The smell of fantasy football playoffs is in the air and you need everything you can get to stack your team for the long haul. Of course you should have already done this during the draft but injuries, bye weeks, and under performances are some variables that can screw up some matchups. In this week’s wavier wonder, I pulled all my players from the ESPN Fantasy App and tried to keep it to players under 50% owned.

With this week’s bye week teams; the Green Bay Packers, New York Giants, Seattle Seahawks, and Tennessee Titans, all of us are going to need some magic to replace major parts of our lineups. Hopefully, some of these wonders can boost your team to success.

Week 11 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Streamers

Quarterback

(OAK) Derek Carr vs Cincinnati Bengals

Owned in 36.6% of leagues

Derek Carr has a very favorable matchup this week against the Bengals so if you have Aaron Rodgers or Russell Wilson on a bye, you may want to tag the man in. Currently, the Bengals are giving up 23.1 fantasy points a week to opposing QBs, that’s the 3rd worst in the league. They only have three interceptions this season with 14 TDs scored through the air.

The Bengals are ranked 11th in average passing yards given up a game with 256.4 and 1st on yards given up per attempt with 9.0. If it’s the passing game that scares you with the Raiders, Josh Jacobs is going to have a field day, so there won’t be any pressure to overcompensate with the ball, you can ask Lamar Jackson.

(CAR) Kyle Allen vs Atlanta Falcons

Owned in 10.2% of leagues

Kyle Allen has been a fairly average band-aid for the Carolina Panthers. He hasn’t affected Christian McCaffrey’s fantasy value and recently he has increased other players’ value like D.J. Moore or Greg Olsen. By no means do I want to sit here and say that Kyle Allen came into the league gun’s a blazin’ and has been wrecking every team he comes into combat with. I would just like to state that being a backup turned starter, he has had a rubber band of a season.

He came in hot, teams cooled him off, but now he’s on the verge of making a climb to the up and up. Last week was the first week since his Week 3 debut where he scored more than 20 points, but this week he faces the Falcons that are ranked 4th worst when it comes to giving up points to the QB with 22.4. Kyle Allen won’t be the superhero on your team leading you to victory, but if you take the next man up mentality as the Panthers have, he may win you a week when your star is on a bye.

Running Back

(ATL) Brian Hill @ Carolina Panthers

Owned in 1.1% of leagues

Brian Hill’s stardom comes from the absence of Ito Smith and recently hurt Devonta Freeman. After Freeman’s departure, Hill saw 20 rushing attempts for 61 yards. This might be because of the lead that Atlanta was trying to preserve over the Saints but with no RB 1 or 2, Hill is the new starter. This comes at an optimal time too because the Panthers haven’t fared well against RBs.

Currently, they are ranked 3rd in points given to RBs with 24.9, and as we just saw, Aaron Jones had himself a grand fantasy day against Carolina. Hill could end up being a spotty fantasy option if Freeman remains sidelined though. He has FLEX and RB2 appeal in his schedule this week and in Week 14 when the Falcons go against the Panthers again, but other than that, the Falcons remaining schedule is not very RB friendly. Hill comes in as another band-aid for players like Le’Veon Bell or Saquon Barkley but should be considered to have a low ceiling after this week and Week 14.

(MIA) Kalen Ballage vs Buffalo Bills

Owned in 27.6% of leagues

After last week, Kalen Ballage has secured his spot as the number one back in Miami. He had a 20 attempt day and even sprinkled in some receptions. Overall, he only gathered 43 rushing yards and two receiving yards for a grand total of 8.5 fantasy points. But Ballage should still be considered when looking further at his schedule. Miami faces Buffalo this week, then Cleveland, Philly, the Jets, then the Giants, followed by Cincy, and the Patriots.

In all honesty, if you were to sub Ballage in for any other above-average RB 2, you would be stoked to have this player on your roster. Unfortunately, Ballage is on a losing Miami team that has little to no faith in their ability to score some rushing TDs. Right now the Dolphins have four TDs on the ground and are the worst team in rushing offense. However, things look up for Ballage if you have a spot to roster an RB with some favorable matchups.

(DET) J.D. McKissic vs Dallas Cowboys

Owned in 16% of leagues

(WAS) Derrius Guice vs New York Jets

Owned in 38.5% of leagues

So I grouped McKissic and Guice together for a reason. Like Brian Hill, both players starting abilities are because of injury but come with a catch. McKissic is less secured in his starting spot on the Lions because of their commitment to the RB committee and after Kerryon Johnson’s injury, Detroit has been relying primarily on Matt Stafford.

Guice, on the other hand, is coming back from injury but coming into a committee that has been run by the aged Adrian Peterson. Peterson has been playing well since Guice’s injury so by game time it will be hard to say who will be the clear cut starter.

