FANTASY FOOTBALL ADD/DROPS
Week 10 working the waiver wire: Shopping for a used Carr
Nov 5, 2019, 2:44 pm
Photo via: Raiders/Facebook
Week 10 is already on the horizon, so let's see which free agents are still available. This week, 6 teams won't be playing so expect this to be a pretty busy week on the waiver wire. Keep in mind the owner % mentioned is for 10-team standard ESPN PPR leagues. Some of these players below are good for the short-term, while others have more long-term value. You have to make the call on what your team needs. Immediate help to start this week, or a player to stash on your bench and hope he breaks out. Let's get started.
QB
Jimmy Garoppolo: He's only rostered in 33% of ESPN 10-team leagues, which makes sense. You'll probably have trouble finding him in 12-team leagues. He faces the Seahawks and Cardinals over the next 2 weeks, so the matchups are good. Plus, he just threw 4 TDs against Arizona, so you there's a good chance he lights them up again in 2 weeks.
Derek Carr: I know it's hard to trust Carr off of name value, but he's been good for fantasy. His rookie RB Josh Jacobs looks like a stud, and Tyrell Williams has been a nice addition. He also has a good o-line and a below average defense, which are both great for fantasy. He's rostered in 37% of 10-team leagues, and he has good matchups against the Bengals and Jets coming up after this Thursday's game. Caution: This week could be tough since he's playing the Chargers, but at least the game is at home and stashing him to use for Weeks 11 and 12 could pay big dividends.
Nick Foles: Foles will be the starter when they play in Week 11. His matchups won't be great having to face the Colts at Indy and the Titans on the road, but if you're desperate he might help you out. He's widely available.
RB
Ronald Jones: Bruce Arians is finally giving Jones a sizable workload getting 20 touches against the Seahawks last week. He's only rostered in 38% of 10-team leagues, and this might be your last chance to pick him up.
Adrian Peterson: He's still out there in 40% of 10-team leagues, and he's clearly more valuable in non-PPR. He has 2 great matchups after the Redskins off week, so he's worth grabbing. Also, he might get dropped since he doesn't play this week, so add him if he's available. We'll see if Guice is ready to return from his knee injury after the off week, so that could change things. We'll have to wait and see.
Derrius Guice: If Guice is ready to return from injury he could make Peterson worthless. It's hard to know what the Redskins will do though. Maybe just stash him and see what happens. His first 2 matchups are great if he returns for Week 11.
Alexander Mattison: This guy could win your league for you if Dalvin Cook goes down. He's worth stashing for sure.
WR
DeVante Parker: I didn't want to trust Parker when I wrote this article last week, but he can't be denied anymore. Which probably means he'll put up a goose egg this week...You can't argue with his production because he's scored in 4 out of his last 5 games. His schedule isn't great though facing the Colts and Bills over his next 2 games. He's only rostered in 23% of 10-team leagues.
Zach Pascal: He's a decent #3 WR until Hilton returns from injury, and he plays Miami this week. He's widely available.
Josh Reynolds: He's worth consideration until Brandin Cooks returns, but he faces tough matchups against the Steelers, Bears, and Ravens. He's available in almost every league.
Josh Gordon: I'm not going to take a flyer on this guy, but if you're desperate for upside maybe he'll prove me wrong. He's rostered in 54% of leagues.
Corey Davis: I'll give him one more shot hoping he does something against the Chiefs' underwhelming defense. If he can't get things going, we might have to label him a bust. He's out there in about half of 10-team leagues
A.J. Brown: Just like Davis, the matchup could help him this week, and he's been the more productive WR for the Titans as of late. You can pick him up in about 85% of leagues.
TE
Gerald Everett: He's likely owned, but grab him if he got dropped during his off week.
Darren Fells: He's been a huge addition for the Texans, and Watson clearly loves throwing to him. Hell, Watson will even throw him the ball blindly as we saw against the Raiders. Fells scored again against the Jags, and he's very much a part of the offense. He's off this week, and gets the Ravens in Week 11. He might get dropped, so keep that in mind.
