What a difference a week makes! Last weekend, we had six teams on bye and a ton of injuries to navigate. This week, all 32 NFL teams will be in action and the injured players are slowly trickling back onto the field. However, we're right back to four byes in Week 9, so it's in our best interest to look ahead and prepare. Our Week 9 fantasy waiver wire watchlist will highlight the free agents you should consider stashing, streaming, or at least watching.
Yours truly has pinpointed studs before their breakouts all season, a big reason why most of my fantasy teams have enjoyed strong seasons despite myriad injuries. Our lookahead watchlist has pointed readers in the direction of C.J. Stroud, Kyren Williams, Zack Moss, and Puka Nacua when they were all under 50-percent rostered. Now, those guys look like league-winners — not bad for speculative adds that cost $0 in FAAB and didn't use up a waiver priority.
We've been telling you for weeks to make the most of your open roster spots or one of your opponents will. Try to anticipate who will be Week 9's top pickups after strong performances this weekend. Be proactive about your bye weeks and bad matchups by choosing your upcoming streamers now. By adding potential boom players as free agents before their breakouts, you find solid production without burning a valuable waiver claim or FAAB money.
WEEK 8 FANTASY ADVICE:
Sleepers | Busts | Projections | Start 'em, sit 'em
At this part of the season, we're all playing matchups each week. If you are, it's smart to plan ahead and get your first choice before other owners jump into the frenzy once new information emerges. Our waiver wire watchlist helps you think about the future while the rest of your league is thinking about the present.
Some shallower leagues don't feature enough roster spots to really take advantage of "planning ahead," but for those in leagues that do, our week-ahead watchlist will be helpful all year long. Even though you won't pick up most (or in some cases, all) of these players, it's worth watching their snap counts and target shares to file away for later.
WEEK 8 DFS: DK lineup | FD lineup | Best values | Best stacks
Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Watchlist
Reminder: This list was put together in the lead-in to Week 8, looking forward to the players who could be popular waiver wire targets ahead of Week 9. If you have a roster spot to play with, these are free agent options you could grab early to beat the waiver buzz.
All these players are below 50 percent ownership on Yahoo unless otherwise specified.
Week 9 Fantasy Waiver Wire Watchlist: QB
WEEK 9 BYES: Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars, San Francisco 49ers
Sam Howell, Commanders at Patriots in Week 9 (48 percent rostered)
We're sticking with Howell seemingly each week because his fantasy upside remains higher than anyone else available in over 50 percent of leagues. Last week was a dud against the Giants, so we will wear that "L," but look at the three weeks before that when he posted fantasy totals of 24.5, 32.3, and 25.9, respectively, despite having two road matchups during that span.
Howell gets another road matchup next week in New England, a team that most recently let Josh Allen rack up 28-plus fantasy points. He also draws Philly this weekend, a squad that has been surprisingly generous to QBs all season. The second-year QB might not be available on your waiver wire next Tuesday, so consider scooping him up now if you have Trevor Lawrence, Russell Wilson, Jared Goff, or Brock Purdy on bye next week.
Kyler Murray, Cardinals at Browns (46%)
This is more of a stash, especially considering Murray remains IR-eligible, but you simply have to grab Kyler if he's available and you're not loaded at QB. He may not be the greatest real-life signal-caller in football (neither is the aforementioned Howell), but he's a damn good fantasy option thanks to his arm and his legs.
Cleveland is a scary opponent, so we venture to guess Murray won't make his debut in Week 9, but Arizona faces Atlanta and Houston in Weeks 10 and 11. The Cards also have one of the more QB-friendly playoff schedules, with Chicago in Week 16 and Philadelphia in Week 17.
MORE POTENTIAL WEEK 9 QB STREAMS: Kenny Pickett, Steelers vs. Titans (19%); Gardner Minshew, Colts @ Panthers (14%); Desmond Ridder, Falcons vs. Vikings (13%); Mac Jones, Patriots vs. Commanders (9%)
WEEK 8 PPR RANKINGS:
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Kickers
Week 9 Fantasy Waiver Wire Watchlist: RB
WEEK 9 BYES: Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars, San Francisco 49ers
Ezekiel Elliott, Patriots (47 percent rostered)
We maintain that the two most talented skill-position players on the Patriots are Rhamondre Stevenson and Elliott. 'Mondre handles all the passing-down plays at this point, but Zeke has seen enough carries over the past few weeks to merit a spot on your rosters.
