Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Pickups, Week 10: Tank Dell demands your attention (and your FAB)
Every week, we identify a collection of priority fantasy football pickups, each of them available in at least 50% of Yahoo leagues and approved for immediate use. You are gonna need to patch a few roster holes in Week 10, with the Chiefs, Rams, Dolphins and Eagles all on bye, so let's get to work...
Wide receivers and tight ends
Tank Dell, Houston Texans (48% rostered)
Just in case you missed it the first time, Tank Dell re-arrived on Sunday.
He was a target magnet against Tampa Bay, drawing 11 chances and finishing with six catches for 114 yards and two spikes, including the game-winning score. Dell rarely leaves the field for Houston and he's been a circle-of-trust receiver for C.J. Stroud since the opening weeks. Stroud's passer-rating when targeting him is now 131.3.
Sunday's first TD was the result a vicious route and gorgeous throw:
C.J. Stroud throwing DIMES 🔥
(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/qfPVmyzt3C— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) November 5, 2023
That's pretty much as good as it gets.
It's understandable that Dell was mass-dropped by fantasy managers when he was sidelined by a concussion back in Week 6 ahead of his bye, but it's time to get reacquainted with the rookie. He was spectacularly productive at the collegiate level over multiple seasons and his game has translated seamlessly to the NFL. Go get him.
Recommended FAB, assuming $100 budget: $19
Cade Otton, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5%)
Sunday was a huge day for several bottom-of-the-draft-board tight ends, Otton included. He caught six balls for 70 yards and two scores against the Texans while leading his team in targets (9). He rarely comes off the field, playing over 90% of the snaps in every game this season for the Bucs. Last year, Otton actually led all rookie tight ends in both receptions (42) and targets (65), plus he finished sixth at his position in red-zone chances (17). His upcoming matchup with Tennessee certainly isn't a stay-away spot; consider him a playable option if you have a short-term need. He's an ascending player who's seen significant volume in recent weeks.
FAB: $6
Other priority WRs and TEs
Quentin Johnston was targeted immediately on Monday night, but Sauce Gardner basically ran the route for him and swatted the ball away. The TCU rookie would finish with just two catches for 14 yards, although he played 83% of the snaps, a promising development. The team clearly intended to bring Johnston along at a more deliberate pace, but the timeline had to be bumped up with Mike Williams out for the season and Joshua Palmer on IR.
Khalil Shakir had a relatively quiet night for Buffalo (4-57), but he's solidly established himself as the team's No. 3 receiver and he's caught 18 of 19 targets on the year.
Demario Douglas seems to have established himself as the No. 1 receiver for New England, a role that isn't actually guaranteed to have weekly value outside of deeper full-PPR leagues. Still, the sixth-round rookie has caught 14 passes on 20 targets over the past three weeks.
Odell Beckham Jr. finally scored his first touchdown as a member of the Ravens and he finished second on the team in targets in Week 9. His upcoming matchup is brutal (Cle), unfortunately, but there are better spots ahead.
Jalen Tolbert may have leapfrogged Michael Gallup in the Dallas receiving hierarchy, for what it's worth. Tolbert found the end zone in Sunday's loss to Philly and he out-targeted Gallup, five to three.
Noah Brown had a monster game on Sunday (6-153-1), as did all Texans receivers, although playing time could become an issue when Robert Woods returns from injury.
Cedric Tillman didn't make much noise in Cleveland's blowout win over Arizona, but he did see the field for 54 snaps, which is more than he'd played in every other game combined this season. He's a third-round rookie with good size (6-foot-3) and collegiate production who has a path to relevance with Donovan Peoples-Jones now out of the mix.
At this point, it's no longer even a surprise when Jonnu Smith outscores Kyle Pitts for fantasy purposes. It happened again in Week 9, as Smith caught five balls for 100 yards and one score. It's a little weird that Arthur Smith became the coach who finally unlocked Smith after the rest of us had abandoned hope, but that's where we're at.
Hunter Henry saw seven targets and he made a house call on Sunday, which is really all you can ever ask from a waiver wire tight end.
Quarterbacks
Russell Wilson, Denver Broncos (46%)
At 34, Wilson hasn't quite been the vintage version of himself for the Broncos, although he's been much more productive under Sean Payton than he was a season ago. He's already matched last year's touchdown total (16), he has five multi-score games and his passer-rating has returned to a respectable level (101.7). He's also on pace to rush for over 400 yards for the first time since 2020, which boosts his fantasy profile. Wilson actually entered Week 9 as the overall fantasy QB11 for the year, so he's been sneaky-useful in our game. The matchup immediately ahead for Wilson at Buffalo is less than ideal, sure, but he has a series of much friendlier opponents beyond Week 10. This is a player who can get you through the byes or help cover an injury, no question.
