling offense. With that said Doctson has now scored in two straight and looks to be emerging as a Alex Smith favorite in the red zone (three red zone looks resulting in two scores over the past two games). Both are solid pickups with the 63 percent available Harris profiling as an WR4 with WR3 upside and the 90 percent available Doctson more of a WR5 with WR3 upside.
Devante Parker and Danny Amendola both had fantasy relevant days this past Sunday against the Packers with Parker posting a 5/43 line on eleven looks while Amendola posted a 7/72 afternoon on ten targets of his own. Both are more of deep league targets that find themselves available in 80 and 56 percent of yahoo leagues respectively. Amendola projects as an upside WR4 in ppr leagues while Parker is more of a bench stash outside of sixteen team leagues.
Josh Reynolds is a solid add in deeper league in wake of the news that Cooper Kupp has been lost for the season with a torn ACL. Reynolds underwhelmed in his spot starts for Kupp earlier in the year but has a chance to take a step forward with continued first team reps for the rest of the season. Reynolds is not likely to be an impact fantasy player right away but could be a flex2 consideration by the time the fantasy playoffs come around. Add Reynolds where needed.
Deep league specials: 99 percent available Breshad Perriman saw as many targets and receptions as Antonio Callaway in week ten and with the rookie continuing to struggle could see his role expand in the coming weeks; Jonnu Smith is available in 99 percent of Yahoo leagues and is finally showing some signs of life as of late, going 3/45/1 in week ten; 67 percent available Christian Kirk disappointed in week ten but will remain somewhere in this column weekly until he is 45 percent owned; both 99 percent available, Robert Foster 3/105 and Zay Jones 8/93/1 had big games in week ten with Matt Barkley but are likely to fade back to fantasy irrelevance save except for the deepest of leagues once Barkley is sent back to the bench; 99 percent available Jacquizz Rodgers played out of his mind in week ten to the tune of eight receptions for 102 yards, this breakout is likely game script related and thus Rodgers is only an add in the deepest of leagues; 56 percent available Chris Godwin went off in week ten posting a 7-103 line but remains too inconsistent to trust week to week as anything more than a flex2 or WR5 once the bye weeks are over; as predicted by Tags, 84 percent available Adam Humphries faded back to near irrelevance against a tough corner in week ten but is still roster worthy in deep leagues; 99 percent available Brandon LaFell paced Raiders receivers with a 4/46 line on six targets and continues to operate as the underwhelming Raiders top receiver.
