Week 10 Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Waiver Targets: Tory Horton, Alec Pierce and More

Compared to an exciting week of running back waiver options, Week 10's wide receiver pickup choices are relatively uninspiring.

To be fair, this is nothing new. While running backs can skyrocket in value with a usage change, wide receiver breakouts are generally more gradual. At this time of the year, we want to be on the lookout for any young players seeing increased usage, as well as overlooked veterans who have been solid all season.

Here are those players for this week (plus one player to avoid despite an impressive Week 9). 

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Troy Franklin, Denver Broncos (51.4% Rostered)

After finishing as the overall WR1 with 23.9 points last week, Franklin came back to Earth with 6.3 points as Denver's offense struggled against the Texans on Sunday. However, the sophomore's usage remained excellent.

He posted a season-high 90% route participation rate, running more routes than Courtland Sutton for the second week in a row. Franklin also easily led the Broncos' offense in target share (24%) and air yards share (47%). Don't let the mediocre stat line against an elite Houston defense fool you — he should be added in all formats. 

Tory Horton, Seattle Seahawks (8.7% Rostered)

With Cooper Kupp sidelined with a hamstring injury, Horton stepped in as the Seahawks' WR2 behind Jaxon Smith-Njigba. And the fifth-round rookie immediately had a better fantasy outing than Kupp has had all season. He saw four targets (a 17% share) and caught all four for 48 yards and two touchdowns, good for 18.8 half-PPR points.

Of course, there are still multiple barriers between Horton and weekly startability. Even with Kupp out, his production this week was mostly inflated by those two TDs. Smith-Njigba's absurd 35% target share and 49% air yards share in a Seattle offense that has the lowest pass rate in the league make it hard for other receivers to see consistent volume. Kupp could also return as soon as Week 11, at which point Horton could quickly become irrelevant. 

However, it's better to be early than late when a rookie starts flashing talent. Horton was an intriguing prospect, and Kupp's performance this season hasn't been good enough to keep him off the field if he continues to grow. In deep leagues, Horton should be added now, just in case. 

Alec Pierce, Indianapolis Colts (16.7% Rostered)

Pending Monday Night Football, here are the players who saw more targets than Pierce's 13 this week: Drake London. That's it.

For the season, Pierce now has a respectable 19% target share and an excellent 46% air yards share in his seven active games in the Colts' offense (that includes a game where he left early with a concussion). Given that Indianapolis, even after a down week, still leads the league in EPA per play, that's a valuable role.

If you're looking for reasons to doubt, Pierce's 14.5 half-PPR points this week represent just his second double-digit outing of the season. He ranks outside the top-40 receivers in fantasy points per game. However, this is essentially entirely because he has yet to score a touchdown — he ranks 12th in the entire league in receiving yards per game.

Playing a high-volume downfield role in an elite offense, Pierce is due for positive regression on the TD front. When that hits, he should be a weekly flex play, at worst. 

Parker Washington, Jacksonville Jaguars (8.1% Rostered)

Travis Hunter was placed on IR this week after suffering a non-contact knee injury in practice, and it seems possible he will miss the rest of his rookie season. Meanwhile, Brian Thomas Jr. continues to struggle and suffered an ankle injury of his own on Sunday. Brenton Strange is still sidelined, and even Dyami Brown exited early with a concussion against the Raiders.

The Jaguars' offense needs someone to step up in the passing game, and Washington seems to be the guy.

Washington led Jacksonville in route participation (80%), targets (nine), receptions (eight), and receiving yards (90) on Sunday. His 81 air yards (a 27% share) didn't lead the team, but that's a fine number. In fact, although he has run roughly half of his routes from the slot this season, Washington has averaged a perfectly respectable 12.7-yard ADOT.

He has also shown an ability to command targets, as this was his third outing with at least nine looks (10 in Week 7 and 11 in Week 3). Especially if BTJ misses time, but even if he doesn't, Washington could be a flex option in this Jacksonville offense. 

Christian Watson, Green Bay Packers (20% Rostered)

Watson's final stat line on Sunday was nothing special. He caught just two of four targets for 58 scoreless yards and a mediocre 6.8 half-PPR points. However, with first-round rookie Matthew Golden exiting early due to a shoulder injury, he improved his route participation rate to 68%, second on the team behind Romeo Doubs. That's not bad at all for his second game back from injury.

As a downfield threat, Watson also doesn't necessarily need elite volume to provide fantasy success. He has racked up 184 air yards in his two games this season, good for a 36% share in Green Bay's offense. Especially if Golden looks likely to miss extended time, he is worth adding in deeper formats. 

Avoid: DeMario Douglas, New England Patriots (11.4% Rostered)

With 18 half-PPR points at just 11% rostered, Douglas deserves mention in a wide receiver waiver wire article. But I can't recommend adding him outside of absurdly deep leagues.

Yes, he tied for the team lead with six targets, catching four for 100 yards and a touchdown. But he did all that on just 13 routes for a miserable 33% route participation rate.

Even with Kayshon Boutte exiting early with a hamstring injury, Douglas was below his already useless 40% season average participation rate. Coming into this week, he had averaged 4.5 points on 2.8 targets and 15 routes per game. With that in mind, Douglas' production this week looks far more like a one-off fluke than the beginnings of a second-half breakout.

Let someone else chase the points with the part-time slot WR this week.