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Alongside our famous waiver wire pickups list, and our weekly waiver wire columns by position, this column focuses on suggested waiver wire bidding percentages for fantasy football owners in leagues using a Free Agent Acquisition Budget (FAAB). With 10 weeks of action in the books, some of you may be sitting at the poker table with a full FAAB wallet while others are penny-pinching. Be sure you're aware of how much your leaguemates have left!
As a caveat, these prices do not by any means indicate how much these free agent players will go for. Each league values players differently and will continue to do so. These values are here to provide a baseline or priority order to understand roughly how much you should be looking to spend on a particular player. Specific needs are always reasonable cause for a manual override.
It's difficult to toe the line between appropriate action and overreaction, but following context-aware volume is typically the best strategy. Monitor the injury reports and always err on the side of high-ceiling stashes for the end of your bench if bye weeks allow it. Whatever your needs, here's my median FAAB bid ranges and adds going into Week 11.
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FAAB Waiver Wire Pickups - Quarterbacks
Justin Fields (QB, CHI) - FAAB Bid: 2-3%
25% rostered
Fields faced both the Steelers and referees in Week 9, but still managed to impress with 291 passing yards and 45 more on the ground. This came after Week 8’s show with 103 rushing yards, making back-to-back games showing growth. His biggest enemy remains the playcalling, but his rushing upside provides top-10 outcome ranges no matter the matchup.
Cam Newton (QB, CAR) - FAAB Bid: 1-2%
16% rostered
Even with a light package of plays, Newton produced two touchdowns in Week 10’s trouncing of the Cardinals. He completed three of his four passes for eight yards, including a two-yard pass to Robby Anderson. True to form, Newton also punched in a one-yard TD on the ground. Panthers head coach Matt Rhule said Newton will take the majority of Carolina’s first-team reps in practice this week, putting Cam on track for a Week 11 start against Ron Rivera and WFT.
#Panthers coach Matt Rhule says Cam Newton will get most of the first-team reps this week in preparation to play WFT. While he won’t declare Newton the starter, if all goes well it’s clearly heading that way.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 15, 2021
FAAB Waiver Wire Pickups - Running Backs
Rhamondre Stevenson (RB, NE) - FAAB Bid: 10-15%
32% rostered
Stevenson was dominant on Sunday, rushing for 100 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries with Damien Harris out. He even mixed in four catches for another 14 yards to frost the PPR cake. Stevenson looked amazing but Harris is likely back in Week 11’s date with Atlanta, though it is a short week TNF matchup. As such, we must be conservative and not expect workhorse-caliber outputs like this moving forward. Could he become the 1A option? Sure. Is it more likely we get a maddening committee? Unfortunately, yes.
Wayne Gallman (RB, ATL) - FAAB Bid: 8-12%
0% rostered
It’s difficult to sift through usage patterns in a blowout, but Gallman getting 15 carries to Mike Davis’ four can’t all be hung on the 40-point loss. Davis hasn’t reached double-digit carries since Atlanta had their Week 6 bye and has likely been dropped by now anyway, while Gallman producing 76 yards on 16 touches (55 rushing, 21 receiving) is positive momentum going into Thursday’s home game against New England. Cordarrelle Patterson is dealing with an ankle sprain, so Gallman looks good for 15-plus touches again. Jim sums up the thinking on ATL RBs well:
I would note that 7 of Wayne Gallman's 15 rushes in Week 10 came in garbage time with Josh Rosen at quarterback, but that'd seem like I'm telling you to use Mike Davis on Thursday, and I don't need that on my conscience. https://t.co/SvJ7UJigBJ
— Jim Sannes (@JimSannes) November 15, 2021
D'Onta Foreman (RB, TEN) - FAAB Bid: 8-12%
4% rostered
Foreman outworked and outproduced Adrian Peterson on Sunday, racking up 78 yards on 13 touches while Peterson had 20 total yards on his nine touches. Jeremy McNichols was a clear No. 3 with five touches for eight yards. There’s rust to be shaken off for both Foreman and Peterson, but it’s D’Onta who looks like the alpha of this committee. He may never recover the explosiveness shown before his Achilles injury, but the Titans offense is built to run and being the leader of that room is valuable.
Jeff Wilson Jr. (RB, SF) - FAAB Bid: 8-12%
20% rostered
Wilson only produced 28 yards on his 10 carries in Week 10, but any action was encouraging after zero touches following his Week 9 return to the sidelines. However, Tuesday afternoon revealed that Elijah Mitchell suffered a broken finger on Monday night and is undergoing a procedure to fix it. The timeline is unclear and with JaMycal Hasty missing Week 10, Wilson becomes a strong pickup ahead of a dream date with Jacksonville's defense.
FAAB Waiver Wire Pickups - Wide Receivers
Bryan Edwards (WR, LV) - FAAB Bid: 6-10%
18% rostered
Edwards made the most of his four targets, catching three of them for 88 yards and his second touchdown in three games. He’s now eclipsed 80 yards in three games despite having three or fewer catches in all but one contest. The talent is there but scraping by to average five targets per game makes him a weekly dart throw at best. At least there is room to grow next to Zay Jones and fumbling DeSean Jackson. There's enough here to remain intrigued and he makes for a great bench stash/flex fill-in at worst.