Both of these players should be on your Watch List and possibly even welcomed on your roster, but make sure to keep an eye out on their statuses further in the week.

Wide Receiver

(SF) Deebo Samuel vs Arizona Cardinals

Owned in 10% of leagues

After Emmanuel Sanders’s went down on Monday Night Football, Deebo Samuel immediately stepped up and took over for the 49ers receiving corps. He had a team-high 11 targets, eight receptions, and 112 receiving yards for a 19.2 point fantasy game. Samuel actually ranked 10th in WR targets surpassing names like Julio Jones and Mike Evans. This week the 49ers also have a pretty favorable matchup against the Arizona Cardinals. On average, the Cardinals give up 23.7 fantasy points to opposing WRs, along with 304.7 receiving yards a game with 11.6 yards per completion. Some juicy numbers to slide into your FLEX slot for a bye week player.

(MIA) DeVante Parker vs Buffalo Bills

Owned in 44.6% of leagues

Parker might be a higher-end wavier pick up since he has had some consistent success with Ryan Fitzpatrick but he is still less than 50% owned so we get to chat about him. Since Week 3, he has not had a week where he did not score more than 10 fantasy points. Right now Parker is averaging 6.9 targets a game but his primary flaw would have to be that he hasn’t finished a game with more than 80 yards. I understand the hesitation when it comes to the Miami players (even though I have written about 2 of them now) but their schedule has some serious playability.

(DAL) Randall Cobb @ Detroit Lions

Owned in 19.6% of leagues

Amari Cooper might have destroyed the Viking secondary with his massive fantasy day, but the spoils boiled onto Cobb as well. Cooper and Cobb both finished in the top 10 for fantasy WRs last week; Cooper in 4th and Cobb in 8th, as well as the triple digits in receiving yards. Things have been looking good for Cobb recently with the Cowboys less impactful rushing game. Dak Prescott has been leaning on his WRs a little more and their successes have been noted. In the past two weeks, Randall Cobb has had eight targets per game with six receptions, somewhat solidifying his role in the Cowboys’ offense. Michael Gallup owners beware, there might be a WR lurking around to get back on that football field.

(NYG) Darius Slayton BYE WEEK

Owned in 12.9% of leagues

Slayton has a bye this week so there is no need to drop a wavier pick on him if you have a dire need at WR. There is, however, some rush to get him on your roster as quickly as possible so nobody else can have him. Slayton has been living in Golden Tate’s shadow since his return, but last week might be hard to shake for the New York Giants. Slayton had 14 looks for 10 receptions and 121 receiving yards with two TDs. Talk about a fantasy crazy day that nobody could take part in. Of those 12.9% of people that actually had him on a roster, only 4.9% of owners actually played him. Bench points are nothing but aggravation in a value form so pick up Slayton if you can.

Tight End

(PIT) Vance McDonald @ Cleveland Browns

Owned in 44.6% of leagues

TE has to be one of the scarcest positions to get your hands on some value. In the past two weeks, McDonald has had 14 targets for eight receptions and a handful of yards. I think handful might even be too generous but the importance of McDonald is his target share. Mason Rudolph has been ravaging our JuJu Smith-Schuster pick, but where he does find solace is dumping off the ball. Rudolph’s RBs and TEs have been getting a majority of the passing workload because of Mason’s fear of the deep bombs so you might want to invest in some safety nets on the Steelers.

(CIN) Tyler Eifert @ Oakland Raiders

Owned in 10.1% of leagues

Tyler Eifert has had himself a rough couple of seasons. Last season he only played a month and was sidelined for the rest of the year, and then this season he has had to go through the painful process of the QB change. By no means was Andy Dalton utilizing his TE but benching the guy on his birthday was a little rough. Ryan Finley is the starter now and in his debut with Eifert, Eifert had an alright day.

If Eifert hadn’t scored it would be a different story, but he did, and the fact that he had some red zone success with the new QB could be a substantial piece of information. Maybe there’s some trust between Eifert and Finley that blossoms, maybe not. Either way, Eifert had his second week in a row of double digits in fantasy, so he could have playability against the Raiders.

D/ST

The Oakland Raiders vs Cincinnati Bengals

Owned in 6% of leagues

If you need to stream a defense, the Raiders might be of your service this week. They’re coming off a hot week against the Chargers, accumulating 17 fantasy points. Since we talked about the good of Mr. Finley, maybe some of the dark side might be swell as well. Finley didn’t exactly take off against the Ravens defense; overall he finished 16 of 30 for 167 yards, 1 TD and 1 pick. The Bengals also ran the ball A BUNCH. Joe Mixon had a season-high 30 rushing attempts. There might be some rookie faults that Finley creates and the Raiders could be there to pick them up.