Week 11 of the Fantasy Football season is here. Let's address the best waiver wire additions available in our leagues ahead of this upcoming slate of games.
All stats and data are sourced from PFF and Sports Info Solutions. Rostered percentages are sourced from Yahoo Fantasy leagues.
1. Kansas City Chiefs RB Isiah Pacheco - 24% rostered
A few weeks ago in Week 7, the Chiefs pivoted their backfield to have Pacheco draw the start. Since then, he's started every game, though the Chiefs' running back usage really took a turn this past Sunday:
Snaps: Pacheco (35), Jerick McKinnon (24), Clyde Edwards-Helaire (4)
Routes run: Pacheco (16), Jerick McKinnon (18), Clyde Edwards-Helaire (3)
Rushing attempts: Pacheco (16), Jerick McKinnon (1), Clyde Edwards-Helaire (0)
35 snaps was a season-high for Pacheco, as were his 16 routes run and 16 rushing attempts. His role continues to expand by the week and he appears to be trending toward lead-back duties for a high-powered Chiefs offense. This is a situation to monitor as Edwards-Helaire will likely see a larger role than the one he had in Week 10, but Pacheco seems to be separating himself from the pack.
2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers RB Rachaad White - 44% rostered
White has made this list more often than not this season, but the opportunity to add him off the waiver wire likely ends this week. The rookie started for the first time in his career and was the lead back for an offensively-starved Buccaneers team. White's 48 snaps, 15 routes run, and 22 carries dwarfed Leonard Fournette across the board — he had just 22 snaps, six routes run, and 14 rushing attempts.
Prior to suffering a hip injury in the third quarter, Fournette was mixing in and continued to play an important role in the Bucs' offense. But, even prior to the injury, White's usage suggested he's carved out a much larger role in this offense, potentially something closer to 50/50 or 60/40 in favor of the rookie. If Fournette were to miss any time, White would have RB2 appeal. If Fournette ends up okay, both players are viable FLEX plays moving forward.
3. Kansas City Chiefs WR Kadarius Toney - 51% rostered
Toney needs to be rostered in all leagues. His move to his new team appears to be going well already and his role is likely to continue expanding over the coming weeks as he familiarizes himself with the scheme and playbook. So far, through two weeks, the results have been very positive for Toney:
There are a handful of reasons why the subpar Week 10 usage metrics are something worth buying into, though. First, is JuJu Smith-Schuster suffered a bad injury that placed him in concussion protocol. He could very well miss a game or two. Second, Mecole Hardman missed this contest with an abdomen injury, and the Chiefs ultimately used Toney in a similar style role, particularly near the goal line and in gadget-like opportunities, one of which led to his touchdown. And third, is the natural growth and projection as Toney familarizes himself with this team.
4. Green Bay Packers WR Christian Watson - 8% rostered
The Packers have been searching for someone to step up in their receiver room and Watson may have been the guy with a three-touchdown performance this week. The rookie led the team with a dominant 40% target share. He also appeared in 54-of-64 snaps and ran 21 routes on 24 dropbacks.
In addition, fellow rookie Romeo Doubs suffered a high-ankle sprain last week and is likely to miss a few weeks. Watson is a bit of a boom-or-bust option who wins downfield and on big plays, but that is all the more reason to add him — his upside is very intriguing, though his consistency will likely be harder to project. It's tough to envision a scenario where his workload is scaled backward moving forward.
5. Pittsburgh Steelers RB Jaylen Warren - 27% rostered
The Steelers' coaching staff have openly talked about scaling back Najee Harris' workload and including Warren more, and they're beginning to do so. The rookie played 36 snaps and ran 14 routes, in addition to touching the ball 12 times this past week. All three of those metrics are increases from the previous week when Warren had 22 snaps, 13 routes run, and nine touches.
There is no reason to believe the team won't continue this trend, either. In fact, it's a lot more likely the Steelers continue to deploy a similar type of usage between the two runners in future weeks. Warren has minimal standalone value in this current role but is one of the more intriguing handcuffs paired with the upside to continue slicing himself a larger piece of the pie in the coming weeks.
6. Cleveland Browns WR Donovan Peoples-Jones - 35% rostered
Quietly, Peoples-Jones has maintained relatively decent value all season and that should continue moving forward in future weeks. The Browns' No. 2 wide receiver led the team in snaps (59 of 67), routes run (37), and targets (nine) in Week 10. DPJ's usage has been a season-long affair, too. He's been a mainstay for the Browns' offense:
He hasn't played in fewer than 83% of the offense's snaps since Week 2 and has just one game with a target share lower than 17% in the past six games. Not to mention, starting quarterback Deshaun Watson is just two weeks away from debuting for the Browns, and he's likely to have a positive impact on their passing attack.
7. Buffalo Bills WR Isaiah McKenzie - 36% rostered
McKenzie is a low-cost potential addition who is widely available in most leagues and is a great way to find exposure to one of the league's best offenses. Obviously, he's produced minimal results thus far, scoring double-digit fantasy points just twice this season in full-point PPR formats. But, he's still playing a lot of snaps and running a lot of routes for this offense. McKenzie hasn't played in fewer than 30 snaps since Week 1 and has demanded three or more targets in seven of eight games this season. He's worth the bench stash, though McKenzie doesn't appear to have much more upside than that.
8. Chicago Bears TE Cole Kmet - 59% rostered
Somehow, someway, Kmet has emerged as a TE1 this season and is currently 11th in scoring at the position. No tight end scored more than Kmet's 23.4 fantasy points this week and just one tight end scored more than Kmet's 22 fantasy points in Week 9. Sure, he is entirely touchdown reliant at this point and that'll be hard to sustain moving forward, but Justin Fields has built a different degree of confidence in him and that speaks volumes at a weak position.
One thing to monitor is Kmet's knee injury. He suffered a ding late in Week 10, though it didn't appear to be very serious.
9. Las Vegas Raiders WR Mack Hollins - 26% rostered
Stop me if you've heard this before, but Hollins led the team in snaps (67) and routes run (40). No, he is not better than Davante Adams and will never compete with Adams, but Hollins is a mainstay in two-receiver sets and could see an uptick in targets with Hunter Renfrow and Darren Waller both on IR.
10. Denver Broncos WR K.J. Hamler - 1% rostered
Hamler didn't play in Week 10, though his value is still increasing. Teammate Jerry Jeudy suffered an ankle injury on the first snap of the game and it appeared like it could be serious as he was carted to the locker room and didn't return to the contest. Hamler is most comfortable in the slot, and Jeudy's presence (70.4% of snaps in the slot) has precluded Hamler from being able to line up there constantly. Without Jeudy in the picture, Hamler could rotate inside more often, though the uptick in targets could be enough of a boost to provide some boom weeks.
Miami Dolphins RB Jeff Wilson Jr. - 78% rostered
The Dolphins appear to now be the Wilson show. He overtook Raheem Mostert across the board this week:
Snaps: Wilson Jr. (42), Mostert (19)
Routes run: Wilson Jr. (17), Mostert (9)
Targets: Wilson Jr. (5), Mostert (4)
Rushing attempts: Wilson Jr. (17), Mostert (8)
Wilson is a must-add and a must-start player moving forward.
Buffalo Bills RB James Cook - 18% rostered
The Bills' backfield is a mess, but Cook has yet to be lept by Nyheim Hines or even Duke Johnson on the depth chart. The rookie played just 13 snaps this past week but could be in line for RB2 duties. Not to mention, Devin Singletary did suffer an injury this past week, though it didn't appear to be very serious.