Week 11 Waiver Wire: Early Pickups and Breakout Fantasy Football Candidates

Fantasy football takes a little bit of luck. Actually, fantasy football takes a lot of luck.

The faster you accept that, the more enjoyable your Sundays will be for the rest of the season.

We now live in a world where Jeremy Langford, Zach Miller, Kirk Cousins, Matt Jones and even Johnny Manziel are dangerous fantasy football weapons. Somewhere, those who drafted the injured or ineffective Le’Veon Bell, Matt Forte, Eddie Lacy and Jamaal Charles are scratching their heads.

With Week 11 on the horizon in this confusing fantasy football campaign, the majority of the elite waiver-wire targets are off the board. There are still some quality playmakers available, but picking a random name may be an effective strategy at this point.

Here is a look at some potential waiver-wire pickups heading into Week 11. (Players were considered targets if they were owned in less than 60 percent of ESPN.com leagues coming into Sunday's slate.)

Quarterbacks

Player	Percent Owned Coming Into Week 10
Kirk Cousins, Washington	33.7
Jay Cutler, Chicago Bears	26.7
Mark Sanchez, Philadelphia Eagles	0.2

It is easy to dismiss Cousins’ 324 passing yards and four touchdowns Sunday as a byproduct of playing the abysmal New Orleans Saints secondary. While you have to account for that with your decisions, Cousins has been quietly impressive the past few games. Plus, DeSean Jackson is gradually working his way back into the lineup as an additional weapon.

Cousins counts 858 passing yards, eight touchdowns and one interception in his last three outings, and his coach, Jay Gruden, has noticed, per the team's official Twitter: “He delivered the ball with great efficiency and decision making. The results were excellent.”

Speaking of someone who has been quietly productive this season, Jay Cutler is keeping the Chicago Bears’ head above water at 4-5, despite a patchwork offensive line and injuries galore in the wide receiver corps. Cutler threw for 258 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions Sunday and could have put up more points, but he dialed the offense back in a blowout 37-13 win over the St. Louis Rams.

Turnovers are always a concern with him, but the Vanderbilt product is yet to throw more than one pick in a game this season and only has two in his past five outings. He is also averaging just more than 283 passing yards a game in his last six contests.

Elsewhere, Mark Sanchez is an insurance option in case Sam Bradford’s injury lingers after the latter left Sunday’s game with a concussion and potential shoulder setback. The Philadelphia Eagles’ fast-paced offense is quarterback friendly, even if Sanchez is far from a sure thing.

Running Backs

Player	Percent Owned Coming Into Week 10
Matt Jones, Washington	56.7
Thomas Rawls, Seattle Seahawks	18
Alfred Morris, Washington	52.1

Like Cousins, you have to account for the Saints defense when evaluating Alfred Morris and Matt Jones as the Washington running backs, even though they combined for 148 rushing yards and 145 receiving yards (131 of which came from Jones) Sunday.

Still, fantasy owners are picking at scraps at this point if they are looking for running backs on the waiver wire, and playmakers such as James Starks and Langford were scooped up coming into Week 10. At least you know you could get carries from Morris and Jones (double-digit carries five times this year for each), and Jones flashed his ability in the passing attack Sunday.

As for Thomas Rawls, look at it in the same perspective as the Sanchez pickup. It is simply about having an option in case Marshawn Lynch's injury impedes his production, especially since the latter was uncertain coming into Week 10 with an abdominal concern. Though he did not appear on the team's list of inactives. Rawls already topped 100 rushing yards twice this season in place of a physically beat up Lynch.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

Player	Percent Owned Coming Into Week 10
Brian Hartline, Cleveland Browns	0.5
Kamar Aiken, Baltimore Ravens	44.8
Zach Miller, Chicago Bears	0.0

Like running back, your options at this point of the season are limited if you are looking for wide receivers on the waiver wire.

However, Brian Hartline is widely available, and he saw 19 targets his past two games. He converted his nine targets Sunday into a solid 77 receiving yards, and he scored two touchdowns on 10 targets in his prior appearance. He is not flashy, but the Ohio State product counts two 1,000-yard seasons on his resume and is a proven name in the NFL.

Elsewhere in the AFC North, Kamar Aiken is suddenly a featured part of the Baltimore Ravens offense with Steve Smith Sr. out for the year. Aiken saw 14 targets Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars, which was seven more than anyone else on his team. (He finished with 73 receiving yards.)

What’s more, the Ravens are 2-7 and often find themselves playing from behind, which is conducive to fantasy outbursts from receivers in comeback mode.

Perhaps the biggest fantasy sensation of Week 10 was Chicago Bears tight end Miller. (Look away, Martellus Bennett owners.) He torched the St. Louis Rams for 107 yards and two touchdowns, and his 87-yard score was the longest for a Bear since Matt Forte’s 89-yarder in 2010. 

His performance came on the heels of his game-winning, one-handed touchdown catch in Week 9 against the San Diego Chargers. ESPN’s Trey Wingo was impressed:

That sounds like a tight end who can get you critical late-season fantasy points off the wire.