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Week 11 Waiver Wire: Ricky Pearsall, Audric Estime, MVS Highlight Pickups to Know

Zach Buckley

Fantasy football managers might be able to live in the moment, but they can seldom savor it.

The NFL schedule doesn't allow for such behavior. Not until a league champion is crowned, at least.

So, even though the Week 10 slate isn't fully finished, we're shifting our focus (as should you) over to Week 11 with an eye on potential waiver-wire pickups who are rostered in fewer than 50 percent of Yahoo leagues, per FantasyPros.

Audric Estime, RB, Denver Broncos (2 Percent Rostered)

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If you're looking for help at the running back position and see a potential starter up for grabs this late into the season, you almost have to take it, right?

Well, that's the crux of the selling point with Audric Estime.

Denver's crowded backfield had limited the rookie fifth-rounder's chances to this point, but his usage surge in Week 10 suggests that could be changing in a major way. He wound up handling 14 of the team's 23 rushing attempts, and when you consider six of the other carries went to a wide receiver (Marvin Mims Jr.) and a quarterback (Bo Nix), then it becomes apparent that this backfield belonged to Estime on Sunday.

Is that guaranteed to stay this way moving forward? No. The Broncos have other options—Jaleel McLaughlin, Javonte Williams—and it's not like Estime dazzled with his opportunities (53 rushing yards, 3.8 per carry). Still, the mere hope that Estime could be handled like a featured back makes him a worthwhile consideration for anyone needing a backfield boost.

Ricky Pearsall, WR, San Francisco 49ers (37 Percent Rostered)

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Brandon Aiyuk's season-ending knee injury created a void in San Francisco's receiving room, and rookie first-rounder Ricky Pearsall just took a huge step toward filling it.

The 24-year-old saw a career-high six targets Sunday and turned them into four receptions for 73 yards and his first NFL touchdown.

Pearsall's six targets tied for second-most among San Francisco wide receivers—Christian McCaffrey saw seven in his season debut—and he's now up to 15 targets through three games. That level of volume is enough for him to find fantasy relevance in this passing attack.

The 49ers might have other mouths to feed, but there's plenty of production to go around. Brock Purdy, who threw for a season-high 353 yards, has only failed to eclipse 250 passing yards in two of his last eight outings.

Marquez Valdes-Scantling, WR, New Orleans Saints (0 Percent Rostered)

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Marquez Valdes-Scantling didn't wait long to make his presence felt in New Orleans. In only his second game with the Saints, the veteran receiver, who was released by the Buffalo Bills earlier this season, gave some juice to this injury-riddled position group and added a vertical threat to an offense in dire need of one.

The Saints went into their tilt without their top four receivers. Chris Olave is on injured reserve with a concussion. Rashid Shaheed is out for the season with a knee injury. Bub Means and Cedrick Wilson missed the contest with ankle and shoulder injuries, respectively. Valdes-Scantling almost singlehandedly made all of that a moot point.

He caught all three of the passes sent his direction. One was a 40-yard score. Another spanned 67 yards. The final was a two-yard touchdown catch.

"I'm just excited to be in a situation where I can excel," Valdes-Scantling told reporters afterward. "That's all you want in the NFL, man. It's all about the situation you're in and seizing the moment."

It's tough to say how long this moment might last for Valdes-Scantling, but clearly he's hearing (and so far answering) opportunity's knock. If you can stomach the boom-or-bust volatility in his profile—three targets is a tiny number, but it did pace New Orleans' receiver group—he might have a couple more big stat lines to offer.

   

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