Brendan Tuma | Sun, Oct 24th 2021, 7:32pm EDT

Early Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 8 (2021 Fantasy Football)

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Note: Most players are less than 30% rostered in Yahoo leagues.

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Running Back

Rashaad Penny (RB – SEA): 33% rostered
It sounds like Alex Collins (groin) will play on Monday night against the Saints, but Penny is expected back from IR. This could be a situation to get ahead of. We’ll have to see how the usage shakes out, but Penny theoretically enters the Seahawks’ Week 7 option as the healthier RB between the two of them.

Kenneth Gainwell (RB – PHI): 21% rostered
The Eagles seemed to be scaling back Gainwell’s playing time and touches entering Week 7, but starter Miles Sanders exited the game with an ankle injury and was eventually ruled out. The rookie Gainwell would likely be the top waiver wire option in Week 8 if Sanders looks likely to miss any time.

Peyton Barber (RB – LV): 2% rostered
Josh Jacobs exited Sunday’s Week 7 game with a chest injury and was eventually ruled out. Kenyan Drake received the majority of the work in his absence since Barber was a healthy scratch. Recall, though, that Barber received a whopping 26 touches back in Week 3 (with Jacobs sidelined). He’ll be a popular waiver pickup if Jacobs misses any time beyond today.

Wide Receiver

Rashod Bateman (WR – BAL): 32% rostered
The 21-year-old rookie received six targets for the second time in as many games in Week 7 against the Bengals. This time, though, he posted 80 yards (after totaling 29 back in Week 6). Simply put, he needs to be rostered in standards 12-team leagues moving forward. At minimum, he needs to be rostered in more than 32% of leagues. He hasn’t had a truly monster game yet, but he has upside worth betting on with the Ravens passing more than ever in the Lamar Jackson era so far this year.

Will Fuller (WR – MIA): 29% rostered
This might come off as a strange recommendation since Fuller is currently on IR with a broken finger, but the 27-year-old is eligible to return in Week 8 against the Bills. Fuller has dealt with a plethora of injuries since joining the Dolphins this season, and we have little reason to trust him as a fantasy asset moving forward. Still, he was a star for most of 2020 and Tua Tagovailoa is healthy again. Fuller should at least be rostered in deeper formats.

Tight End

Evan Engram (TE – NYG): 31% rostered
There really aren’t any tight ends to strongly recommend. The position, as always, is thin outside the top options. However, Engram had a very usable PPR performance on Sunday against the Panthers, hauling in 6-of-8 targets for 44 yards. The season-high in targets was obviously due to the Giants missing so many skill position players this weekend. However, there’s no guarantee that all of their injured receivers will be back next week. The Giants face the atrocious Chiefs defense in Week 8.

Quarterback

Trevor Lawrence (QB – JAC): 40% rostered
It’s a brutal week for QB streamers rostered in 30% of leagues or less. Mac Jones is coming off a nice performance, but he draws a sticky Chargers secondary next Sunday. Justin Fields‘ rostership has fallen to 27%, but he just isn’t running enough to be a viable fantasy option. We’ll cheat a bit with Lawrence’s rostership, who could be available since the Jaguars had a Week 7 bye. Lawrence didn’t run as much in Week 6 as he was in Weeks 3-5, but in general he’s receiving more designed rushes. He has high-end QB2 upside he can add in some strong passing performances to his newfound rushing floor. The Jaguars visit the Seahawks’ struggling secondary in Week 8.