High-Upside Bench Stashes: Sneaky Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Adds Before Week 11

November 16, 2025

John's must-have bench stashes and sneaky fantasy football waiver wire adds, sleepers ahead of Week 11 in 2025. Pick up these high-upside players before Week 11.

It only takes one injury or one depth chart shuffling for a high-upside stash that you made to instantly become a starting-quality player in fantasy football. While there are only a handful that go on to become league-winners, many become crucial parts of winning fantasy teams.

Fantasy football is a marathon, not a sprint, as is the NFL season for players. Many don't last the full 17 games without getting injured or keeping their starting jobs. So, grabbing backup players that aren't the clear No. 1 starters for their teams makes a lot of sense.

This doesn't mean every RB2, WR3, and WR4 has the potential to go off. But it does mean that in contingency scenarios, they could become the difference between you losing and winning in the fantasy playoffs and making it into the championships. So let's dive into some high-upside stashes ahead of Week 11!

High-Upside Fantasy Football Stashes - Running Backs

Chris Rodriguez Jr., Washington Commanders
24% rostered

Rodriguez could be in the argument for a sure-fire start if he hadn't injured his shoulder in Week 10. That caused him to be pulled from the game after having six carries for 16 yards and a touchdown. But it appears that he'll keep his goal-line role moving forward.

His backup, RB Jacory Croskey-Merritt, was benched in Week 10 due to poor performances five weeks in a row. His Week 5 detonation against the poor Los Angeles Chargers defense is well in the rearview mirror now. Since then, he's averaged barely over 3.0 yards per carry and has not helped the offense at all.

Chris Rodriguez probably maintains his goal line role for the Commanders because Jacory Croskey-Merritt is not capable of running through linebackers. Doesn't have the strength or power to do so even with some speed built up. pic.twitter.com/NoHxG9Jf2Q

— JohnJohn Analysis (@JohnJohnalytics) November 13, 2025

The "Bill" hype train has ground to an absolute halt. There are still stalwarts insisting that the blame should be placed on everyone but the rookie, but at some point, a player has to be held accountable for their production. Sure, maybe a lot of players need perfect situations to thrive, but they don't all get them.

Just like RB Miles Sanders (knee) when he was with the Eagles, we can see players in good situations play well and not be with the team the next year. NFL coaches try to evaluate players by their play, independent of the situation. That's why Rodriguez is getting the opportunity now.

He's the starting running back for a team with a solid Run Block Win Rate (12th in the league), which means he should be rostered in all leagues.

Blake Corum, Los Angeles Rams
21% rostered

Corum probably needs an injury to lead RB Kyren Williams to be fantasy relevant. You never know when that could happen, and while Williams has been healthy this season, it only takes one play for him to become the starter and likely take a massive share of the backfield workload.

Stashing him didn't pay off last year, as Williams stayed healthy, but you're not drafting Corum hoping for him to have some standalone value. The Rams' RB1 role is insanely valuable in fantasy football, as they have an excellent offense that affords huge volume and a lot of goal-line work to their top running back.

correct. % of carries that go for 10+ yards

blake corum 1st in the NFL

kyren williams 30th

but lets give kyren 300 attempts on the year, McVay! https://t.co/rmBtwIYido pic.twitter.com/BSn9nnkj7p

— Restore the Roar (@DETROlTLions313) November 13, 2025

There's evidence that Corum is actually outperforming Williams at creating explosive plays. That doesn't mean he'll take over the starting job -- I don't think Corum is a special player. It at least proves that in the starting role, he could be simply a side grade from Williams with some improved traits tacked on top.

Corum is a fantastic stash with league-winning contingent upside.

Other RBs to Consider Stashing:

• Sean Tucker TB
• Ray Davis BUF
• Brian Robinson Jr. SF
• Emanuel Wilson GB

High-Upside Fantasy Football Stashes - Wide Receivers

Luther Burden III, Chicago Bears
19% rostered

It's frustrating that we often have to see injuries to veteran players to see rookies that have potential actually get the usage they deserve in their offenses. We saw New England Patriots running back TreVeyon Henderson show off his explosiveness in his last two contests without RB Rhamondre Stevenson (toe) getting in the way.

