Week 11 Waiver Wire: Reviewing Top Pickups and Drops Likely Available

While a strong draft and picking up some early breakout stars are often the foundation of many excellent fantasy football rosters, sometimes the path toward a winning season is a study in incrementalism.

Week in and week out, fantasy owners head to the waiver wire to make changes to their rosters. For some, wholesale changes are needed early on as players disappoint and injuries mount.

For others, snagging the right player every couple of weeks can put you on a path to the fantasy playoffs. A handcuff pickup here, a bye-week replacement there, a necessary injury replacement grab and eventually, over the course of a few weeks, a new-look roster emerges ready to put up some big points late in the season. 

There's often some value to be found in the waiver wire. Here's a look at the top pickups and drops from Yahoo and ESPN fantasy football leagues. For the pickups category, players owned in more than 50 percent of leagues are not included in the table. 

Top Yahoo Pickups
Top ESPN Pickups
Player	% Owned	No. of Monday Adds
Robert Woods, WR, Buffalo Bills	16	15,923
Cameron Meredith, WR, Chicago Bears	33	15,827
James Starks, RB, Green Bay Packers	28	11,946
Thomas Rawls, RB, Seattle Seahawks	49	11,712
C.J. Prosise, RB, Seattle Seahawks	35	10,134
Sammy Watkins, WR, Buffalo Bills	37	7,929
Tyreek Hill, WR, Kansas City Chiefs	17	6,983
Paul Perkins, RB, New York Giants	24	5,360
Rob Kelley, RB, Washington Redskins	48	4,236
Eddie Royal, WR, Chicago Bears	14	4,113
Eli Rogers, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers	10	3,026
Jeremy Langford, RB, Chicago Bears	26	2,867
Player	% Owned	% Change Last 7 Days
Paul Perkins, RB, New York Giants	35.8	+31.6
Rishard Matthews, WR, Tennessee Titans	35.1	+23.9
Peyton Barber, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers	33.3	+21.3
Rob Kelley, RB, Washington Redskins	45.3	+18.9
Eli Rogers, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers	20.9	+18.1
J.J. Nelson, WR, Arizona Cardinals	26.4	+16.6
Dion Lewis, RB, New England Patriots	44.4	+14.2
C.J. Fiedorowicz, TE, Houston Texans	25.2	+13.5
Kapri Bibbs, RB, Denver Broncos	17.2	+12.7
James Starks, RB Green Bay Packers	29.3	+10.9

Top Yahoo Drops
Top ESPN Drops
Player	% Owned	No. of Monday Drops
Ty Montgomery, RB/WR, Green Bay Packers	85	12,726
J.J. Nelson, WR, Arizona Cardinals	48	12,561
Alshon Jeffery, WR, Chicago Bears	98	11,932
Kapri Bibbs, RB, Denver Broncos	30	11,051
Christine Michael, RB, Seattle Seahawks	88	8,087
DuJuan Harris, RB, San Francisco 49ers	34	7,645
Peyton Barber, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers	35	7,634
Charcandrick West, RB, Kansas City Chiefs	41	7,412
Player	% Owned	% Change Last 7 Days
Charcandrick West, RB, Kansas City Chiefs	60.2	-25.5
Jack Doyle, TE, Indianapolis Colts	33.1	-13.8
Matt Asiata, RB, Minnesota Vikings	48.2	-13.1
Mike Gillislee, RB, Buffalo Bills	32.3	-12.1
Derrick Henry, RB, Tennessee Titans	52.1	-12
Eric Ebron, TE, Detroit Lions	55.9	-8.8
Hunter Henry, TE, San Diego Chargers	32.1	-8.4
Nick Foles, QB, Kansas City Chiefs	3.5	-8

Reviewing Top Pickups

Robert Woods, WR, Buffalo Bills

Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images

Robert Woods was a hot pickup for fantasy owners on Monday with the Buffalo Bills returning to action in Week 11 after a bye in Week 10. 

Woods racked up 10 catches for 162 yards in Week 9—a feat made all the more impressive by the fact that it came against the notoriously tough Seattle Seahawks secondary. It was a banner day for Woods, who had done little to warrant attention from fantasy owners to that point, with just one touchdown in his first seven games of the season. 

Of course, even his relatively modest stats are good enough to make him quarterback Tyrod Taylor's top target this season, and Woods will remain the go-to guy as long as Sammy Watkins is sidelined. 

Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

Watkins is eligible to return from injured reserve, but head coach Rex Ryan said Monday his star wideout still isn't in good enough shape to practice, per NFL.com's Mark E. Ortega.

"Until all our medical people are on board with him coming back out there on the field, then we're not gonna practice him," Ryan said. "But when that time occurs and hopefully that will occur soon, then he'll be back out there."

