Let’s see if you can tell what these names have in common: Josh Oliver, Emari Demarcado, Mack Hollins, Ja’Tavion Sanders, Drew Sample, Nick Vannett, Patrick Ricard, and Quintin Morris. All of these players scored a touchdown this week, and all of them are rostered in less than 1% of ESPN leagues. In fact, a couple of those players I couldn’t have even told you were NFL players or named the team they’re on. Touchdowns are the least predictable stat in fantasy football, so we don’t want to just look at a player’s points per game to identify who to target on the waiver wire. Let’s dive into who I’m targeting this week.
Quarterback Targets
Tua Tagovailoa (43%)
Tua is only available because he was dropped in many 1QB leagues after his injury and hasn’t been picked back up in all of them. He was serviceable this week despite a shockingly low number of only seven combined targets to Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. Once he begins to click with those two again, he could be a great play at the quarterback position.
Matthew Stafford (30%)
Stafford seems much more like himself with Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp back in the lineup. Even after Nacua was ejected yesterday, Stafford seemed quite comfortable leaning on Demarcus Robinson late in the game. With nearly 600 yards and six touchdowns over the past two weeks, Stafford is trending way up after a dismal start to the season.
Running Back Targets
Justice Hill (21%)
I’ve listed Hill as a pickup before in PPR leagues, as he gets much of the receiving work out of the backfield, while Derrick Henry gets most of the rushes. There is the consideration that Keaton Mitchell could be coming back, but the Ravens offense is humming and they should be in no rush to get him out on the field. I think Hill continues to hold value in PPR formats. Justice Hill is RB35 on the year, which makes him a great flex play.
Jamaal Williams (3%)
This might be a stretch, but if you’re in a deep league and running out of options, hear me out. There are a few things working in Williams’ favor. Kendre Miller is on IR, so there is almost no competition to be the RB2 behind Alvin Kamara. The Saints just fired their head coach which almost always brings a temporary bump in production and a change in how things are done. If the Saints can regain any amount of offense they had at the start of the year, Williams could be in line for some goal-line work.
Wide Receiver Targets
Cedric Tillman (48%)
Somehow, Tillman still fits my criteria of being rostered in less than half of all leagues. If this is the case in your league, spend the first waiver priority or drop whatever amount of FAAB you have to in order to get him on your roster. In the last 3 weeks, he has averaged over 10 targets and over 22 PPR points per game. With Jameis Winston slinging the ball, the ground game struggling, and Amari Cooper gone, everything is in place for Tillman to continue to light up the scoreboard. Furthermore, the Browns are on a bye this week, so if anyone in your league happens to make the mistake of dropping him, take the hit of the roster spot this week and snag him for the rest of the season.
Adam Thielen (26%)
Diontae Johnson is gone from Carolina, so once he is back from injury, Thielen’s target competition is primarily Xavier Legette and Jalen Coker. He started to practice last week so a week 10 return seems likely with week 11 being the latest. I would grab Thielen before he plays as I expect a big target share for him regardless of whether it is Bryce Young or Andy Dalton at QB moving forward.
Nick Westbrook-Ikhine (0.3%)
Westbrook-Ikhine is another name I could have listed at the top of the article, but there’s something different about him. This is now four consecutive weeks with a receiving touchdown. Despite earning only 16 targets across those 4 weeks, he was averaging 11.2 PPR points per game at that time. With DeAndre Hopkins leaving for the Chiefs and Calvin Ridley demanding all the attention on and off the field, it seems that Westbrook-Ikhine has benefitted from the situation.
Tight End Targets
Mike Gesicki (11%)
Not only did Gesicki have a big day, but rookie tight end Erick All was injured, which could open up a few more targets each game for Gesicki. The Bengals are playing the Ravens last week, a game in which the two teams combined for 79 points the last time they faced.
Ja’Tavion Sanders (1%)
Rookie tight ends historically have not produced much, though recently, that’s becoming less sure of a trend. Rookies at all skill positions tend to produce more over time as the season goes on, and that’s what we’re starting to see from Sanders. In the first 4 games, he averaged 1.5 targets per game, and since then, he’s averaging just under 5 targets per game. Similar to Thielen, Diontae Johnson’s departure opens up more opportunities for an offense that desperately needs someone to step up.