The same is happening with Burden. He's clearly shown that he's more talented than both Bears WRs D.J. Moore and Olamide Zaccheaus, but it doesn't matter much for fantasy yet, because he's not getting opportunities. However, he's doubled the efficiency of the two vets on a yards per route basis.

This route by Luther Burden wow. Sells vertical. Quick in and out of the break great reactive catch.

Give this man more targets. #DaBears #Bears pic.twitter.com/NdwipjPaxw

— Clay Harbor (@clayharbs82) November 9, 2025

He played a season-high 49 percent of snaps in Week 10, earning three targets and catching them all for 51 yards. He's been absurdly efficient this year, and he simply needs to get the ball more. It's hard to predict just when his breakout game might be.

Too bad that might be followed by some more dud games. We may just have to wait for Year 2 for this guy, but if not, he's worth a stash. He should be the Bears' WR2 at worst.

Jayden Higgins, Houston Texans
20% rostered

Higgins appears to finally be taking over the WR2 job for the Houston Texans. In other words, Houston's coaches seem to finally be recognizing that it makes absolutely zero sense to bench your talented, early second-round pick for a JAG like WR Xavier Hutchinson.

While Hutchinson had some nice moments this season, he simply isn't a difference-maker, and they've had two seasons now to evaluate him exactly as that. Higgins, on the other hand, caught five of his seven targets for 42 yards and a touchdown in Week 10.

Other WRs to Consider Stashing:

• Jaylin Noel HOU
• Michael Wilson ARI
• Jalen Coker CAR
• Dont'e Thornton Jr. LV

High-Upside Fantasy Football Stashes - Tight Ends

Theo Johnson, New York Giants
41% rostered

There are two major, major green flags here. The first is that quarterback Jameis Winston, the most prolific gunslinger in the... east, will be starting for the Giants on Sunday. Their starting QB, Jaxson Dart (concussion), has been ruled out.

The second is that the Giants' WR1, Darius Slayton (hamstring), also won't play. This means Johnson will have even more opportunities in an offense that will be commanded by a QB that's a combination of absolutely reckless and absolutely insanely valuable for his pass-catchers.

Theo Johnson powers in for the Giants TD!

SFvsNYG on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/wFZARJG1Cy

— NFL (@NFL) November 2, 2025

For now, it makes a lot of sense to stash Johnson, but I also recommend starting him if you don't have a clear better option at tight end.

Other TEs to Consider Stashing:

• Noah Fant CIN
• Dalton Schultz HOU
• AJ Barner SEA

High-Upside Fantasy Football Stashes - Quarterbacks

J.J. McCarthy, Minnesota Vikings
39% rostered

McCarthy was removed from the injury report and will be good to go for Week 11 after suffering a hand injury in Week 10. He's been pretty inconsistent and leaning on the side of bad so far in his first year playing in the NFL, but the talent is there, he's in a great offensive environment, and he has plenty of rushing upside.

Sometimes that's all you need to have a QB that's productive in the NFL. He's not quite the rusher that New York Jets QB Justin Fields is, but he's at least capable and willing to throw the ball to his pass-catchers sometimes. Since he returned, he's scored 19.9 and 16.7 PPR fantasy points.

JJ McCarthy with a beaut to Nailor deep pic.twitter.com/k4WwS0ftGZ

— CJ Fogler 🫡 (@cjzero) November 9, 2025

He simply needs time to develop. This is probably more relevant if you're in a dynasty league. He didn't have a ton of experience in college, as he had relatively few pass attempts. The team he was on ran the ball extremely heavily and played good defense.

Even middling QBs with an elite array of weapons like Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and T.J. Hockenson can be dynamite for fantasy football. Sprinkle in 10-50 rushing yards per game and the occasional rush TD, and they're startable, and that makes them stash-worthy.

Other QBs to Consider Stashing:

• Marcus Mariota WAS
• Jacoby Brissett ARI
• Davis Mills HOU (2QB Leagues)
• Dillon Gabriel CLE (2QB Leagues)

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