Biggest Week 11 Waiver Wire Movers On Fleaflicker: Who’s Here To Stay

Week 11 is here, and that means that there is only one more week left for the dreaded bye weeks. This time around the Cowboys, Ravens, Jets and Jaguars are off. I see, minus Dez Bryant, the biggest hole for fantasy football owners being at running back this week.

There is only one RB on this list, but he is by far the most added guy off the waiver wire as we look towards Week 11. So it seems that when fantasy owners were losing DeMarco Murray, any of the Ravens’ backs (Justin Forsett, Lorenzo Taliaferro, Bernard Pierce), Chris Ivory or Denard Robinson to byes, they were looking towards Denver to fill their gap. The quarterbacks below are the interesting part to me. I’m curious how many of these owners are adding them due to bye weeks and the need to replace Tony Romo or Joe Flacco. Or do they own the original starters on these teams and are just now adding the backup who is taking the reins?

Either way, let’s get into this list now, and see who you should be adding off the waiver wire and starting in Week 11.

Top Fleaflicker Players Added For Week 11

C.J. Anderson (RB, DEN) - 6,448 Waiver Wire Adds

Denver is going to be a running back committee once everybody is healthy and playing. Montee Ball is about to come back, and when he does John Fox has said they are going to be hesitant with his usage and try to ease him back into action. Ronnie Hillman, who has been the starter in Ball’s absence, is out with a foot injury and is going to be out for at least the next two weeks. That leaves Anderson, who last week went off for 163 total yards on 17 total touches (13 carries and 4 receptions) with a receiving TD.  With Denver’s already crowded receiving situation, you can’t bank on having Anderson getting more than a few passing targets a game. He did, however, run for almost 7 yards a carry, which will definitely relax Coach Fox when giving Anderson the ball in the immediate future.

Anderson is still available in 58% of Fleaflicker leagues, and you need to add him off the waiver wire if you have a hole in your running game. There is not going to be another RB with as much short term potential as C.J. Anderson, and he does have the skills to be the lead back in Denver even when Hillman and Ball are back in the mix.

Jordan Matthews (WR, PHI) - 4,246 Waiver Wire Adds

Who is the best wide receiver in Philadelphia? The answer is easy, Jeremy Maclin. Nick Foles has made that an easy answer, as he averaged over 14 standard fantasy points per game with Foles. The problem for him though is that Foles is likely out for the season, and Mark Sanchez has found a brand new favorite receiver. That man is Jordan Matthews. My best guess as to why this happened is Matthews, who is 3^rd on the depth chart behind Maclin and Riley Cooper, developed chemistry with Sanchez on the second team reps in practice. Either way you look at it, the man who was owned in less than a quarter of fantasy leagues heading into Week 10, went off for 138 yards, 2 TDs and 25.80 fantasy points, and is now extremely fantasy relevant.

Much like Anderson, you can’t expect Matthews to sustain anything like what he did last week, especially considering the Panthers less than stellar secondary and a tougher matchup this week against the Packers in Lambeau. I’m not saying do not add him, as you need to respect his monster game and the monster offense in Philadelphia. I just would not start him over any of my regular producers until I fully know what to expect from him.

Mark Sanchez (QB, PHI) - 2,371 Waiver Wire Adds

I had Mark Sanchez, and I generally don’t add a guy to this list two weeks in a row unless it calls for it. Well, it calls for it. I said after Sanchez came in for Nick Foles and had a pretty nice game, to not go crazy and hop back on the Sanchize bandwagon. But after his last game, I’m buying in. In the only league I’m in where he is available, I have Tom Brady backed up by Russell Wilson so I have no need for another QB at this point. However, I still am kicking myself for not adding him in my league where I start Jay Cutler with Eli Manning on my bench. After going off for 202 yards with 2 TDs and 2 INTs after initially coming in for Foles, he stepped his game up in Week 10 throwing zero picks and going for 332 yards and 2 TDs. If you can still add him, you should.

I already said with Matthews that I don’t necessarily love the matchup this week against Green Bay and their strong secondary. However, with approaching games against Tennessee, Washington and the Giants, he is a great matchup play for guys with issues at the QB position.

Martavis Bryant (WR, PIT) - 2,140 Waiver Wire Adds

One of the few teams to not go on bye yet, the Steelers showed they could use the week off after losing to the lowly Jets. Martavis Bryant, however, was only playing his 4^th game of the season. He was the lone constant for Pittsburgh, going for 143 yards and a score racking up 20.30 standard fantasy points. That’s nice, but considering he got the TD and 80 of his yards on a garbage time play where the defense botched it, it is a bit of concern for me (see: Kelvin Benjamin). Bryant is still worth playing as a WR3 with big play and TD potential, but he is also a risk.

Bryant was only targeted 7 times by Big Ben, and is not familiar enough with the offense to play while the Steelers are in the hurry up offense.  I like the matchup this week against the Titans before the Steelers go on bye. However, games against New Orleans, Cincinnati twice Kansas City and Atlanta aren’t exactly the most promising matchups to end the season.

Drew Stanton (QB, ARI) - 1,876 Waiver Wire Adds

When an injury occurs like the one Carlson Palmer suffered, it really is tragic. However, one of the things about fantasy football is you’re allowed to be a jerk. You can be emotionless about player injuries, or still hope that a guy like Adrian Peterson comes back so he can play for your team and help make the playoffs. Although not as newsworthy, Carlson Palmer is done for the year, so he is irrelevant to all his fantasy owners. If you were starting him and don’t have a backup you feel safe with, it would behoove you to add Drew Stanton. In his short time earlier in the season as a starter, he had his ups and downs. He had a 244 yard, 2 TD 19 point game against the 49ers, but wasn’t as impressive against the Giants or Broncos. When he came in this past week against the Rams, he went 3-5 with a TD.

This week, he goes against Detroit, who gives up the least amount of points to QBs, and then he goes into Seattle. If you are desperate, you should go for Stanton. However, I’m not in love with him as much as I am with Sanchez. He is only taken in 10% of Fleaflicker leagues, so if you are in a deep league and lost Palmer, he might be your best option.

I have developed a general rule from this column: a case can be made to add any and all of the players on this list. However, there is generally a reason these five were not drafted in most leagues. There is obviously a risk in starting every player, and these waiver wire adds might be risky for your teams until you know for sure what you are going to get out of them. Make sure to share your thoughts and comments below; leave any questions you have for me about these guys or anything related to fantasy football. Good luck in Week 11 RotoBallers.