Week-Ahead Stash Candidates for Week 10

This weekly series will attempt to help you in two ways. First, we are going to be examining players who may not be the hot waiver pickups of the week. This will save you Free Agent Acquisition Budget (FAAB) or waiver priority for when you need it most. Second, we will be diving into stats and trends that point to players improving their fantasy scores next week, not this current week.

The goal is to sift through the rough to find those diamonds who emerge every single year, except you won't be sweating over whether or not you claimed them on waivers, because you will already own them. At least that's the goal.

Here's the sixth transparency report of the season. Before Week 8, I told you to grab these guys for a Week 9 start. Here's how they did:

Joe Flacco vastly under-performed many fantasy analysts projections this week, me included. Outside of him, there were no duds. Elijah McGuire seems to have jumped right into the Bilal Powell role after coming off the injured reserve list. Also, Josh Doctson caught a touchdown in Week 9, but more importantly, he could be in for tons of work with Jamison Crowder still banged up and Paul Richardson heading to injured reserve this week. Danny Amendola did alright, but not great. And finally, the Dallas D/ST started strong against the Tennessee Titans, faded later in the game, but turned it into a decent score.

Now, on to next week! Here are some guys who may not be startable for Week 10 but could be valuable Week 11 and beyond. So, if you have space, add them now or hope that they fall through waivers after this week.

Dak Prescott, QB, Cowboys

Yahoo ownership: 36%

Dak Prescott started off the season rather slowly after finishing 2017 as the QB12 in fantasy. In his first three games, he threw for a combined 498 yards (166 yards per game), 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. Many who drafted him ended up dropping him in one-quarterbacks leagues.

Well, in the last five games, he has shown improvement -- he's now averaging 232.4 yards per game and has thrown 8 touchdowns with only 3 interceptions in this time. Additionally, Dak posted a rushing touchdown -- his first ones of the season -- in two of the last three weeks. Not only that, but he now has a new weapon in the arsenal. Amari Cooper played his first game in Dallas Cowboys garb on Monday night against the Tennessee Titans, catching 5 of his 8 targets for 58 yards and a score. Amari being injected into this offense could be just the life needed for Dak to really get rolling.

In Week 10, Dak will be playing against the Philadelphia Eagles. And while the Eagles haven't been amazing against the quarterback position this season, they have been decent enough to where we don't need to be starting Dak against them. However, in Week 11, Dak gets a much nicer match-up against the Atlanta Falcons, who we and everyone else has been targeting for spot starts.

It was reported that Deion Jones returned to practice on Wednesday this week, so that would be a boost to the Falcons' defense. With that being said, this is a secondary that's given up the third-most fantasy points to quarterbacks so far this season. Dak also has Washington (21st in points to quarterbacks) and New Orleans (32nd in points to quarterbacks) after the Falcons.

Willie Snead, WR, Ravens

Yahoo ownership: 31%

I discussed Willie Snead in the Week 5 edition of this article, but he's still low-owned enough to worth bringing up again. In the past three weeks, Snead is leading his team in targets (26) and receptions (15). And while he might not garner tons of air yards working from the slot, he's still seen a modest 185 air yards in that time frame -- just 2 yards behind Keenan Allen. Joe Flacco has slowed down his passing attempt madness slightly. He's now averaging 38.3 attempts per game, which is still good for 12th-most in the league. With Snead being the fifth-most targeted slot wide receiver in the league, he should see decent every-week production even if his upside isn't huge.

The Baltimore Ravens are on bye in Week 10, so it's extremely likely that you can scoop him up for free this week. In Week 11, the Ravens take on the Cincinnati Bengals at home. This will be a very important divisional game for the Ravens, who need wins down the stretch as the Ravens, Bengals and Steelers are all within one win of each other.

Snead will be playing against rookie cornerback Darius Phillips, who has seen increased playing time in the slot with Darqueze Dennard missing time with a shoulder injury. Phillips is currently the worst graded corner in coverage for the Bengals at 55.3, per Pro Football Focus. And even if Dennard does suit up in Week 11, he's the second-worst graded corner in coverage on the Bengals this season, at 59.8. Flacco and Snead should exploit this matchup.

Demarcus Robinson, WR, Chiefs

Yahoo ownership: 0%

This one is dicey. I won't be offended if you don't pick up Demarcus Robinson. That being said, if Sammy Watkins's foot injury is anything like the issues he's faced previously, then there could be trouble. The main players who stand to benefit would certainly be Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce and probably Kareem Hunt. However, in deeper leagues, Robinson is a sneaky option both this week and next week.

If Watkins were to miss any significant amount of time, Robinson -- rather than Chris Conley -- may be the next man up. Conley ruptured his Achilles last season in Week 5. Athletes returning from an Achilles rupture within a year's time are more likely to re-injure themselves, play less time in games, and perform at a lower level than pre-injury. Conley has been decent for the Kansas City Chiefs so far this season, but Robinson -- in his limited usage -- has played 67% of his snaps lined up wide outside, much like Watkins' 64%, whereas Conley has been relegated to playing 58% of his snaps from the slot.

The high-powered Chiefs will draw the equally explosive Los Angeles Rams in Week 11 in a game that is sure to be entertaining. The Rams' defense has been decent, but they are susceptible to the pass so far this year. They are currently allowing the 10th-most fantasy points to wide receivers through nine weeks. The Rams don't use a shadow corner, so Robinson will be drawing some snaps against both Marcus Peters and Troy Hill. Out of 120 cornerbacks who have played more than 50% of their team's defensive snaps, Peters and Hill are 116th and 107th, respectively, in quarterback rating allowed. In a game destined to have a big over/under, you will want a piece of the action, and Robinson could be a free way to do that, if Watkins can't go.

Ricky Seals-Jones, TE, Cardinals

Yahoo ownership: 16%

We have also mentioned Ricky Seals-Jones before in the Week 6 edition of this article. Last time didn't work out so well, but I am going to try again. We shouldn't see Seals-Jones as an every-week starter, but he's getting enough targets to use in good matchups.

So far this season, he has averaged 4.9 targets per game, good for 15th in the league among tight ends. Last time I offered Seals-Jones as an option, it was Josh Rosen's first career NFL start. Rosen has now had five games to get acclimated to the NFL. In Rosen's last three games, he's averaging 228.7 passing yards per game -- a good sign for the kid. Not to mention, the Arizona Cardinals fired offensive coordinator Mike McCoy and replaced him with Byron Leftwich, who led the Cardinals to their highest offensive yards mark of the season in his first game calling plays.

Seals-Jones saw only four targets against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 8, but the Cardinals get two plus matchups in a row, including one this week in which they will probably be forced to throw a lot. In Week 10, the Cardinals play against the Kansas City Chiefs, who have allowed the fifth-most points to tight ends this season. After that, the Cards will play the Oakland Raiders at home. The Raiders have given up the seventh-most fantasy points to tight ends so far this season. Seals-Jones might get scooped up this week, so grab him and plug him in for a spot play if needed.

Cardinals D/ST

Yahoo ownership: 12%

In tune with my pick for tight end, I think that the Arizona D/ST should be stashed for Week 11 for the date with the lowly Raiders' offense. The Cardinals D/ST is the ninth-ranked D/ST coming into Week 10. Obviously you don't want to start them against KC this week, but Arizona will be a hot waiver grab heading into Week 11. The Raiders have given up double-digit fantasy points to opposing D/STs in three out of their last four games.