This leaves Woods as the main man on the flanks against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 11. It's a tough matchup for Woods, as the Bengals have a strong defense and have done a fine job of holding opponents to low scoring totals. Considering the lukewarm track record, Woods is in the flex discussion for Week 11 but with potentially great upside as Taylor has to throw the ball to somebody.

Cameron Meredith, WR, Chicago Bears

Jason Behnken/Associated Press

Here's an example of where it pays off to either have the luxury of stashing a player or simply neglecting your waiver-wire duties.

Cameron Meredith is back in vogue among fantasy football owners, as fellow Chicago Bears wide receiver Alshon Jeffery is set to serve a four-game suspension for violating the NFL's policy on performance-enhancing drugs, the team announced Monday.

Meredith was a popular pickup after a pair of strong games in Weeks 5 and 6, but his production quickly dropped off, and he was again an afterthought.

While he rewarded stubborn (or desperate) fantasy owners in Week 10 with a 50-yard Hail Mary touchdown reception—his only catch of the game, but big enough for a satisfying fantasy total—he could pay even greater dividends going forward.

The Bears have a tough matchup on the road against the New York Giants in Week 11. The Giants have allowed the ninth-fewest fantasy points per game to wideouts this year, per Yahoo Sports. That said, Meredith has proved he can put up big numbers before with Brian Hoyer as his quarterback, and he could fare even better with Jay Cutler's big arm to find him downfield.

Cutler's play was lacking in Week 10 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, so more will be needed from him if Meredith is to pay off for fantasy owners. He should see plenty of targets regardless.

James Starks, RB, Green Bay Packers

Frederick Breedon/Getty Images

The Green Bay Packers' injury-riddled backfield has been the source of much consternation for fantasy football owners this season. James Starks might finally bring back some stability and normalcy to a run game that has relied on nominal wide receiver Ty Montgomery in recent weeks.

In his first game back in just over a month, Starks carried the ball seven times for 33 yards and had three receptions for 11 yards and a score in the Packers' lopsided loss to the Tennessee Titans in Week 10.  

Starks didn't have much opportunity to get in a rhythm on the ground as Green Bay fell behind early, but he received some praise for his hard running from offensive coordinator Edgar Bennett, per the Packers' official Twitter account: 

Starks hasn't had the opportunity for too many big rushing days backing up or sharing time with Eddie Lacy, but he has little competition for carries as of right now. NFL.com's Alex Gelhar found it encouraging that the Packers got him plenty of action on Sunday:

"

We expected the Packers to bring Starks back slowly in his first game action after knee surgery, but the team instead saddled him up for 51 snaps and 10 touches in a loss to the Titans. For now, Green Bay appears inclined to feature a traditional running back more prominently over Ty Montgomery, and after another week of practice/rest Starks' touch total should rise. The Packers offense can still move the football despite the teams' struggles, so Starks is very much worth an add.

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Starks is a fine pass-catcher out of the backfield in addition to being a tough runner. As long as the workload is there, he should put up robust fantasy numbers. The Packers are on the road against the Washington Redskins in Week 11.

Washington has allowed the seventh-most fantasy points to running backs this season, per Yahoo Sports. Starks is worthy of RB2/RB3 consideration in Week 11.

C.J. Prosise, RB, Seattle Seahawks

Adam Glanzman/Getty Images

After struggling in the early season, the Seattle Seahawks offense appears to be settling into a nice groove with 31 points in each of the past two weeks. Quarterback Russell Wilson could be gearing up for a late-season surge similar to the one he enjoyed last season, and he might have the ideal complement in the backfield in rookie running back C.J. Prosise. 

In his first start, the Notre Dame product racked up 154 yards on 24 touches against the staunch New England Patriots defense. Prosise is extremely quick and looks comfortable catching the ball, which is a great skill set for a quarterback like Wilson who likes to spread the ball around.

Per DraftKings' Adam Levitan, Prosise has apparently supplanted Christine Michael as the lead back in Seattle:

Pro Football Focus noted he proved a matchup nightmare for the Patriots: 

Of course, Thomas Rawls' eventual return from injury could spell doom for Prosise, as Rawls proved last season he can be devastating as a lead tailback. Seattle head coach Pete Carroll said Rawls could be ready to play in Week 11 against the Philadelphia Eagles, per 710 ESPN Seattle (via ESPN.com's Sheil Kapadia): 

Prosise might still be worth starting for fantasy owners against the Eagles, as the Seahawks are currently the second seed in the NFC and have the luxury of easing Rawls back into play with two healthy running backs already in the fold. However, it's a risky play, especially against the Eagles' tough defense.

As soon as Rawls is 100 percent ready to go, expect Prosise's value to drop immensely, though he might retain some limited value as an emergency flex play in large points-per-reception leagues.