Waiver Wire: Week 11

Two names jump off the sheet this week in the Waiver world: C.J. Anderson and Jordan Matthews. Not only do both have talent we’ve been talking about since preseason, but both get a massive boost due to their scheme/situation. Take advantage now as he hit the stretch run.

On to all the Week 11 assets. Here is how I would rank the players available in at least 50 percent of Yahoo leagues right now. Notes and recommendations on each player will follow.

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Quarterbacks
1. Robert Griffin III
2. Michael Vick
3. Kyle Orton
4. Teddy Bridgewater
* Mark Sanchez is owned in 43 percent of Yahoo leagues. If available, he’d be my No. 1 add at QB.

Running backs
1. C.J. Anderson
2. Tre Mason
3. Theo Riddick
4. Charles Sims
5. Isaiah Crowell
6. Jonas Gray
* Ryan Mathews is owned in 74 percent of Yahoo leagues. If available, he’d be my No. 1 add at RB.
* Montee Ball is owned in 67 percent of Yahoo leagues. If available, he’d be my No. 3 add at RB.

Wide receivers
1. Jordan Matthews
2. Malcom Floyd
3. Greg Jennings
4. Jarvis Landry
5. Cecil Shorts
* Josh Gordon is owned in 70 percent of Yahoo leagues. If available, he’d be my No. 1 add at WR.

Tight ends
1. Kyle Rudolph
2. Mychal Rivera
3. Coby Fleener
4. Austin Seferian-Jenkins

Defense/Special Teams
1. Chargers
2. Browns
3. Colts

Kickers
1. Nick Novak
2. Shayne Graham
3. Graham Gano


QUARTERBACKS
1. Robert Griffin III, Redskins – Owned in 46 percent of Yahoo leagues
Robert Griffin III’s performance at Minnesota before the bye was encouraging. It was his first game back from an ankle dislocation, yet Jay Gruden dialed up read-options and bootlegs. RG3 hit DeSean Jackson with a bomb and also fit a nice slant in for a 13-yard touchdown. In other words, this was a scheme fit to RG3’s skill set, not one that was meant for Andy Dalton. Now Griffin comes out of the bye fresh and gets a home game against a Bucs passing defense that ranks near the bottom of every statistical category. Top corner Alterraun Verner (hamstring) remains in doubt. Streamers aren’t going to do any better than Griffin this week. He'll be an excellent FanDuel play at just $7400.
Recommendation: Should be owned in 12-team leagues

2. Michael Vick, Jets – Owned in 12 percent of Yahoo leagues
Michael Vick was my No. 1 QB add in this space two weeks ago and No. 2 last week. I’m personally insulted he’s still available in 88 percent of leagues. A healthy Vick is predictably playing well in this Marty Mornhinweg scheme, combining a cannon arm with elite legs and plus weapons (Eric Decker, Percy Harvin) to return fantasy value. However, the outlook is a bit darker now as he has a bye followed by a tough spot at Buffalo and then a home game against Miami’s excellent defense. Owners need to keep expectations in check given the schedule.
Recommendation: Should be owned in deeper 12-team leagues

3. Kyle Orton, Bills – Owned in 15 percent of Yahoo leagues
Facing the Chiefs’ top-ranked pass defense with Sammy Watkins (groin) at less than 100 percent, Orton was set up to fail Sunday. He still put up 259 passing yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. I don’t like using him at Miami on a short week Thursday night, but I will like him in Week 12 when the Bills host the Jets. Hopefully, Watkins will be 100 percent by then.
Recommendation: Should be owned in deeper 12-team leagues

4. Teddy Bridgewater, Vikings – Owned in 7 percent of Yahoo leagues
Let’s be very careful about assuming the Bears are going to play as bad in Week 11 as they did in Week 10. In fact, I think this is a spot where they’ll really show up big after the SNF humiliation. However, that doesn’t mean they can cure what ails their secondary. Enter Teddy Bridgewater, who is coming off a bye and gotten at 42 attempts off in each of his last two games. If he piles up that many attempts against the Bears Sunday, he’s a good bet to throw multiple touchdowns for the first time in his career.
Recommendation: Should be considered as a deeper streamer

Watch List: Derek Carr, Josh McCown, Zach Mettenberger, Drew Stanton – Carr ripped apart the Chargers for four TDs last time they met. Much different situation this time against a healthier Chargers D, but he’s a QB2 streamer. … McCown filled the stat sheet against the Falcons at home. Now on the road against the Redskins, who are coming off a bye? It’s a meh spot. … I’d bet on Mettenberger bouncing back well against the Steelers’ awful defense Sunday. He’s a QB2. … Filling in for Carson Palmer (IR, knee), Stanton is not someone I’d consider despite the Bruce Arians scheme and plus weaponry.

