Fantasy Football 2025 Week 11 Waiver Wire Pickup Advice
Is your fantasy team in need of new blood? Each week I’ll bring to you the best pickups to make ahead of the waiver deadline. All the players I list will be rostered in fewer than 50 percent of leagues, with the roster percentages coming from Yahoo.com.
Immediately Useful
Juwan Johnson, TE, Saints (47% Rostered): Johnson has scored in back-to-back games, and is the embodiment of why role/volume are so sought after in fantasy regardless of other factors. Johnson isn’t the most freakish of talents, but he’s big bodied, and while the Saints offense is bottom of the barrel, he’s a central part of it. A lot of teams need a TE, and he proves week after week that even if the production isn’t pretty, it’s often there.
Colston Loveland, TE, Bears (46% Rostered): Loveland is a riskier play than Johnson, but he proved two games ago that the ceiling is much higher. Loveland has started his rookie season slowly, but as the Bears begin to click under the tutelage of Ben Johnson, Loveland’s role seems to be growing. Against the Giants, he caught four passes for 55 yards, which isn’t special, but for the TE position it ain’t nothing. The Chicago offense is still a bit of a roller coaster, and there’s still a lot of mouths to feed for a QB (Caleb Williams) who isn’t consistently up to the task of feeding them. But if you need ceiling plays, Loveland fits the bill.
Alec Pierce, WR, Colts (42% Rostered): Pierce has been gaining steam of late as his roster rates are rising, and for good reason. Pierce entered the season with a reputation for downfield wizardry that was impressive, but very, very inconsistent. His role is still that for the most part, but it’s been more useful because the Colts have become an elite offense. He’s also seen his role expand more, and he’s been a very useful player more often than not. He put up 84 yards and a touchdown in Berlin, with that touchdown shockingly being his first of the season. I would stop short of calling him a safe option still, but he’s a very playable option and matchup proof too.
Cade Otton, TE, Buccaneers (42% Rostered): Otton’s role always expands when the Bucs’ receiving corps absorbs injuries, and it’s very banged up at the moment. Otton isn’t the game-breaker type of TE, but he’s a very reliable underneath option, and Baker Mayfield has been finding him. Otton’s seen five or more targets in each of the last five games, and he saw a season-high 12 against the Patriots Sunday. No, he’s no league winner, but he can certainly help raise a fantasy team’s floor.
Harold Fannin Jr., TE, Browns (42% Rostered): Fannin Jr.. continues the TE parade on waivers, as this position has become very deep with playable options, but shallow with difference makers. Like Loveland, Fannin Jr. has a higher ceiling than others that are available, but also bigger downside. While Fannin Jr. hasn’t popped like Loveland did two weeks ago, he has that kind of talent, but he’s also a key cog of a bad Browns offense like Juwan Johnson is. He’s a cross between those archetypes and that leaves us with…a relatively usable fantasy TE. Don’t go nuts to add him, because Dillon Gabriel can tank anyone’s value, but he’s seen five or more targets in four straight games, and that’s with David Njoku mostly there.
Theo Johnson, TE, Giants (42% Rostered): Add Johnson to the list of TEs who are critical pieces of low-powered passing games. Johnson had his best game on Sunday, catching seven balls for 75 yards and a score. Unfortunately, Jaxson Dart sustained a concussion, and if he’s out of action there probably aren’t any Giants you’re eager to use in a lineup. I’d still say you can throw Johnson in there even with Russell Wilson at QB, but he’d be well behind all the other TEs listed already in that scenario.
Parker Washington, WR, Jaguars (41% Rostered): Washington’s volume was still solid, even after the Jaguars went out and added Jakobi Meyers, a very similar player, to the mix. Washington is still manning the slot, and while his seven targets only turned into three catches for 33 yards, he did score a TD. The Jaguars’ passing game often looks disgusting, and when Brian Thomas Jr. returns from his ankle injury, it’s possible that Washington returns to the back seat he had previously, but right now, with this volume, he’s very productive. He can be played as a decent FLEX at the moment, or as a WR3 in deep-ish formats.
Tre Tucker, WR, Raiders (41% Rostered): Tucker remains a constant presence on the field for the Raiders, but after three consecutive games under 40 yards, he’s back on the relevancy bubble. With Brock Bowers back, Las Vegas’ passing game hierarchy has violently shifted away from Tucker, and overall the offense is a mess with QB Geno Smith corroding at a rapid pace. Tucker is now a guy you’re hoping for a chunk play or two from, and that’s not a comfy place to be with this QB.
