2024 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Week 10: Drake Maye, Khalil Herbert, More

It’s crunch time folks. Whether you are cruising into a bye week, battle for a playoff spot, or gearing up to play spoiler, time is running out on breakout players. They are out there though, I can assure you that. They are every year.

Sometimes it takes a running back injury for a handcuff to take over, like when Tim Hightower showed up off the couch for the Saints in 2015 after not playing multiple years to win leagues from Week 14 on. 

Amon-Ra St. Brown famously did not break out until Week 13 his rookie year. Just last season, when Mark Andrews went down, Isaiah Likely was a top 5 tight end from Week 13 on. Breshard Perriman in 2019.

The list goes on. It’s our job to find them. That starts with this article on the 2024 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire for Week 10.

2024 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Week 10 Top Targets

If this 2024 fantasy football waiver wire for Week 10 is your first time seeing this series, here’s a little idea of how we break it down. 

There are too many articles out there that don’t take into account YOUR team's needs. Whether you just want the best player, you want someone to start now, or you are loaded and you want the best upside stashed, we have you covered. And we break it down like this:

• 2024 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Week 10: This is the current article where we focus on the best waiver wire picks for any format or team needs. Guys that can potentially be started now but also have season-long upside.
   
• 2024 Fantasy Football Streamers Week 10: These are players that are decent starts for Week 10 but might not have great long-term upside (perhaps it’s just a good matchup or the starter has a short-term injury, for instance).
   
• 2024 Fantasy Football Stashes Week 10: These are players that are very difficult to trust in a lineup right now. But we believe in the talent and the possibility of upside down the stretch. Every year there are certain rookies or backups that get a big opportunity and run with it at some point - like Trey McBride last year.

The 2024 fantasy football waiver wire for Week 10 you are currently looking at is free for everyone. The Week 10 waiver wire stashes and Week 10 waiver wire streamers articles are for Fantasy Alarm members only.  

If you aren’t a Fantasy Alarm member yet, you can not only get 40% off your annual membership if you sign up right now or 50% off your first month with promo code LETSGO, but we are offering a 7-day free trial RIGHT NOW! You can check out everything we have to offer this week and decide if it's right for you!

P.S. At the very bottom of this 2024 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Week 10 article, I will update my Yin & Yang Tight End chart each week!

NFL Week 10 Waiver Wire Quarterbacks

Bo Nix - Denver Broncos, Yahoo: 34% | ESPN: 58% | Sleeper: 44%

Bo Nix bailed out his day this week with a receiving touchdown so don’t count on that for fantasy. But, what you can count on is him running the football. And that creates a solid floor and tremendous upside in virtually every format but especially in 4 point passing leagues.

Bo Nix is averaging 6.4 rushing attempts per game which is a pace over 100. Over the last 20 years, every QB that has played at least 16 games and ran the ball 90+ times has finished as a QB1 in fantasy except for 2014 Colin Kaepernick. So it should not surprise you that Bo Nix is currently QB8 in fantasy football. It does not have to be that hard.

• Waiver Priority: Low to Medium Priority
• FAAB: 5-10% (or more if he starts for you right away)

Drake Maye - New England Patriots, Yahoo: 11% | ESPN: 11% | Sleeper: 25%

The same thought process applies to Maye. We were concerned that, coming off the concussion scare, that Drake Maye might be hesitant to tuck the ball and run. But the opposite ended up being true. He ran the ball the most he has all season (8 carries) for the most yards (95). And he managed to throw a touchdown pass with his late game heroics.

Outside of the game where he left with a concussion, he has now scored 21.52, 20.84, and 17.74 fantasy points. The schedule isn’t incredible and his bye week comes in a tricky spot at Week 14. But these guys are called Konami Codes for a reason. 

• Waiver Priority: Low or Free Add
• FAAB: 0-5%

NFL Week 10 Waiver Wire Running Backs

Jaylen Warren - Pittsburgh Steelers, Yahoo: 42% | ESPN: 55% | Sleeper: 43%

Warren was dropped on just enough platforms for us to mention him here.  Since returning he’s played 37%, 51%, and 39% of the snaps and is one of the few players getting guaranteed touches while also being available in around 50% of the leagues. You can actually plug him into a lineup which can’t be said for some of these other guys. 

• Waiver Priority: Low or free
• FAAB: 0-5%

Khalil Herbert - Cincinnati Bengals, Yahoo: 7% | ESPN: 4% | Sleeper: 8%

This is a rough week for running backs on the waiver wire, there’s no doubt about it. We don’t even particularly like this move to be honest. But it sounds like Zack Moss is out for an extensive period so the Bengals are bringing in some reinforcements.

Zac Taylor in his press conference yesterday explained the need to keep Chase Brown fresh. We don’t know exactly where Khalil Herbert will fall in terms of snap share. But it’s worth a stab just to see if he can carve out a decent role like Zack Moss had. This is a good offense so part of the job could be worth something.

Don’t go crazy bidding though as Chase Brown has been so good that he almost certainly maintains 60 of the snaps at a minimum. Which may sound low to you but only 7 backs are averaging more than 70% of the snaps in the league and only one over 80% (Kyren Williams). 