RUNNING BACKS
1. C.J. Anderson, Broncos – Owned in 5 percent of Yahoo leagues
We have quite a mess on our hands in Denver. Ronnie Hillman, poised to run away with the lead back job for the whole season, made a massacre of pass protection in Week 9 while also tweaking his foot/ankle. In Week 10, he sustained a foot sprain and will reportedly be out at least two weeks. In that Raiders win, C.J. Anderson played ahead of Juwan Thompson (for the second straight week) and turned in one of the most ridiculous 51-yard touchdown catches you’ll ever see. He finished with 13-90-0 on the ground and 4-73-1 through the air. Given that performance and the fact that Anderson is the healthiest back here, expect him to start and have an excellent chance to fill the box score against St. Louis. Montee Ball, ready to return following his groin injury, should mix in for 6-10 complementary touches. I’d be surprised if Thompson had a role. Eventually, I think Ball’s weight loss will be a big deal a la Le’Veon Bell. I’d be trying to roster both him and Anderson right now, with Anderson the priority if you need a back in Week 11 or 12.
Recommendation: Should be owned in 10-team leagues

2. Tre Mason, Rams – Owned in 46 percent of Yahoo leagues
Over the last two weeks, Tre Mason has played on 64.4 percent of the snaps and gotten 80.4 percent of the running back carries. It’s obvious who the top dog is here now. He gets his sixth straight difficult matchup this week against the Broncos, but starting in Week 12 is when I’d really want to own Mason. As a two-down back, he needs game flow on his side. In Weeks 12-14, the Rams face SD, OAK and WAS. In Week 16, they face a NYG defense that is disintegrating before our eyes without run-stuffing MLB Jon Beason.
Recommendation: Should be owned in 12-team leagues

3. Theo Riddick, Lions – Owned in 6 percent of Yahoo leagues
Reggie Bush has been battling an ankle injury for more than a month now. He’s taken a game off, had the bye week – nothing is working as he keeps aggravating it and being ineffective in games. It’s a perfect chance for the Lions to just sit Bush down and ride with the guy that jumps off the screen every time we watch him, Theo Riddick. He’s only a PPR option as he’s not an effective or volume runner (15-33-0 this season), but that pass-catching role is a sizable one if Bush sits out against the Cardinals Sunday. Riddick totaled 13-149-2 through the air when Bush didn’t play in Weeks 6 and 8.
Recommendation: Should be owned in 12-team PPR leagues

4. Charles Sims, Bucs – Owned in 30 percent of Yahoo leagues
Doug Martin’s ankle isn’t right, but he’s also deservedly in the doghouse. The expectation is that he’s going to play behind Bobby Rainey and Charles Sims the rest of the year. Sims’ NFL debut was predictably rocky, as he lost a fumble on his seventh carry and shared the work with both Rainey and Mike James. Encouragingly, Sims wasn’t benched after the turnover and finished with 10 touches for 40 yards. Expect a similar kind of committee and workload against the Redskins in Week 11, but he’s just one breakout game away from seizing control here. We know the Lovie Smith staff wants to see what they have in Sims.
Recommendation: Should be owned in 12-team leagues

5. Isaiah Crowell, Browns – Owned in 15 percent of Yahoo leagues
What’s going on in Cleveland’s backfield? No one knows. Terrance West has led the unit in snaps and touches the last two weeks, but Ben Tate and Isaiah Crowell were also heavily involved. Of course, Crowell was benched after losing a questionable fumble last week, which is not a surprise as ball security has plagued him. There’s no way Crowell is usable in Week 11, but there’s also a decent chance he can emerge at some point down the stretch as the most talented runner here. Therefore, there’s stash appeal.
Recommendation: Should be owned in 14-team leagues

6. Jonas Gray, Patriots – Owned in 9 percent of Yahoo leagues
In the first game after Stevan Ridley’s injury, Jonas Gray recorded just three carries as the Patriots didn’t even want to challenge the Jets’ run defense. In the two games since then, Gray has recorded 29 carries. So what will the gameplan be against the Colts Sunday night and going forward? I don’t pretend to know, but desperate owners can throw a dart at Gray and pray the Pats get a lead. He profiles as the clock-killing and goal-line back.
Recommendation: Should be owned in deeper 14-team leagues

Watch List: Matt Asiata, Roy Helu, Knile Davis, Carlos Hyde, Alfred Blue – Until Adrian Peterson gets back, Asiata is the goal-line vulture to Jerick McKinnon. … Helu is a sneaky play for PPR owners weekly. … Davis and Hyde are your weekly reminders to abandon depth and handcuff your RBs. … Arian Foster (groin) should be fine, but Blue is waiting in the wings if not.

