Alfred Morris (RB, SF) - Week 10 Waiver Wire Pickups

November 6, 2018

Veteran running back (RB) Alfred Morris is a waiver wire pickup and add target in leagues for Week 10 of the 2018 NFL season. Brady Grove recommends Morris despite a rough stretch of weeks for his role within the San Francisco offense.

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14-Team Leagues

OWNED IN: 15% of Leagues

ANALYSIS: The San Francisco 49ers have been plagued by a lot of uncertainty in their passing game this season. Behind Jimmy Garoppolo, C.J. Beathard, and Nick Mullens, they rank 25th in the NFL so far with 219.9 passing yards per game. As a result, the 49ers have continually gone to the run to the tune of 134.7 yards per contest, and 30-year-old veteran back Alfred Morris has seen a respectable share of the work load. To be fair, Morris hasn't exactly been trending in the right direction in terms of production. Over the last three games he has amassed just 66 rushing yards over the course of 22 carries with zero trips to the end-zone, and just a single target out of the air-attack (which he didn't catch).

Matt Breida has been the work-horse of the team this year with a team-leading 531 rushing yards on an also-team-leading 94 carries and two touchdowns. Morris currently ranks second the team in rushing yards (294), carries (84), and rushing TDs (1). Up until recently, Morris's share of the backfield's work load was being threatened by the efficient play of Raheem Mostert. However, now that Mostert just landed on the IR with a broken forearm, Morris is likely to once again see a more meaningful volume of carries behind Matt Breida. So far in the 2018 campaign Morris has carried the ball 19 times when inside the red-zone, with 12 of those coming within the opponent's ten-yard line. While he has made very little ground in these opportunities (17 yards in the red-zone and -2 yards within the ten-yard line with a single TD), the fact that he has seen these opportunities this season from a team that has been depending on the run more heavily than most teams in football gives optimistic indications for Alfred Morris's chances to cross the goal line in coming weeks. With his lessened competition likely meaning an uptick in rushing yards as well, Morris is an interesting addition in deeper leagues.