Waiver Wire Rankings: Who Should You Pick Up In Week 10?

Welcome to November football, where apparently anything is possible. Whether it’s Nick Foles throwing more TDs than incompletions in a game or the duo of Cooper & Cotchery hauling in a combined 6 TDs, it’s safe to say we see something amazing every week.

Of course, the top priority right now is getting your squad primed for a playoff push. Fortunately, our Featured Pros are back again to help with that task. They’ve ranked a list of readily available players (50% ownership or less) and we’ve combined their picks into consensus rankings. Read on to see who the experts like as this week’s pickups…

Featured Pros

Brett Talley (The Fantasy Fix)

Adam Pfeifer (Rant Sports)

Muntradamus (Beast Dome)

Jon Collins (Fantasy Sports LR)

Tony Mauriello (FantasyTrade411)

James Hatfield (Hatty Waiver Wire Guru)

Waiver Wire Rankings (Standard Scoring)*

Week 10 Waiver Wire Advice

We also asked each expert to share commentary for this week’s waiver wire. Here are the experts’ suggestions on who you should target.

Q1: Give us your thoughts on the waiver wire targets you especially like as pickups this week.

Jon Collins – Fantasy Sports LR

Well, it’s official. Things have been trending this way in New England throughout October and with Kenbrell Thompkins’ deactivation on Sunday Aaron Dobson is the team’s unchallenged X receiver. The wideout formerly known as Dropson participated in 90% of New England’s offensive snaps this weekend and has seen more than 73% of them in three of the last four games. It took some time, but the rookie’s pro-readiness has caught up with his size, talent and pedigree. Assuming good health the rest of the way for New England’s offense (clearly, not a safe assumption, mind you) Dobson should be able to operate effectively on the outside with Rob Gronkowski drawing the attention of opposing defenses in the middle and Danny Amendola taking his looks underneath. No one wants to overreact to one outing, but, week nine showed us how the unit can look when all cylinders are firing.

Chris Ivory dominated both his former team and his committee partner on Sunday. He ran all over the Saints to the tune of 139 yards rushing on 18 attempts and out-touched fellow RB Bilal Powell 18-9. This weekend marks the second game in his last three where the former Saint has gone over 100 yards and this week’s outing was very efficient with a per carry average of 7.7. There will be games where Ivory slips back behind Powell – his limitations in the passing game make Powell the more usable back in games where the Jets are likely to trail, but, he’ll get the early down work and is running well when given the opportunity

Adam Pfeifer – Rant Sports

Over the last three weeks, Chris Ivory has carried the ball 58 times, compared to just 22 for Bilal Powell. It appears the running back usage has shifted in New York, and considering the Jets are a top-five team in rushing attempts per game (31.0), there’s volume there that I like. Remember, this was a guy going in the earlier rounds when he was healthy, and he’s a punishing runner when on the field. Ivory should earn the starting job. According to fantasydata.com, he is scoring 32.3 fantasy points per 100 snaps, which is almost 20 points more than Powell.

I have mixed feelings about Aaron Dobson. It seems like one week, we love him, and the next, he disappoints. Lately, however, he has been very productive. Coming off a two-touchdown performance on Sunday, Dobson now has three scores in his last two contests. Also, coming into yesterday’s game, Dobson had played a career high in snaps in three of his last four games. The team is beginning to trust him more, especially since fellow rookie Kenbrell Thompkins was a healthy scratch. With injury prone receivers all over New England, Dobson certainly has rest of season value.

Brett Talley – The Fantasy Fix

The Jets backfield has been kryptonite for me this year. In early drafts I was taking Chris Ivory in the top 40-50 players. By week four I was convinced Bilal Powell was a solid RB2 the rest of the way, and I now think Ivory is a solid RB2 from here on out. The fact that I have gone back and forth so many times doesn’t give me a lot of confidence about how I’ll feel in a few weeks, but simply the non-zero chance that Ivory is a rest-of-season RB2 makes him worth spending some FAAB or using a waiver claim on, which could be said about Andre Brown as well. We’re at the point in the season where we’re unlikely to see better options pop up on the waiver wire in later weeks.

Tony Mauriello – FantasyTrade411

I am sure my colleagues will cover Chris Ivory and Aaron Dobson. Other than Ivory and Dobson, who are must-adds in any format, with the rash of WR injuries over the past four weeks, one wideout you should also rank a tad better in your waiver wire priorities is Riley Cooper. At this critical juncture of the fantasy football season, before placing your waiver wire claims, you should take a look at your current roster, map out your players’ bye weeks, and pick up a player who can serve as a fill-in for the short-term (and, potentially, the long-term through the playoffs). In the Eagles 49-20 romp over the Oakland Raiders, on 6 targets (which was tied for the most targets on the team with DeSean Jackson), Cooper finished with an incredible stat line of 5/139/3. While Cooper is still the second passing option behind Jackson (excluding LeSean McCoy), the great chemistry Foles had with Cooper on Sunday was obvious. The large-framed and physical receiver has had a sort of up and down season, but his better games have come with Foles under center. If you have a starting WR on the Browns, Chiefs, Patriots, or Jets this week, Riley will be a nice fill in against Green Bay who struggle with more physical receivers. After week 10 (and aside from the Eagles’ week 12 bye week), the Eagles have a soft schedule in analyzing it from a perspective of which defenses give up the most fantasy points per game to opposing wide receivers.

James Hatfield – Hatty Waiver Wire Guru

Aaron Dobson has finally figured out how to operate in an NFL offense and is now on the field for every offensive snap in New England. This is the WR to claim off of waiver wires in all formats. For shallower leagues, it’s hard to understand why Mike James is still owned in less than half of all Yahoo Leagues, but after this week everyone should see the type of talent that James brings to the table. The one issue with James has been his ability to find the end-zone, but if you are in a PPR league he simply can’t be ignored any longer.

