Fantasy football waiver pickups for Week 8
- Quarterbacks to add from the fantasy waiver wire
- Running backs to add from the fantasy waiver wire
- Wide receivers to add from the fantasy waiver wire
- Tight ends to add from the fantasy waiver wire
After a few weeks in which the fantasy football waiver wire has been a bit lackluster, we now have some big opportunities at hand as we move on into Week 8. There are always going to be players who emerge as potential league-winners in fantasy with injuries and roles changing throughout the year, but the most valuable thing can often be a young player like Kyle Monangai or Oronde Gadsden II simply earning a starting-level role as the season rolls on and being available on the waiver wire.
Those two players are going to be hot commodities, but they are the types of players to spend a considerable amount of FAB budget on if you play in such a league. More importantly, both players (depending on your own roster's needs) should be the top claim that you place on the fantasy waiver wire. What they've shown and their workload ultimately means that they could be consistent set-it-and-forget-it starters for every week in which they're healthy and not on bye.
Monangai and Gadsden are the top priorities this week, but they aren't alone in terms of pickups that you should be trying to make this week. So let's go position-by-position through the fantasy football waiver wire and figure out the best adds to make heading into Week 8.
Note: Roster percentages are in ESPN fantasy leagues. All rankings and point totals are in PPR leagues and entering Monday Night Football.
Quarterbacks to add from the fantasy waiver wire
Jaxson Dart, New York Giants (43.3% rostered)
Vibes for the Giants aren't great after a disastrous collapse in Week 7, allowing 33 points in the fourth quarter to lose to the Broncos. While that may be the case, Jaxson Dart continues to establish himself not only as an impressive rookie quarterback, but as a more than viable fantasy option at the position. This isn't just for Superflex leagues — Dart could absolutely be a starter in even 10-team leagues based on what he's doing.
In the loss to Denver, Dart still threw for three touchdowns and rushed for one more. While he did throw a pick, that was enough to propel him to be the QB2 on the week. Since Dart took over as the starter in Week 4, he's not finished with fewer than 15 fantasy points in a game, and now has two straight games posting 23 or more points. He's a legitimate dual-threat that will use his legs and has been progressing as a passer not afraid to take shots. He's nearing 50% rostered, though, but you should absolutely check to see if he's available. His upside is that valuable based on what we've seen.
Joe Flacco, Cincinnati Bengals (4.9% rostered)
It's entirely possible that everyone vastly underrated what Joe Flacco being experienced and not timid could mean for both him and the Bengals offense. Not only did he lead Cincinnati to an upset win over the Steelers on Thursday night in Week 7, but he was slinging the pigskin around the yard, throwing the ball 47 times and ending the game with 342 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions. That was good enough to make him the QB6 for the week.
Flacco is still widely available across platforms and could be a viable option. Unlike his predecessor, Jake Browning, in terms of Joe Burrow replacements, he's willing to force-feed two of the best receivers in the NFL in Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. While that could come back to bite him in some instances, the talent of those two is great enough that Flacco is likely to consistently put up yardage and find the end zone, even if it doesn't always translate to Bengals wins. For fantasy, we don't care about that at all, and the production should be there relatively consistently.
Running backs to add from the fantasy waiver wire
Kyle Monangai, Chicago Bears (4.1% rostered)
As alluded to, Kyle Monangai is one of the biggest priorities on the fantasy waiver wire through the first eight weeks of the season. It's been clear for a while now that D'Andre Swift hasn't been in the highest favor of Ben Johnson, but now the rookie out of Rutgers is really starting to eat more and more into his snap share. More importantly, Monangai made good on getting more work in Week 7 and now has the potential chance for even more touches moving forward.
Monangai was the RB11 in Week 7 as the first-year Bears running back rushed for 81 yards and a touchdown on just 13 carries, while also catching two passes for 13 yards. More importantly, the time share for Chicago between him and Swift was nearly an even split, which continues to be a trend up for Monangai and down for Swift. Based on all the signs, it might not be long before Monangai is a legitimate factor every week in an offense that's only looking more potent with each passing week.
Brashard Smith, Kansas City Chiefs (2.7% rostered)
Even from a non-fantasy perspective, I've been clamoring for weeks for Chiefs rookie Brashard Smith to get touches over Kareem Hunt in this offense. Finally, it seems like that's about to start happening after a nice outing for the rookie out of SMU after getting 14 carries and catching all five of his targets for 81 total yards on the day.
Smith had looked like the most explosive backfield option in Kansas City all season. Now that Rashee Rice has returned to open up things even further, that could lead to even more high-value touches for Smith, and may also be an opportunity to get him now before he really becomes a consistent and undeniable factor in one of the league's best offenses.
Isaiah Davis, New York Jets (4.1% rostered)
Though it does appear that the Breece Hall injury isn't serious and the starter could still be good to go for the Jets in Week 8, that only raises the necessary awareness around Isaiah Davis and how valuable he could possibly be in this situation. Granted, the Jets offense is certified atrocious, but the run game has been the one aspect that hasn't been completely dysfunctional, and there's also a non-zero chance that, if Tyrod Taylor takes over, things could at least marginally improve.
Davis still hasn't received more than five touches in a single game this season, but he's still shown some explosivity, especially as a pass-catcher. In Week 8 particularly, he could see an increased workload even if Hall plays and the Jets want to ease him back into action. And as a handcuff, he could have added value if Hall is unable to go or suffers any injury from here on out.
