Week nine of the 2022 NFL season is over and it is now time for me to victory lap. If you are a member of the Football Absurdity community in any way, you know what is coming. I have been saying since the beginning of the fantasy season that Justin Fields would be a league winner. Most of you assumed I was leaning into Bears’ homerism. I did not because a true Bears fan knows their quarterbacks are doomed to wander the Earth forlorn and alone after being broken by the Bears. As a “fantasy expert,” I just saw a skillset that could break the NFL. If you listened to me, congrats on rolling over your leagues for the rest of the season. If you ignored me, fear not. If you play the waiver wire correctly, you can still salvage your season. It might not look as good as it could have with Fields, but we’ll get through this together. I’m going to provide you with the best options available. If I don’t mention someone whom you think I should be talking about, just know there are many reasons why I overlooked them. Maybe they are owned in most leagues. Maybe they are so bad I don’t even consider them. Or, maybe it’s because your opinions cannot be trusted. After all, you are here. So let us examine our best week five waiver wire players for your championship run…
Week Ten Waiver Wire Quarterback (Singular)
Justin Fields, Chicago Bears (59% rostered)
I am breaking the 50% waiver wire rule for Justin Fields in honor of Fields breaking the single-game regular season rushing record for a quarterback. Vick who? 59% rostered means that 41% of leagues have not been paying attention to what the Chicago Bears offense has been doing. Over their last three games, the Bears have been averaging 31 points. During that stretch, Fields is averaging 151 passing yards and 107 rushing yards. He also has 9 touchdowns and 1 interception during that stretch, along with three top-five QB finishes in fantasy, including this past week where he finished as the QB1. Anyone else on your wire is just going to be a weekly streaming option and you can wait for waivers to clear before making a desperation play. But if you need a quarterback and Justin Fields is on your waiver wire, he needs to be your top waiver priority. Even if you don’t need him, grab him so a team that might need QB help doesn’t have him without paying you.
Week Ten Waiver Wire Running Backs
Jeff Wilson Jr., Miami Dolphins (45% rostered)
If you are a Jeff Wilson Jr. owner, the last couple of weeks have been a rollercoaster. First, Christian McCaffrey gets traded to the San Francisco 49ers. Then, in a fit of pique, you cut Jeff Wilson from your fantasy roster. After you cut him, Wilson gets traded to the Miami Dolphins, making you wonder if you made a huge mistake. Then Wilson gets 72 all-purpose yards and 1 touchdown in week nine making you really start to sweat because now you have to burn your waiver priority to get a guy you just had on your roster. All because you couldn’t bring yourself to wait one freaking week to see how the entire Jeff Wilson situation played out. And now you are going to lose him to the Raheem Mostert owner, who is freaking out for a completely different set of reasons. If Jeff Wilson is on your waiver wire, grab him immediately if only to punish the guy in your league who cut him.
Kenyan Drake, Baltimore Ravens (48% rostered)
Kenyan Drake just had 109 all-purpose yards and 2 touchdowns on Monday Night. At this point, you probably have to grab Drake because, in true Highlander style, there can be only one running back in Baltimore left standing. Apparently, that man is Kenyan Drake. Maybe Edwards or Dobbins will come back to make this a more difficult decision. Based on the last nine weeks of football, that seems unlikely.
Kyren Williams, Los Angeles Rams (21% rostered)
Williams has been designated to return and he is a running back that had some buzz in the preseason. This ad belongs solely in the category of “someone has to be able to run the football in Los Angeles, right?” Wrong. There are nine weeks of data that say it doesn’t matter who is starting at running back on the Rams, you will still lose because of them. Running back depth is important enough that I will take the chance that Williams could actually do something when he returns if I have a spot to stash him. But I won’t feel good about it.
