Early Week 10 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire

Here's an early look at a few promising players worth picking up off the waiver wire heading into Week 10.

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Be on the lookout for a full waiver-wire column from the SI Fantasy team each week. Every Sunday night, however, I will take an early look at a few options that could help you in the upcoming week or on a rest-of-season basis.

[Note: All players referenced in this post are available in more than half of Yahoo! leagues as their ownership levels are all below 50 percent.]

With that said, here are a few waiver-wire options to consider heading into Week 10 (Yahoo! ownership in parenthesis):

Zach Pascal, WR, Indianapolis Colts (19% owned)

With T.Y. Hilton (calf) out in Week 9, Zach Pascal led the team in receiving with five catches for 76 yards and a touchdown on six targets. Pascal now has two big games—including 6/106/2 in Week 7—over the past three weeks. While he had a quiet performance in Week 8, Pascal still saw a promising number of snaps (59), only one fewer snap than Hilton (60).

Pascal also has 70-plus yards in three of his past five games and 50-plus in four of the past six. With Hilton likely out for a couple more weeks, Pascal should lead the receiving corps in opportunities and production in Week 10.

If there is a concern with Pascal, it’s the injury (“MCL-ish”) that led to Jacoby Brissett’s early departure in Sunday’s loss to Pittsburgh. On a positive note, however, Pascal and the Colts get a favorable matchup against the Dolphins, who had allowed the sixth-most fantasy points to the position entering this week.

Mike Gesicki, TE, Miami Dolphins (4% owned)

Oozing with athleticism, Gesicki started his second season slowly, but he’s been productive since Miami’s Week 5 bye. The former second-round pick caught all six of his targets for a career-high 95 yards on Sunday and now has a minimum of three catches and 41 yards in three of his past four games.

Gesicki gets a decent matchup in Week 10 as the Colts have allowed the seventh-most fantasy points to opposing tight ends this season (through last week’s games). The second-year tight end could be a viable streaming option in Week 10.

Preston Williams, WR, Miami Dolphins (14% owned)

Before exiting Sunday’s win over the Jets with a knee injury, Preston Williams had himself a game. The undrafted rookie receiver finished with five catches for 72 yards and two touchdowns on nine targets. Williams has a minimum of five targets in all eight games this season and he’s averaging 7.5 per contest. He has turned that volume into four-plus catches in six of his past seven games.

Stay tuned on the status of his knee injury, but per the Miami Herald, Williams was “feeling better after the game” and is “hopeful it’s not more serious than a sprain.” If he’s healthy enough to go, Williams will be a WR3 (or better) in my Week 10 rankings.

Ryan Tannehill, QB, Tennessee Titans (18% owned)

Despite throwing multiple interceptions as the team lost to the Panthers, Ryan Tannehill had another productive fantasy outing on Sunday. Tannehill recorded for a season-high 331 yards and accounted for multiple touchdowns—one passing and one rushing—to score more than 25 fantasy points this week.

Since becoming the starter three weeks ago, Tannehill has exceeded 19 fantasy points every week. During that span, he has scored multiple touchdowns every week and has thrown a pair of 300-yard games.

Patrick Mahomes is likely to return in Week 10 against the Titans. Tannehill threw it a season-high 39 times in Sunday's loss to Carolina after throwing it just 29 and 33 times, respectively, in the two previous games (both wins). Assuming that Tannehill and the Titans are trailing and trying to keep up with Mahomes and the Chiefs, Tannehill becomes a viable streamer in Week 10 against a defense that has been top-10 in most fantasy points allowed to opposing quarterbacks.

Ronald Jones, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (39% owned)

It’s not always easy to know which Buccaneers running back will get the most usage and be the most productive, but the backfield gets a soft matchup against the Cardinals in Week 10. Arizona has allowed the 10th-most fantasy points to opposing running backs heading into this week.

Peyton Barber entered Week 9 with more carries than Ronald Jones, but Jones dominated touches in Week 9. The second-year back carried the ball 18 times for 67 yards and a touchdown and added two catches for 15 yards. Barber had just four total touches for 15 scrimmage yards.

Neither back has lit the world on fire, but Jones (4.14 YPC) has been more efficient than Barber (3.34) this season. Assuming that he also sees a larger volume of touches in Week 10, he’s a fringe RB 2 next week in what should be a high-scoring affair at home.

Kevin Hanson joins SI for the 2019 season. His fantasy rankings have placed him in the Top 20 in each of the past two seasons among all the industry experts tracked by FantasyPros.com, and he has been in the Top 25 in six of the past eight years.