NFL fantasy football waiver wire pickups for Week 9

Now that the NFL trade deadline has come and gone, it is time to shift our attention back to fantasy football and the Week 9 waiver wire.

Whether your favorite NFL team made a trade before the deadline or not, the moves that were made will certainly have an impact on the fantasy football landscape. With that in mind, be sure to adjust your rankings and rest-of-season analysis accordingly.

With the fantasy football playoffs on the horizon, be sure to check your league’s waiver wire and add these players to bolster your chances, who are available in over 50 percent of Yahoo Fantasy football leagues.

QB Waiver Wire Pickups, Fantasy Football Week 9

Sam Howell, Washington Commanders (46 percent rostered)

With so many quarterbacks struggling and/or dealing with an injury, how could it be that the overall QB8 through the first eight weeks of the season is rostered in only 46 percent of Yahoo Fantasy football leagues?

This is now Howell’s fourth appearance on this column yet he continues to be widely available in Yahoo Fantasy football leagues. Per Sleeper’s NFL X (also known as Twitter) account, Howell has finished three of the past four weeks as a top-eight fantasy quarterback (he was the overall QB1 in Week 8).

Howell plays for an offensive coordinator in Eric Bieniemy who prefers to throw the football regardless of the game situation. Per NBC Sports’ Denny Carter, the Commanders are nine percent over their expected dropback rate since Week 5. In that span, Howell has attempted 50-plus passes in two of four games and at least 42 pass attempts in three of his last four.

Not to mention, the Commanders sent away their two best pass-rushers (Montez Sweat and Chase Young) today via trade, signaling that the Commanders have an eye toward the future. In the current aftermath of the trades, the Commanders defense which already ranks in the bottom five in both opponent yards (374.1) and points (28.5) per game just got even worse.

The Commanders’ new-look defense should only continue to put Howell in favorable positions to rack up plenty of fantasy points as the team will be forced to play catch-up more often than not.

Howell is a QB1 the rest of the way and this will be the last call for those in need of a quarterback.

Will Levis, Tennessee Titans (6 percent rostered)

Will Levis had one of the more impressive NFL debuts in recent memory last week when he completed 19 of his 29 pass attempts for 238 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Titans to a 28-23 win over the Falcons. Now, he gets to face a Steelers secondary that ranks 24th in opponent passing yards per game (245.4).

Before the Week 8 game against the Falcons, Titans head coach Mike Vrabel said the plan was for Levis to rotate with quarterback Malik Willis while Ryan Tannehill tends to an ankle injury. However, after Willis lost a fumble on the game’s opening drive, the team decided to stick with Levis the rest of the way.

What was most impressive about Levis in his debut was that he was throwing the ball down the field with confidence, constantly finding DeAndre Hopkins for big gains. Levis averaged 8.2 yards per attempt and was not afraid to take deep shots down the field.

Not to mention, Levis showed a willingness to tuck the football and run if he couldn’t locate an open pass-catcher. He finished the game with seven carries (three of which were kneels to run the clock out on the final drive). Even if you remove the three kneels, he was second on the team in rush attempts, trailing only Derrick Henry.

With Tannehill’s timetable to return looking uncertain, Levis makes for a worthwhile addition to any fantasy manager in need of quarterback help.