Waiver wire adds for deep leagues are a bit tricky this week. With zero teams on a bye week, we’re looking for players with actual upside to outperform typical weekly starters. I’ve got a solid list of players who can make strong contributions for your fantasy team for this week and beyond.
- More Waiver Wire Advice
- Weekly Fantasy Football Expert Rankings
- Fantasy Football Start/Sit Advice
- Fantasy Football Trade Tools
Darrell Henderson Jr. (RB – LAR) | 25% rostered in Yahoo, 6% rostered in ESPN
Darrell Henderson will be a popular waiver wire add in both shallow and deep leagues this week. Henderson stepped up as the Rams’ RB1 this week with 18 carries for 61 yards and 1 touchdown, plus one reception for five yards. It’s not extremely shocking when we consider that Henderson spent his entire career with McVay and knows the system so the transition was seamless. Expectations were low for Los Angeles heading into the 2023 season but the Rams have been strong on offense and with Kyren Williams set to miss at least 3 more games on IR, Henderson is likely the Rams’ lead back through the Rams’ bye week. Henderson is over my typical deep waiver add roster percentage but given the circumstances and his ESPN league percentage, I’m making an exception.
Emari Demercado (RB – ARI) | 15% rostered in Yahoo, 17% rostered in ESPN
I film a “players to cut” video for the FantasyPros YouTube channel every week and Emari Demercado was a cut candidate in shallow leagues but a player I felt was a hold in deep leagues. The reason I felt he was a hold in deep leagues was his snap count. Despite having just three total touches in Week 6, Demercado led the Cardinals’ backfield in snaps. There really didn’t appear to be any rhyme or reason for the lack of touches versus the high snap count. Demercado had one carry for five yards in the first quarter of Week 6. He didn’t touch the ball again until the end of the third quarter. His final touch came at the end of the fourth quarter. It was very possible he would have increased touches in Week 7 and that’s exactly what occurred. Demercado had 13 carries for 58 yards and four receptions for 17 yards in Week 7. Damien Williams and Keaontay Ingram had a combined single carry. I’m making an exception on roster percentage this week for Demercado because there’s a good chance he’s available in your deep league.
Pierre Strong Jr. (RB – CLE) | 1% rostered in Yahoo, 0% rostered in ESPN
Jerome Ford‘s day got off to an excellent start before suffering an injury. With Ford unable to return to the game, Pierre Strong had an increased workload, playing behind Kareem Hunt. If Ford is out in Week 8, Hunt would likely operate as the lead back but Strong would have a complimentary role. The Browns face Seattle, a team that has been average in terms of fantasy points allowed to running backs, and the Browns should continue to lean on the run.
Demario Douglas (WR – NE) | 0% rostered in Yahoo, 0% rostered in ESPN
Demario Douglas’ involvement has been minimal at best all season but his snap count has been limited in favor of players like JuJu Smith-Schuster and DeVante Parker. The veteran receivers may be reliable but have offered limited upside. However, in Week 7 Douglas was the second-leading receiver behind Kendrick Bourne and caught 4-of-6 targets for 54 yards and added one carry for 20 yards. That production exceeds any single-game performance from Smith-Schuster this season and ties Parker’s best performance – which came back in Week 2. The Patriots got the win and could be ready to turn the receiver corps over to fresher faces to help push the offense forward and Douglas could have good deep-league value moving forward.
Jamal Agnew (WR – JAX) | 1% rostered in Yahoo, 0% rostered in ESPN
This is a very short-term solution but given the week-to-week needs of deep leagues, Jamal Agnew is a low-end flex option for very deep league teams. Agnew caught 4-of-6 targets for 36 yards in Week 7 and this was the second time he stepped up with Zay Jones dealing with an injury. Agnew also caught 4-of-5 targets for 49 yards in Week 3 with Jones out. The Jags face Pittsburgh in Week 8 – a very friendly matchup for receivers. With their bye week coming in Week 9, the Jags may opt to give Jones the week off to take advantage of the additional resting time.
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | SoundCloud | iHeartRadio