-
Matt Bowen
At various points during the fantasy football season, injuries, bye weeks and breaking news can cause you to need reinforcements for your fantasy lineup. Every Friday throughout the 2025 NFL season, Matt Bowen will offer some late-week pickup options to help fill those holes, with an emphasis on deeper leagues.
Because of that, this column will focus mostly on players rostered in fewer than 50% of ESPN leagues, with occasional exceptions.
With Patrick Mahomes, Dak Prescott and Joe Flacco on byes this week, plus Jayden Daniels now down because of an elbow injury, we’ll start at the quarterback position. And I have three targets who can be played this week in deeper formats. There’s a wide receiver group to look at in here, plus multiple tight ends, including one coming off a career day in Week 9. And we’ll end with some running back fliers and a defense that has a very positive matchup Sunday.
Quarterbacks
1:23
What Jacoby Brissett starting means for other Cardinals in fantasy
Daniel Dopp, Field Yates, and Mike Clay explain why Jacoby Brissett at quarterback gives them more optimism about the Cardinals’ passing game.
J.J. McCarthy, Minnesota Vikings (42.6% rostered; vs. Ravens)
McCarthy scored 18.92 points in last Sunday’s win over the Lions, his first game since Week 2 (ankle). He completed only 14 passes for 143 yards, but he tossed two touchdown passes and was more than willing to run the ball. McCarthy rushed for a score, and the Vikings will continue to use designed carries for him in the game plan. For deeper formats only, McCarthy brings some dual-threat upside to the lineup, and he will be forced to move against a Ravens defense that owns a blitz rate of 29.6% (11th highest in the league).
Jacoby Brissett, Arizona Cardinals (15.5% rostered; at Seahawks)
Brissett had 24.84 points in Week 9 against the low-level Cowboys’ defense. I get it. But he has scored 19 or more points in each of his past three games, with multiple touchdown throws in each. In addition, Brissett has at least five carries in each of past two. Sure, it’s a tougher matchup this week on the road against Seattle, but we can all see this Cardinals passing game is operating at a higher rate with Brissett running the show. He’s worth a shot in deeper formats.
Sam Darnold, Seattle Seahawks (50.4% rostered; vs. Cardinals)
Darnold is just north of the 50% roster cutoff, but we’re going to keep writing about him in this space until that number really jumps. In the Week 9 win over Washington, Darnold had 27.2 fantasy points. He was surgical with the ball, completing 87.5% of his passes and throwing for four touchdowns. Darnold has 20 or more points — and multiple touchdown throws — in three of his past four games, and I’ve yet to see a defense lock down his No. 1 target, Jaxon Smith-Njigba. The addition of wide receiver Rashid Shaheed at the trade deadline provides Darnold with a bump here on third-level throws.
Tight ends
Colston Loveland, Chicago Bears (40.2% rostered; vs. Giants)
Loveland’s 29.8 points in the Week 9 win over Cincinnati were a career high, but I’m more interested in his route deployment — because this is what we anticipated when he was drafted by the Bears. Loveland ran 11 routes from tight alignments, 10 out wide, seven in the slot and one from a backfield set. With that type of versatility, the Bears can create matchups with their rookie tight end, and that gives fantasy managers more upside in the lineup. Let’s roll with Loveland as a deeper-league start Sunday.
Luke Musgrave, Green Bay Packers (12.2% rostered; vs. Eagles)
With Tucker Kraft (knee) now down for the season, Musgrave will take over the top spot at tight end in Green Bay. After Kraft exited the game last week against Carolina, Musgrave caught all three of his targets for 34 yards. Though he doesn’t bring the same rugged, catch-and-run ability as Kraft, he’s a capable route runner in a system that creates production at tight end. He’s a deeper-league fit against the Eagles on Monday night.
Wide receivers
Olamide Zaccheaus, Bears (4.9% rostered; vs. Giants)
The motion/movement player in coach Ben Johnson’s offense, Zaccheaus had 17.8 points in the Week 9 win over the Bengals, scoring a touchdown on a fly sweep in the red zone. Zaccheaus has at least seven targets and 10 points in two straight games, and his deployment in this offense does create catch-and-run opportunities. He’s a deeper-league WR3 for Sunday’s home game against the Giants.
Darius Slayton, New York Giants (26.1% rostered; at Bears)
Take the matchup here against a Bears secondary that is down on numbers because of injuries. Plus, this unit looked a step slow on tape last week against the Bengals. Slayton had his best numbers of the season in the Week 9 loss to the 49ers, catching five of seven targets for 62 yards (11.2 points), and we know he can stretch the field from boundary alignments. With limited options for quarterback Jaxson Dart at wide receiver, Slayton works this week in deeper leagues.
Alec Pierce, Indianapolis Colts (30.1% rostered; vs. Falcons)
Pierce has scored 14 or more points in two of his past four games. Yes, game flow played a role in both of those matchups, but you are betting on Pierce’s explosive-catch upside this week against Atlanta. He is averaging more than 20 yards per catch as the vertical stretch target for quarterback Daniel Jones. Pierce, who has four games with double-digit production this season, is a boom/bust WR3 in Week 10.
Running backs
1:08
Are both Giants RBs unstartable in fantasy?
Filed Yates and Daniel Dopp discuss Tyrone Tracy Jr. and Devin Singletary’s disappointing fantasy week.
Devin Singletary, Giants (28.4% rostered; at Bears)
We expected Tyrone Tracy Jr. to lead the Giants’ backfield after a season-ending injury to Cam Skattebo, but it was Singletary who had more usage in a Week 9 loss to the 49ers. Singletary out-touched Tracy 10-8, and he was more efficient as a runner, producing 43 yards on eight carries. In any backfield rotation, there is a level of uncertainty, but Singletary does have deeper-league value this week against the Bears.
Isaiah Davis, New York Jets (10.7% rostered; vs. Browns)
This is a brutal matchup against the Browns, the league’s second-ranked defense against opposing running backs, but Davis does provide some upside as a change-of-pace runner with pass-catching ability. He caught five passes in his last game against Cincinnati, and he has at least two receptions in four of his past five. He is worth a dart throw if you absolutely need a back in a deeper league.
D/ST
Carolina Panthers (24.7% rostered; vs. Saints)
Let’s play the matchup with the Panthers’ D against Saints rookie quarterback Tyler Shough, who will be making his second career start. The Panthers have scored seven or more points, with at least two takeaways, in two of their past three games. And this week they get a limited Saints offense, one that just traded Shaheed. I’m good with starting the Panthers this week.