The tenth week of the NFL season is officially behind us. The long-awaited Sunday has come and gone in a blink of an eye. After countless hours of only moving from the couch to use the bathroom, we look ahead to week 11. With everyone scrambling to the waiver wire, this article will look beyond that.
This is the tenth installment of the weekly series, One Week Ahead. We will use our fantasy football crystal ball to look ahead to future weeks and try to predict players who will emerge with fantasy relevance. We will try to get a leg up on our opponents by picking up potential fantasy assets before they become a major waiver wire pick-up.
Ray-Ray McCloud – WR Pittsburgh Steelers
With JuJu Smith-Schuster out for the year and Chase Claypool battling a toe injury, Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver, Ray-Ray McCloud stepped up in week ten. Playing on 70% of the offensive snaps, McCloud was targeted 12 times. This one was fewer than star receiver, Diontae Johnson.
McCloud turned his 12 targets into nine catches for 63 yards. In points per reception leagues, this is a big deal. If you have the room on your bench and you are in a deep league, I would consider picking him up. Seeing the field more than any other game this season, McCloud was able to put up respectable numbers.
Furthermore, he ran 43 routes on his 60 snaps played. This is significant because this was only six fewer than the team leader, James Washington. It is unclear just how long Claypool will be out for, but with so much uncertainty, and injuries seeming to occur often this year, McCloud is a nice deep stash.
Marcus Johnson – WR Tennessee Titans
In a week without Julio Jones, wide receiver Marcus Johnson saw a team-high six targets. He turned this into five catches for 100 yards. Not too shabby for a player that played on just 63% of the offensive snaps. It is this performance that put Johnson on my radar.
Johnson only ran a route on 18 snaps, however, this was good for second-most on the team. He was also only one of two wide receivers on the Titans to play at least 35 snaps. The next closest receiver played on just 22 snaps. This is an encouraging sign that there is more playing time to come for Johnson.
The Titans recently placed Julio Jones on the injured reserve, and with their running game already taking a hit without Derrick Henry, there is room for other players to step up and make plays. It is these two reasons why I could see Johnson forcing his way onto the field and into a bigger role.
His 100-yard performance should give the coaching staff confidence that he can go out there and perform. With Jones set to miss at least the next two games, Johnson is someone I’m looking to pick up and potentially play if he continues to put up numbers.
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