Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Week 8 in the NFL

Week 7 is just about over and it’s time to turn the page to Week 8 and figure out who you need to add to your fantasy football team off the Waiver Wire!

There was a slew of injuries this past week and while most of the biggest names in fantasy dodged the bullet, there’s a lot to sort through. Teams have shifted usage around and there’s new opportunities popping up with the big trade of Amari Cooper to the Dallas Cowboys. There’s also four teams on a bye so owners will be looking for some replacements. Let’s dig into who you need to add this week off the Waiver Wire!

Quarterback – Waiver Wire

Mitchell Trubisky, Chicago Bears – vs New York Jets

Yahoo – 53 percent ESPN – 51.1 percent

This past game was the perfect example of the difference between real life and fantasy. In real life, Trubisky struggled in the passing game this past week and barely completed 50 percent of his passes. For fantasy, he had a massive day with three total touchdowns, 81 yards rushing and over 300 yards passing. The rushing floor has been really good so far for Trubisky and the Jets are giving up the 12th most passing yards per game. The Chicago offense is averaging just a little over 28 points per game, which is sixth in football. Despite some of his flaws, Trubisky is becoming a very solid fantasy asset every single week.

C.J. Beathard, San Francisco 49ers – at Arizona Cardinals

Yahoo – 9 percent ESPN – 6.5 percent

Sunday wasn’t a day to remember for Beathard but that tends to happen when Aaron Donald is living in your backfield the entire day. Before the dud against the Rams, Beathard was routinely good for at least 250 yards and two touchdowns seemingly every week. Despite the overall lack of talent on the offense, Kyle Shanahan has been able to pull some production from this ragtag crew of backups. Beathard travels to Arizona this week who just got destroyed but the Broncos. They’ve fired their offensive coordinator and there are reports that Pro Bowl cornerback Patrick Peterson wants to be traded before the deadline. The Cardinals are in shambles and Beathard should be able to have a perfectly fine fantasy game for the Matt Ryan or Philip Rivers owner if they miss on Trubisky.

Also Consider – Baker Mayfield, Cleveland Browns – Case Keenum, Denver Broncos

Running Back – Waiver Wire

Marlon Mack, Indianapolis Colts – at Oakland Raiders

Yahoo – 56 percent ESPN – 53.9 percent

Mack followed up his nice game last week with an even bigger game this week, going for 159 yards on 21 touches. He’s the unquestioned man in the Indy backfield and the best part is he got those 21 touches on just a 56 percent snap share. Despite the presence of Nyheim Hines, Mack has been the go-to option since his return from injury. This game even saw him receive five red zone opportunities so he’s getting every portion of work needed to be a locked in top 15-20 running back option every week. Pick him up and don’t look back, including holding onto him through his bye week after the Raiders game.

Oakland RB’s – vs Indianapolis Colts

Both Doug Martin and Jalen Richard are on the radar for a pickup but to me, Richard is the better option of the two. In any type of PPR format, Richard is the slam dunk better option. I’m thinking he might be more useful even in standard. Martin has a total of 99 rushing yards on 27 attempts while Richard has 253 yards receiving. Now, Martin is likely to see a lot more carries but the Raiders are a bad football team and should be trailing in a lot of games. They just traded Amari Cooper, which will open up even more opportunities and targets for Richard. Even if you’re not getting a point for the catch, he’s still got an excellent chance of gaining more raw yards than Martin does. Both are out there in a ton of leagues and Richard is definitely my priority.

Raheem Mostert, San Francisco 49ers – at Arizona Cardinals

Yahoo – 13 percent ESPN – 3.9 percent

Mostert had a second productive week after Matt Breida got hurt in this game very early and fumbling when he did return. The 49ers are reportedly considering sitting Breida this week in an effort to get him fully healthy and that would make plenty of sense. Regardless of Breida, Mostert is a player that needs to be heavily considered this week. He’s seen consecutive weeks of double digit touches and he badly out-played Alfred Morris. Now he gets to face an Arizona Cardinals defense that is dead last against running backs so far in fantasy. They have been destroyed by the position all season long and with the flashes Mostert is showing, he could vault into top 25 consideration with a Breida absence.

Kenjon Barner, New England Patriots – at Buffalo Bills

Yahoo – 1 percent ESPN – 0.1 percent

This pickup is not really a priority since there are reports of Sony Michel‘s injury isn’t terribly serious. There is still a chance that Michel could miss some time and Barner did see 10 touches. Now, the Pats play on Monday night this week so Barber isn’t really a start candidate. They could also trade for a running back by the deadline if they felt the need to do it. This is a deep league special if you have the roster spot to see how the situation unfolds and nothing more.

