Fantasy Football Waiver Wire: Early pickups for Week 11

It’s never too early to look toward your next matchup and a chance to bolster your fantasy football lineups. Here are some options to consider for Week 11, when the Arizona Cardinals, Carolina Panthers, New York Giants and Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be on bye.

Marquez Valdes-Scantling, WR, New Orleans Saints (1% rostered)

It seems like MVS has been on every team in the league at this point (he’s actually just 30 years old, too), and his latest squad is the New Orleans Saints after being released by the Bills.

The Saints have been hurting at wide receiver. They’ve lost Rashid Shaheed for the season and recently put Chris Olave on IR. Bub Means is also on IR.

The team needed MVS to step up — and he did just that in a Week 10 win over the Falcons.

Valdes-Scantling didn’t lead the team in targets (Alvin Kamara did that, which is to be expected), but he collected all three of his for a whopping 109 yards and two touchdowns. In fact, his presence as a field stretcher brought back memories of the Saints offense from the first two weeks of the season — heavy doses of Kamara mixed with some deep shots.

This isn’t to say that MVS will suddenly be the Shaheed or the Olave of the offense. You can expect the Kamara show to continue. But someone has to catch passes from the wide receiver position for this team. MVS is officially a flex option ahead of a plus matchup against the Cleveland Browns.

Ricky Pearsall, WR, San Francisco 49ers (37%)

The 49ers welcomed the return of Christian McCaffrey to the field in Week 10, elevating an offense that was already dangerous. Rookie wideout Ricky Pearsall was one of the direct beneficiaries of the multi-headed 49ers’ dragon being fully operational (sans Brandon Aiyuk, of course, who was lost for the season with a torn ACL and MCL in October).

Pearsall took one of his six targets to the house, a 46-yard catch-and-run that showed off his explosive ability and speed.

Yes, the 49ers offense is littered with options, but it’s also one of the few units in the NFL that can support multiple fantasy-relevant players. Pearsall is the team’s first-round pick and will undoubtedly be given more chances to grow and show what he can do on the offense. He has second-half upside and should be added in more leagues.

Audric Estimé, RB, Denver Broncos (3%)

Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton alluded to Audric Estimé getting more work before this week, as Javonte Williams has not lived up to expectations as the lead back. And Payton wasn’t just spouting coach speak.

Not only did Estimé lead the team in rushing (53 yards on 14 carries) during a heartbreaking loss to the Chiefs, but Williams had just one carry for ONE YARD and caught two passes for six yards. That is a horrible sign for Williams’ future prospects. On the flip side, Estimé getting so much responsibility in a huge divisional matchup is a great sign for the rest of the season — go get the rookie.