Wide receivers to add from the fantasy waiver wire
Alec Pierce, Indianapolis Colts (3.1% rostered)
Things were trending up for Alec Pierce early in the season as the Colts were still catching the entirety of the NFL by surprise, scoring double-digit fantasy points in two of his first three games. However, he was then forced to miss two games due to injury, and spent Week 6 seemingly getting re-acclimated and healthier. That led to a big-time Week 7 performance in which he caught five of his 10 targets for 98 yards.
Pierce isn't going to be the top pass-catcher in the Colts offense as he competes for targets with Michael Pittman Jr. and Tyler Warren — and not to mention Jonathan Taylor in the run game. However, he's the purest downfield option in the Indianapolis offense for Daniel Jones and Shane Steichen appears set on taking advantage of that. With big-play potential and high-value targets likely to become the norm, Pierce should be on everyone's radar for a waiver pickup.
Kayshon Boutte, New England Patriots (27.1% rostered)
In many cases, one of the biggest indicators of future success for fantasy pass-catchers is the number of targets and the share of the targets that a player is getting. However, Kayshon Boutte is beginning to look like the outlier in that conversation. He received eight targets in Week 1 but hasn't received more than five in any game since as a piece of the Drake Maye-led offense in New England. And yet, he's still sitting as a Top 30 receiver on the season this year.
Boutte has amassed 39.8 fantasy points in PPR scoring over the past two weeks. He's a downfield jump-ball threat for the Patriots offense, which has routinely put him in position to make big plays and also makes him a big-time threat in the red zone to score a touchdown. Again, there could be some frustrations with Boutte simply because he's not going to get a boatload of targets, but the upside is still there.
Tez Johnson, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (16.2% rostered)
Something you'll hear about more than once when it comes to the waiver wire for Week 8, the Mike Evans injury, though exceptionally unfortunate, does give fantasy managers immense opportunities to capitalize on the wire with the right pickups. Tez Johnson undoubtedly looks like he could be one of those options for Baker Mayfield and this offense after catching four passes for 58 yards and a touchdown on Monday night.
The rookie Johnson has been getting more looks as a downfield threat in the Bucs offense as the season progresses, and his touchdown grab was his second in as many weeks. The most promising part, though, was that Johnson saw nine targets in Tampa's loss to the Lions, which should be closer to the norm than anyone expected given the run of receiver injuries for this offense and pass-catcher group right now.
Xavier Legette, Carolina Panthers (23.8% rostered)
I want to start by putting a caution label on this because I'm not sure how much I trust Xavier Legette moving forward. But having said that, the Panthers second-year wideout at least appears like he's garnering more trust from Bryce Young and the Carolina offensive play-calling. That was evidenced by a true breakout performance with nine catches on 11 targets for 92 yards and a touchdown in the win over the Jets on Sunday.
Legette struggled early in the season but did have 15 targets through two weeks before missing two games, and then playing a limited role in the two contests after his return to action. Now that he seems to be healthy, I'd be willing to make an early move this week to try and grab him before it's too late. That might not mean starting him with confidence in Week 8, but there's a legitimate chance he becomes a startable option for the home stretch of the fantasy regular season and into the playoffs.
Tight ends to add from the fantasy waiver wire
Oronde Gadsden II, Los Angeles Chargers (2.3% rostered)
The emergence of Oronde Gadsden II in Week 6 with an 11.8 fantasy point performance (seven catches for 68 yards on eight targets) was something we took notice of, but it was also still somewhat hard to trust it. After Week 7, this might be one of your last legitimate opportunities to be able to add him off of the waiver wire, because the fifth-round rookie went nuclear on Sunday in the loss to Indianapolis.
Gadsden finished the week tied for TE1 with Trey McBride after hauling in seven of his nine targets for 164 yards and a touchdown. What's most encouraging is this surge from the Chargers rookie has come not by way of necessity due to injuries around him but, rather, with a healthy complement of tight ends around him, as well as receivers.
At the risk of getting over our skis, this could be one of the most impactful waiver wire pickups of the season in fantasy football.
Theo Johnson, New York Giants (11.6% rostered)
Another Giants tight end, Daniel Bellinger, actually outscored Theo Johnson in Week 7, but the latter is who fantasy managers should be prioritizing on the waiver wire going into Week 8. While Week 6 was one to forget with only two catches on four targets for 27 yards, Johnson has been on an overall torrid spree in his last four games.
Across Weeks 4, 5 and now 7, Johnson has averaged more than six targets per game and has caught at least one touchdown in each of those outings. Not shockingly, he's notched double-digit fantasy points in each of those outings, including topping 15 points in Weeks 5 and 7.
What stands out, though, is that Johnson is clearly an athletic red-zone target that Jaxson Dart and Brian Daboll are going to target in those situations, while also being a potential big-play threat with his elite-level athleticism. It might be a boom-bust option in some weeks, but the upside is clearly there if you need that at tight end on your roster.
Cade Otton, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (29.7% rostered)
With Mike Evans potentially being out for the season in Tampa Bay now, there's a real chance that the Bucs' recent affinity for feeding Cade Otton is now only going to increase and he could be one of the best mid-season value adds at tight end as well.
Over the last three games now, Otton has 12.1, 10.1 and 13.5 fantasy points in PPR scoring, and has done that while not catching a touchdown pass over that three-week span. The most encouraging sign is that he's not received fewer than five targets in any of those outings, and is now coming off of a nine-target performance that resulted in seven receptions for 65 yards on Monday Night Football's loss to Detroit.
With Evans now out and the health of Emeka Egbuka and Chris Godwin already being in doubt much of this season already, Otton is the healthy, familiar option that could and should keep seeing a high target share from Baker Mayfield.