IDP Waiver Wire: Week 10 Targets

Nov 05, 2019

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As we get this late in this season the waiver wire starts to get a little bare as the more obvious pickups are long gone, and the cause isn’t helped this week either with six teams on a bye. In all honesty though, if you’re still scouring the waiver wire in Week 10 it’s unlikely you’re secure in a bid for a fantasy playoff run, so some more speculative adds might be exactly what the doctor ordered to invigorate your roster for the run-in. All that being said, here are my recommendations for this week:

Linebackers

Patrick Onwuasor - Baltimore Ravens

From Weeks 1-5 Patrick Onwuasor had been playing a three-down role for the Ravens defense and looks set to resume that role now that he’s healthy. After a two week absence due to an ankle injury, Onwuasor made an impactful return in just 28 snaps against the Patriots on Sunday Night Football. In his best game of the season, Onwuasor made eight total tackles, recorded a sack and forced a fumble (that led to a 70-yard scoop and score for Marlon Humphrey). Yet to record a double-digit tackle performance this year, Onwuasor doesn’t have the biggest upside and should be viewed as an LB3/4.

Drue Tranquil - Los Angeles Chargers

A slightly more speculative recommendation, but rookie Drue Tranquil is playing his way into a more significant role in the Chargers defense and another injury to Denzel Perryman won’t hurt his cause either. A fourth-round selection out of Notre Dame, Tranquil won the 2018 Wuerffel Trophy as the college football player who best combines exemplary community service with athletic and academic achievement before lighting up the combine with his workouts. An immediate presence for the Chargers on special teams, Tranquil earned his first defensive snaps in Week 4 and has seen a steady increase in his playing time since, playing over 40% snaps in three of the last four games. Productive when on the field Tranquil has returned five or more tackles in four of his last five games and with a further increased snap count likely with Perryman sidelined, I can see Tranquil pushing himself into the LB3 tier.

Defensive Lineman

Chris Jones - Kansas City Chiefs

An underwhelming start to the season for Jones was compounded by a groin injury that sidelined the Chiefs’ lineman for three weeks, but Week 9 marked his return to the line-up and he capped it with a sack, his third of the season. Typically a player of Jones’ caliber wouldn’t be available on the waiver wire, especially just a year removed from a 15.5 sack season, but fantasy owners are fickle and three consecutive blanks can lead to some rash decisions, especially if bench space is short.

As with many defensive linemen, Jones’ scoring will be ‘feast-or-famine’, but he should score as a DL2 over the rest of the season.

Taco Charlton - Miami Dolphins

Two muddling years in Dallas came to a head when former first-rounder Taco Charlton requested a trade in the off-season. The Cowboys refused to grant his wishes and declared him a healthy scratch for the first two weeks of the season before eventually cutting him, allowing him to sign with the Dolphins. Charlton has seen significant playing time for the Dolphins since signing (270 snaps, four games over 70% of snaps), parlaying that into four sacks and a forced fumble. Based on what we’ve seen so far Charlton is a low-end DL2 but there is arguably some further upside in Charlton considering his relative inexperience.