Muntradamus – Beast Dome

Not only is Jonathan Stewart healthy for the first time all-season, he has also never been hit the same amount of times as the already worn down DeAnglo Williams (Quad). That’s something I was preaching would happen all of draft day as a reason to make J-Stew a late Round Stash. With DeAnglo Williams slowly in ‘fade mode’ we can expect to see Jonathan Stewart make his way to being a consistent 16 Touch per game RB.  For Jonathan Stewart and your Fantasy Playoffs, that is all you need.

Q2: Nick Foles and Case Keenum will be popular QB adds this week. Which player would you rather have for week 10 AND separately for the rest of the season?

*Week 10: Foles (at GB), Keenum (at ARI)

Brett Talley – The Fantasy Fix

Nick Foles has a better schedule than Case Keenum both this week and for the rest of the year. This week Foles gets the Packers who have allowed about two more fantasy points per game to quarterbacks than have Keenum’s opponent, the Cardinals. And after week 10, Foles has nothing but good matchups except for when it is his turn to face the Cardinals in week 13. Keenum’s schedule isn’t horrendous, but in addition to facing the Cardinals, he has to face the Patriots, Colts and Titans who all have above average pass defenses.

Jon Collins – Fantasy Sports LR

Depending on the format I can find a use for both Nick Foles and Case Keenum moving forward. Jason Campbell too, for that matter. However, if picking between the two I’m going with Nick Foles both this week against the Packers and also moving forward. Four of the seven QBs that Green Bay faced in weeks 1-8 threw for multiple touchdowns against them and the three that didn’t were Christian Ponder, Brandon Weeden, and Matthew Stafford – two of whom aren’t exactly candidates to post big fantasy games in any given week. Arizona is giving up a lot of yards through the air, meanwhile, but has forced 20 turnovers from QBs through eight games. Keenum flashed great talent and a willingness to take chances deep (YPA > 10 in both starts this season) but a defensive unit that can dial up the pressure and force turnovers isn’t exactly a formula for success for an unseasoned QB.

Of the two, Keenum is probably more secure in his job for the rest of the season, and has performed admirably against tough defenses in his two starts. Still, it’s hard to see the Eagles going back to Vick after Foles’ historic performance this week against the Raiders. While Foles was flat terrible against the Cowboys he avoided mistakes and has not turned the ball over yet this season while throwing 13 TD passes as part of an offense that, despite a few clunkers, has shown an ability to put points on the board.

Adam Pfeifer – Rant Sports

I really liked what I saw out of Case Keenum on Sunday night. His deep ball had a very nice touch, and he could absolutely laser the ball in there. However, Nick Foles did tie a record of seven touchdown passes in a game. If I had to choose one for Week 10, it would be Foles. Green Bay’s defense is hurting, and cornerback Sam Shields has been struggling. There should be volume, too, as the Eagles should be behind. Rest of season? I like Keenum. Call it a gut feeling, but I like the talent around him more, and I just really liked what I saw out of him. Besides, who knows what happens in Philly when Michael Vick is healthy.

Tony Mauriello – FantasyTrade411

With Matt Schaub out, between Nick Foles and Case Keenum, I would take a flier on Keenum if you need a replacement in week 10 and going forward (especially in a two quarterback league). While Foles is coming off arguably one of the best performances by a passer in NFL history, in examining the Texans’ box score, it’s clear that the offense necessarily had to switch from their historically, heavily-weighted, run-first game plan to a more balanced and slightly more pass-first game plan due to injuries to Arian Foster and Ben Tate (who played with 4 broken ribs). The difference between Foles and Keenum is that Michael Vick “could” be back and Foles has not proven to be immune to injuries himself. Meanwhile, while Keenum does not have a large enough sample size to determine if he is or is not fragile, the Texans’ schedule going forward is even more QB-friendly than the Eagles. Moreover, the Texans have had their bye week and if Keenum continues to throw the ball well (read: feeding Andre Johnson), he should have excellent fantasy days through the rest of the fantasy season, especially since he will see Oakland (who just got blown up by Foles), Indianopolis (again) and Jacksonville twice.

James Hatfield – Hatty Waiver Wire Guru

I would much rather have Nick Foles over Case Keenum for Week 10 and for the rest of the season. Case Keenum had one amazing half against the Colts this weekend, but other than that he can’t hold a candle to Nick Foles. Not only did Nick Foles tie the NFL record for TDs in a game, but he spread the ball around and if you look at his previous stats has proven that he is ready to start weekly for Philly.

Muntradamus – Beast Dome

I would rather have Foles over Case in Week 10. The Eagles offense looked to hit a gear that they only could dream of after the 1st half of week 1 this season. With Foles having the Eagles roll like that, I would take the momentum and start Nick Foles once again.

For the rest of the season, Nick Foles is also the QB you want. Yes, Case looked good on Sunday Night hitting Andre Johnson consistently like it was 2009. While that was all good and fun for Daily Fantasy Football, the chances of Case doing that again is actually more likely than you would expect which makes him a must-own. That’s especially true when Arian Foster starts doing his thing and making those safeties creep up. Nick holds the edge for many reasons, though. The most important reason is the fact he has Chip Kelly calling his plays. It is now officially his job to lose, and only playing as bad as he did Week 7 vs. Dallas would cost him the position.

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Thanks to this week’s Featured Pros for sharing their advice! Best of luck to everyone with your week 10 waiver wire decisions.