Elliott actually had two more attempts than Stevenson last week, and he scored his second TD in as many weeks. With a fairly soft second-half schedule, New England could make both of these RBs fantasy-relevant the rest of the way.
Devin Singletary, Texans (19%)
It's baffling that so few fantasy owners have jumped on the Singletary train, perhaps because of his underwhelming past with Buffalo or the fact that Houston just had its bye week. This dude saw 12 carries for 58 yards two weeks ago against the Saints in a game that was ultimately decided by one score.
Dameon Pierce remains the Texans' lead back, but Singletary could easily continue to put up decent numbers. He should be regarded as (at least) one of the top handcuffs in fantasy. It's not every day that you can find a guy seeing double-digit rushing opportunities and racking up 4.8 yards per carry against good defenses.
Pierre Strong Jr., Browns (10%)
All signs point to increased usage coming for Strong, who benefits from the unfortunate injury luck of both Nick Chubb (knee) and Jerome Ford (ankle). With Kareem Hunt (thigh) still banged up himself, Strong out-snapped and out-touched the veteran after Ford departed Cleveland's Week 7 win over Indy. Don't expect week-winning results from Strong, but if you need RB help, you can do a lot worse than the short speedster in favorable matchups the next two weeks.
MORE POTENTIAL RB PICKUPS: Jeff Wilson Jr., Dolphins (44%); Jamaal Williams, Saints (34%); Joshua Kelley, Chargers (26%); Emari Demercado, Cardinals (27%); Royce Freeman, Rams (24%); Keaton Mitchell, Ravens (12%); Matt Breida, Giants (6%); Cordarrelle Patterson, Falcons (3%); Rico Dowdle, Cowboys (3%)
WEEK 8 STANDARD RANKINGS:
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Kickers
Week 9 Fantasy Waiver Wire Watchlist: WR
WEEK 9 BYES: Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars, San Francisco 49ers
Elijah Moore, Browns (50 percent rostered)
Moore has looked pretty damn good as P.J. Walker's second-favorite target behind Amari Cooper. He has caught four-of-seven targets in each of the past two games, and he's now seen seven or more targets in five of Cleveland's six games this season.
Moore won't light the world on fire in terms of total yards — he had 59 last week and 27 two weeks ago — but he has PPR and TD upside not typically seen in guys so widely available on waiver wires.
Tank Dell, Texans (50%)
Tank dealt with a nagging concussion a few weeks ago and Houston had a bye last weekend, so check to see if impatient or desperate owners had to cut him to open up a spot. He looked very good earlier in the season, and he clearly has a solid rapport with rookie QB C.J. Stroud.
Dell logged a combined 45.7 PPR points in Weeks 2 and 3, so we already know his ceiling is high. The Texans have a pretty favorable schedule moving forward, including Arizona, Denver, and two dates with Tennessee.
Tyler Boyd, Bengals (49%)
Tee Higgins has been one of the more disappointing wideouts of the 2023 season, either dealing with injuries or inconsistencies in basically every week but one. Boyd, meanwhile, has been underwhelming but reliable as the WR3 in a pass-first Joe Burrow offense.
We expect the Bengals to have a solid second half of the season, and Boyd should be a big part of that success. He has seen 38 targets over the past five weeks, so he's worth grabbing for volume and scoing upside alone.
MORE POTENTIAL WR PICKUPS: Curtis Samuel, Commanders (50%); Jameson Williams, Lions (43%); Tutu Atwell, Rams (43%); Brandin Cooks, Cowboys (40%); Kendrick Bourne, Patriots (38%); Rashid Shaheed, Saints (36%); Odell Beckham Jr., Ravens (28%)
Week 9 Fantasy Waiver Wire Watchlist: TE
WEEK 9 BYES: Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars, San Francisco 49ers
Jake Ferguson, Cowboys @ Eagles in Week 9 (50 percent rostered)
Ferguson sandwiched three decent fantasy performances in Weeks 2-4 with yuck-and-poo in Weeks 1, 5, and 6, but given how awful the tight end position has been on the whole, he's still worthy of a roster spot.
