Week 9 may have been one of the craziest weeks for fantasy football, as many of the ‘better’ teams came up short against inferior teams. Those outcomes also affected fantasy matchups, as players like QB Josh Allen, RB Austin Ekeler, and WR Julio Jones all struggled this weekend.
But fear not – Week 10’s waiver wire pickups are here to help to continue to move forward, regardless of how much your roster struggled this past week. As always, all included players on this list are rostered on 50 percent or fewer rosters, according to current ESPN stats.
For our conversation about Week 10 Waiver Wire Pickups on the Establish the Pass podcast, click below:
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Week 10 Waiver Wire Pickups
10. Eno Benjamin – RB
Arizona Cardinals
0.1% Rostered
A name not many people are going to be familiar with just got elevated into a big role for the Arizona Cardinals. After Chase Edmonds went down with an ankle sprain, it was James Conner who stepped up and was a fantasy football savant, scoring three times.
But the bigger story here is how Eno Benjamin, who reached pay dirt for the first time in the NFL, just put himself on your waiver wire pickups list.
Conner is not the same player from his days in Pittsburgh, so Benjamin will be called upon to handle some RB work in a fast-paced offense – go scoop him up as a solid RB3 prospect.
9. Donovan Peoples-Jones – WR
Cleveland Browns
5.5% Rostered
With the release of Odell Beckham Jr., Donovan Peoples-Jones ascended up the depth chart and profiles to be the field-stretcher that the Cleveland Browns desperately need. And DPJ showed out again Sunday against the Bengals, even if on a limited target share.
The former Michigan product came up just short of 100 receiving yards on 3 receptions, most of which came on a 60-bomb from Baker Mayfield – even with the small workload, look for DPJ to develop a rapport as the season progresses.
8. Dan Arnold – TE
Jacksonville Jaguars
17.3% Rostered
After being shipped out of Carolina to the Jaguars, right end Dan Arnold has become a featured part of their passing attack, being a check down lifeline for Trevor Lawrence to rely on.
Arnold has then rewarded his fantasy football rosters with consistent TE play, a tough thing to do on a struggling JAX team. As the TE landscape remains desolate, Arnold has shown that his target share is the real deal and that he should be on your waiver wire pickups to help solidify your TE role.
7. Brandon Aiyuk – WR
San Francisco 49ers
45.5% Rostered
As dead in the water as he was for the San Francisco 49ers, Brandon Aiyuk made a wonderful return this week, securing a TD and having the second-most targets, behind Deebo Samuel.
Aiyuk has looked like an incorporated element in the SF offense, not a viable statement that could have been said a few weeks back. As he continues to establish himself as a core pass-catching piece, scoop him up before your leaguemates catch on to what the rest of the season may hold.
6. Elijah Moore – WR
New York Jets
15.3% Rostered
The New York Jets are a mess of a franchise, yet they may have just found their next WR1 in Elijah Moore – case and point being his performance against the Colts on Thursday Night Football this past week.
Catching balls from journeymen Josh Johnson and Mike White, Moore produced his first-career two-TD day, hauling in seven receptions for 84 yards along the way.
Now, playing offense for the Jets means that you likely will be playing from behind often, which is what the case was in Week 9. However, for players like Michael Carter and Moore, that style increases their fantasy football floors, helping them churn out better results and making them more likely to become weekly entrants on your waiver wire pickups – just like this week.
5. Matt Ryan – QB
Atlanta Falcons
43.9% Rostered
The lone QB on this list is a proven veteran who is leading a struggling team – just don’t tell Matt Ryan the Atlanta Falcons are struggling.
All the Boston College product has done lately is lead his team to wins in four of their last six games, getting them back into the playoff hunt after an 0-2 start. Ryan has looked the part too – on Sunday against the Saints, he put up a line of 23/30 for 343 yards and 3 total TDs, all without Calvin Ridley as he takes time to work on his mental health.
Looking for a stretch-run QB capable of helping you make a run? Look no further than Ryan, who gets the Panthers, 49ers, and Lions from Weeks 15 through 17.
4. Russell Gage – WR
Atlanta Falcons
16.3% Rostered
With Ridley out, the WR1 role has progressed to Russell Gage, who looks to be back healthy and ready to take on that role. With a healthy target share coming his way, Gage is primed to make a name for himself in the next few weeks.
The timeline for Ridley’s return is unknown currently, but what is known is that Gage is the top WR target on this team and pairs well with Kyle Pitts. With ATL struggling to run the ball at times, look for Gage’s role to increase.
3. Devonta Freeman – RB
Baltimore Ravens
13.8% Rostered
2021 seems to be a story of cast-off veterans earning a second chance – and Devonta Freeman fits that role perfectly. After both JK Dobbins and Gus Edwards went down for the year, Freeman worked his way into a group along with LeVeon Bell, Latavius Murray, and Ty’Son Williams to form a makeshift RB room.
After Sunday’s performance, it looks like Freeman has been given a shot at leading this run-centric team, one that fantasy football rosters should be salivating over.
2. Rashod Bateman – WR
Baltimore Ravens
25.0% Rostered
Pairing Freeman alongside Lamar Jackson is only one piece to the offensive puzzle in Baltimore – Rashod Bateman and Hollywood Brown make up the other.
As Jackson continues to establish more of a passing presence, the rookie Bateman continues to get open and receive targets, as he earns more and more of Jackson’s trust. In his three games since being activated off the injury list, Bateman has commanded at least six targets, with Sunday’s contest against the Minnesota Vikings seeing him earn a season-high eight.
As long as the Ravens continue to run their offense their way, then Bateman will continue to see the necessary work to keep him relevant for your waiver wire pickups. And as far as it looks, those elements are going to hold true for the foreseeable future.
1. Jordan Howard – RB
Philadelphia Eagles
8.5% Rostered
It is hard to understand why the Philadelphia Eagles did what they did when they lost Miles Sanders for a few weeks due to injury – with rookie Kenneth Gainwell waiting in the wings, it looked as though he was the natural in-house candidate to take over the RB1 role and assume fantasy football relevancy for the Eagles.
Yet the team decided to go another route, subjecting Gainwell to the bench and handing more of a role to journeymen Jordan Howard and Boston Scott. With the latter having fallen out of favor, or at least for the time being, it looks to be Howard’s show as the lead back alongside Jalen Hurts for Philadelphia.
As the Eagles continue to stumble and struggle their way through another NFL season, Howard should be at or near the top of your waiver wire pickups list this week, simply for the fact that his outlook – not necessarily his workload – provides him with quite a safe floor for fantasy football projections.
With Philly trying to figure out who and what they are as a team, and with Sanders hopefully on the mend soon, Howard figures to be one of those short-term plug-in options for the Eagles to utilize – which is the exact type of role he should play for your team moving forward.
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