1 week Ago By Alex Kay
The 2024 fantasy football regular season has reached its final month. With a few weeks left before the playoffs get underway, managers need to stay sharp on the waiver wire and keep replenishing their rosters. If you're trying to spark a run to get into the postseason, finding a free agent who can contribute in Week 11 could be the difference between a win and a loss.
Managers seeking to finish strong and lock up a first-round bye should be turning over the bottom of their roster. That will not only give you useful depth to withstand injuries in the coming weeks, but you'll also keep players away from opponents who could deploy that talent against you in the playoffs. With that in mind, here are five players—available in at least half of all Yahoo! Sports leagues—to target when making your Week 11 waiver claims.
Fantasy points and rankings courtesy of FantasyPros ' PPR data taken prior to the weeks' Monday Night Football matchup. Suggested free-agent acquisition budget (FAAB) bids are based on a $100 dollar starting budget. Suggested FAAB Bid: $1-3 After a rough start to his NFL career, Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix has started to figure things out.
The rookie has posted four top-12 finishes over his last six starts and should only build on those performances down the stretch. Nix is coming off a confidence-building showing against the Kansas City Chiefs. He had a respectable 16.
1 fantasy points by completing 22-of-30 throws for 215 yards and two touchdowns. While he didn't become the first quarterback to knock off the back-to-back defending champions in 2024, he kept his team in the hunt until the final play of the game. Although Nix's numbers didn't jump off the screen this past weekend, he should be in for a far better performance against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 11.
Atlanta's defense has given up the seventh-most points to opposing signal-callers and has allowed 17 passing touchdowns against only seven interceptions on the season. Nix will not only be a viable spot starter against the Falcons, but he has plenty of streaming value in the weeks ahead as well. The Broncos take on the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 12, so Nix will again be one of the better waiver-wire options for that game.
The Raiders are just behind Atlanta in terms of fantasy points given up to opposing quarterbacks per game (18.0), and Nix already lit them up for 23.1 points in Week 5.
Fire the rookie up with confidence both this week and next week if your regular quarterback is on the shelf or underperforming. Suggested FAAB Bid: $13-17 It may have taken 10 weeks, but Audric Estime is finally assuming control of the Denver Broncos' backfield. Based on the workload distribution against the Kansas City Chiefs, it appears the rookie has usurped both Javonte Williams and Jaleel McLaughlin on the depth chart.
Estime was clearly head coach Sean Payton's preferred option on rushing downs. The first-year back logged far more carries (14) than both Williams and McLaughlin had combined (three). Even wideout Marvin Mims saw more carries in the contest than either of Denver's veteran backs.
That usage suggests Estime is in line for the lion's share of volume going forward. Estime was on the field for 26 offensive plays —nine more than Williams—and his 45 percent snap share greatly eclipsed his previous career high of 10 percent . While Estime's production wasn't too notable—he tallied 53 yards and no touchdowns against Kansas City's third-ranked rush defense, and he wasn't involved in the passing game—the upside here is too great to ignore.
The rookie should fare far better in the coming weeks, including in Week 11 when he squares off with an Atlanta Falcons defense that's allowing 129.4 rushing yards per game to opponents. Given how few serviceable running backs have been up for grabs on waivers in recent weeks, Estime should be considered a must-add for managers needing any sort of depth at the position.
Suggested FAAB Bid: $3-5 The San Francisco 49ers offense may be in a bit of disarray right now, but Ricky Pearsall is making the most of his expanded opportunity. In Week 10, the rookie wideout had a career-best day against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Making just his third NFL appearance, Pearsall logged a WR12 finish by catching four of his six targets for 73 yards and a touchdown.
He's now put up double-digit PPR points in each of his last two contests and should be the atop the waiver priority list for any manager seeking a receiver this week. Pearsall's status as a go-to option in San Francisco's passing attack is still far from secure, but he's at least proving himself capable with Brandon Aiyuk on the shelf for the remainder of 2024 and Deebo Samuel underperforming. Jauan Jennings, who paced the team with 11 targets on Sunday, is emerging into the go-to wideout for quarterback Brock Purdy.
During his much-anticipated return, versatile running back Christian McCaffrey accounted for seven targets, which was the second-most on the team. But Pearsall has been cementing his place near the top of the Niners' pecking order and could continue to earn Purdy's trust down the stretch. Pearsall will get his next chance to show out in a plus matchup against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 11.
Seattle is allowing the ninth-most points per game to opposing wideouts in 2024 and was already torched by Purdy for 255 yards and three touchdowns earlier this season. Pearsall was still recovering from a gunshot injury when the 49ers beat the Seahawks earlier this season, but he has plenty of flex appeal for what should be a high-scoring rematch. Suggested FAAB Bid: $1-2 Marquez Valdes-Scantling appears to be on a mission to show the Buffalo Bills that they made the wrong decision to release him last month.
Although he was making just his second appearance with the New Orleans Saints, MVS exploded for 25.9 PPR points in Week 10. The wideout put his game-breaking speed and playmaking abilities on full display Sunday, reeling in all three of his targets for 109 yards and two touchdowns to help the Saints sneak past the Atlanta Falcons.
Despite seeing limited volume, MVS made the most of it and earned a WR2 finish—his best weekly placement since entering the NFL in 2018. While only a handful of fantasy managers rolled the dice on Valdes-Scantling following his tepid one-catch, five-yard debut in Week 9, he should now be one of the more popular waiver-wire pickups for Week 11. With the Saints needing plenty of help at receiver and Valdes-Scantling clearly getting comfortable in his role with this squad, he should continue to see enough snaps to get at least a handful of home run shots each week.
MVS already jumped from a 41 percent snap share in Week 9 up to 55 percent this past weekend. His two-score outing should only help him stay on the field more going forward. It wouldn't be wise to count on Valdes-Scantling putting up top-five-level production on a regular basis.
But the veteran has shown he can work as a high-upside, touchdown-dependent flex play in most leagues, especially while bye weeks are still ongoing and depth is at a premium. Suggested FAAB Bid: $0-1 The Carolina Panthers may be a wasteland for fantasy production, but rookie tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders is starting to make some waves after a brutal start to the 2024 season. Sanders generated some deep sleeper hype in the offseason, but most managers gave up on him after he caught only eight passes for 41 yards over his first five NFL contests.
However, he began to turn a corner in Week 6 when he logged the first of what has become four top-15 finishes over the last five weeks. Sanders just posted his latest respectable finish by finding the end zone for the first time. While his usage was concerning—he reeled in only two receptions on two targets for eight yards—he's now put up at least 8.
8 fantasy points four times in five games. If Sanders continues to contribute the way he did in Week 9, when he had four catches for 87 yards, he'll quickly become one of the better options at tight end. Sanders should continue receiving ample opportunity to make an impact as Carolina's main tight end.
He's been on the field for at least 73 percent of the Panthers' offensive snaps since the start of Week 5 and just logged a career-high 88 percent snap share this past Sunday. The rookie is well-positioned to play a bigger role in the final weeks of the fantasy regular season and playoffs. While the Panthers are heading into a Week 11 bye following their victory over the New York Giants in Germany, managers in deeper leagues should still consider scooping Sanders up due to his late-season potential.
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