The second-year man out of Wisconsin faces the Rams this week and the Eagles next week, two teams that have not been superb at containing above-average TE pass-catchers. Plus, look at Fergie and the Cowboys' schedule in the back-end of the fantasy playoffs: at Miami, vs. Detroit. Those are two bottom-five TE defenses. At the very least, stash this dude.
Taysom Hill, Saints vs. Bears (39%)
It's happening again! Hill has once again become fantasy-relevant, seeing red-zone carries as well as consistent targets from week to week. With Derek Carr struggling mightily with his downfield passing, he and the Saints have utilized their Swiss Army knife in a plethora of ways, and the fantasy results have followed.
In Weeks 6 and 7, Hill turned 13 targets into 11 catches for 99 yards. He also added six carries for 20 yards and a score. There's always the risk that we get burned trying to stream this guy, but this time it feels different. The Saints can realistically win the below-average NFC South, and Hill could have a major offensive role in obtaining that objective. Stash him and see if the points continue if you already have a better TE option. Stream him if you need the upside.
MORE POTENTIAL WEEK 9 TE STREAMS: Jonnu Smith, Falcons vs. Vikings (38%); Luke Musgrave, Packers vs. Rams (26%); Gerald Everett, Chargers @ Jets (25%)
Week 9 fantasy defense streamers and sleepers
WEEK 9 BYES: Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars, San Francisco 49ers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Texans in Week 9 (38 percent rostered)
The Texans have been pretty good this season, but we still like the D/ST upside we get from Tampa Bay's front-seven against a young offensive system. The last time C.J. Stroud played a good defense, New Orleans limited him to 13-of-27 passing and 177 passing yards and picked him off.
Washington Commanders @ Patriots (37%)
Mac Jones and the Patriots had a triumphant late-game drive to upset the Bills last week, but we're still not sold on this offense. With the Commanders likely putting pressure on the pocket and making Mac beat them through the air, we like Washington's chances of putting up a decent D/ST day.
Los Angeles Rams @ Packers (30%)
The Rams certainly aren't what they used to be defensively, but we could say the same thing about the Packers' offense. Jordan Love looked pretty rough against a bad Broncos D last week, so we have Aaron Donald and the Rams taking advantage of the young signal-caller in Week 9.
New England Patriots vs. Commanders (29%)
New England has dealt with myriad injuries this season, but it still serves as a viable stream in plus matchups. Bill Belichick always seems to devise a scheme to neutralize opponents' top offensive options — in this case, wideout Terry McLaurin — and the Pats should be able to contain power running back Brian Robinson. You could do a lot worse than this defense at home against a below-average offense. Sam Howell has been sacked more than any QB in the NFL.
Las Vegas Raiders vs. Giants (26%)
The Raiders' pass rush has been one of the better defensive surprises of the year, due in large part to the continued excellence of defensive end Maxx Crosby. They will be licking their proverbial chops in a home game against a feeble Giants offense, whether Daniel Jones (neck) gets back on the field or Tyrod Taylor keeps his hands on the reins.
Atlanta Falcons vs. Vikings (22%)
The Falcons improved their pass rush and secondary in the offseason, and they're more than capable of racking up some sacks and takeaways against poor offenses. Kirk Cousins looked good against the 49ers in prime time last week, but we don't trust that kind of success to be sustainable. Kirk and company are still an offense you can stream D/STs against as long as Justin Jefferson (hamstring) is out and Alexander Mattison is unspectacular.
Los Angeles Chargers @ Jets (18%)
The Chargers' D has not been great this season, but it has plenty of reason to be optimistic about its Week 9 matchup. Zach Wilson and the Jets will always present a streaming D/ST opportunity, even in the Meadowlands. Los Angeles wouldn't be our first or even fifth choice, but in deep leagues, it's a completely acceptable play.
Indianapolis Colts @ Panthers (9%)
The Colts don't rack up a ton of takeaways, but they do average 2.9 sacks per game and should turn out a strong performance against Bryce Young and the Panthers. Beyond Adam Thielen, Carolina has been pretty disappointing offensively. Indy could be a sneaky dark-horse candidate to put up a top-10 D/ST performance this week.