Noah Fant: I know it was just one big game last week (115-yards, 1TD), but there's a reason he was drafted in the 1st round, and he should continue to get targets with Emmanuel Sanders in San Francisco now. He's widely available.
DEF
The Ravens and Colts are good streaming options this week, and Baltimore's defense is only rostered in 34% of 10-team ESPN leagues. They get the Bengals on Sunday, so it doesn't get much better than that. The Colts play the Dolphins, enough said.
If you have any questions, feel free to hit me up on Twitter. Be sure to check out my show MoneyLine with Jerry Bo on ESPN 97.5FM. We're on every Sunday morning from 10-noon, and we'll talk a lot of fantasy football and NFL gambling getting you ready for kickoff every Sunday.
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Texans HC DeMeco Ryans reveals what he values most at scouting combine
Feb 28, 2025, 3:51 pm
Now that spring training is officially underway, we're able to make some observations about how the Astros 2025 roster is taking shape.
Houston's starting rotation is basically set, but we got to see Hayden Wesneski make his first start in an Astro uniform. Wesneski pitched two innings against the Mets on Tuesday, allowing one run with three strikeouts.
He's working on a curveball that's a new pitch for his repertoire, and he saw some success with it. Hopefully, adding this pitch will help keep batters off balance (especially left-handed hitters) and help elevate his game. Which is nothing new for the Astros, who have a history of helping pitchers get to the next level.
Forrest Whitley also looked good, pitching a clean inning and finishing off his final hitter with a 97 mph fastball. Whitley finally realizing his potential in the big leagues could be a huge deal for the Astros, as they're looking to lighten the workload for Bryan Abreu and Josh Hader this season.
Hader in particular could benefit from this adjustment, as he was much worse when pitching in non-save situations last season. An easy fix with Hader could be trying to limit his workload to mostly save situations. That way, you get the most out of him and achieve the goal of him pitching less innings this year.
The Houston Chronicle's Matt Kawahara wrote about Hader's struggles pitching when games were tied or Houston was trailing.
“Hader converted 34 of 38 save chances but faced more batters in non-save situations (142) than in save situations (136), a sharp pivot from his previous few seasons. Opponents slugged .271 against him in save situations and .411 in non-save situations, while his ERA was more than two runs higher (4.98) in the latter.”
And while it's easy to say “suck it up, you're getting paid a fortune to pitch,” if he's not having success in those situations, and you're looking to back off his workload, this seems like an obvious way to pivot. He's under contract for another four seasons, so the Astros are right to want to be careful with him.
Astros plate discipline
Manager Joe Espada has made it very clear that he would like his offense to see more pitches this season. And we're seeing a stark difference in the approaches from the newly acquired players (Isaac Paredes, Christian Walker) and Houston's returning hitters.
Keep in mind, Paredes was first in pitches per plate appearance last season, and Walker was 10th.
So it shouldn't come as a surprise that Paredes and Walker both worked a full count in their first at-bats on Tuesday, while Mauricio Dubon, Yainer Diaz, and Chas McCormick swung at every pitch in their first at-bats.
Hopefully the new blood in the clubhouse will rub off on the rest of the Astros lineup, which is full of free swingers, especially with Alex Bregman now playing for Boston.
Which is why we're so excited about Cam Smith's early results. While we're super pumped about his two home runs on Tuesday, we're equally impressed that he walked in his first two at-bats this spring. If anyone would naturally be jumping out of their shoes to make a strong first impression, you would think it's the guy that was traded for Kyle Tucker. But Smith was patient, and he was rewarded for it.
What is Dana Brown saying privately?
Just last offseason, Brown was talking about extending Tucker and Bregman while also signing Hader to a shocking 5-year, $95 million deal. Plus, the team signed Jose Altuve to a whopping $150 million extension. Fast-forward one year and Tucker has been traded, Bregman left in free agency, and Ryan Pressly was dealt in a salary dump. Safe to say, his vision for the ball club has changed drastically in one season. Welcome to baseball economics under Jim Crane!
We're just scratching the surface on everything covered in the video above. Be sure to hit play to watch the full conversation!
The countdown to Opening Day is on. Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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