Fantasy Football Waiver Wire, Week 9: Pick Fitzmagic back up

We have our first big week of byes coming up so the Fantasy Football Waiver Wire is going to be very important to navigate in Week 9 of the fantasy football season.

It’s finally here. One of the weeks that fantasy players have dreaded for two months is here and we have a lot fo bye weeks to contend with. The Bengals, Colts, Eagles, Giants, Cardinals and Jaguars are all off this week. That leaves a lot of players short some very important facets of their team so we’re here to help! Let’s get into who you can use this week to get into Week 9 with a victory off the Fantasy Football Waiver Wire.

Fantasy Football Waiver Wire – Quarterback

Ryan Fitzpatrick, Tampa Bay Buccaneers – at Carolina Panthers 

Yahoo – 7 percent     ESPN – 6 percent 

Fitzmagic is back again as the Bucs have announce that he will start in Week 9 ahead of Jameis Winston. It’s not exactly a surprise since Winston has turned the ball over about every other drive so far. Fitzpatrick isn’t exactly better as far as the turnovers go historically, but let’s take a look at what Graham Barfield tweeted out earlier today comparing the two quarterbacks –

Tampa might be on the road against the Panthers this week who represent a middle of the road matchup. The bottom line is Fitzpatrick is going to chuck the ball deep with abandon because that’s just what he does. The Bucs have some incredible talent at their skill positions and even if he throws a pick or two, Fitzpatrick feels like a pretty safe bet to hit 270 yards passing and two touchdowns.

Derek Carr, Oakland Raiders – at San Francisco 49ers 

Yahoo –       ESPN – 15.3 percent 

Would I be excited to add Carr and use him on a short week and sweat him out potentially ruining my team on Thursday? No exactly but he did play well this past week and I don’t think the Raiders have much else to their offense other than the passing game. The 49ers represent a top 10 matchup for Carr as far as fantasy points given up and they are tied for the second most touchdowns surrendered to the passing game. Some teams might be in a desperate spot with the amount of quarterbacks missing, especially for 2QB leagues. It hasn’t been the prettiest season for Carr but he is averaging 290 yards per game(11th in the league) and only has 10 touchdowns. That number should come up based off his 3.8 percent touchdown rate which is under his career mark of 4.5 percent.

Also Consider – Baker Mayfield, Cleveland Browns – vs Kansas City Chiefs – Joe Flacco, Baltimore Ravens – vs Pittsburgh Steelers – Alex Smith, Washington Redskins – vs Atlanta Falcons

Fantasy Football Waiver Wire – Running Back

It is not a good week to need a running back. Most of the players we’ve been talking about are highly owned at this point and there’s not much out there that you can rely on this upcoming week. There are some intriguing options for the upcoming weeks, however.

Elijah McGuire, New York Jets – at Miami Dolphins 

Yahoo – 6 percent     ESPN – 4.3 percent 

One of the very few players that I would at least consider starting this week would be McGuire but even that depends on if he’s back on the active roster this week. After suffering an injury during the preseason, McGuire is due to come off the injured reserve this week when he’s eligible. In limited opportunities last year, McGuire showed some ability in the passing game with a yards per reception mark over 11 yards. The Jets pass catchers are a totally uninspiring group right now and need hep in whatever form it comes in. Isaiah Crowell is coming off a terrible game and although he’ll still get a bunch of touches, McGuire could push for double digits right out of the gate. The Dolphins defense is giving up the fourth most rushing yards and the third most points to running backs so far this season.

Josh Adams, Philadelphia Eagles – Bye Week 

Yahoo – 1 percent      ESPN – 0.4 percent 

Getting involved with the Philly backfield is a headache, especially on a bye week. I wouldn’t not really spend more than a dollar or two in a FAAB league nor would I spend a waiver priority for Adams by any stretch. However, it’s hard to ignore that he was the most productive runner on a team that lacks any type of lead back. He racked up 61 yards on just nine carries against the Jaguars in London while playing on just 29 percent of the snaps. It’s very difficult to bank on a player that has that type of playing time but the hope is Adams will be used more after the bye week. The Eagles are a team that is scoring just 23.2 points since the return of Carson Wentz, which would only be about 20th in the league. They could use a spark and Adams has potential to provide that on the ground if this past week is any indication.

All of these other players are under 50 percent owned and are worth a look if you need a starter. Unless you’re in a pinch, it’s likely not advisable to get too crazy with running backs in Week 9.

Ito Smith, Atlanta Falcons – The bad news is Smith is coming off a terrible game and he does need a score to be worth a start. The good news is he’s the red zone leader in the Atlanta offense.

Frank Gore, Miami Dolphins – It’s still an ugly split with Kenyan Drake but Gore should get close to double digit touches every week

Duke Johnson, Cleveland Browns – It’s at least possible that new offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens remembers Duke Johnson is a good running back and deserves touches.

