2025 NFL fantasy football waiver wire, Week 11: Add Joe Flacco, Tez Johnson, Alec Pierce

With one month remaining in the fantasy regular season, it's getting late. The waiver-wire moves you make in the next few days could be the difference between advancing to the playoffs or fading into make-believe oblivion. Coming off another painful Sunday on the injury front, there is some good news: There are just two byes this week -- for the Colts and Saints -- the fewest since Week 7.

With all of those things in mind, here are my suggestions for Week 11, starting with my top 15 players to prioritize on the waiver wire, regardless of position.

The only rule here: Players must be rostered in less than 60 percent of NFL.com leagues to be eligible for the list.

And now, here are my top five waiver priorities by position:

QUARTERBACKS

Takeaways:

• I know it's still hard for some of us to believe, especially given how the 40-year-old performed before being traded this season, but Joe Flacco was the fantasy QB1 in the four weeks leading up to the Bengals' Week 10 bye. He averaged 24.9 fantasy points per game in that span. In Week 11, he'll visit the Steelers, who allowed him to score nearly 26 fantasy points back in Week 7. Pittsburgh's defense seems to have figured some things out since then. Still, there's no QB I'd rather stream than Flacco. That is, until Joe Burrow returns.
• Aaron Rodgers had his worst game of the season on Sunday night, but he couldn't ask for a much better bounce-back opportunity than a meeting with the Bengals' disintegrating defense. The last we saw of this Cincinnati D, it allowed 38.7 fantasy points to Caleb Williams, which made him the QB1 of Week 9. Rodgers dropped 22.6 points on Cincy back in Week 7. It's hard for me to expect better from the Bengals D, even though the bye week gave it a chance to regroup.
• If you're in a deep league and need to pick up a QB this week, I'd keep an eye on C.J. Stroud's status. He missed Week 10 with a concussion, but I liked the track he was on prior to suffering the injury (21.7 fantasy points against the 49ers in his last full game) and Houston has a favorable matchup against the Titans. If Stroud misses another week, Davis Mills -- the fantasy QB1 of Week 10 as of this writing -- should be on your radar.

RUNNING BACKS

Takeaways:

• Raheem Morris has said Bijan Robinson is the best player in football, but it doesn't seem like he's the Falcons' preferred rushing option when they're trying to punch the ball into the end zone. Tyler Allgeier had five red-zone carries to Robinson's one in Week 10, and Allgeier has all three of Atlanta's rushing touchdowns since Week 7. He's TD-dependent, but if he's going to get the red-zone work, it makes him as attractive as any waiver-wire running back entering Week 11.
• Arizona's running back situation is one to watch in the days ahead, especially with the waiver wire doubling as an RB desert these days. The team has yet to open the practice window for Trey Benson, who remains on injured reserve, and Bam Knight left Sunday's game with an ankle injury. If both remain out this week, Emari Demercado becomes an interesting option, although Michael Carter could see the bulk of the rushing workload in that scenario. Demercado had two plays of 30-plus yards on Sunday, posting 104 yards from scrimmage on just seven touches (14.9 per). Benson will be the Cardinals RB to target on waivers if he's activated.

WIDE RECEIVERS

Takeaways:

• I'm not going to make a habit of having a player on bye leading my rankings. I felt like I needed to allow it this time, though. Since Week 7, Alec Pierce leads the league in receiving yards with 366. Also, he ranks first in air yards (leading the next-closest player by 101 yards) in that span, while tying for third in routes and tying for seventh in targets. That is top-tier production. We'd all like to see more touchdowns, of course, but he did score his first of the season in Sunday’s win over the Falcons. The Colts have some tough matchups awaiting them after the bye (at Chiefs, vs. Texans), but Pierce just scored a season-high 18.4 fantasy points against a team that entered Week 10 with the league's top-ranked pass defense.
• With Mike Evans and Chris Godwin sidelined, Tez Johnson should be on more rosters. He's averaging one TD catch per game in his last four contests, finishing as a top-20 fantasy receiver twice in that span. In fact, he leads the team with four red-zone targets since Week 6. Johnson played a season-high 83 percent of the snaps on Sunday, which is pretty remarkable for a player who fell to the seventh round of this year's draft.
• Obviously, Jerry Jeudy has been a major disappointment for fantasy managers this season, which is why he qualifies for this piece. Maybe the Week 9 bye gave him and Dillon Gabriel a chance to get on the same page? I mean, Jeudy did score a season-high 19.8 fantasy points on Sunday. He led the team with 12 targets after seeing only six throws go his way in the previous two games combined. Only four players have run more routes than Jeudy this season, and the Browns are going to have to throw the ball to remain competitive. We know Jeudy -- the fantasy WR12 last season -- has more to offer than what we've seen in 2025, and perhaps Week 10 was a sign of things to come.

TIGHT ENDS

Takeaways:

• Colston Loveland took a step back from his massive Week 9, but it's not like he disappeared. The Bears rookie posted 9.5 fantasy points in a win over the Giants, catching all four of his targets for 55 yards. He next matches up against a Vikings defense that hasn't been great against tight ends. We know from the first couple months of the season that Loveland's upside can be nothing more than a tease sometimes, but I still view that upside as too tantalizing to pass up if my roster needs help at his position.
• This might come as a surprise -- at least it did to me -- but Trey McBride is the only tight end with more targets than Dalton Schultz since Week 7 (35 to 32). While Schultz does not get all the bouquets, he is tied with McBride for the most catches by a tight end during that span (24). Unfortunately, Schultz has only one touchdown (compared to McBride's four) in that stretch, but he's still averaging a healthy 13.8 fantasy PPG in his last four contests. He deserves to be more widely rostered.
• Only four tight ends have more receiving yards than Cade Otton (319) since Week 5. He next pulls a tough matchup against a Bills defense that has kept tight ends bottled up, and he doesn't have a TD catch this season. Yet, Otton is averaging 12.2 FPPG in his last five contests, and Baker Mayfield seems likely to continue looking his way at a high rate (season-high 12 targets in Week 10).

DEFENSES

Takeaways:

• The Texans seem like one of the safest starts of the week, with a visit to play the punchless Titans next up. Houston gave up a season-high 29 points to the Jaguars on Sunday, but I don't think that was a sign of things to come. The Texans D's floor is five fantasy points this season, and six of the last seven teams to face Tennessee have finished among the top 10 fantasy defenses the week of their matchup.
• After a horrendous start to the season, the Ravens' defense has found its footing recently, posting 11.5 FPPG in the last two weeks. A juicy opportunity awaits Baltimore in Week 11, with a trip to Cleveland. The Browns have allowed a top-four fantasy defense in each of their last two games.
• The Falcons might be licking their wounds after four straight losses, but the defense is still doing its part, at least for fantasy managers. Atlanta's D has scored 10 fantasy points in each of the last two weeks and now draws a rematch with the Panthers. Carolina has averaged a measly 11.3 PPG in the last four weeks. Roll the dice if you can't find a better option.