Week 10 was a largely lopsided week that created opportunities for massive fantasy production among the league’s top stars. But aside from monster fantasy days from the likes of Marshawn Lynch, Aaron Rodgers, and Dez Bryant, we also got huge days from readily available players like Jordan Matthews, C.J. Anderson, and Mychal Rivera.
It’s possible to find any week’s Beast Mode or Megatron in even the deepest fantasy leagues and post big time days without the big name talent, you just have to exploit opportunity and matchups. Let’s take a look at some deep league waiver wire players that are poised to do just that.
Quarterback Targets:
Josh McCown (14 percent): Just hear me out.
Despite losing to the Falcons and crying afterwards, McCown exploited the Atlanta defense to the tune of 301 yards and two touchdowns. The next two weeks could see McCown put up top-tier QB1 numbers thanks to a little help from our friends at the NFL scheduling department.
Next up for the Bucs are the Redskins, who allow the third most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks. They have allowed at least one passing touchdown to every QB they’ve faced this year (including Teddy Bridgewater, Brandon Weeden, Charlie Whitehurst, Chad Henne) and gave up 15 passing TDs between Week 3 and Week 8.
After that, McCown will take on the Bears, a defense that gives up the second most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks and a historic amount of fantasy points on occasion. The Bears have given up 669 yards and 11 touchdowns over their last two games and, while they’ve faced some pretty good quarterbacks this season, even allowed 316 yards and a score to the likes of Geno Smith.
Kyle Orton (Owned in 15 percent of Yahoo leagues): I’ve been pushing Orton on you guys for weeks but he remains available in about 85 percent of fantasy leagues. I get it, Mark Sanchez is the “sexier” name. But while a stampede rushed to get Sanchez last week (probably because he was featured in last week’s column), Orton’s ownership hasn’t climbed much despite posting the numbers you are essentially trying to get from the Sanchise.
In his five starts this season, Orton has completed a terrific 65.6 percent of his passes for 1,387 yards, 10 touchdowns and three interceptions.
By comparison, Carson Palmer, whose loss the fantasy world is now lamenting, completed 63 percent of his passes for 1,626 yards, 11 touchdowns, and three picks in six games.
Carson Palmer is still available in your fantasy league, you just have to look under Kyle Orton.
Running Back Targets:
C.J. Anderson (5 percent): Injuries create opportunity and even though the Denver backfield may see Montee Ball return this week, Anderson figures to start and get the bulk of the workload. We saw what Ronnie Hillman did once he got the opportunity, and we got a glimpse of Anderson’s potential on Sunday as he ran 13 times for 90 yards and caught four passes for 73 yards and a touchdown in relief.
It’s unclear what the future holds, but I’d definitely grab Anderson for one week’s worth of RB1 potential.
Charles Sims (30 percent): Sims was unimpressive in his NFL debut, running eight times for 23 yards and catching two passes for 17 yards. He did get 10 touches, however, getting two more carries than Bobby Rainey. While I wouldn’t want to be the one trying to create big runs behind that woeful offensive line, Sims does appear to be in line for the majority of the touches in the backfield, pending how the situation plays out over the next couple weeks.
Wide Receiver Targets:
Jordan Matthews (22 percent): Many had been waiting for the rookie out of Vanderbilt to get a chance and Matthews went off when he finally got it on Monday night. Matthews caught seven of nine passes Mark Sanchez sent his way for 138 yards and two scores, nearly eclipsing Jordy Nelson’s production in a historic rout of the Bears.
Matthews led the team in both catches and targets, a good sign if Mark Sanchez can put up more games like the one against Carolina.
John Brown (20 percent): Brown saw as many targets as Larry Fitzgerald did on Sunday and walked away with 119 yards and a touchdown. While it’ll be interesting to see how Bruce Arians uses him with Drew Stanton behind center instead of Palmer, Brown does look to be the number two wideout on the depth chart and I wouldn’t mind buying some shares of Brown’s potential in deeper leagues.
