Weekly Hail Mary: Week 10
Each week of the football season, HMF will provide you with at least one “Hail Mary” at RB, WR, and TE - a guy who is not generally regarded as a starter for the week, but who has the potential to pay off big. These are the guys you look to when you’re in dire straits and have nowhere else to turn. They are lottery tickets that are not likely to hit, but if they do, you’ll be thrilled, as you can likely grab them for free off your waiver wire. We only focus on players who are available in at least two-thirds of Yahoo! leagues.
There were some decent returns for the recommended plays in Week 9, as Jaylen Samuels (13 catches for 73 yards), AJ Brown (4 catches for 81 yards), and Preston Williams (2 TDs before suffering a knee injury) all produced. Tight end was ugly, though, as was the goose egg posted by Bears WR Anthony Miller in a plus matchup. Moving onto the Hail Marys for Week 10:
Running Backs
J.D. McKissic, Lions (12% owned). We’re scraping the bottom of the barrel, and doing a bit of box score chasing. But with six teams on bye and most running backs with a pulse already rostered, our pickins, they are a-slim. McKissic didn’t have a huge volume of touches on Sunday but certainly did the most with them, racking up 32 yards rushing and 40 yards receiving, plus a touchdown. He could emerge as the top back in this timeshare.
Trey Edmunds, Steelers (1%). Not for the faint of heart, as the guy might not see a single carry in Week 10. But in Week 9, with James Conner and Benny Snell ailing, he received the bulk of the carries for Pittsburgh, out-carrying Jaylen Samuels 12-8 and out-gaining him 73-10 on the ground. He has earned more work moving forward.
Updated 11/5/19: Kalen Ballage, Dolphins (11%). With news breaking late Monday that Dolphins starting running back Mark Walton is suspended for the next four games, Ballage becomes a must-add. He should get a bell-cow workload with Walton on the sidelines and Kenyan Drake now in Arizona. The Dolphins schedule isn’t terribly favorable for the run game in the next four weeks, with tilts against the Colts, Bills, Browns, and Eagles (although the game against Cleveland should admittedly be soft), but it’s rare that you can get a starting running back for free at this point in the season. You can start Ballage at RB this week if you’re desperate with six teams on a bye. He’s probably a viable flex option moving forward.
Wide Receivers
*START OF THE WEEK* A.J. Brown, Titans (19%). A multi-time mention on HMF, Brown continues to produce. The QB switch to Ryan Tannehill gives the Titans a more traditional passing offense, which is good news for Brown. On Sunday he hauled in 4 of 7 targets for 81 yards, which gives him 60+ yards or a score in each of his last three games. He’s a fairly safe floor play at this point.
Josh Reynolds, Rams (1%). This play is contingent upon Brandin Cooks missing time due to a concussion. Reynolds is the next man up for the Rams and has acquitted himself well in the past. In Week 8, while filling in for an injured Cooks, he caught 3 of 8 passes, turning them into 73 yards and a score. It’s rare that you can pick up wide receivers this late in the season in top scoring offenses, and Reynolds could be a decent fill-in option this week with so many teams on bye.
Albert Wilson, Dolphins (1%). HMF favorite Preston Williams may have suffered a serious knee injury in Sunday’s contest (after finally lighting up the box score), so Wilson takes on newfound importance in the Dolphins passing attack. He has good short-area quickness and should see a larger target share if Williams is forced to miss any time.
Tight End
Mike Gesicki, Dolphins (4%). Ew, talk about box score chasing. Gesicki was 6 of 6 for 95 yards on Sunday in the Dolphins’ first win of the 2019 campaign. That type of efficiency is unlikely to continue, but like Albert Wilson, his ability as a pass-catcher may take on added importance in the wake of Preston Williams’ knee injury. For whatever it’s worth, Dallas Goedert (26% owned) and Noah Fant (12%) both would have been more highly recommended plays than Gesicki, as both are averaging 5 targets per game over the past month, but both are on bye this week. Keep them in mind for Week 11.
Bye week teams: Denver, Houston, Jacksonville, New England, Philadelphia, Washington