Week 11 Waiver Wire Quarterback Priority List | Choosing Between Desmond Ridder, Jameis Winston, Zach Wilson, Tommy DeVito, Aidan O’Connell, Bryce Young and Kenny Pickett

The 10th week of the NFL season has wrapped up and fantasy playoffs are right around the corner. 

If you have been playing the waiver wire at the quarterback position, then this is the story for you. We will check out several quarterbacks with own percentages of 50% or less and determine which one might be the best starting option for week 11, and also who might hold some long-term value.

We will also address the running back, wide receiver and tight end positions in other stories, so be sure to check back for those.

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The Top Available Quarterbacks

Let’s kick things off by saying the quarterback position heading into week 11 is extremely weak using the 50% own number. There’s still some options out there though.

Atlanta Falcons’ Desmond Ridder, New Orleans Saints’ Jameis Winston, New York Jets’ Zach Wilson, New York Giants’ Tommy DeVito, Las Vegas Raiders’ Aidan O’Connell, Carolina Panthers’ Bryce Young and Pittsburgh Steelers’ Kenny Pickett will be part of the discussion this week.

Ridder lost his starting job a couple weeks back, but might get the role back for a bit after Taylor Heinicke was injured in week 10. 

Ridder played 22 offensive snaps last week. He completed 4-of-6 passes for 39 yards and rushed three times for 11 yards and a touchdown.

In his eight starts this season, Ridder has topped 200 passing yards five times, including a pair of 300+ yard contests. He only threw six touchdowns, while tossing six interceptions. Ridder was sacked 25 times and ran for three more scores on the ground.

Winston is in a similar situation. He came on for an injured Derek Carr in week 10. Winston completed 13-of-25 passes for 122 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.

It was the second game in which he’s got meaningful action this season. After Carr got hurt in week 3, Winston threw for 101 yards after completing 10-of-16 passes.

The injuries to Ridder and Carr definitely hurt Atlanta and New Orleans, but both teams are on byes in week 11, so the QBs will have some extra time to recover. Keep an eye out for any word on either quarterback's long-term status.

Wilson continues to start for the Jets. He’s been highly criticized all season, but he’s really been OK of late.

In week 10, Wilson threw an interception for the first time in four games. He didn’t throw a touchdown, which marked the fourth time that’s happened over the past five weeks. For the season, Wilson has five touchdowns to six picks.

He’s thrown for 200 or more yards in four contests, and fell a yard short one other time. Wilson has been sacked 33 times already. He’s rushed for 184 yards, but no scores, on 29 attempts.

DeVito made his first career start in week 10, as the Giants were crushed by the Dallas Cowboys.

Devito threw for 86 yards on 27 attempts, completing just 14 passes. He did throw two touchdowns, but was also picked off once. The youngster rushed for 41 yards on seven carries and was sacked five times.

With Daniel Jones and Tyrod Taylor out, it looks like DeVito will be the Giants’ starter for a while.

O’Connell made his third career start in week 10. He helped the Raiders to a win over the Jets.

O’Connell threw for 153 yards and a touchdown, while being picked off once. He completed 16-of-27 passes overall. The rookie was sacked three times in the contest. 

With what we’ve seen so far from O’Connell, if he can limit his turnovers, he looks like an average fantasy quarterback. He hasn't delivered a good or great fantasy showing so far.

Young continued to disappoint in week 10. He was held to 185 passing yards against the lowly Chicago Bears’ defense.

Young completed 21 of his 38 passes in the contest and didn’t throw a touchdown or interception. He was sacked three times and added 18 rushing yards on three carries.

One has to wonder how much longer the Panthers will continue to trot Young out there. He hasn't lived up to expectations so far, and more poor play could ruin the kid's confidence forever.

Pickett was pretty unimpressive in week 10, but he did lead the Steelers to a home win over the Green Bay Packers. 

Pickett completed 14 of his 23 passes for 126 yards. He wasn’t intercepted and he didn’t throw a touchdown. He added 16 rushing yards on four carries and was only sacked once.

It was the fourth time this season that Pickett failed to reach 150 passing yards and fourth time he hasn’t thrown a touchdown. 

The Priority List

With Ridder and Winston out of the picture for possible week 11 streaming options, that leaves an uninspiring group of Wilson, DeVito, O’Connell, Young and Pickett to choose from. The worse part is that only DeVito and O’Connell have favorable matchups for the week.

I’m not about to take DeVito - even though he’s got the best matchup of any quarterback in the league this week - after watching that Giants’ offense last week. Seeing as to how tough the other matchups are, I’m going to take O’Connell as my top streaming option for week 11.

As much as I don’t want to do it, I’m going to go ahead with DeVito as the second-best streaming option. I’ll follow that up with Pickett against a tough Cleveland Browns’ defense. I’d then take Wilson against the Buffalo Bills and finally Young against the Cowboys. With all these matchups, you are really just hoping for no negative plays.

As for the guys I like in the long run, the uncertain statuses of Heinicke and Carr make it tough to rank Ridder and Winston. If news drops that either quarterback will miss extended time, I’d vault those guys to the top of the list here. Otherwise, I’d probably stay away from both guys and hope they are still available at this time next week.

I think I would also take O’Connell as the best long-term option of the group. He’s not been anything special yet, but the Raiders are winning, and with the offensive weapons around him, O’Connell can at least be an average fantasy quarterback.

For similar reasons, I’d go with Pickett as my next choice. I think Wilson has the best odds to remain his team’s starter the rest of the season, although there’s rumors flying around that Aaron Rodgers could return late in the regular season. I'd still go Wilson after Pickett. I’d give the slight edge to Young over DeVito for my final spot.

All in all, it’s a rough week to find sparsely-owned quarterbacks on the waiver wire. If there’s anyone else available, like Packers’ Jordan Love, Minnesota Vikings’ Joshua Dobbs, Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Baker Mayfield or just about anyone else, make them the top priority over these guys.

If there isn’t another decent option out there, I’d suggest trading for a quarterback, because the guys in this discussion aren’t likely going to win you your week 11 matchup, or any going forward. If you are forced to play one of these quarterbacks, best of luck to you, and I hope the rest of your lineup is stacked.