Ivan Herrera 
As Week 9 of the NFL season has come and gone, fantasy football managers are already looking to make adjustments to their rosters. Injuries, surprising performances, and emerging talents often prompt the need for some shrewd waiver wire pickups. Here, we’ve compiled a list of the top 10 Week 10 fantasy football waiver wire pickups, along with a few honorable mentions to keep an eye on.
1. Tank Dell, WR, Houston Texans (Rostered%: 56 ESPN, 61 Sleeper, 49 Yahoo)
What a performance by the Texans rookie WR on Sunday against Tampa Bay! Dell saw a career high of 11 targets for six catches, 114 yards, and two touchdowns. Dell finished as the WR1 for the week in fantasy in Week 9 for the first time in his career, and it was his second top-10 finish of the season. In Week 9, Dell ran a route on 87% of CJ Stroud’s dropbacks and saw 28% of the targets on 85% of the Texans offensive snaps. Dell has slowly become fellow rookie Stroud’s favorite target, as he has now led the Texans WR room in snaps for the second straight week and third time this season. Dell is still owned in more than 35% of total leagues and should be picked up or traded for in every format.
2. Joshua Dobbs, QB, Minnesota Vikings (Rostered%: 16 ESPN, 20 Sleeper, 18 Yahoo)
Dobbs had a rough start in his first two possessions as the Vikings QB after rookie Hall left the game. In his first possession, he was sacked for a safety, and then on his next drive, he fumbled the ball on a sack. But once Dobbs finally got comfortable in purple, he led the Vikings to a come-from-behind win. For the fourth time this season, first with the Vikings, he finished the week as a Top 10 fantasy QB. Dobbs will have better weapons with the Vikings than he did with the Cardinals, so expect him to continue to put up good fantasy numbers. And another positive about Dobbs’s fantasy value is his running ability. For the third straight week, he had a rushing touchdown this week.
3. Quentin Johnston, WR, Los Angeles Chargers (Rostered%: 34 ESPN, 52 Sleeper, 34 Yahoo)
We have a next-man-up situation with the Chargers WR room. Earlier in the year, they lost WR2 Williams for the season, and they have now had to place his replacement Palmer on IR. The next guy on the list is the rookie Johnston. Coming into Monday night’s contest against the Jets, Johnston only has 12 catches for 124 yards on 21 targets. On Monday, Johnston was the WR2 for the Chargers. He struggled against a good Jets defense and only saw three targets. He has a rough schedule from now until the end of the season. But with Palmer out until at least the start of the fantasy playoffs, Johnston should be rostered in every league, as he will continue to serve as Allen’s partner.
4. Kyler Murray, QB, Arizona Cardinals (Rostered%: 36 ESPN, 61 Sleeper, 35 Yahoo)
All signs point to Murray being the starter for Week 10. The Cardinals traded away Joshua Dobbs at the deadline last week (as a Vikings fan, thank you for that), and Clayton Tune didn’t look good in his start this weekend. So the Cardinals are turning to the recovered Murray to step back into the starting role. His first start will be against the Falcons, who have been QB-friendly in fantasy this season. Murray averages over 20 fantasy points in his career, and if we can see the talent that made him a 1st overall pick, then Murray is a Top-12 fantasy QB option.
5. Jake Ferguson, TE, Dallas Cowboys (Rostered%: 59 ESPN, 74 Sleeper, 78 Yahoo)
Ferguson was a staple of my first few waiver wire articles, but I am once again going back to him because he needs to be rostered in every league. For the fifth time this season, Ferguson ended up having a starting TE-caliber performance. Against the Eagles, Ferguson had 10 targets for seven receptions, 91 yards, and a touchdown. Ferguson does get two tough matchups the next two weeks, including a game against the Giants, who in week one held him to 3.1 fantasy points in PPR leagues. But after those two, he gets a soft end of the season and a fantasy playoff schedule, which is beneficial for those with fantasy title aspirations.
6. Keaton Mitchell, RB, Baltimore Ravens (Rostered%: 1 ESPN, 3 Sleeper, 6 Yahoo)
Mitchell has been a player mentioned all season as someone who can take control of the Ravens backfield. He finally saw extended work this weekend against Seattle, rushing for 138 yards on nine carries. Mitchell is an explosive back; we saw the rookie have an excellent last two seasons at ECU. But the reason I don’t have him as a top-three pick is because he is still the third running back on the depth chart. He only saw 17.33% of the snaps, while Justice Hill played 64% of the snaps. Mitchell is still only a stash player for me until we see if he can get more of a reliable workload and not just garbage time work.
7. Jonnu Smith, TE, Atlanta Falcons (Rostered%: 27 ESPN, 31 Sleeper, 29 Yahoo)
Despite being the Falcons backup, TE Smith has had a good season. He has 42 targets for 34 catches, 522 yards, and two touchdowns. He has had at least five targets in six of his nine games played. This weekend, Smith saw 17% target share on 57% snaps played. While Pitts is the TE with the most snaps and targets, Smith has been getting a lot of work. Smith is seeing a target in 11.1% of snaps played, which is only 2.6 less than starter Pitts. If Atlanta keeps using double TEs, then Smith will continue to be a viable TE1 in all fantasy leagues.
8. Cade Otton, TE, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Rostered%: 8 ESPN, 10 Sleeper, 6 Yahoo)
Otton has been a bit disappointing this season; he has only two weeks where he would have finished as a starting TE in 12-team fantasy leagues. Despite not having much competition in the TE room, he has finished as a TE32 or worse three times. But since their bye four weeks ago, Otton has had a nice three-week stretch of games. In the last three games, he has averaged seven targets, five receptions, and 46.7 yards while finding the end zone twice in that span. If he can continue his production from the past three weeks, then Otton can be a viable TE1.
9. Noah Brown, WR, Houston Texans (Rostered%: 1 ESPN, 4 Sleeper, 3 Yahoo)
The second Texan’s WR to make my waiver wire list Brown, over the past three games with Robert Woods out, has had a huge uptick in production. In that span, Brown has seen 16 targets for 11 receptions, 247 yards, and a touchdown. He finished as the WR3 in fantasy this week, only behind his teammate Dell and former teammate CeeDee Lamb. While Brown will still act as the WR3 behind Dell and Collins, he has been within 3% of the total snaps played by Collins, so he is seeing a lot of action. Brown is a flex play going into week 10, but if this can continue, he can win someone a league as the Texans have an easier fantasy playoff schedule.
10. Brandon Powell, WR, Minnesota Vikings (Rostered%: 3 ESPN, 4 Sleeper, 2 Yahoo)
I am putting Powell at the end of my article because his value was a bit up in the air at the time I was writing this article. Osborn left Sunday’s game with a concussion and will need to be given the green light to participate against the Saints this week. The Vikings already have star WR Justin Jefferson, and Nailor has yet to be activated, so the next player on the depth chart is Powell.
Honorable Mentions:
- CJ Stroud, QB, Houston Texans (Rostered%: 77 ESPN, 78 Sleeper, 76 Yahoo)
- Taysom Hill, TE, New Orleans Saints (Rostered%: 39 ESPN, 59 Sleeper, 65 Yahoo)
- Pierre Strong, RB, Cleveland Browns (Rostered%: 2 ESPN, 9 Sleeper, 5 Yahoo)
In the world of fantasy football, being proactive on the waiver wire can often be the difference between success and failure. These Week 10 waiver wire pickups should help you strengthen your roster as the season progresses. Make sure to prioritize your team’s specific needs and potential long-term upside when making your choices.
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