November 14, 2017

Deeper waiver wire sleepers and pickups to add for Week 11 of the NFL season. Justin Carter finds lightly owned players for fantasy football owners to target.

There's a surprising amount of players I considered for this list this week--especially at the running back position, where there were a lot of players whose ownership was under 20% but who ended up with five or more carries this week. This is anecdotal, but it felt like running backs were more active this week than usual. Maybe that's because there weren't many good teams playing good teams, which led to the close games being relatively low scoring and the blowouts being pretty sizeable blowouts. Maybe it wasn't actually any different than it usually is, but it definitely felt that way--though I might be unfairly influenced by some things said early in the day over on the RedZone Channel.

I've also tried to point out some rest-of-season information a little more explicitly than usual, because it's getting closer to playoff time. For example: Joe Flacco having a good matchup this week wouldn't necessarily guarantee he makes this list, but his good matchup this week AND two good ones in the playoffs? Then maybe he will make the list! (No spoilers! Read on! Ignore that his photo is the main image of this post!)

Let's look at deeper waiver wire targets and sleepers for Week 11, players whose ownership is currently under 20% and are likely available in many of your leagues. Note: All ownership percentages are for Yahoo leagues.

Deeper Waiver Wire Targets for Week 11

QUARTERBACKS

Case Keenum, Minnesota Vikings - 17% owned

Keenum has put up a couple of strong weeks in a row, though it may not be enough to hold-off Teddy Bridgewater forever. For now, though, Keenum is the starting quarterback for a team with a handful of high-quality receiving options--a seemingly healthy Stefon Diggs, the extremely reliable Adam Thielen, and tight end Kyle Rudolph. The Rams aren't a great matchup for Keenum, but he should provide a solid floor in two-quarterback leagues this week, though his longterm outlook is in question.

Joe Flacco, Baltimore Ravens - 11% owned

Flacco only has four games this season where he's finished with double-digit fantasy points. Let's be honest here: that isn't good. But there's some hope for owners in deeper leagues, especially those who stream quarterbacks, because Flacco gets three defenses that rank among the ten worst at stopping fantasy quarterbacks--the Texans in Week 11, and then Cleveland and Indianapolis back-to-back in Weeks 15 and 16.

Teddy Bridgewater, Minnesota Vikings - 8% owned

Bridgewater would obviously have to get his starting job back to give him any value, but if he does--and as good as Keenum has looked over the past few games, he isn't better than a healthy Bridgewater--then he inherits those good receiving options that I mentioned earlier. He could be a good fantasy option later in the season, especially in games against Atlanta and Green Bay.

RUNNING BACKS

Jamaal Williams, Green Bay Packers - 7% owned

Aaron Jones (knee) is going to be out for at least a few weeks. Ty Montgomery (ribs) could be back in Week 11, but he hasn't been too effective this season and already lost his starting job once. Williams carried the ball 20 times against Chicago. What do all these things mean? That you need to add Jamaal Williams!

Samaje Perine, Washington Redskins - 7% owned

Ugh, are we doing this again? Washington's running game is a disaster outside of Chris Thompson, but Rob Kelley is now out with ankle and knee issues, which means Perine is in line for a lot of the between-the-tackles work. He's an unexciting player, but he should get enough volume to potentially deliver value in flex spots.

Austin Ekeler, Los Angeles Chargers - 4% owned

Ekeler time again. He's obviously more valuable in PPR leagues--his five catches this week show that he's likely to have a role moving forward even if he isn't carrying the ball--but he also has value in Standard as well. Melvin Gordon won't look as bad as he did this week every week, but it's impossible to ignore how explosive Ekeler can be.

Trey Edmunds, New Orleans Saints - 0% owned

Owners of either Mark Ingram or Alvin Kamara might think about Edmunds, who rushed for 48 yards and a touchdown in garbage time. The Saints have suddenly become an extremely effective run team--they have two backs who are both weekly must starts in all formats. If one of them goes down, I'd expect the team would try to maintain a backfield split that's at least close to what they have now. If you have bench space, Edmunds is an interesting lottery ticket.

WIDE RECEIVERS

Dontrelle Inman, Chicago Bears - 2% owned

Inman had six catches for 88 yards in his first game as a Bear. He's got some good games on the upcoming schedule, though he isn't the most talented wide receiver in the world and the Bears aren't the most pass-heavy team either. Inman is the most likely of any Bears receiver to emerge as a viable option at this point, so he ranks as a fine desperation add.

Chester Rogers, Indianapolis Colts - 0% owned

I can't believe I am making this suggestion right now. Six catches for 104 yards and a touchdown plus a bye week coming up--it wouldn't be a huge surprise to see the Colts emerge on the other side of that with a gameplan that gets Rogers more involved. The Colts offense is a mess without Andrew Luck, but it seems like there's often one receiver in it who suddenly goes off. Rogers has some limited upside for that reason.

TIGHT ENDS

Jermaine Gresham, Arizona Cardinals - 1% owned

Greshan came alive against the Seahawks, catching five passes for 64 yards and a touchdown. The Cardinals have one of best remaining schedules for tight ends--they play zero games against teams ranked in the top ten against the position and get three games--Houston this week, then Washington and the Giants later in the year--against teams that rank between the worst and the sixth-worst at defending the position. Gresham is a sneaky play for the rest of the season.

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