Waiver Wire Week 8
Are you still struggling with this fantasy football season? Well, look no further to ease your pain than with your road map to success through the waiver wire. This will not only be useful to those who are looking to come back from that lackluster start but for those that want to keep winning and chase that playoff run! This list compiles players available in most leagues on Yahoo.com! Remember dominating the waiver wire is crucial to your fantasy football league. So get that FAAB budget ready to spend on some waiver wire pickups for Week 8!
QUARTERBACK
Once again a helpful hint is that you should be trying to stream the quarterback position unless you have Lamar Jackson, Russell Wilson or Dak Prescott. With more injuries to the quarterback and the Cowboys and Ravens on bye weeks, you must look for the position on the waiver wire that you can start in Week 8!
Jacoby Brissett
Less Than 48% Owned in Yahoo Leagues
Brissett had thrown multiple touchdowns in every single game this season outside of Week 5. In Week 7 the Colts played host to the Texans and Brissett threw for a career-high 326 passing yards and four touchdowns. Brissett is more than just a game manager and has shown that when the defense allows them to throw he is going to do so. He might not be the greatest streamer in Week 8 versus Denver but has a long-term value at quarterback.
Matthew Stafford
Less Than 57% Owned in Yahoo Leagues
Still available in plenty of leagues Stafford is an easy plugin play this week versus the New York Giants. Stafford has scored over 21 fantasy points in four of his six starts this season and currently ranks as the QB7 in terms of fantasy points scored per game (19.7). Non-rookie quarterbacks that have faced the Giants this season have averaged 30.62 fantasy points per game.
Teddy Bridgewater
Less Than 17% Owned in Yahoo Leagues
Over the past three weeks, Bridgewater has averaged 25 fantasy points per game. In Week 8, Bridgewater draws the Arizona Cardinals at home who have allowed the third-most fantasy points to the quarterback position. The Cardinals did just shut down Daniel Jones, but I am more hopeful of Bridgewater to produce in this matchup.
Ryan Tannehill
Less Than 5% Owned in Yahoo Leagues
Tannehill had an excellent debut in Week 7 going 23-29 for 312 passing yards and two passing touchdowns. Again the biggest thing with Tannehill to keep in mind is that he plays much better at home. After Sunday he has now thrown for multiple touchdowns in four of his last five home games. The matchup at home against the Buccaneers could also not get any better. Tampa Bay over the past four weeks has allowed an average of over 348 passing yards and 2.5 passing touchdowns against the likes of Daniel Jones, Jared Goff, Teddy Bridgewater, and Kyle Allen. Trust Tannehill this week if you need a one-week streamer.
Mason Rudolph
Less Than 7% Owned in Yahoo Leagues
It’s all based on the matchup this week with the Steelers playing the Dolphins on Monday night football. Every quarterback that has played the Dolphins this year has thrown at least two touchdowns.
Honorable Mentions: – Sam Darnold at Jacksonville, Matt Moore vs Green Bay
RUNNING BACKS
Always be aggressive from the waiver wire with running backs. With injuries so common at the position you never know when a back-up running back will find himself very quickly into a bell-cow workload. In this case, it is also worth it to be proactive with speculative adds to backups with injuries to starting running backs.
Mark Walton
Less Than 20% Owned in Yahoo Leagues
Welp, it looks like we have found our lead back in Miami in Mark Walton. Walton was an honorable mention last week and now gets featured after rushing 13 times for 66 yards in the Dolphins’ Week 7 loss to the Bills. Walton dominated the carries 14-6 over Kenyan Drake. He is a starting running back so he needs to be rostered.
Chase Edmonds
Less Than 48% Owned in Yahoo Leagues
Ty Johnson
Less Than 2% Owned in Yahoo Leagues
Kerryon Johnson is going to miss significant time according to reports creating a massive opportunity for rookie running back Ty Johnson. Johnson had ten carries in Week 7 to go along with four receptions. He looks like the clear-cut starter based on the opportunities. He has a great matchup in Week 8 against the Giants who just allowed a huge game to Chase Edmonds on the Cardinals. He should be the number one priority add in the majority of fantasy leagues. Detriot Lions running back J.D. McKissic is also worth adding in deeper PPR formats.
Benny Snell
Less Than 5% Owned in Yahoo Leagues
With a matchup with the Dolphins coming up, we know that multiple running backs can very much be in play. Snell played well in Week 6 before the bye week, and James Conner has not seen more than 16 carries in a game yet this season. The Dolphins on average have allowed 29 carries per game to backs. Snell also has upside as well if Conner goes down with an injury with Jaylen Samuels already hurt.
