Waiver Wire Targets
Make sure they're not available! Ronald Jones, RB, TB; DeVante Parker, WR, MIA; Darrell Henderson, RB, LAR
Still available in about two-thirds of NFL.com leagues, Ronald Jones should be the most-added player in Week 10. This past week, Jones got 20 touches, played on a career-high 55 percent of snaps and led Tampa's backfield in routes run (18) for the first time all season. After his breakout game in Seattle, HC Bruce Arians came out on Monday and declared that Jones is officially the team's starting running back. Buying into any Bucs' backfield hype has been a losing proposition for quite some time, but it does finally appear that Jones has surpassed Peyton Barber. Tampa Bay's remaining schedule is not overly difficult and this high-flying offense could certainly support a solid RB2 in fantasy if Tampa continues to shift away from a three-man committee.
Jared Cook, TE, NO -- Cook is tentatively expected to return in Week 10 against the Falcons after missing two weeks with an ankle injury. With Drew Brees back under center, Cook will be a top-12 option every week at the worst position in fantasy football. After his injury and slow first half of the season, Cook is available in around 50 percent of NFL.com fantasy leagues. Check and see if he's floating on the waiver wire!
Zach Pascal, WR, IND -- After hitting a 5/76/1 receiving line and leading the team in targets (7) last week without T.Y. Hilton, Pascal has now posted two rock-solid games when Hilton has missed time this season. Pascal posted 4/72 on seven passing looks in Week 4 when Hilton missed, too. Hilton is going to miss a few more weeks while rehabbing a calf injury that he suffered in practice this past week and slot man Parris Campbell is going to miss time as well with a broken hand. The Colts pass-catcher corps is very thin and Pascal will be the clear-cut top option in Week 10 against Miami's league-worst secondary.
Kalen Ballage, RB, MIA -- Mark Walton has been suspended for the Dolphins' next four games, making Ballage the de facto top running back in Miami. Without Kenyan Drake and now Walton, Ballage's only competition for touches on the roster is Myles Gaskin, who has not played a single snap this season. Obviously, it'd be unwise to overspend on Ballage with your FAAB bids. Miami's backfield has basically been irrelevant for fantasy all year long, but with the bye weeks continuing to roll on, finding backs with a legitimate chance at 15 touches per game off of the waiver wire is nearly impossible. Miami gets Indianapolis, Buffalo, Cleveland and Philadelphia over the next four weeks while Walton is out.
Derrius Guice, RB, WAS -- The Redskins have been the second-most run-heavy team in the league since Bill Callahan took over as head coach, running on a massive 52 percent of their plays over the last four weeks. Guice was back at practice last week and is eligible to return off of injured reserve next week when Washington returns from their bye. Guice will likely be in a timeshare with Adrian Peterson in the short-term, but he's one of a few pickups that you can make this week that actually has long-term upside.
Josh Reynolds, WR, LAR -- Brandin Cooks is still in concussion protocol after suffering his second known concussion of the season, putting Reynolds on track for a spot start in Week 10 against Pittsburgh. While Cooks' absence is more of a good thing for Robert Woods and Gerald Everett's volume more than anything, Reynolds has some low-end WR3 appeal in a tough bye week. Reynolds has averaged a decent 3.3 receptions, 46.8 yards and 0.54 touchdowns per game in 11 contests when he's played over 75 percent of Rams' snaps.
Chris Herndon, TE, NYJ -- Rinse and repeat. Herndon has been a mainstay in this space for a month and it seems like he's actually getting close to returning. Herndon is still nursing a hamstring injury and I won't pretend to know how close he is health-wise but, at the very least, Herndon was active this past week in an emergency-only role. The Jets are a laughing stock right now, but Herndon will automatically be re-inserted as a top-15 option when he does indeed return. New York's schedule over the next five weeks is extremely easy to boot (vs. Giants, at Redskins, vs. Raiders, at Bengals, vs. Dolphins).
Other targets: Bilal Powell, RB, NYJ and Ty Montgomery, RB, NYJ (Keep an eye on Le'Veon Bell's possible knee injury.)
Quarterback Streamers
Derek Carr (vs. LAC) -- Carr came through as last week's top streaming option and I'm willing to go back to the well once again. Carr has been white-hot since the Raiders' Week 6 bye, tossing for at least two scores and 280 yards in three-straight games. Now, Carr and the Raiders get the Chargers on a short week in Week 10, face the Bengals in Week 11 and get the hapless Jets in Week 12. Carr is a good streaming play again this week and he'll continue to have QB1 appeal with the Raiders' light upcoming schedule.
Jimmy Garoppolo (vs. SEA) -- If Carr isn't available, Garoppolo is this week's top streamer option off of the wire. Coming off the best game of his career (317 yards, 4 TDs, 76 percent completion rate), Jimmy GQ is in an amazing spot to post his second straight fantastic game in Week 10. Seattle's secondary has completely imploded in recent weeks and they have now allowed a top-15 fantasy performance to six-straight quarterbacks, with even Matt Schaub logging a QB9 result against them.
Other targets: Ryan Tannehill (vs. KC); Daniel Jones (at NYJ); Brian Hoyer (vs. MIA) --*if Jacoby Brissett (knee) is out*
Tight End Streamers
Hopefully, Jared Cook and Chris Herndon return this week because there aren't any tight end streaming options for Week 10 that inspire much confidence.
Jack Doyle is available in over 80 percent of NFL.com leagues and is this week's top streaming option against Miami. Doyle is still splitting targets and snaps with Eric Ebron, but all of the Colts' injuries at receiver should boost volume for both of Indy's tight ends. Jacob Hollister played on a season-high 80 percent of snaps last week, posting 4/37/2 on six targets against the Buccaneers. Tampa Bay is the second-worst defense against tight ends behind Arizona, which may mean Hollister will slide back into irrelevance in Week 10 in a much tougher matchup against San Francisco. Still, we are scraping the bottom of the barrel at the position and Russell Wilson has shown that he loves throwing to tight ends by targeting them on 20 percent of his throws this season. The only other viable streaming option this week is Mike Gesicki. Since Miami's bye four weeks ago, Gesicki has cleared 40 yards receiving three times and is coming off of his best game of the season (6/95) against the Jets. Preston Williams tore his ACL and is out for the season, which may open up a few additional looks for Gesicki too. It also doesn't hurt that the Colts are allowing the eighth-most PPR points per game to tight ends.
D/ST Streamers
Ravens defense (at CIN) -- The Ravens defense has largely been a disappointment this season, but this is just an obvious call. In his first career start, Ryan Finley has to face Marlon Humphrey, Marcus Peters, a now-healthy Jimmy Smith and Earl Thomas. Baltimore's defense is a no-brainer top-5 play this week and available in about 50 percent of NFL.com leagues.
If you're desperate: Giants defense (at NYJ)
- -- Graham Barfield is a fantasy editor and analyst for NFL.com. Catch him on the NFL Fantasy Football podcast with Marcas Grant and Michael Fabiano, Fantasy LIVE on NFL Network, watch him on Fantasy League One, and follow him on Twitter @GrahamBarfield. *