• Waiver Priority: Low or free
• FAAB: 0-5%

Ameer Abdullah - Las Vegas Raiders, Yahoo: 0% | ESPN: 1% | Sleeper: 0%

There are a few guys like this in the league. You have a starter and then you have a pass down back. Justice Hill with Derrick Henry. Jerome Ford (now that he is back) with Nick Chubb, and Ameer Abdullah with Alexander Mattison. What do these guys all have in common? They all let their backfield in snaps this past week in negative games scripts.

Due to the nature of their role, these guys really only have value in PPR. Ford and Hill are already rostered in a lot of leagues. In very deep leagues, Abdullah could have some utility in case of emergency as the Raiders should be playing from behind a lot. Not this week though as they are on bye. You should not need to use FAAB or priority on this player. 

• Waiver Priority: Free Add or Late Priority
• FAAB: 0%

NFL Week 10 Waiver Wire Wide Receivers

Jalen Tolbert - Dallas Cowboys, Yahoo: 22% | ESPN: 4% | Sleeper: 36%

We’ll be blunt here - Mike McCarthy should probably be fired. Dak Prescott already left the game with injury. And CeeDee Lamb was left out there to further aggravate an obvious shoulder issue. Now both players are week to week at a minimum.

Losing Dak Prescott hurts, no doubt. But Cooper Rush looked serviceable. If Trey Lance gets in there, we will obviously need to reassess. But an already think Cowboys receiving corps just became even more thin. Tolbert has quietly averaged 10 PPR points per game this season. 

• Waiver Priority: Low Priority
• FAAB: 5-10%

Xavier Legette - Carolina Panthers, Yahoo: 19% | ESPN: 16% | Sleeper: 24%

Jauan Jennings and Cedric Tillman should have been added in your leagues but check first on them as we would prioritize them, in that order. If they are rostered, Tolbert and Leggette are the next best bets. 

Following the Diontae Johnson trade, it was David Moore and Xavier Legette playing the full-time roles on the outside with Jonathan Mingo and Jalen Coker mixing. When Adam Thielen returns, we expect it to be Thielen and Legette on the outside. The rookie offers intriguing upside if Bryce Young can build off his performance this week. 

• Waiver Priority: Late or free add
• FAAB: 0-5%

Noah Brown - Washington Commanders, Yahoo: 2% | ESPN: 2% | Sleeper: 6%

Noah Brown has routinely been mentioned in the "Stashes” article. But we like the way things have been trending for him. The Commanders have not had a WR2 emerge behind Terry McLaurin. Zach Ertz has been the second target getter. And it’s been a big rotation for the wideouts. 

Over the last two weeks, Brown has stepped up into a bigger role. In Week 8 he played 81% of the snaps which was actually more than McLaurin. Last week he led the team in targets with 6. He did catch the Hail Mary which boosted his stats, but we saw him have back-to-back 150+ yard games last year so he doesn’t necessarily need Hail Mary’s to pop off. 

We want exposure to this offense so, barring the Commanders trading for a WR today, he’s one of the best waiver wire picks. 

• Waiver Priority: Late or free add
• FAAB: 0-5%

NFL Week 10 Waiver Wire Tight Ends

Hunter Henry - New England Patriots, Yahoo: 36% | ESPN: 41% | Sleeper: 38%

We are getting close enough to fantasy playoffs that it’s time to start ditching the Yin & Yang tight end philosophy and make specific plans. The goal of Yin & Yang isn’t to have two tight ends that you rotate - it’s to find a breakout that we trust. 

You still might need to roster two if you are confident in the starter you have, but we really need to find “the guy”. And right now, on the waiver wire there is one guy that needs to be a priority: Hunter Henry.

Since Drake Maye took over,  Hunter Henry has quietly been the TE8 in fantasy. He’s top 10 in targets over that span, tied with Trey McBride with 27. He leads the team in routes run, targets, receptions, yards, and is tied for touchdowns (with one, but still). We like Drake Maye and we like Hunter Henry. 

• Waiver Priority: Med to High
• FAAB: 10-15% (more if he starts for you right away)

Jonnu Smith - Miami Dolphins, Yahoo: 14% | ESPN: 8% | Sleeper: 16%

He doesn’t quite have the upside that Hunter Henry has unless one of Tyreek Hill or Jaylen Waddle get hurt. But he does have a few key things going for him.

First is athleticism. Jonnu is one of the few guys that can reliably break off 40+ yard plays. Second, the offense is at least consolidated. Outside of Hill, Waddle, the RBs, and Jonnu, no one has more than 10 targets. 

And the guy with 10 targets, Julian Hill, has been banged up. That show Jonnu play his highest snap share yet last week. He is startable right now with bigger upside if a WR gets hurt, much like Dallas Goedert. We saw what happened for Cade Otton when the WRs got hurt there. 

Week 10 Rest Of Season Tight End Rankings

At this stage in the season, we are gearing up for playoffs. You may still be hanging onto two tight ends using our Yin & Yang tight end strategy, but we will increasingly be focusing on having one guy we can trust for the three weeks of fantasy playoffs. 

With that in mind, we’ll be going with a linear set of “rest of season” rankings for the next few weeks before we start focusing on actual playoff matchups.