Honorable Mentions: MIN – Alexander Mattison vs Washington, CLE – Kareem Hunt at New England, LAR – Darrell Henderson vs Cincinnati (London), FA – Jay Ajayi
WIDE RECEIVERS
Receivers are much more volatile by nature, so consider asking yourself how often you will start this receiver you bid aggressively on the waiver wire? Understand how you will use this player when they are added to your roster. Are you adding them to start them in Week 8 or are looking for more long-term? This can help determine priorities when addressing the waiver wire.
Pro Tip: If you are not sure who you should drop, just drop your kicker to add an extra bench player. That way you can keep more receivers or runnings backs and let things play out during the week. Then on Sunday morning just drop the player you need the least to add a kicker to your starting lineup. Any way to get an edge!
Kenny Stills
Less Than 13% Owned in Yahoo Leagues
With Will Fuller slated to miss time, that will insert Stills into a starting role versus the Oakland Raiders in Week 8. With little time to develop chemistry with Deshaun Watson, that has not seemed to matter for the wide receiver who put up 105 yards receiving on four receptions in Week 7. Stills is the must-add for any team that needs a spot start for a few weeks at the wide receiver position. The Raiders have allowed the eighth-most average fantasy points to the wide receiver position over the last four weeks.
Corey Davis
Less Than 41% Owned in Yahoo Leagues
Left for dead in the Marcus Mariota offense, Davis was finally able to break through with a new quarterback under center. He had a season-high in targets (seven), receptions (six), and fantasy points (17.33). The Buccaneers’ defense is a funnel towards the wide receiver position as they allow the second-most fantasy points to wide receivers this season. He is an easy plugin play receiver at home this week. A.J. Brown was also impressive and should also be looked at in formats that require three or more starting wide receivers. Brown actually led the Titans in targets in Week 7 (eight). He also ranks top-twelve in the NFL in yards per routes run (2.22) with any player with at least 31 targets.
Honorable Mentions: NYJ – Robby Anderson vs Jacksonville, CIN – Alex Erickson vs Los Angeles (London), NE – Jakobi Meyers vs Cleveland, NE – N’Keal Harry vs Cleveland, IND – Zach Pascal vs Denver, MIN – Olabisi Johnson vs Washington, HOU – Keke Coutee vs OAK, PIT – Diontae Johnson vs MIA.
TIGHT END
Jared Cook
Less than 57% Owned in Yahoo Leagues
He missed last week due to an injury but he could be back in Week 8 to face-off versus the Arizona Cardinals. Arizona has given up the most fantasy points to tight ends this season. Before Cook’s injury, he had scored touchdowns in back-to-back weeks.
Dallas Goedert
Less than 13% Owned in Yahoo Leagues
Goedert presents the highest upside at the tight end you can find. Not only is he emerging as the number three option on the Eagles, but if Zach Ertz were to ever go down he would arguably become a top-three tight end. Over his last two games, he has been playing more snaps and has 12 targets.
Ben Watson
Less than 5% Owned in Yahoo Leagues
Watson looked good in his first game back garnering five targets in the Patriots’ blowout win over the Jets on Monday night. Tom Brady even connected with Watson on a fourth-down conversion. With the tight end position so scarce you cannot ignore a tight end on one of the better offenses in the NFL.
Honorable Mentions: MIN – Kyle Rudolph vs Washington, TEN – Jonnu Smith vs Tampa Bay, SEA – Jacob Hollister vs Atlanta
For defenses, you want to target the teams with the highest spreads. That assumes that the team will be winning thus forcing the opponent to have to be throwing more; creating more opportunities for sacks, fumbles, and interceptions. You do not want to start even great defenses against teams that are run-heavy. A theme with some of these defenses is they are home favorites.
- Indianapolis Colts (13% Owned) – Denver has allowed 20 plus points in two of their three last games to opposing defenses. Colts have scored at least 13 fantasy points in their last two games played.
- Detriot Lions (9% Owned) – New York has given up the seventh-most fantasy points to team defenses this season.
- Carolina Panthers (44% Owned) – The Panthers have scored double-digit fantasy points in every single game this season since Week 2.
- Seattle Seahawks (47% Owned) – Any chance you get to play defense against an offense starting Matt Schaub at quarterback you have to capitalize.