Isiah Pacheco, Kansas City Chiefs (29% rostered)
On October 23rd, Isiah Pacheco was named the starter for the Kansas City Chiefs. During that time, he has only been on the field for 25% of the team snaps and has 14 touches on 49 yards. While Pacheco is the starter in name, Jerrick McKinnon is the back who is dominating snaps in Kansas City. And McKinnon still hasn’t cracked double digits in fantasy. Basically, don’t draft Andy Reid running backs.
Week Ten Waiver Wire Wide Receivers
Treylon Burks, Tennessee Titans (21% rostered)
When asked what was going through his mind when trying to avoid sacks, Malik Willis responded “I hope someone gets open soon, I can’t keep doing this.” If you listen closely, you can hear Treylon Burks’ music playing because Treylon Burks might be the only receiver on the Tennessee Titans capable of getting open. The Titans are able to activate Burks from IR on 11/13 and he is expected to return to action right away. Before his injury, Burks was showing flashes of why he was one of Football Absurdity contributor Tony Martin’s favorite wide receivers coming out. While Terrace Marshall and Mecole Hardman have been producing recently, I think Treylon Burks is the guy on the waiver wire who might win for me in the fantasy playoffs.
Mecole Hardman, Kansas City Chiefs (43% rostered)
Mecole Hardman is a fascinating wide receiver to examine. In week nine, he had 6 catches for 79 yards and 1 touchdown. Over his last four games, Hardman is averaging over 65 all-purpose yards and a little over 1 touchdown. (Fractions are hard) More importantly, during that stretch, Hardman ranks as the WR9 in fantasy. The question is whether it is sustainable. If you think Hardman can sustain that success, you have to grab him. I find it hard to trust that Hardman will continue to produce consistently. He is still the third receiving target on the team behind Kelce and Juju. Moreover, he will be competing with Marquez Valdez-Scantling and Kadarius Toney.
Terrace Marshall, Carolina Panthers (5% rostered)
In week nine, Terrace Marshall had 3 catches for 53 yards and 1 touchdown, finishing as the WR16. This will be the second week in a row where Marshall has finished with double-digit fantasy points. If you squint really hard, you could easily talk yourself into thinking Marshall can help you. Don’t fool yourself. He is a mediocre receiver with bad hands on a Carolina Panthers that requires Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, or PJ Walker to show some level of success in order to do well. Betting on sustained Carolina success is not a recipe for winning at fantasy football.
Week Ten Waiver Wire Tight Ends
Cole Kmet, Chicago Bears (24% rostered)
Continuing my unabashed endorsement of the Chicago Bears offense, I present to you preseason fantasy darling, Cole Kmet. Last season, Kmet had a ton of yards, receptions, and targets at the tight end position with not a lot of touchdowns. Analysts rightly assumed that if his usage remained the same, Kmet was due for positive touchdown regression. What the analysts got wrong was that the offense of the Bears would feature more rushing yards than passing yards. As the tape of Justin Fields gets around the league, we are going to see teams do everything they can to keep him from putting up triple-digit rushing yards on them. We saw our first glimpse this week of how Fields legs opened things up in the passing game. Kmet had 5 catches for 41 yards and 2 touchdowns. Moreover, he is probably the Bears’ second-best receiving weapon after Darnell Mooney. Kmet finished as the TE2 on the week and if Fields continues to ball out, Kmet could end up being a sneaky waiver-wire steal.
Greg Dulcich, Denver Broncos (24% rostered)
Since Dulcich was on bye last week, I’m just going to copy and paste what I wrote about him last week. Nothing has changed. He is still a great tight end waiver option and Russell Wilson is still a weirdo who is bad at football. Greg Dulcich continues to get my attention. In week eight, Dulcich had 4 catches for 87 yards and was second on the Broncos in targets. My biggest problem with Dulcich is that I want no part of the Denver Broncos. If you are desperate for a tight end, which you most assuredly are, Dulcich is fine to grab on waivers. Maybe this will finally be the week Russell Wilson isn’t a weirdo who is bad at football.
