Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Stashes: WR & TE (Week 8)

Welcome back to this weekly breakdown of pass-catchers to stash on your fantasy football benches. I’d like to start this week’s article with a brief victory lap, as Hunter Henry went straight from last week’s article to the TE4 in Week 7 (pending MNF). I considered featuring him again this week, but he has officially joined Tucker Kraft as a graduate from a Stash into the TE1 conversation. Hopefully one of this week’s players will be the next to join them! Without further ado, let’s get started.

Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Stashes: Week 8

Ricky Pearsall (WR — SF): 14.2% Rostered

The 49ers’ brutal season continues, as Brandon Aiyuk is officially out for the season with a torn ACL. Meanwhile, Deebo Samuel is in the hospital dealing with pneumonia. Jauan Jennings also missed Sunday’s game with a hip issue, so Ricky Pearsall is suddenly the 49ers’ top healthy receiver … which is crazy to say about a guy who was shot less than two months ago and just made his NFL debut on Sunday.

To be fair, Jennings should be back sooner rather than later. I can’t claim to know much about the timetable for recovery from pneumonia, but we can hope that Samuel recovers quickly, too. When both are back, Pearsall will likely serve as the 49ers’ WR3 – that is why he still qualifies as a stash.

As far as stashes go, however, Pearsall is a very intriguing one. The 31st overall pick in this year’s draft, he has draft capital. He is old for a rookie at 24, but his prospect profile should work perfectly for fantasy: He is a route-running specialist who consistently got open at the line of scrimmage in college. That sounds like a player that Kyle Shanahan can work with.

Dontayvion Wicks (WR — GB): 21.7% Rostered

Just when I think I’m out, Dontayvion Wicks pulls me back in again. After being listed as week to week with a shoulder injury, the second-year receiver made a quick recovery to play on Sunday. Against the Texans, he made the most of his 44.4% route participation rate, catching three of six targets for 48 yards and a touchdown.

Of course, that 44.4% route participation rate is a huge red flag. Until that number rises, Wicks’ floor is too low to be a weekly fantasy play. However, he easily leads the Packers’ receiving room with a massive 33% target per route run rate for the season. That number is fourth in the league among players with at least 50 routes. The drop issues are concerning and his path to a full-time role is unclear, but a young player with target-earning ability like that on a top-tier offense is worth rostering.

Bub Means (WR — NO): 13.8% Rostered

Speaking of young players who are earning targets, we have Bub Means. Means, a fifth-round pick out of Pittsburgh, currently ranks first among healthy Saints with an 18% target per route run rate. This may speak more to the Saints’ many injuries than Means’ talent, but it’s still intriguing.

Means wasn’t the Saints’ top receiver in Week 7, as that honour went to another rookie in UDFA Mason Tipton. However, in Week 6, when Chris Olave first exited with a concussion, Means saw a 71% route participation rate while Tipton was down at 44%. That leads me to believe that Means will get the first shot at the team’s WR2 job once Olave is back (Rashid Shaheed is unfortunately out for the year with a knee issue). That’s enough to make him an intriguing stash in deep formats, where any player running consistent routes has value.

Fantasy Football Tight End Stashes: Week 8

Taysom Hill (TE — NO): 26.3% Rostered

We’re going to keep targeting the Saints, as Shaheed’s absence opens up a large chunk of usage in their offense. For the Swiss Army Knife that is Taysom Hill, even Derek Carr‘s absence may mean more touches – whether on the ground or as a wildcat quarterback.

Really, the logic for this one is simple. He’s dealt with a few injuries of his own so far this season but when he’s been on the field, Taysom’s usage has been just on the borderline of enough to make him a borderline top-12 TE. If New Orleans’ offensive injuries cause his role to expand, he could be hugely valuable. That’s enough to make him worth stashing for a week or two.

Noah Fant (TE — SEA): 19.3% Rostered

Throughout this season, Fant has been remarkably consistent … and not necessarily in a good way. He has cracked a 70% route participation rate just once and has never seen more than six targets, recorded more than 63 receiving yards, or scored a touchdown. However, thanks largely to the Seahawks being the most pass-happy team in the league, he ranks 17th among tight ends in total targets.

That number could be trending up for the next few weeks, as Seattle’s WR1, DK Metcalf, is set to miss time with a knee injury. Chasing vacated targets doesn’t always work as well as we’d hope, but Metcalf’s 22% target share has to go somewhere. A former first-round pick, Fant does still have the athleticism we look for in receiving tight ends – there are worse bets for a late-career breakout.

Ja’Tavion Sanders (TE — CAR): 2.7% Rostered

Over the last three weeks, with Tommy Tremble sidelined by a concussion, Ja’Tavion Sanders has expanded his role in this Panthers offense. He has posted a 70% route participation rate (up from 35%) and earned a 20% target share (up from 4.4%). He leads the team with 123 receiving yards over that span (this says more about Carolina’s offense than him, to be fair).

There’s a chance Tremble, who cleared the concussion protocol before Week 7 but still did not suit up, returns, and Ja’Tavion regresses to a part-time role. But there’s also a chance that the fourth-round rookie has earned himself an expanded workload going forward. Even with the Panthers flailing offensively, any tight end earning a 20% target share is worth stashing … especially a size/speed mismatch who is just 21 years old.

Ted Chmyz is a fantasy football contributor for FantasyPros.com. Find him on Twitter @Tchmyz for more fantasy content or to ask questions.

Articles NFL Sleepers Waiver Wire NFL Weekly Advice Hunter Henry Tucker Kraft Ricky Pearsall Brandon Aiyuk Deebo Samuel Jauan Jennings Dontayvion Wicks Bub Means Mason Tipton Chris Olave Rashid Shaheed Taysom Hill Derek Carr Noah Fant DK Metcalf Ja’Tavion Sanders Tommy Tremble