NFL Waiver Wire: Week 11 Pickups

This column is geared toward "standard" 12-team leagues and based upon a $100 free-agent budget. Please, please adjust for your league based on both the number of teams (I'm in a 24-team league, for example) and budget. This column will run every Tuesday to, hopefully, accommodate the various waiver schedules. I'll update it in the comments section during the week; please keep in mind a lot can change from Tuesday to Sunday.

Players listed/discussed last week: Ryan Fitzpatrick, Kenyan Drake, Damien Williams, D'Onta Foreman, Thomas Rawls, Devontae Booker, Terrance Williams, Marquise Goodwin, Corey Coleman/Josh Gordon, C.J. Fiedorowicz

Byes: Indianapolis, New York Jets, San Francisco, Carolina

QUARTERBACK

Primary Targets

DeShone Kizer, CLE - It appears time to take Kizer seriously in the fantasy world as he's rushed for a touchdown in consecutive games and could have easily had two Sunday. He's only turned the ball over once in that time and help could be on the way in Corey Coleman and possibly Josh Gordon. Kenny Britt looked semi-interested Sunday, and there's a decent set of tight ends at Kizer's disposal as well. FAAB: $5-$10

RUNNING BACK

Primary Targets


Samaje Perine, WAS - Both Perine and Chris Thompson enter fantasy relevance with the knee injury to Rob Kelly, who is expected to miss multiple games and could placed on injured reserve. Perine is the bigger back who will work between the tackles, but Thompson will see an uptick in carries in addition to his pass-catching duties. Both have nice upside in this offense with Kelly out; look for some timeshare. With Thompsom 90 percent owned on Yahoo, Perine is more likely to be on the waiver wire. FAAB: $15-$20

Jamaal Williams, GB -Aaron Jones left Sunday's game with a knee injury and Ty Montgomery always seems to be banged up, leaving Williams as the lone running back for the Packers. While his efficiency numbers weren't great, he did get 20 carries (for 67 yards), meaning the volume should be there. Playing alongside a mobile quarterback in Brett Hundley is always a plus, and Hundley seems to have picked up the offense and played better his last two games.  FAAB: $12-$18

Secondary Targets

Rex Burkhead, NE - If anyone has an explanation as to what is going on in the New England backfield, let's hear it. Mike Gillislee, Week 1 hero, was a healthy scratch Sunday. Meanwhile, Burkhead has assumed his place as part of a three-headed monster, including James White and Dion Lewis. Coach Bill Belichick seems to be playing the matchups each week, and Burkhead played more than half the snaps Sunday night, leading the backfield. He has 24 touches the last two weeks, parlaying them into 146 yards from scrimmage. He is an interesting add, but keep in mind a fumble or missed block could land him on the bench. And it wouldn't be a surprise to see Gillislee back this week, as Belichick obviously is hard to predict from a fantasy perspective with his running backs. FAAB: $4-$8

Austin Ekeler, SD - Ekeler was mentioned in this spot earlier this season after scoring a touchdown. He doubled that total Sunday with two scores including a nifty toe-tapper down the sideline for his first score. Ekeler finished with more than 100 yards from scrimmage but lost a late fumble. The key is not to overreact to one game given that Melvin Gordon is still the goal-line and feature back. Still, Ekeler seems to have carved out a role on passing downs, bumping up his value in PPR. FAAB: $2-$4

WIDE RECEIVER

Primary Targets

Dontrelle Inman, CHI - A castoff of the Chargers, who have amazing depth at receiver, it appears Inman has a new life as one of the featured wide receivers for the Bears. He caught six of eight targets for 88 yards Sunday against the Packers. Chicago remains a run-heavy team trying to ease in its rookie quarterback, but Mitchell Trubisky looked very good throwing for 297 yards Sunday and connected on the deep ball multiple times. There isn't a ton of competition for Inman, so he should see a good share of the targets. FAAB: $5-$10

Secondary Targets

Dede Westbrook, JAC - Westbrook appears to be on the brink of returning from an abdomen injury, as reported Monday by coach Doug Marrone. Westbrook should slide into the No. 2 wide receiver role with Allen Hurns expected to miss this Sunday's game with an ankle injury. Westbrook led the NFL preseason in receiving yards (298) and ran a 4.34 40 at his pro day. This is a player who can make an immediate impact in the second half of the season similar to what Martavis Bryant did his rookie year. FAAB: $4-$8

Hail Mary

Chester Rogers, IND - Rogers falls into the category of one-week wonder who likely will come back to earth after Sunday's performance. His 6-104-1 performance likely will be his best this season, and he only got six targets (a season high) from Jacoby Brissett. Kamar Aiken should be back soon, and the pecking order of Donte Moncrief, T.Y. Hilton and Jack Doyle still leaves Rogers as the fourth receiving option. FAAB: $1 or FCFS

TIGHT END

Hail Mary

Garrett Celek, SF - Look, the Giants and Browns are the two worst teams against tight endS, so it's not a surprise that each gave up a touchdown to a tight end Sunday. And Celek is filling in for George Kittle, who should be back after the bye week, thus landing Celek as merely a Hail Mary. Only consider Celek in deep formats. FAAB: $1 or FCFS