NFL Week 9 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire

How’s it going, everyone? Did you pull off the win in your fantasy league? Or did you suffer a painful defeat?

I know for me, in my main dynasty league I was ahead by 10 points and my opponent had Malik Nabers. I had suffered the Jordan Love and Jordan Mason injuries, so that did not help matters (by the way I had sat Jakobi Meyers and Josh Downs in favor of Brian Robinson and Mason). It came down to the wire but I ended up losing by four points thanks to Nabers two catches on the Giants’ final drive. Fun stuff!

But enough about me, let’s dive into some news and notes with some wavier talk!

News and Notes

• 🏹 Patrick Mahomes put up his best fantasy score of the season with 19.2 points. He is the QB15 with Monday Night Football left to go. It would have been good enough for QB9 in Week 7, but we aren’t in Week 7. All that to say, Patrick Mahomes has still to finish as a QB1 in fantasy football this season.

• 🔥 Three receivers had more than 120 receiving yards this week: CeeDee Lamb, Terry McLaurin, and Calvin Ridley.

• Four receivers had two touchdowns in Week 8: CeeDee Lamb, Cedric Tillman, Demarcus Robinson, and Ladd McConkey.

• ⚡️ Speaking of Ladd McConkey, I feel really good about calling him out as a start in Week 8. I can’t say the same about my endorsement of Javonte Williams though.

• 🐻 From Weeks 1-3, D’Andre Swift was the RB42 in half-PPR averaging 1.8 yards per carry. Since then, he’s the overall RB3 and he’s played one fewer game than the running backs ahead of him: Derrick Henry and Kenneth Walker.

• 🟣 Among running backs with more than 50 rush attempts, Derrick Henry, the man whom many worried hit the age cliff, is leading the NFL in yards per carry with 6.5. Jahmyr Gibbs is in second with 6.4.

• 🛫 Garrett Wilson has been on a tear: he’s gone over 100 receiving yards in three of his last four games, one of which came with Davante Adams on the field. I think in time Adams will get back in sync with Rodgers, but Wilson is faring a lot better than I had anticipated.

• 🔵 According to FantasyPros, in games with Richardson as the primary passer, 9 of Josh Downs’s 17 total targets have been catchable. He has caught 8 of them. On another note, Richardson’s position as starting quarterback has come into question. It doesn’t mean the Colts are back in the QB market in the draft next year, but might they sit Richardson and let him develop on the sidelines? That’s entirely possible.

Waiver Targets

• QB: Bo Nix @ BAL, Matthew Stafford @ SEA, Trevor Lawrence @ PHI

• RB: Ezekiel Elliot @ ATL, Isaac Guerendo (BYE), Tyler Allgeier vs DAL

• WR: Cedric Tillman vs LAC, John Downs @ MIN, Keon Coleman vs MIA (if available), Jalen Tolbert @ ATL, Parker Washington @ PHI

• TE: Cade Otton @ KC, Zach Ertz @ NYG, Tyler Conklin vs HOU, Brenton Strange @ PHI

🐎 Bo Nix is rostered in only 32% of leagues guys. He is the QB9 on the season and now he gets Baltimore that just gave up a big game to Jameis Winston. 🐏 Matthew Stafford looked like a different man with Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp back in the lineup, it’s almost as if receivers are really important for QB production. He had his best game of the season and can take that momentum out on Seattle who was just throttled by Buffalo. Lawrence has been a bit up and down this season and just lost Christian Kirk for the year, but he still has Evan Engram and Brian Thomas Jr (if he plays, he has an injury of his own). 🐆 

The running back options this week are….gross. 🤢 Elliot is probably the best option out there, and that is only if Rico Dowdle misses another game. Tyler Allgeier is a desperation flex play, and Isaac Guerendo is a stash in case they make a switch off of Jordan Mason as the primary backup for CMC. But, don’t drop Mason just yet.

🟠 Ok, on Thursday I mentioned I was not fully on the Cedric Tillman hype train. Metaphorically, I had bought a ticket, just not boarded the train. Maybe it’s my Browns fandom speaking, but I’m on board and upgraded my tickets to first class. He’s a great target this week even if the matchup isn’t all that great against LAC. His target share wasn’t as elite as it was in Week 7 but he’s shown big play capability and has the trust of his QBs. Josh Downs is still somehow available in 58% of leagues. I get his big score came on a broken play, but he’s the clear WR1 in Indy right now and attracted 28% of the targets against the Texans. The Colts will find themselves in another game where they will be force to throw when they face Minnesota this week. 🐴 

I think it’s a matter of time until Amari Cooper takes more of the offense, but Keon Coleman is still an interesting add off of waivers. 🦬 He’s been a contested catch man so far this year, something I expected from him coming out of college, and he should only improve. 🤠 Jalen Tolbert was a distant second behind CeeDee Lamb in the pecking order but I doubt Lamb gets 17 targets every week. Parker Washington should see an increase in targets with Christian Kirk done for the year and Brian Thomas and Gabe Davis having their own issues.

🏴‍☠️ I swear this is probably the final week I will mention Cade Otton. He’s 46% rostered and just put up a career game against Atlanta on Sunday. With Otton looking like a fixture in the offense with Evans and Godwin out, just pick him up and play him. Zach Ertz and Tyler Conklin are the other regulars in this column. The last name I want to bring up is Brenton Strange. He had a weird resurgence last week against the Packers and he could be worth a speculative add with the Jaguars dealing with a variety of aforementioned injuries. 🐆 

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