Jalen Richard/Doug Martin – These two are both a little too highly owned to dive into and break the rules but they need to be close to 100 percent owned moving forward. Richard is still my preference by far.

Fantasy Football Waiver Wire – Wide Receiver

Keke Coutee, Houston Texans – at Denver Broncos 

Yahoo – 20 percent     ESPN – 18.6 percent 

The sad reality of Will Fuller tearing his ACL this past week is Coutee should be in line for a pretty massive target share the rest of the season. He did miss this past week with a hamstring injury but it was reportedly not considered serious and has had a mini bye week to heal up since Houston played on Thursday night. Coutee has owned a 22 percent share so far in his action and and with Fuller gone, that might creep up a little bit more. DeAndre Hopkins is going to see the bulk of the coverage at all time now so Coutee should be a safe bet for at least a five reception floor every single week.

Danny Amendola/DeVante Parker, Miami Dolphins – vs New York Jets 

Both of the receivers from the Dolphins are in play to be picked up this week. Let’s start with Parker. It’s entirely possible he’s not a Dolphin before the waivers actually run, which could change how important he is. If he stays in Miami and knows the offense, he certainly looked like the most dangerous receiver the Dolphins had this past game. Even taking away the weird helmet catch, he still was approaching 100 yards and led the team in targets. With Albert Wilson out long term and Kenny Stills either out or not being a major part of the offense, Parker should hold most of the value he showed Thursday.

For his part, Amendola had a nice day since he threw a touchdown but that’s obviously fluky. He’s been racking up the targets and could see even more if Parker does indeed get shipped out. He’s seen 23 targets in three games and is a massive boost in PPR formats. The Dolphins aren’t a good team and should continue to throw the ball plenty of times.

D.J. Moore, Carolina Panthers – vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers 

Yahoo – 15 percent      ESPN – 10.4 percent 

We’ve started to see Moore get consistent targets this past month and Sunday saw his snaps spike all the way up to 70 percent. Did that have plenty to do with Torrey Smith being out of the game? Sure but I would be pretty intrigued by Moore this week for sure. Tampa has allowed 10(!) touchdowns to slot receivers so far this season and Moore has ran roughly 45 percent of his routes form the slot this season. Even if Smith is back this week, the matchup is too much to ignore this week and the Panthers should feast.

Courtland Sutton, Denver Broncos – vs Houston Texans 

Yahoo – 10 percent     ESPN – 12.2 percent 

Sutton would leap to the top of this list if Denver trades one of Emmanuel Sanders or Demaryius Thomas gets traded. Sutton is more of a stash otherwise because even though he’s been playing plenty of snaps, a 13 percent target share just isn’t a ton. Sanders is around 24 percent and Thomas is right under 20 percent so if those open up, Sutton could turning a weekly flex/low end WR2. Denver does have a solid running game but anytime a player has 20-22 percent of a passing game, they’re in play every week.

Also Consider – Tyrell Williams, Los Angeles Chargers – at Seattle Seahawks – Christian Kirk, Arizona Cardinals – Bye Week – Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Green Bay Packers – vs New England Patriots

Fantasy Football Waiver Wire – Tight End and D/ST

Jack Doyle, Indianapolis Colts – Bye Week 

Yahoo – 25 percent     ESPN – 31.9 percent 

We’ve hit our number one priority on the waivers this week. I hope he’s already on your roster but Doyle is a player that I’m willing to spend a ton of FAAB on or burn a high priority. Yes, he’s on the bye this week so you don’t get immediate returns. Still Doyle is a top five option at a position that is starved for any type of reliability. He missed five straight games and came back to play 73 percent of the snaps and resume his normal role in the offense. Eric Ebron dropped to 18 percent of the snaps so this is Doyle’s role. Andrew Luck is playing extremely well and Doyle is one of his favorite targets, owning a 19 percent target share. That would rank fifth among tight ends in the NFL.

Also Consider – Vance McDonald, Pittsburgh Steelers – at Baltimore Ravens – Ricky Seals-Jones, Arizona Cardinals – Bye Week – Ed Dickson, Seattle Seahawks – vs Los Angeles Chargers

D/ST

Dallas Cowboys/Tennessee Titans 

Both defenses are under 15 percent on Yahoo and these teams square off this Monday night. Neither team has a good offense and this should be a run based slug fest. I wouldn’t expect too many points here and Monday Night Football really got the short end of the stick for the second week in a row.

Denver Broncos – vs Houston Texans 

It’s not often I want to attack an offense that just threw for five touchdowns alone in the previous game. However, the Texans are now without one of the prime deep threats in football in Will Fuller. They also allow the fourth most sacks in football, meaning Von Miller should be able to hit home at least once. Watson can get a little turnover happy and traveling to Denver isn’t the easiest task.

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