Here are 10 of the best waiver wire pickups if you need help for Week 9.
Rachaad White is among the lowest rostered, direct handcuffs available on waivers. With White, we are trying to get ahead of the curve and roster high-value handcuffs before injuries happen, and you’re racing to the waiver wire to dump all of your FAAB. Sunday wasn’t extremely impressive. White had 4 carries for 19 yards and 3 receptions for 24 yards. But at this point, we can have extreme confidence in the fact that White is the clear handcuff to Leonard Fournette, and his pass-catching upside would make him a potential low-end RB1 if Fournette went down with an injury. He’s worth a roster in all formats.
Latavius Murray is not the flashiest waiver wire add of the week. But he might be the most practical addition. Denver’s backfield is split, and that will not change. But his role is consistent and productive enough to be worthy of a roster. Murray had 14 carries for 46 yards and 1 touchdown – that’s 2 touchdowns since his arrival in Denver. The Broncos are on a bye week, so you can’t use him. But if you’re lucky enough to have your lineup relatively untouched by the bye week and injuries, you can add Murray now for zero cost and stash him. He’s essentially guaranteed around 10 or more carries and touchdown opportunities and has a decent upcoming schedule. And it doesn’t hurt that he becomes the lead back next time Melvin Gordan fumbles.
Van Jefferson was activated from IR and was supposed to see a normal workload – I’m hopeful that the Rams said that and didn’t really mean it because a workload of zero targets is not good. I would assume that the Rams simply wanted to get him active and get his feet under him. He’s worth an add to see what kind of role he can carve out in a struggling Rams offense. And his talents might be needed sooner rather than later because Cooper Kupp suffered an injury on Sunday. And while the injury is minor, it’s possible he could miss time. Regardless we’ve seen Jefferson flash before, and he’s worth a long-term hold.
Reports out of Baltimore are that Mark Andrews‘ shoulder injury is minor. But minor injuries don’t necessarily mean he won’t miss time. If Andrews cannot go in Week 9, Isaiah Likely is a solid streaming option at tight end. Andrews went down early in the Thursday night game and Likely came in and had six receptions on 7 targets for 77 yards and a touchdown on just a 67% snap count. The Ravens face New Orleans, a defense that held Las Vegas scoreless on Sunday but typically struggled against tight ends, giving up the 5th most fantasy points to opposing tight ends heading into Week 8. With 6 teams on byes in Week 9, Likely would be a TE1 if Andrews is out. Rashod Bateman‘s multi-week absence could benefit Likely as well. I also like Greg Dulcich as an alternative at tight end if you don’t need him during the bye week.
Here we go again! Kenyan Drake may yet again find himself as the RB1 for the Ravens next week. Gus Edwards suffered a hamstring injury in the Thursday night game, and it’s reportedly nothing very serious, but it’s still possible that Edwards will miss some time. The Ravens face New Orleans next week – a team that has recently been a mixed bag in giving up big games to Eno Benjamin and Kenneth Walker but holding Joe Mixon and Josh Jacobs to under 50 yards. But the Ravens are dealing with injuries across the board to Edwards, Mark Andrews, and Rashod Bateman. Drake is worth an add and a solid streaming option if Edwards is out in Week 9.
This game was very ugly offensively for the Jags outside of Travis Etienne, who had a career day. But Evan Engram’s 4 receptions on 6 targets for 55 yards and a touchdown got lost in Etienne’s fantastic game. It wasn’t a huge day. But we’ve seen four straight weeks of solid consistency from Engram – so consistent that in 12-team leagues, you could feel comfortable with Engram as your TE1. Engram has an upcoming schedule of Las Vegas and Kansas City before a bye week. He should be a top-12 tight end for the next 2 weeks.
Fantasy managers bailed out one week too early on Rondale Moore. After an incredibly disappointing Week 7 performance of 1 reception for 31 yards, Moore had a fantastic bounce-back game of seven receptions on eight targets for 92 yards and a touchdown, plus two carries for 12 yards. Moore’s poor Week 7 performance seemed more usage-related. When Moore is given the opportunity and correctly utilized, he’s very successful. The downside to Moore is that his floor is low, with 2 games of less than 5 fantasy points. But he’s had 3 games with a minimum of 8 targets and double-digit fantasy points in PPR. Moore is worthy of a roster and is a fine flex option in Week 9.
Palmer will be a weekly flex option for the next several weeks, with Mike Williams out with a high-ankle sprain. At first glance, Palmer’s performances might seem inconsistent, but you have to put some context around it to understand why Palmer is a must-add. In Week 2, the first week without Keenan Allen, Palmer caught four of his eight targets and had a touchdown. In Week 3, he caught six of nine targets for 99 yards. In Week 4, he was a major disappointment with an injury that likely carried over to a disappointing Week 5. In Week 6, a healthy Palmer caught nine of 12 targets for 57 yards, and then in Week 7, he suffered a concussion. When healthy, Palmer has had a minimum of eight targets. That’s a level of opportunity that any fantasy manager should want on their roster. Palmer does need to clear concussion protocol but coming off a bye week, the chances are higher.
Believe it or not, Garrett Wilson is less than 50% rostered in Yahoo leagues. He’s far higher rostered on other platforms, but the fact that he’s less than 50% in Yahoo leagues means I would feel awful if I didn’t include him on this list. So double-check your waiver wire list because it seems that some fantasy managers might’ve bailed out on Wilson far too early. With Breece Hall lost for the season and Michael Carter putting up a very underwhelming performance, the Jets let Zach Wilson air the ball out, and the result was six receptions on seven targets for 115 yards for Garrett Wilson.
If you watched the game, Justin Fields’ performance was far more impressive than the stats show. The pass volume wasn’t much higher than he typically has, but the accuracy and productivity of those passes were fantastic. Fields completed 17 of 23 passes for 151 yards and 2 touchdowns with 8 carries for 60 yards and 1 touchdown on the ground. Fields has an upcoming schedule of Miami – who just allowed a 300+ yard game to Jared Goff; Detroit – who just allowed a near 400-yard and three touchdown game to Tua Tagovailoa; followed by Atlanta, NY Jets and Green Bay. You could arguably start him all the way through his bye week. And with the inconsistencies at quarterback, Fields can be a valuable addition to many fantasy rosters.
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