Week 11 Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Waiver Adds: Xavier Legette, Ricky Pearsall, John Metchie III

Welcome to the Week 11 fantasy football wide receiver waiver wire breakdown! We've got multiple intriguing options this week, including a couple of first-round rookies who may be set to break out in the second half of the season. Let's get right into it! 

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Week 11 Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Waiver Adds

Xavier Legette, Carolina Panthers (46.1% Rostered)

His final line of four targets, three catches, and 40 yards doesn’t look like much, but this was an excellent week for Xavier Legette’s fantasy outlook. The first-round rookie posted an incredible 96% route participation rate on Sunday, a huge step up from his season average of 63% and last week’s mark of 79%. 

Meanwhile, Bryce Young looking vaguely competent for the second straight outing. Put those two things together, and we have a recipe for fantasy success. As long as the Panthers’ offense isn’t completely ineffective, running a route on nearly every single play will be enough for Legette to have fantasy value. He’s a priority add in all formats. 

Ricky Pearsall, San Francisco 49ers (38.9% Rostered)

Another first-round rookie, Pearsall’s situation couldn’t be more different from Legette’s. He’s on an elite offense in San Francisco and coming off a productive week in which he finished with four catches for 73 yards and a touchdown. The issue with Pearsall, and where he again differs from Legette, is that he was clearly the 49ers’ third receiver, posting just a 71% route participation rate and playing primarily in three-receiver sets. 

With Christian McCaffrey back and George Kittle doing his thing, playing as the WR3 makes Pearsall the fifth option on the 49ers’ offense. Kyle Shanahan is a wizard, but even he can’t provide enough fantasy goodness for five players to be relevant each week. Chances are, Pearsall will need his role to expand to be a weekly play, but he’s still worth adding in the meantime.   

Noah Brown, Washington Commanders (9.0% Rostered)

Over the last few weeks, Brown has clearly established himself as the Commanders’ WR2. In fact, if we just go by the numbers, you could make an argument that he is Washington’s WR1. Since Week 8, he has led the team in both route participation rate (78%) and target share (19%).

Obviously, Brown hasn’t actually passed up Terry McLaurin, who is just behind at a 75% participation rate and an 18% target share. But this comparison illustrates how solid Brown’s role has been over the last three weeks. On Sunday, he tied McLaurin for the team lead with six targets, although he caught just three for 33 yards. As long as this usage continues, Brown is worth rostering and can be considered a borderline weekly flex play. 

Jalen Coker, Carolina Panthers (8.1% Rostered)

A first-round rookie who is his team’s WR1, Legette is probably rostered in most leagues. However, his teammate, a UDFA rookie who was hardly involved in Week 9, is much more widely available. And, while he didn’t quite reach the same heights as Legette, Coker also posted an excellent participation rate in Week 10, running a route on 89% of Bryce Young’s dropbacks.

And Coker does have some advantages over Legette, including a team-high 1.89 yards per route run for the season. He also easily led the Panthers in targets on Sunday, racking up eight targets for a 32% target share and a 36% first-read target share. Now, Coker only caught three of those targets for 41 yards, and the impending return of Adam Thielen could cut into his slot-heavy role. But anyone flashing the ability to earn a 30% target share on this open a depth chart is worth adding. 

Marquez Valdes-Scantling, New Orleans Saints (1.0% Rostered)

The Saints’ WR room has been absolutely massacred this season. Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed, and Bub Means are all on IR, while Cedrick Wilson is also out with a shoulder injury. UDFA rookie Mason Tipton is the only remaining healthy WR from New Orleans’ Week 1 roster, so the Saints have turned to the waiver wire for help in the form of Marquez Valdes-Scantling.

MVS was cut by the Bills after they traded for Amari Cooper, but the former Packer/Chief quickly found himself a new home on the Saints’ practice squad. He has been active for New Orleans in each of the last two weeks and made his mark this week by catching all three of his targets for 109 yards and two touchdowns. He also led the team in routes, although his 59% route participation rate is a shockingly low mark for a team's "WR1." Consistency has never been Valdes-Scantlings’ calling card, but his speed pairs well with Derek Car’s deep-ball ability. Given that he has apparently claimed the Saints’ WR1 job, he is worth considering in deeper formats as a boom-or-bust flex play. 

John Metchie III, Houston Texans (0.8% Rostered)

I have to mention Metchie, who ranks as the WR8 (pending MNF) in Half-PPR points for Week 10 with his 15.9-point outing on Sunday night. Metchie was a second-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft but missed his entire rookie season while battling cancer. He totaled just 16 catches in 2023 and has spent most of 2024 buried on the Texans’ depth chart.

However, Metchie has taken advantage of injuries to Nico Collins and Stefon Diggs, posting a 63% route participation rate in each of the last two weeks. This week, he turned those routes into points, catching five of six targets for a team-high 74 yards and his first career touchdown. Collins will likely be back for the Texans’ Week 11 contest, but he may cut into Xavier Hutchinson’s X-receiver role more than Metchie’s (Metchie ran 50% of his routes from the slot on Sunday). Chances are, this is the biggest week of the season for Metchie. But he’s worth considering in super deep leagues in case his talent is finally starting to show through. 

Kayshon Boutte, New England Patriots (0.7% Rostered)

However, I would rather roster Boutte, who is also available in over 99% of leagues. A sixth-round pick in the 2023 draft, Boutte has led the Patriots receiving room in routes in each of the last three weeks. This week, he hit a new season high with a 90% participation rate, and he also led the team with six targets.

Of course, Boutte only finished with a handful of fantasy points, as he caught four of those targets for 47 yards. He has only scored more than 7.0 Half-PPR points once all season, with 13.4 back in Week 6. But he appears to have cemented himself as the top receiver (or at least most frequent route-runner) on a Patriots offense that is much improved with Drake Maye under center. That makes him worth considering in deeper formats. 

Ted Chmyz is a fantasy football contributor for FantasySP. Find him on Twitter @Tchmyz for more fantasy content or to ask questions.