Aaron Rodgers, QB, Steelers (38% Rostered): Rodgers looked every bit like a 41-year-old man Sunday night vs. the Chargers, and he’s an uncomfortable start for managers. But if you have a high risk tolerance, Rodgers’ next two games are against the Bengals and Bears, two incredibly friendly pass defenses. Rodgers threw for 249 yards and four touchdowns the last time he faced the Bengals, and that was in their house. I’m not saying you must start him, but if you’re down your starter and in the streaming waters you could do worse.
Emari Demercado, RB, Cardinals (37% Rostered): Demercado was in a mostly even split with Bam Knight, but he once again looked like the most explosive and best option for Arizona. Demercado logged only four carries, which is misleading because they were immediately boatraced, but he turned them into 64 yards. He also caught three passes for 40 yards, while Knight went down with an injury. We should expect Michael Carter to be involved if Knight is going to miss time, but Demercado is clearly the guy to have as long as Trey Benson is out. He and Pierce are the priority adds of the week.
Tyjae Spears, RB, Titans (36% Rostered): Spears had to be dropped by lots of managers thanks to the bye week crunch, and really, the Titans RB2 isn’t a must-roster. With that said, before the bye he was eating significantly into Tony Pollard’s touches and also looking like the more effective and efficient RB. Ultimately, the Titans RB, even with a full workload, is probably a FLEX option this year but any RB with guaranteed volume is worth having on a team. And in Spears’ case, he’s got enough juice to make long house calls.
Tez Johnson, WR, Buccaneers (32% Rostered): Johnson rescued his performance with two touchdowns against the Pats, and that’s now four touchdowns in as many games for the speedster. He’s a very exciting player because of his blinding speed, but at his size he’s flat out limited in how he can be used. While it’s working right now, this archetype is not one to bet on for continued, consistent production and his floor is a bagel. I can see turning to him out of utter desperation, but I’d probably prefer adding one of the many TEs on the waiver list because of how gimmicky his production has to be.
Jacoby Brissett, QB, Cardinals (20% Rostered): Brissett is a name I can’t believe I have in here, but facts are facts; he’s taken over this Cardinals job and been downright effective. Brissett has thrown two touchdowns in every one of his starts, and he’s been over 250 yards in each of his four games. He’s wise enough to hypertarget Marvin Harrison Jr. and Trey McBride, and he’s also a legit weapon on the goal line for rushing touchdowns. Of course, the bottom could fall out on him but so far he’s been better than a lot of QBs who are much more widely rostered.
Speculative/Deep Cuts
Geno Smith, QB, Raiders (15% Rostered): Smith has been awful all season long, and left the Denver game with a quad injury. This is as high-risk as it gets, but he can probably be used this week, and this week only, with a home date vs. the Cowboys’ porous defense. Brock Bowers is back, and he should be able to knife through this abysmal Cowboys’ defense. Maybe Quinnen Williams’ arrival as a game wrecker changes things, but this might be the very rare game where Smith makes sense.
Pat Freiermuth, TE, Steelers (11% Rostered): Freiermuth’s volume stinks right now, but so does everyone’s in this Pittsburgh offense. He’s up against the Bengals this week, and he’s probably the second-best pass catcher on the team behind D.K. Metcalf. The risk is high, but he went off for 111 yards and two touchdowns against this same defense, so there’s a decent upside to the risk.
Chris Rodriguez Jr., RB, Commanders (6% Rostered): Rodriguez was playing ahead of Jacory Croskey-Merritt on Sunday before an injury took him out of the game. He’s looked better than Croskey-Merritt of late, and it appeared the Commanders’ coaches finally noticed. Due to the injury, he probably cannot be trusted this week in lineups, but he’s worth stashing due to his goal line capability and the pared-down offense Washington will need to run with Marcus Mariota at QB. They’ll be running, and it seems clear that Rodriguez, even if he isn’t the lead back, is going to be more involved than he’s been until now.
IR Stashes
Jayden Reed, WR, Packers (34% Rostered)
Handcuffs
Tyler Allgeier, RB, Falcons (33% Rostered)
Kenneth Gainwell, RB, Steelers (33% Rostered)
Bhayshul Tuten, RB, Jaguars (32% Rostered)
Tank Bigsby, RB, Eagles (26% Rostered)
Devin Singletary, RB, Giants (25% Rostered)
Brian Robinson Jr., RB, 49ers (24% Rostered)
Blake Corum, RB, Rams (11% Rostered)
Ray Davis, RB, Bills (11% Rostered)
Isaiah Davis, RB, Jets (10% Rostered)
Brashard Smith, RB, Chiefs (9% Rostered)
Emanuel Wilson, RB, Packers (8% Rostered)
Justice Hill, RB, Ravens (8% Rostered)
Jaydon Blue, RB, Cowboys (6% Rostered)
Devin Neal, RB, Saints (2% Rostered)