Also Consider – Chris Ivory, Buffalo Bills – Latavius Murray, Minnesota Vikings(high ownership but make sure he’s not out there), Ito Smith, Atlanta Falcons

Wide Receiver – Waiver Wire

Jordy Nelson, Oakland Raiders – vs Indianapolis Colts

Yahoo – 65 percent ESPN – 68.9 percent

I’m making an exception on the ownership percentages because of the Amari Cooper trade. I’m not convinced that Nelson is that good of a receiver any more but the Raiders just sent a player with a 14 percent market share in targets out the door. That number might have been a little higher if Cooper hadn’t gotten hurt in his last game. It also would help if he saw consistent targets but that’s another story. Nelson, Jared Cook and Jalen Richard are going to be the trio in this passing game and all three need to be owned moving forward.

Danny Amendola, Miami Dolphins – at Houston Texans

Yahoo – 10 percent ESPN – 24.4 percent

Now that there has been injuries in the receiving corps for Miami, we can feel a little more confident about target projection moving forward. Amendola has been the apple of Brock Osweiler‘s eye since he took the reins at quarterback, racking up 11 and seven targets the past two weeks. Now, Albert Wilson has a long term injury and Kenny Stills will be out for Thursday Night’s game and that should push even more opportunity to Amendola. DeVante Parker will likely see the field but he and coach Adam Gase are clashing as it is. I wouldn’t expect much from him and Amendola should see very close to double digit targets yet again. Especially in PPR formats, he’s on the WR3/Flex radar this week and moving forward if Stills remains out.

Tre’Quan Smith, New Orleans Saints – at Minnesota Vikings

Yahoo – 17 percent ESPN – 8.7 percent

He was on the Saturday Stash article and he could really pay off if Sunday was any indication. Sure, three receptions for 44 yards is nothing to be doing cartwheels over but the rest of the statistical profile for Smith looks very promising. First, he played a career high 73 percent of the snaps. Second, he tied for second on the team with six targets(including a target in the end zone) and lastly, he had an 11.5 aDOT which was over twice the number for Michael Thomas. Smith is a talented rookie who the Saints are starting to trust. His playoff schedule includes Tampa Bay, Carolina and Pittsburgh. Tampa and Pittsburgh should be field days for him and you need to make an effort to get him now because his role should only expand over these next few weeks.

Also Consider – Tyrell Williams, Los Angeles Chargers – Geronimo Allison, Green Bay Packers(he’d be the number one option if he’s healthy) – Chris Godwin, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tight End – Waiver Wire

My goodness is tight end ugly right now. We’ve been hammering home the point that it’s a very thin position for weeks and it’s honestly hard to even find a solid recommended pickup right now. There is one glaring option to snag since he was on a bye week last week. We’ll just run through some names a little quicker than normal and try to highlight some names that could be on your radar.

More from FanSided

Jared Cook, Oakland Raiders – He’s close to 80 percent on Yahoo but if he happens to be out there coming out of his bye, he might be one of the best possible options.

C.J. Uzomah, Cincinnati Bengals – Since Tyler Eifert and Kroft have both been out, he’s had either 50 yards receiving or a touchdown in both games. That pays the bills at this position.

Vance McDonald, Pittsburgh Steelers – He’s the best possible pickup of these three and he has the lowest ownership. He flies under the radar in the Pittsburgh offense but has at least five targets in four of his five games.

Chris Herndon, New York Jets – This is likely only in the deepest leagues, but Herndon has put together two straight games of at least 40 yards and a touchdown. The Jets are very beat up at the receiver position and Herndon could be an option for rookie Sam Darnold.

D/ST – Waiver Wire

New England Patriots

If you’re into streaming defenses, it doesn’t get much better than the Patriots this week. They’re a flawed unit to be sure and they lack a lot of playmakers but it’s Buffalo. That offense is beyond dreadful and they just got their doors blown off by the Colts. I’m sure Bill Belichick will have something good cooked up.

Washington Redskins

They have to travel to New York for a rivalry game but the Washington defense has been underrated all season. They should be able to rack up enough sacks and turnovers to make up for any points they do give up. Aside from getting housed but the Saints during a nationally televised game, they’ve yet to give up more than 21 points this season.

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