Welcome to the Fantasy Football Waiver Wire for Week 8.
Buckle up, folks. For the only time this season, six teams are on Bye in Week 8. Factor in all the players that are out with injuries and we’re going to get the best “Dude, check out my starting lineup!” week of the season, with lots of bench players being thrust into action. Can the waiver wire offer some help to managers as they try to patch together credible lineups? Yes, but sadly it’s not a great selection. Hopefully you took my advice and planned ahead last week by picking up some of the streamers that you might need in advance. Anyway, let’s look at what’s available this week.
The Process: Each week, I try to identify the top Waiver Wire targets and evaluate the short- and long-term prospects of those players. I also do my best to reveal which players who are coming off a big week are fool’s gold. Finally, I look at streamers who might help you in a pinch. Note that I’m writing this column BEFORE the two Week 7 Monday night games (TB@DET, HOU@SEA).
Some players discussed won’t be available in your league. I try to list players who are available in more than 50% of leagues. But what does that even mean? A 10-team league with six bench spots will have a much larger Free Agent pool than a 14-team league with eight. Most leagues fall somewhere in between. This isn’t “one size fits all.” By way of example, I won’t list Kimani Vidal, Zonovan “Bam” Knight, Josh Downs, or Harold Fannin, Jr., among others who probably aren’t available in any of your leagues.
WEEK 8 BYES: ARI, DET, JAC, LV, LAR, SEA
Week 8 Waiver Wire
Quarterback:
Quarterback availability varies widely between 1-QB and Superflex/2-QB leagues.
Jaxson Dart has made a strong case that he belongs in the QB1 conversation for the rest of the season. He has now started four games, has faced some tough defenses, and has topped 17.5 fantasy points in each start. He’s been a Top-10 option across his four starts, and his rushing floor means he should be able to sustain that most weeks. His Week 8 matchup is tough (@PHI), but so far, opponent hasn’t mattered all that much, and he was solid against them at home in Week 6. This may be the last week where he’s widely available in 1-QB leagues.
Like Dart, Sam Darnold, Matthew Stafford, Aaron Rodgers, and Joe Flacco won’t be available in most Superflex leagues, but they’re the obvious places to start if you need long-term help or an injury replacement in a 1-QB league. If you need a Week 8 streamer, Darnold and Stafford can’t help you, but the other two can.
Flacco’s Bengals host the winless and lifeless Jets, which is a favorable home matchup, while Rodgers and the Steelers host the Packers on Sunday night, which is a tougher matchup. Hopefully, their arms are still intact after the aerial show that these two old men gave us on Thursday night. Fun fact: Flacco has the easiest fantasy quarterback schedule for the rest of the season. He also has one of the league’s top WR tandems to throw to. I like him as a stash/streamer for the rest of the season, age be damned.
Michael Penix, Jr. couldn’t solve the 49ers on Sunday night, but he’s a strong streaming option in Week 8. Atlanta hosts the reeling 1-6 Dolphins, whose struggling defense has allowed the second most fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks.
I’d steer clear of Tyrod Taylor, unless you’re desperate. He was unable to spark the Jets’ moribund offense in the second half on Sunday, and while he’s mobile, he isn’t likely to give you very good numbers in any given week.
Running Back:
I’ve mentioned Kyle Monangai each of the last four weeks and you’re starting to see Ben Johnson trust him more. Even with D’Andre Swift putting up more than 100 rushing yards in back-to-back weeks, Monangai is seeing more work, and in Week 7 he had season highs in snap share, carries (13), and rushing yards (81), and scored his first TD. We’ve seen Ben Johnson get excellent production out of two backs before, and the rotation seems to be helping both stay fresh. Grab him while you still can.
Kendre Miller is a name I keep mentioning. He has some stand-alone value, and if Alvin Kamara gets traded as has been rumored, Miller should step into a lead-back role. However, he got hurt in Week 7 and rookie Devin Neal got his first carries since Week 1. Keep an eye on this situation, as Neal could be worth rostering in deeper leagues.
Brashard Smith is slowly but surely carving out a role on one of the NFL’s best and most pass-happy offenses. Sure, he got some extra looks this week once the game got out of hand, but he was rotating in before that, and his work in the receiving game stands out. He notched a season-high five catches for 42 yards. If Kareem Hunt misses any time (ankle), Smith could quickly move up from bench depth to streamer/Flex territory.
Tyjae Spears hasn’t done much since his return from injury, and he’s on a very low-scoring offense. But he’s getting an almost even split with Tony Pollard, and Pollard is another player who could possibly get traded.
Depth adds: Tyler Allgeier, Ollie Gordon, II, Bhayshul Tuten, Brian Robinson, Jr., Jeremy McNichols, Isaiah Davis, and Blake Corum.
Wide Receiver
Kayshon Boutte makes the column for a third straight week. He’s boom-or-bust, but Drake Maye likes to chuck it deep, and Boutte is averaging 17.8 yards per reception which is Top-5 in the NFL.
Travis Hunter had his best game of the season in Week 7, and scored his first TD. Yes, a lot of it came in garbage time, but we’ve seen plenty of rookie wide receivers pop after their Bye Week and Hunter is a candidate to do just that after Jacksonville’s Week 8 Bye.
Xavier Legette has proven to be hard to trust thus far in his career, and maybe his strong performance against the Jets on Sunday (9-91-1 on 11 targets) won’t repeat, but the Panthers are rolling and he seems to be carving out a bigger role in their improving offense.
I’ll give you two Washingtons to consider: Parker Washington and Malik Washington. Both are seeing more volume in recent weeks.
Others to consider for depth: Alec Pierce, Li’l Jordan Humphrey, Troy Franklin, Darnell Mooney, Luther Burden III, Jalen Coker, Chris Moore, and Rashod Bateman.
Tight End:
I’ve listed Oronde Gadsden II in this column before, and if you grabbed him and had him in your lineup this week, kudos to you. Justin Herbert won’t throw it 55 times all that often, and the wide receiver trio will get theirs, but the rookie is emerging as a legit weapon, and his TE1 finish for the week on a 7-164-1 line was eye-opening. Gadsden is a priority add, if he’s still on your wire.
Theo Johnson has really emerged since the switch to Dart, and has taken advantage of the injuries to the Giants’ receiving corps. He’s hauled in four TDs in the four games Dart has started and is the TE5 over that span. You could do a lot worse than Johnson if you need a TE streamer this week or another option at the position going forward.
Gadsden’s 26 point outburst barely put him ahead of Pat Freiermuth for the week, as ‘Muth hauled in two of the four TD passes that Rodgers threw to his tight ends. It’s good to see him building a rapport with Rodgers, but it was his first game all season with more than five fantasy points, so be careful chasing this performance. Still, he’s widely available and has been a fringe TE1 in the past, so he’s worth considering as a stash and see, if you need tight end help.
Others to consider if you need a streamer or depth at TE: A.J. Barner, Juwan Johnson, Cade Otton, and Dalton Schultz.
PK and D/ST Streamers, Week 8: (ranked outside the Top-14 for the week):
PK: M. Prater (@CAR), M. Badgley (vs. TEN), E. McPherson (vs. NYJ), T. Loop (vs. CHI)
D/ST: BUF (@CAR), HOU (vs. SF)
Good luck with your waiver claims!
***This column appears each Monday right here at Big Blue View. Each Thursday, my weekly fantasy preview with my rides, fades and sleepers (start/sit) appears here, and on Fridays you can find my weekly Giants Props of the week, also right here. ***
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