Bryan Edwards is such a conundrum.
He has an alpha build (6’3”/212) & looks dominant at times on film – but he hasn’t commanded targets (just 2.5 per-game over 20 career games) & is used strictly as a deep-threat (15.3 ADoT).
It’s so easy to fall both in & out of love with him.
— David J. Gautieri (@GuruFantasyWrld) November 15, 2021
Donovan Peoples-Jones (WR, CLE) - FAAB Bid: 6-10%
29% rostered
Peoples-Jones couldn’t build on Week 9’s momentum as Baker Mayfield failed to navigate New England’s defense prior to his getting hurt. It was always going to be a tough matchup, but the pendulum swings with a Detroit date at home in Week 11. Perhaps Nick Chubb and D’Ernest Johnson will simply steamroll the Lions with minimal passing, but DPJ has shown he can take it to the house with limited playaction deep strikes. Don’t forget about him just yet, not before he faces Detroit’s secondary.
Jamal Agnew (WR, JAX) - FAAB Bid: 3-5%
9% rostered
Agnew had five targets but didn’t register a catch on Sunday, making his dollar on a trio of jet sweeps for 79 yards and a score. His versatile usage helps him maintain 12-team relevancy even as Trevor Lawrence learns to swim in the NFL. That 12-target spike in Week 8 was an anomaly, but Jacksonville clearly understands that Agnew is a playmaker. He seems to be making good on the Laviska Shenault Jr. hype.
James Washington (WR, PIT) - 9% rostered - Bid: 4-6%
Kendrick Bourne (WR, NE) - 7% rostered - FAAB Bid: 3-5%
Marcus Johnson (WR, TEN) - 0% rostered - Bid: 3-5%
Albert Wilson (WR, MIA) - 0% rostered - FAAB Bid: 3-5%
DeAndre Carter (WR, WAS) - 1% rostered - Bid: 2-4%
Josh Reynolds (WR, DET) - 1% rostered - FAAB Bid: 2-4%
Ray-Ray McCloud (WR, PIT) - 0% rostered - FAAB Bid: 1-2%
Ben Skowronek (WR, LAR) - 1% rostered - Bid: 0-1%
FAAB Waiver Wire Pickups - Tight Ends
Tyler Conklin (TE, MIN) - FAAB Bid: 4-6%
30% rostered
Conklin posted his lowest yardage output on the season, but when 11 yards comes with two touchdowns, we won’t complain. Week 10 produced Conklin’s fourth straight game with at least five looks (it also makes six of his last seven) as he works ahead of K.J. Osborn as Minnesota’s No. 3 pass-catcher. The floor is still low, which is true for most TEs, but Conklin is involved enough to warrant your attention.
Dan Arnold (TE, JAX) - FAAB Bid: 4-6%
26% rostered
In all three of Jacksonville’s post-bye games, Arnold has met or exceeded seven targets and 60 yards in each game. He’s still without a TD on the season, but at least he got a two-point conversion following a near-miss on paydirt. You don’t fall into that sort of volume at this position often, so just enjoy it if you’re without a top-tier TE.
Cole Kmet (TE, CHI) - FAAB Bid: 3-5%
18% rostered
Just as we start to internalize what a confident Justin Fields can do, we must also normalize what that means for Kmet. The youngster has at least six targets in each of Chicago’s last three games and just notched a season-high 87 yards before their Week 10 bye. Getting Baltimore and Detroit out of the break is a great spot to test the Fields-Kmet connection. Regardless, Week 9 showed enough of a usage/results spark to warrant the add.
Cole Kmet in week 9:
? 8 targets (4th)
? 6 receptions (2nd)
? 87 total yards (3rd)
? 90.7 PFF grade (2nd) pic.twitter.com/47PRf0ZdCI— Dave (@runbackdave) November 9, 2021
FAAB Waiver Wire Pickups - Defense/Special Teams
Carolina Panthers Defense (vs. WAS) - FAAB Bid: 2-4%
30% rostered
Carolina’s defense has held each of Atlanta, New England, and Arizona to under 20 offensive points in the last three weeks. Not only that, but they’ve logged nine sacks with six turnovers in that span. While Washington just toppled Tompa Bay, Taylor Heinicke still takes chances and has been sacked 14 times in his last three games. These stars align for some Week 11 fireworks.
Miami Dolphins Defense (at NYJ) - FAAB Bid: 2-4%
25% rostered
Miami has rebounded well after a tricky Halloween matchup against Buffalo in Week 8, holding Houston and Baltimore to combined 19 points with nine sacks, six turnovers, and a TD. I realize Houston is no tall task, but dominating Lamar Jackson and company stands out. Did I mention Miami is facing the Jets, who either toss Zach Wilson back out or four-interceptions-in-Week-10 Mike White?
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