As the final few weeks of the regular season of fantasy football draw near, the waiver wire is looking more and more like a wasteland. Finding a diamond in the rough who will actually produce is tough. However, there are a few players who could still provide some production if necessary. Keep an eye on Noah Fant, Randall Cobb, J.D. McKissic, and James Washington.
Noah Fant, J.D. McKissic Highlight Fantasy Football Watch List for Week 11
Noah Fant
Denver Broncos rookie Noah Fant opened some people’s eyes in Week 9 with his big game. He had just three catches but converted them in 115 yards and a touchdown. His touchdown came on a ridiculous highlight reel run-after catch where he made the entire Cleveland Browns defense look silly.
Noah Fant FLATTENED him on the way to a 75-yard HOUSE CALL!
(via @NFL) pic.twitter.com/m287H0likM
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 3, 2019
Luckily for those who still need a tight end, Fant’s bye was the week after, limiting his interest during the waiver wire period. And with plenty of action at other positions this week (or a rush to re-grab O.J. Howard), Fant has a good shot at making it past waivers this week as well.
The Broncos probably spent their bye week working on an entirely new offense. With Joe Flacco’s short time in Denver already over and Emmanuel Sanders now making plays for the San Francisco 49ers, Fant should emerge as a key cog in their new young core. He already has 12 targets in his last two games, and 17 in his last three.
Players have the option of grabbing him this week as a free agent or taking a wait and see approach and watch his production this week against the Minnesota Vikings. However, those that wait likely have to use a waiver claim on him next week.
Randall Cobb
It seems odd to have the third-most targeted wide receiver for a team on the fantasy football radar. Odder yet is the fact that the wide receiver plays for the Dallas Cowboys. But that is exactly what is happening. Randall Cobb is a player to keep an eye on in a potent passing attack headed by Dak Prescott.
Prescott is trying to make a case to be paid like a top-five quarterback and is on pace to blow away his numbers from previous seasons. He is passing for 308.6 yards-per-game, which is over 60 yards more than his previous best season (242.8). His 18 passing touchdowns are only five short of his previous high of 23 in an entire season.
Because of this, there are plenty of yards to go around, even with Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup ahead of Cobb on the depth chart. Now, a lot shouldn’t be expected of him, and he undoubtedly saw his ceiling in week 10 against the Minnesota Vikings. That game, he had six catches for 106 yards and a touchdown.
However, Cobb has seen at least six targets in four of his last six games played. He could be a good play depending on the matchup. He’ll see the Detroit Lions next week and then go against the Los Angeles Rams and Philadelphia Eagles weeks 15 and 16. He could even see some extra involvement weeks 12 and 13 against the Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots, who have a tendency to shut down number one wide receivers.
Don’t expect a lot from Cobb, but he is a startable option in deep leagues in a pinch.
J.D. McKissic
J.D. McKissic has been trending up quickly on fantasy footballers’ radars. After Kerryon Johnson went down a few weeks ago, it created a huge mess in the Detroit Lions backfield. Initially, it looked like Ty Johnson would be the back to own. Instead, it quickly looked like a dictionary definition of running back by committee.
For fantasy purposes, McKissic has been the most productive of any of the backs, mostly due to his pass-catching prowess. McKissic has had at least seven fantasy points in three of the last four games and could see his role grow further with the Ty Johnson’s status in jeopardy. As long as he stays involved in the passing game, he is starting to establish a decent floor for himself.
Redux: James Washington
All the way back in week three, James Washington, wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers made an appearance on the watch list. He came into the year with a lot of talk as a solid sleeper in fantasy, set to take over Juju Smith-Schuster’s number two wide receiver role. Interest in his stock piqued when Ben Roethlisberger went down, and Mason Rudolph took over at quarterback.
After all, Rudolph and Washington had a history together at Oklahoma State in their college days. Unfortunately, that connection never really materialized, with the two only connecting for 87 yards on six catches in their first four games together.
But the connection might finally be developing. In the past two weeks, the two have combined for ten catches, 159 yards, and a touchdown. With some juicy matchups against the Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati Bengals, and Arizona Cardinals, Washington needs to be put back on the fantasy football radar.
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