WIDE RECEIVERS
1. Jordan Matthews, Eagles – Owned in 23 percent of Yahoo leagues
We suspected that Mark Sanchez’s ascension to the starting lineup would mean good things for Jordan Matthews. They both played on the second-team throughout the offseason and training camp, developing noted rapport. Sanchez also likes to keep the ball between the hashes more than Nick Foles, obviously a good thing for a slot man like Matthews. At 6-foot-3 with 4.4 wheels, he’s a mismatch weekly in that spot. We won’t get 7-138-2 every week because the Eagles don’t get to play Carolina every week, but WR3 production from here on out is reasonable. Sanchez has eyes for J-Matt.
Recommendation: Should be owned in 12-team leagues

2. Malcom Floyd, Chargers – Owned in 33 percent of Yahoo leagues
I’m never going to get really excited about a 33-year-old vertical streaker that plays in a spread-the-wealth pass game. That said, Malcom Floyd has always been a boom-or-bust kind of fantasy play and this week shapes up as a boom: Ideal throwing conditions in San Diego, coming off a bye and facing a poor Raiders secondary with corners D.J. Hayden, T.J. Carrie and Chimdi Chekwa all banged up. Floyd does have at least 50 yards in five straight games, raising his floor a bit. Also now that he has another plus matchup in Week 12 as the Chargers host the Rams.
Recommendation: Should be owned in 12-team leagues

3. Greg Jennings, Vikings – Owned in 28 percent of Yahoo leagues
If you’re desperate for a streamer, Greg Jennings has been seeing volume (at least six targets in five straight games), should be fresh off a bye and has a dream matchup against the Bears. We can bump Jennings’ projection up by at least 20 percent given this situation.
Recommendation: Should be considered as a streamer

4. Jarvis Landry, Dolphins – Owned in 11 percent of Yahoo leagues
Taking over for Brian Hartline as the Dolphins’ top possession receiver, slow-footed yet reliable slot receiver Jarvis Landry is making a name for himself as a poor man’s Anquan Boldin type. Over the last five games, the second-round rookie is averaging 5.0 catches for 48.6 yards with two touchdowns. Don’t expect the yardage production to rise given Landry’s low-upside route tree, but he’s a PPR option for deep leaguers.
Recommendation: Should be owned in deeper 12-team PPR leagues

5. Cecil Shorts, Jaguars – Owned in 41 percent of Yahoo leagues
As the Jags go on a bye, it’s worth holding Cecil Shorts. Apparently healthy, Shorts is averaging an eye-opening 9.4 targets per game over the last five. Now he gets a little bigger boost as Allen Robinson (foot) is done for the year. They’ll almost certainly be playing a lot of catch-up against the Colts in Week 12, leading to those annual garbage-time stats we get from Jags wideouts -- and Shorts specifically.
Recommendation: Should be owned in deeper 12-team leagues

Watch List: Dwayne Bowe, Doug Baldwin, Justin Hunter, James Jones, Davante Adams – Bowe is quietly filling his role well and has 25 catches in the last four games. He just isn’t a red-zone priority and faces SEA this week. … Baldwin is what we thought he was. Going to Arrowhead is not a place to get going. … Despite playing on 94.0 percent of the snaps over the last four games, Hunter is averaging 2.2 catches for 32.7 yards with 0.25 touchdowns. … Jones’ Week 11 matchup is complicated by Brandon Flowers. … If the Packers aren’t going to use three-wide as their base, we won’t be able to use Adams.

TIGHT ENDS
1. Kyle Rudolph, Vikings – Owned in 30 percent of Yahoo leagues
Once again, Kyle Rudolph tops the list. This time, it’s with the tentative expectation that he’ll be returning from his groin injury by Week 11, or Week 12 at the latest. Given how thin the tight end position is behind the Big Three, a vast majority of owners should be interested in a red-zone maven (13 touchdowns in his last 26 games) who runs a lot of routes out of the slot. We’ve seen how productive the tight end can be in this Norv Turner scheme – Chase Ford has 11-129-1 over the Vikings’ last two games.
Recommendation: Should be owned in 12-team leagues

2. Mychal Rivera, Raiders – Owned in 34 percent of Yahoo leagues
I should have been higher on Mychal Rivera going into last week, when I ranked him fifth among available tight ends. I apologize. Although Rivera may not be a very good real-life player, he clearly has the eye of Derek Carr in garbage time – and that means everything when evaluating Raiders pass-catchers. Rivera is playing on 79.5 percent of the snaps over the last three weeks and has seen 28 targets during that span. It’s the kind of usage Travis Kelce and Zach Ertz would kill for. Given this kind of volume, Rivera is a reasonable back-end TE1 heading into a Week 11 game at San Diego.
Recommendation: Should be owned in 12-team leagues

