Fantasy Football 2020 Week 10 Waiver Wire Pickup Advice

Is your fantasy team in need of new blood? Each week I’ll bring to you the best pickups to make ahead of the waiver deadline. All the players I list will be owned in fewer than 50 percent of leagues, with the ownership percentage coming from Yahoo.com.

Quarterbacks

Tua Tagovailoa, Dolphins (24% Owned): Tua was very shaky in his first NFL action, but proved last week why not long ago teams were tanking for the privilege of drafting him. He completed 71.4% of his passes against the Cardinals on Sunday for 248 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran seven times for 35 yards, which isn’t his calling card, but certainly doesn’t hurt his floor. Tua gets the Chargers in Week 10 and the Jets in Week 12, two plus matchups, and a playable matchup at Denver in the middle (Week 11). Adding Tua is more about his talent than the upside though; if you’re just purely matchup hunting, there’ll be less competition for the next two names on this list.

Kirk Cousins, Vikings (31% Owned): Cousins is an inadvisable start this week, as he draws the brutal Bears defense, but he will face the Cowboys and Panthers in Week 11 and Week 12, which are much more favorable for an efficient QB. Dalvin Cook is in the midst of a bid to be known as the NFL’s best RB, and in Cousins’ last two games combined he has only attempted 34 passes; while Week 8 was a bit of a fantasy dud, Cousins put up 220 yards and three touchdowns against the Lions on 13-of-20 pass attempts. That’s the kind of line one could expect from him against the Cowboys, and the Carolina offense is capable of forcing a pass-heavy game script.

Philip Rivers, Colts (21% Owned): Rivers is pretty shot, but he’s shown very recently he can be fantasy relevant in plus matchups. Well, Rivers’ next three games include two vs. the Titans, who entered Week 9 ranked 24th vs. the pass, sandwiching a date vs. Green Bay, who rank one spot behind Tennessee. Before a horrible dud vs. the Ravens in which no one sane started him, Rivers had put up back-to-back games with three passing TDs, and he piled up 371 yards against the Bengals. Rivers absolutely carries big risk, but he can still light it up when the defense he’s facing sucks.

Running Backs

Kalen Ballage, Chargers (1% Owned): Ballage benefitted from the axe murder committed by Justin Jackson, who somehow got hurt extremely early in the Chargers’ game Sunday despite never touching the football. Ballage stepped in and gained 69 yards on 15 carries, and added two receptions for 15 yards. Josh Kelley has proven he isn’t great, so if Jackson is going to be missing time, Ballage should be able to produce chunk plays in the next three matchups vs. the Dolphins, Jets and Bills. Ballage should be a minimal bid, however, because the Chargers’ backfield is very much in flux between Jackson’ opaque status and the health of Troymaine Pope.

Duke Johnson Jr., Texans (16% Owned): Duke Johnson finally got an extended chance to play, and he didn’t disappoint, turning in 73 total yards and a touchdown vs. the Jaguars including four receptions. David Johnson left early with a concussion, so his status is unclear for Week 10. If David Johnson is set to miss time, Duke Johnson will be a comfortable RB2 play with upside thanks to his ability to break big plays on the ground or through the air.

Gus Edwards, Ravens  (37% Owned): Edwards saw 11 carries against a tough Colts defense, including three straight attempts from the one-yard line just one possession after a terrible red zone fumble. J.K. Dobbins is very obviously the better back, but Baltimore insists on using all its rushers almost equally, which makes Edwards almost a must-play next week if Mark Ingram can’t get back in action. If Ingram is able to play, Edwards reverts to being little more than an ugly desperation play in deeper formats.

Nyheim Hines, Colts (41% Owned): Hines is also somewhat TD-dependent, despite being a receiving back. He’s extremely explosive once he catches the ball, but the Colts’ RB usage is not too far off from Baltimore’s now that Jordan Wilkins is involved. Your best hope for Hines is that the Titans start off hot and force Indianapolis to throw, which would elevate him into the FLEX category. There’s no guarantee of that playing out though, and Hines has a low floor. He’s startable, but if you have to run him out there you’re not in great shape on the whole.