FAB: $6
Joshua Dobbs, Minnesota Vikings (17%)
Dobbs basically engineered a football miracle on Sunday. He joined the Vikings days ago at the trade deadline, didn't take a snap with starters this week and barely knew the names of his new teammates. Dobbs was nonetheless thrown into the fire in Week 9 after Jaren Hall suffered an early injury, and — in defiance of everything we think we know about the complexity of the NFL — he led his new team to a wild, improbable win. He threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score, finishing with 158 yards through the air and 66 on the ground. His new head coach was understandably dazzled. Helps to be a rocket scientist supergenius, apparently.
The best single-game passing total Dobbs has produced this season was just 265 yards back in Week 4 against Carolina, so it's not as if he's been carving up opponents all year. But he'll soon be the guy who's throwing to Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson, which gives him deep league appeal.
FAB: $4
Additional approved QBs
Will Levis didn't produce another four TD passes in his second start, nor did he make much fantasy noise. But the rookie again made a few wow throws and generally looked like a talented, starting-quality NFL quarterback. Assuming he's again at the controls this week, he gets Tampa Bay's vulnerable pass defense.
Baker Mayfield has given us back-to-back multi-touchdown games and there's a decent chance he'll do it again in Week 10 against Tennessee. His supporting cast enhances his fantasy appeal in no small way.
Carson Wentz signing with the Rams is pretty clearly a bad sign regarding Matthew Stafford's injury, but it gives at least a small bump to LA's receivers. Add Wentz in superflex and nowhere else.
Running backs
Keaton Mitchell, Baltimore Ravens (4%)
Mitchell's anticipated breakout may have been delayed a few weeks, but the rookie announced his presence emphatically on Sunday. He carried nine times for 138 yards and one TD in Week 9 as his team absolutely mauled the Seahawks. His most notable trait is his blazing 4.3-speed, which he showcased against Seattle's helpless defense:
FIRST CAREER TOUCHDOWN FOR @_KeatonMitchell ❗
Tune in on CBS! pic.twitter.com/G20hxbg8Fc— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) November 5, 2023
Mitchell is an undersized player (5-foot-8, 190) who doesn't profile as an every-down featured runner, but he has the skill-set necessary to be a dangerous rotational back. He averaged a ridiculous 7.2 YPC at East Carolina last season, gaining 1,704 yards from scrimmage and crossing the goal line 15 times. You may not want to mess around with Mitchell in the matchup ahead with Cleveland, but he should be on the radar for anyone shopping for future flexes.
FAB: $11
Zach Charbonnet, Seattle Seahawks (45%)
Two weeks ago, the UCLA rookie saw his highest snap-share of the season (59%) and it translated into significant production against a quality Cleveland defense (64 total yards). In the days that followed, Pete Carroll did his usual Pete Carroll thing and spread plenty of sunshine about the versatile second-rounder. On Sunday, Charbonnet again out-snapped Kenneth Walker III and he owned third downs, although neither back did anything of note as the Seahawks were stomped by the Ravens. Seattle's backfield has pretty clearly slipped into a committee arrangement, but fantasy managers aren't yet treating it that way. Walker and Charbonnet can both be started against the Commanders in Week 10.
FAB: $11
Additional RBs on the wire
Antonio Gibson was excellent on Sunday, finishing with 76 total yards on 11 touches at New England. He's about to face a Seattle defense that was just humiliated by Baltimore's three-headed backfield committee.
Jaleel McLaughlin has carved out a meaningful if not beefy role in Denver's backfield, largely due to his explosiveness and after-the-catch ability. He remains a highly flexible boom/bust option.
We can't make any promises about Elijah Mitchell's weekly usage, but he seems to have returned to understudy status in San Francisco's backfield. You shouldn't need us to tell you that if Christian McCaffrey were to miss time for any reason, Mitchell would be an empty-the-wallet add in fantasy.
Team defense
Detroit Lions, (31%)
Detroit's defense has allowed the seventh-fewest total yards this season (296.9 YPG) and this group is coming off a six-sack performance against the Raiders. Aidan Hutchinson, Alim McNeill and Alex Anzalone have been excellent; the team has produced 10 takeaways and 21 total sacks over eight games. The Lions don't have an ideal matchup in Week 10 (at LAC), but you should consider scooping up this unit ahead of the layup line that begins the following week: Chi, GB, at NO, Den, at Min. We'll be ranking this D/ST as a top-10 option more often than not throughout the season's second-half.
FAB: $2