Week 11 RB Waiver Pickups & Adds: Kalen Ballage Taking Over In Los Angeles?

Week 11 doesn’t set up for a big bye week issue at the running back position. The Bills, Bears, Giants, and the 49ers are on bye, which gives a chance for David Montgomery and Raheem Mostert to get back healthy and return. Mostert has been terrific this season but has struggled to stay healthy. In week 10 we didn’t have any major injuries to the running back position, but Christian McCaffrey sounds doubtful for Week 11 as well. With six weeks left in the year, it is going to take a major injury still to create any sort of league winner but for the most part, we have been scrapping together pieces to just and try and get by. There are names like Duke Johnson, Giovani Bernard, and Mike Davis who will be fill-in options as long as the starter on those teams isn’t back yet. David Johnson just hit the IR so Duke will have two more weeks at least of being a featured back. McCaffrey is likely out this week so one more week of Davis.

Week 10 RB Waiver Wire Pickups

Messi vs. Ronaldo (International)

GamesGoalsAssistsTrophiesWorld Cup Golden Balls
Messi13870421 (2008 Olympic Gold Medal)1 (2014)
Ronaldo16499302 (2016 Euros & 2019 UEFA Nations League)0

Kalen Ballage – Los Angeles Chargers

Kalen Ballage has played as the lead back over the past two weeks. With Justin Jackson on IR and Austin Ekeler still not ready to come back, Ballage has two more weeks of being a potential lead back and they are in promising spots as well. Ballage will face the Jets and the Broncos over the next two weeks. The Jets have allowed the 7th most fantasy points per game to opposing running backs this season. The Broncos rank 15th over the course of the season but have allowed the 11th most over the last five weeks. With Ekeler potentially returning after those games and Jackson as well, Ballage will likely fall back into the player pool. Snaps have not been an issue, even with Joshua Kelley being the main option at times this season. Ballage had 73% of the snaps against Miami. This looks to be the rotation moving forward, which is a major plus as we can hardly find full workloads off the waiver wire at this point of the season. Given this is a short-term rental and likely not going to be one in the playoff rounds, you can take it easy on the FAAB money but in traditional waiver wire leagues, he is worth a grab as a top option.

Wayne Gallman – New York Giants

Over the past three weeks, Wayne Gallman ranks 6th in points among running backs. Devonta Freeman’s injury has freed up some touches and snaps for Gallman to be a consistent back. In that three-week span, Gallman has 36 rushing attempts and seven catches. While the competition is soft this season, it still shows where Gallman has been and there is no reason for him to be this low-owned. The Giants are on bye this week so there isn’t going to be a mad rush to grab him but we also might see many forget and him be this low owned again moving forward. After the bye, the Giants get the Bengals, Seahawks, and Cardinals. These are three defenses where Gallman should continue to do some damage. Weirdly the Giants have put together strong fantasy games with their running backs over the last 6-7 games, which wasn’t the case early in the season. Don’t shy away from this group.

Miami DolphinsSalvon Ahmed – Miami Dolphins

Salvon Ahmed played 76% of the snaps on Sunday against the Chargers. With Myles Gaskin and Matt Breida banged up, the Dolphins made some changes with a couple of healthy scratches. This gave way to Ahmed drawing a start and truly making the most of it. He had 21 rushing attempts going for 85 yards and a touchdown. This is another quick fill-in option until Gaskin returns. Mimi has a really good schedule over the next three weeks, with the Broncos, Jets, and Bengals. As mentioned above with Ballage, the Jets and Broncos have both struggled against the run and are giving plenty of fantasy points to running backs. The Bengals are also a below-average run defense and the Dolphins should be favorites in all three games and getting some positive game scripts.

Nyheim Hines – Indianapolis Colts

The Colts running back situation has been frustrating and I don’t expect that to fully change, but it is pretty clear now that Jonathan Taylor is taking a step back in touches and snaps. It was Nyheim Hines who had 56% of the snaps this week and had 12 rushing attempts and five catches for over 100 yards and a score. Hines has broken out a few times this season and has shown the most upside. His schedule moving forward is very attractive as he faces the Packers, Titans, Texans, Raiders, and Texans over the next five weeks. These are all bottom half run defenses, most of them in the bottom ten. The Packers, even if the Colts fall behind, Hines is the best passing-game back they have on the roster and gives you that upside as well. Hines makes the most sense to grab right now at least to have on the bench moving forward.

Damien Harris – New England Patriots

It was another 100-yard game for Damien Harris and his 22 touches were very solid but once again missed the end zone. Harris has not had monster snaps but he still utilized when he is out there and that’s what matters. He has zero PPR value but not many backs on the waiver wire are getting 15+ touches and crushing yards while doing it. The Patriots will have the Cardinals, Texans, and Chargers over the next three weeks. The Texans are allowing the third-most fantasy points per game to opposing running backs, the Chargers rank 13th, and the Cardinals are 21st. Not the worst schedule for Harris over the next few weeks. I don’t mind spending a few extra FAAB dollars on him because this role should be his moving forward. Over the last three weeks, Harris is RB21 in PPR formats but RB10 in standard formats for those who are not in the PPR world.

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Jason Guilbault is the Brand Content Manager for Lineups.com, powered by Catena Media. He has worked 10+ in the sports betting & iGaming space as a writer and content manager. Jason has also written for DailyFantasyCafe, NBAMockDraft, & FantasyPros. He aims to bring the best sports data & insight to the industry for both novice & advanced users.

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