3. Coby Fleener, Colts – Owned in 25 percent of Yahoo leagues
Much like the Mychal Rivera situation, I’ve been low on Coby Fleener because he’s just not very good and the Colts have a ton of mouths to feed. But he is good friends with former Stanford teammate Andrew Luck, which goes a long way at a thin fantasy position. Fleener has seen at least four targets in four straight games, peaking at 1 in the win over the Giants just before the bye. The over/under for Sunday Night’s Patriots/Colts showdown is a whopping 57, the highest total of the season. If taking shots, taking them in this game is not a bad idea.
Recommendation: Should be owned in deeper 12-team leagues

4. Austin Seferian-Jenkins, Buc s — Owned in 2 percent of Yahoo leagues
The quarterback change in Tampa proved promising for Austin Seferian-Jenkins, as he saw a season-high nine targets from Josh McCown. He caught a touchdown for the second time in three weeks and continues to play a massive number of snaps (90.5 percent over last three games). We’re not going to see any kind of consistency from ASJ as a somewhat raw rookie in a shaky offense, but the athletic marvel has another good matchup this week – at Washington. He’s a TE2 kind of streamer.
Recommendation: Should be owned in 14-team leagues

Watch List: Jace Amaro, Jared Cook, Tim Wright, Charles Clay, Tyler Eifert – If Amaro didn’t have a bye this week, I would have had him above ASJ. Amaro was featured in the Michael Vick gameplan Sunday, even getting a tight end screen. … Cook went nuts against ARZ? Again? Yawn. Now he has to play DEN. … It’s impossible to say if Wright will be part of the plan against IND Sunday night. If he isn’t, he’ll get you a zero. … Tough spot for Clay here. Short week, facing BUF and may be needed for more blocking with Branden Albert (knee) done. … In a surprise, the Bengals are now saying Tyler Eifert (elbow) may not be back this season at all.


DEFENSE/SPECIAL TEAMS
1. Chargers – Owned in 29 percent of Yahoo leagues
In Week 6, the Chargers defense got lit up by the Raiders during a 31-28 shootout win at Oakland. That doesn’t mean it will happen this time. Although injuries have sapped the Chargers of plenty of defensive talent, they’re fresh off a bye and this game is at home. It’s a nice reset spot for a team that should be very motivated as they’re on a three-game losing streak. Derek Carr and the Raiders are the fifth-best offense to stream against so far this season. Note that the Chargers are home against the Rams in Week 12 as well. Also, the Chargers could get ILB Manti Te'o (foot), S Jahleel Addae (concussion), OLB Jeremiah Attacochu (hamstring) and OLB Melvin Ingram (hip) all back.

2. Browns – Owned in 31 percent of Yahoo leagues
Playing in the Thursday game is almost like a bye. So the Browns should also come in fresh for a home game against a Texans team in turmoil that switched from Ryan Fitzpatrick to Ryan Mallett during the bye. We don’t really know what to expect from Mallett as he’s never started an NFL game, but he wasn’t exactly impressive in preseason chances this summer: 14-of-26 for 161 yards with one touchdown, no interceptions and three sacks taken. Joe Haden, playing at an all-world level, figures to be a problem for DeAndre Hopkins and/or Andre Johnson.

3. Colts – Owned in 39 percent of Yahoo leagues
For the third D/ST in this space, I’ve been recommending stashes for the following week. Two weeks ago, we stashed DAL for their matchup with JAX. Last week, it was SD for their impending home game against OAK. This time, it’s IND for their Week 12 home game against JAX.


KICKERS
1. Nick Novak, Chargers – Owned in 34 percent of Yahoo leagues
There’s a good chance Nick Novak was dropped during the Chargers’ Week 10 bye. Scoop him back up. Novak is a perfect 14-of-14 this season and will have plenty of opportunities the next two weeks in dream spots: Home vs. OAK, home vs. STL.

2. Shayne Graham, Saints – Owned in 31 percent of Yahoo leagues
Shayne Graham is at home against the Bengals in a dome in a game with one of the week’s highest over/unders (50.5). Let’s not overthink this. It’s an ideal situation for kicking projections, now we just have to hope Drew Brees flames out in the red zone.

3. Graham Gano, Panthers – Owned in 36 percent of Yahoo leagues
The entire Panthers offense was humiliated on Monday night, meaning no chances for Graham Gano. These things have a tendency to swing back toward the mean. That’s especially true in this spot, as the Panthers are hosting the Falcons in an extremely favorable bounce-back spot.