It’s Week 10 already, and somehow, someway, your team hasn’t gotten any better. It’s nearly Thanksgiving, and the only thing more cooked than your Aunt Shelly’s clam dip is your fantasy roster. You thought you made some shrewd pickups before the leaves started changing, but just like every year, you discovered you have no idea what you’re doing. The fantasy trophy will most likely elude you for another season, and you’re at risk of spending 24 hours at Waffle House or getting a tattoo or any of the other heinous punishments leagues inflict upon their worst participants. We can avoid that, however. Sometimes it’s not how you start but how you finish, and since not everybody can be a winner every year, perhaps we can at least finish this year with some pride and avoid the embarrassment of ending up in last place in the standings.

At this point in the season, the waiver wire is slim pickings. Anybody who is anybody has likely been snatched up, and the term “sleeper” doesn’t really apply when there are only 8 weeks remaining in the regular season. What we can do is stay a few steps ahead of the dummies who don’t know the difference between trash and valuable trinkets. Below are three of those trinkets that might help you squeak out a couple of victories before the fat lady sings.

Texans D/ST

I know what you’re thinking—a defense? Really? Yes, really. When you’re this late in the year and all the ripe fruit has been plucked, it helps to be able to think ahead to some of the juicy matchups on the horizon. This is the point in the season where teams are going to start to fold up. Less to play for and playoff pictures starting to crystallize is going to lead to the good teams being better and the bad teams being worse. The Texans’ schedule and their stout defense give us an opportunity to capitalize on both of these realities. Everyone knows they have a huge game with the Lions on Sunday night and have shown cracks in their once-shiny armor throughout the year. Despite those cracks, they stand at 6-3 and firmly in first place atop the AFC South.

While there is no doubt that the Texans will be a playoff team, they have a lot of work to do to secure one of the top two seeds in the conference and prove to the football world that they are for real. This Lions game will be about survival for the Texans, and picking up their defense is not an automatic plug-and-play move against one of the NFL’s top offensive teams. Picking up the Texans’ defense is a play for the future. After they likely lose to the Lions on Sunday night and fall to 6-4, they will take on the Prescott-less Cowboys, the last-place Titans, and the abysmal Jacksonville Jaguars. A hungry team playing three cupcake opponents looking to lock in a playoff berth? Give me that defense all day. It also helps that the Texans are ranked second in the NFL in total defense and feature one of the league’s top secondaries. Pick them up. Stash them. Reap the rewards later.

Jordan Mason, RB San Francisco 49ers

Oh no, Christian McCaffrey is back, what’re we going to do with Jordan Mason?! you yell, like an idiot, to your friends who are also idiots. Yes, Christian McCaffrey is back, and yes, he is amazing, and yes, the 49ers will probably look like a significantly better team with him in there blah blah blah. But Christian McCaffrey is also incapable of stringing together three consecutive seasons of healthy football, and reports were he was going to have his legs amputated a few weeks ago. Even if he is healthy enough to suit up, I am skeptical of whether or not he will be effective and how long he will be out there. The 49ers have been plagued by injuries all year and desperately need the jolt that a healthy CMC can provide them. The NFC West is wide open, and San Fran is in striking distance of first place and a playoff spot, and as much as they want to run their star running back into the ground in pursuit of a championship, I don’t think they’ll push him too far if things look dicey. Picking up Jordan Mason may not pay dividends this week or next, but if (and when) McCaffrey goes down again at some point this year, Mason is once again poised to take over the starting role in an offense that can turn any back into a star.

Romeo Doubs, WR Green Bay Packers

The Packers’ passing attack took a step back last week against the Lions when it was clear that Jordan Love was more injured than we thought and the Lions were better than we thought. Detroit walked into a rainy Lambeau Field and laid their nuts directly on the Packers for all the world to see. Thankfully, the Packers have a bye this week, which will allow Love to get healthier and gives Matt LaFleur an extra week to game plan for a terrible Bears team. The Packers simply own the Bears, and they desperately need to keep winning games if they hope to compete in the best division in the league. Green Bay will look to bring back some of the dynamism that has propelled them to a 6-3 record this year, and that will mean getting all of their receivers involved—including Doubs. Probably the second most talented of the group behind Jayden Reed, Doubs has had trouble putting together consistently good weeks but has shown some recent bursts that should encourage anybody to pick him up if they have room to stash him through the Week 10 bye. In the previous three games before the Lions’ shellacking, Doubs racked up 19.9, 17.4, and 10.2 fantasy points, respectively. The 6’2″ Nevada product should see more red zone opportunities down the stretch and is a good bet to be the beneficiary of a more desperate and dynamic offense in the second half of the year.