The season is starting to heat up. With only five or so games left in the fantasy regular season, if you aren’t within arms length of the playoffs, your season may be winding down.

Nevertheless, each week new players are popping up all over the place as injuries and bye weeks continue to pile up in arguably the most import part of the season as you make your push to the playoffs.

With another six teams missing due to their scheduled time off and many superstars sitting the bench because of it, it is going to be hard for many players to get through a pretty tough week. However, as we enter Week 10 you might also be a bit hard pressed to find the right guys on the waiver wire.

ESPN made a few changes to how they calculate percentage of ownership this past week so we are going to take a look at players owned in less than 35% of leagues that can help you get through another killer set of bye weeks. Don’t play in ESPN leagues? That’s fine, check out each player’s percentage in both Yahoo and NFL leagues as well.

Derek Carr (OAK): The brother of former #1 draft pick Carr has had his fair share of ups and downs in his rookie season with the Raiders. However, Carr (7.6 | 10 | 3.1) has had five games of double-digit fantasy points including a 198 yard, two touchdown performance this past Sunday facing the high powered Seattle Seahawks defense. Derek and the Raiders get to host the Denver Broncos in Week 10 and with how powerful the Broncos offense is, Derek should get plenty of opportunity to sling it around if the Raiders plan to keep anything close. The Broncos are currently ranked 27^th against opposing quarterbacks including giving up 11 passing touchdowns in their last four games.

Mark Sanchez (PHI): It’s been almost two years since the infamous butt fumble, and I for one didn’t think I would ever be in a situation where I would be an advocate for Sanchez. But Mark is no longer dealing with a tumultuous offensive situation like the Jets and has now found himself in an extremely high powered offense with a head coach who actually knows what he is doing offensively. Sanchez (27.6 | 38 | 5.5) jumped into the Philadelphia spotlight last week when Nick Foles went down with a collarbone issue and although we certainly saw the old Sanchez with two interceptions, he was able to gain 200 yards and throw for two touchdowns.

The Eagles get to face the Panthers on Monday Night Football who have certainly had their fare share of issues stopping the passing ranking as the 7^th worst defense against the pass through nine weeks. If those numbers continue on Monday night, look for Sanchez that took the Jets to back-t0-back AFC championship games and not the one who lost the football after running into his lineman’s rear.

Allen Hurns (JAX): Hurns has had a surprisingly nice season thus far averaging just over 11 points per game this year, but this week he gets to face the fourth best team in the league against opposing wide receivers. The Jags and Hurns (16.2 | 24 | 16.9) took the long trip across the pond this week as they take on the Cowboys in the third and final match up in England for the NFL this season. Hurns smoked the Bengals defense for 112 yards on seven receptions and two touchdowns for his second game this season over 100 yards and two scores. Despite the Cowboys high ranking against wide receivers, Hurns finds himself as the third receiver in the Jaguars offense which works as the Cowboys line backing core will need to keep up with the speedster down the seams and over the middle, and I am just not sure they will be able to keep up. Hurns has had five games with at least 3 receptions, if Blake Borthes can keep that going Hurns should make it a long day for the line backers having to cover him.

Jordan Matthews (PHI): One of the pass catchers that will benefit from the Panthers sub-par secondary, Matthews (20.4 | 21 | 6) comes in following a three catch, 40-yard, one-touchdown performance a week ago. Matthews exploded onto the scene a few weeks ago when he torched the Redskins defense for 25-fantasy points so he clearly has the moves and the ability to be a fantasy stud. Since the aforementioned game against Washington, Matthews has had at least three receptions in each game. The Panthers have given up the seventh most fantasy points to wide receivers including more than 150 fantasy points in their last four games combined.

Mychal Rivera (OAK): Rivera (33.4 | 28 | 2.2) has come on strong in the last few weeks in Oakland with 15 catches for more than 110 yards and two scores, more than he had on the entire season up until that point. The Broncos have allowed 30 catches for 276 yards and four touchdowns to opposing tight ends in the past four weeks, which should allow for Rivera’s targets to continue on a similar path. Drafted in the sixth round of the 2013 draft, Rivera a two-year player out of Tennessee is on pace to blow past his rookie year numbers and could potentially get there when the clock shows zeros on Sunday. The Broncos are ranked 28^th in the league against opposing tight ends giving up at least 20 fantasy points five times in 2014.

The waiver wire is certainly thin. The later you get into the season that is of course going to happen. But it isn’t thin enough for you to find players who can easily jump in and fill in for you in a time of need.

Check out these guys and others as you choose to make your last minute decisions before the weekend kicks off.

Need start/sit help? Make sure to send me your questions on twitter @JustinMandaro right up until game.