Week 10 Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Waiver Adds: Xavier Legette, Jalen Tolbert, Ray-Ray McCloud III

Welcome to the Week 10 fantasy football wide receiver waiver wire breakdown! This week, we yet again saw multiple top receivers in the league go down with injuries, continuing what has been an absolutely brutal year for the position. Let’s break down the top waiver adds to replace injured stars, both on their teams and around the league. 

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Week 10 Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Waiver Adds

Xavier Legette, Carolina Panthers (35.9% Rostered)

With Diontae Johnson traded to Baltimore, the Panthers are desperate for someone to emerge as their WR1. The obvious candidate is Legette, whom Carolina took in the first round of this year’s draft. On Sunday, Legette posted a decent, although not elite, 79% route participation rate, ranking second on the team behind veteran journeyman David Moore.

Legette also led the team with six targets, all six of which were first-read targets for a very nice 31.6% first-read target share. He had mixed results on those six targets, catching four for 33 yards and a touchdown but also having a deep shot ripped out of his hands for Bryce Young’s only interception of the day. Legette also eventually exited this game early with what appeared to be a shoulder or wrist injury, so that is something to keep an eye on. 

Assuming he is healthy going forward, Legette should get all the opportunities in the world to emerge as a legitimate weapon for this Carolina offense. There’s a real chance he doesn’t get there: His 62.7 PFF Receiving Grade and 1.25 yards per route run aren’t encouraging early metrics, and this Carolina offense as a whole is massively dysfunctional. But first-round rookies getting real opportunities are exactly the kind of players worth taking shots on at this stage of the season — make sure he isn’t on waivers in your league. 

Jalen Tolbert, Dallas Cowboys (20.1% Rostered)

CeeDee Lamb suffered a shoulder sprain in the Cowboys’ loss to the Falcons. Although the injury is reportedly not serious, there is a chance he will miss at least a game or two. If that happens, Tolbert will step in as the Cowboys’ WR1. That job is a lot less appealing given that Dak Prescott is also set to miss multiple weeks with a hamstring injury, but it’s still enough to make Tolbert worth grabbing in deeper formats. His advanced numbers haven’t been great, but we all know that volume is king in fantasy football.

Mason Tipton, New Orleans Saints (1.1% Rostered)

Speaking of volume, Mason Tipton should step into plenty as the Saints’ WR1 by process of elimination. Chris Olave suffered a brutal concussion on Sunday, and given his history of concussions, he is a candidate to miss more than one week in the protocol. Regardless, most players miss at least one week in the current concussion protocol, so Olave will probably miss New Orleans' Week 10 matchup. 

With Olave out on Sunday, Tipton easily led the Saints with a 79% route participation rate. We shouldn’t ignore that UDFA rookie failed to catch any of his three targets, but opportunity is opportunity. As long as Olave is out, he is a deep-league desperation flex option.

Ray-Ray McCloud III, Atlanta Falcons (16.6% Rostered)

Sticking in the NFC South, we have the man with the coolest name in the NFL. McCloud has actually been solidly involved in the Falcons offense all season, with an 84.2% route participation rate for the year. He has mostly played in three-WR sets and runs roughly 50% of his routes from the slot, but he benefits from the fact that the Falcons play 11 personnel at one of the highest rates in the league. 

However, that hasn’t turned into much production, as McCloud entered Week 9 with zero top-36 fantasy finishes on the season. The reason he is worth adding this week in particular is that Drake London is dealing with a hip pointer issue. The Falcons’ WR1 is reportedly day-to-day, but he is a candidate to miss at least a week or two. If London is sidelined, McCloud has a better chance to turn all those routes into targets. That makes him worth a look in deeper PPR formats.

Bonus Pick: Khadarel Hodge (0.1% Rostered) stepped right into London’s outside WR role after London exited on Sunday. He’s a dart-throw option if you’re desperate.

Quentin Johnston, Los Angeles Chargers (33.3% Rostered)

Quentin Johnston seemingly has a unique talent for attracting busted coverages. After scoring a few TDs on blown assignments early in the season, he slowed down for a few weeks and missed time with an ankle injury … then he returned in Week 9 and immediately scored a 66-yard TD on a mistake by the Browns’ secondary. 

Of course, production based on defensive mistakes isn’t likely to be sustainable. But the 2023 first-rounder did rank second on the Chargers with a 68% route participation rate in Week 9. LA has also massively switched their offensive philosophy of late, with a pass rate 5.8% above expected over the last three weeks; that number was -7.2%, the second-lowest in the league, over the first six weeks. That means more passing production to go around, which could mean more big weeks for QJ (he saw five total targets on Sunday). With the way Justin Herbert is playing right now, that’s enough to make him worth adding.    

Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, Tennessee Titans (0.9% Rostered)

I called out Westbrook-Ikhine in last week’s column, and he came through with five catches for 50 yards and a touchdown on Sunday. That may not sound like much, but those 50 yards nearly matched his total for the first eight weeks combined (58). He has also now scored a touchdown in each of his last four games.

The reason I like Westbrook-Ikhine isn’t those four touchdowns, however. It’s that he has posted a route participation rate of at least 91.7% in each of the last two weeks. To put into context how great that number is, only Ja’Marr Chase is running a route on a higher percentage of his team’s dropbacks so far this season. Obviously, NWI is not about to become Ja’Marr Chase, but the impact that simply never leaving the field can have on his fantasy value should not be underestimated. Even on an anemic offense like Tennessee’s, that level of usage may allow him to Westbrook-Ikhine fringe deep-league value … which is all you can ask for from a guy rostered in less than 1% of leagues. 

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