Malcolm Brown, Rams (24% Owned): Speaking of committees, Brown remains the No. 2 in a fairly run-heavy offense with some goal line opportunity. It’s possible rookie Cam Akers retakes a role in the rotation coming off a bye week, but Brown is a player who currently has a fairly defined role which could increase if an injury hits. He’s a quality bench stash if your roster isn’t too much of a triage camp.

Alexander Mattison, Vikings (37% Owned): The Vikings stating RB position is a valuable role, and Dalvin Cook owners need to continue to own Mattison. He has no standalone value at the moment, but anytime Cook goes down he immediately becomes the top add.

Wide Receivers

Tim Patrick, Broncos (21% Owned): Patrick returned after missing a week, and while Jerry Jeudy finally looked like a first round pick, Patrick still delivered with four catches, 29 yards and a TD, his third of the season. Denver receiving options can be fickle because of the up-and-down play of Drew Lock, but Patrick has been consistently delivering a touchdown or 100+ receiving yards since Week 3, and matchups with the Raiders (Week 10) and Saints (Week 12) don’t hurt. He’s one of my favorite adds in a dull waiver week.

Michael Pittman Jr., Colts (7% Owned): It’s Pittman’s time to shine with multiple Colts receivers injured, and he’s off to a solid start with four catches for 56 yards against a tough Ravens D. The most important aspect of his Week 9 was the seven targets he saw from Rivers, which will be vital going forward as his matchups improve. Pittman is the clear-cut WR1 for now, and even when T.Y. Hilton returns Pittman should be the pass-catcher to own.

Curtis Samuel, Panthers (30% Owned): Samuel has broken out the last three weeks, scoring four touchdowns, including two on the ground. Even with Christian McCaffery back, Samuel saw three carries for the second straight game, and that should go up short term as CMC appears to have suffered a shoulder injury that could cost him time. Samuel’s ascension seems to have come at the expense of D.J. Moore; Samuel has been hit deep multiple times by Teddy Bridgewater in the last two games, and he caught all nine of his targets on Sunday, whereas Moore caught both of his. The Tampa Bay matchup may be tough in Week 10 vs. Carolina, but if there’s a concerted effort to get Samuel the ball – and it appears it’s become a priority – then he is playable.

Mecole Hardman, Chiefs (37% Owned): Like Samuel, it looks like the Chiefs are trying harder to get the ball in Hardman’s hands. He was targeted four times on Sunday, bringing his total to 13 over the past two weeks. Hardman’s output Sunday was pedestrian – three receptions, 48 yards – but the potential for a TD is high every time he touches the football. If Hardman can count on four or more targets per game, he’d become a must-play. If he sees another four targets or more vs. Las Vegas this Week, he’ll be a FLEX/WR3 option at worst moving forward.

Jalen Reagor, Eagles (24% Owned): My enthusiasm for Reagor is a bit dulled since the emergence of Travis Fulgham, but Reagor is still an exciting deep threat for a team that loves to take risk. Sunday night was better than we could’ve hoped in his first game back, drawing six targets and scoring a touchdown. The short TDs aren’t going to be Reagor’s bread and butter, but it’s nice to see he isn’t completely boom or bust a la Henry Ruggs III in Las Vegas. With Philadelphia on bye this week Reagor will probably be a free pickup, but he’s my favorite WR add this week long term.

Tight Ends

Jimmy Graham, Bears (49% Owned): Nobody wants to admit it, but Graham is a steady TE option. He has seen at least five targets in seven straight games, and seen as many as 10 in a single game. Graham has scored five touchdowns this season, and spread them across four games. His upcoming matchups against Minnesota, Green Bay and Detroit aren’t fantastic for the TE position, but his target share when Chicago gets close makes him playable even despite less favorable matchups. If you don’t have a top tier option, Graham isn’t any worse than the likes of Jonnu Smith or Hayden Hurst.

Austin Hooper, Browns (40% Owned): If you’re just out on Graham, maybe try Hooper. Prior to an emergency appendectomy, Hooper was starting to cook, with back-to-back games in which he caught five passes and put up more than 50 yards. Those aren’t special numbers, but they’d be near the top of the position in any given week with a touchdown, which he’s only scored one in 2020. There’s some positive regression coming, and his target share should remain high with Odell Beckham Jr. done for the season.