Week 8 Waiver Wire Pickups
By Michael Visconti October 25th, 2016
We are almost at the half way point. It goes so fast. We are also at the point of the season where we have the biggest bye weeks. This week we have six teams on bye: Rams, Dolphins, Giants, 49ers, Steelers, and Ravens. Brutal. Get ready to see what kind of bench you and your opponents have. This is a great opportunity to creep up in points and sneak in a win by playing the waiver wire and free agent market better than your league mates.
Quarterbacks
There aren’t any Quarterbacks recommended as season long holds, so here are a few streamers for Week 8:
Alex Smith KC @ IND
Sam Bradford @ CHI
Brock Osweiller vs HOU
Ryan Fitzpatrick @ NYJ
Watch List – Josh McCown CLE, Tony Romo DAL, Colin Kaepernick SF
Running Backs
Jay Ajayi MIA – In case your league did not believe in his 200+ yard Week 6 performance he posted another 200+ yard performance which will require you to put all of your FAAB on him now. He is worth it, especially with the recent news of Arian Foster’s retirement.
Jaquizz Rodgers TB – As Doug Martin is still ailing with a foot injury Quiz keeps racking up the carries. I saw him dropped in a couple of leagues with Doug whispered of returning last week. Foot injuries are tricky and Quiz is a must add in all formats.
Devontae Booker DEN – Booker is earning more and more playing time. He surpassed CJ Anderson on Monday Night Football with a total of 17 to 16 carries. If he keeps playing well he will continue to get a lot of action. CJ will continue to get a bunch of looks here too, but in this day of football a run-heavy offense can have two fantasy relevant running backs.
Chris Thompson WAS – As I spoke of in the preseason Matt Jones loves to fumble. That could be a career killer for him. Chris got the most action. He caught all 7 of his targets while rushing the ball 13 times. He is not the prototypical running back, more like a scat back, but the upcoming Redskins schedule (aside from Minnesota) is good enough to bring Thompson to fantasy relevance down the stretch. I really like that week 16 matchup versus the Bears.
Mike Gillislee BUF – Mike will be the starting running back should LeSean miss anytime. He has played pretty well this season with a 6.8 YPC this season. If LeSean is fine, which he usually finds a way to play, then Mike has very little value. He is worth a speculative add.
Ty Montgomery GB – I guess I will put this guy here in the running back section. The former wide out is still probably a wide out. Either way he has great value for the remainder of the season. I have my eyes on Knile Davis as he is more of the traditional Packers type of a running back, but Ty will be heavily involved in this offense moving forward.
Kenneth Dixon BAL – With the very brief success of Terrance West owners may have been fed up holding onto Dixon. Coach John Harbaugh is committed to getting Kenneth in action as soon as this week.
Watch List –Damien Williams MIA, Thomas Rawls SEA, Dion Lewis NE, Alfred Morris DAL, Zach Zenner DET, Matt Asiata MIN, Knile Davis GB, Rob Kelley WAS
Wide Receiver
Kenny Britt LA – Kenny came back down to earth, but he still led the Rams with 8 targets. The big guy will have a couple to three big games down the stretch and is worth an add through these bye weeks.
DaVante Adams GB – And the Hate – Love – Mostly Hate relationship continues. Get ready for the Week 8 letdown here. Adams will be the #1 pickup this week, but we have all seen this movie before. Still, he had a monster Thursday Night Football game.
Kenny Stills MIA – Kenny had a great Sunday and looks like he leap-frogged disappointing DaVante Parker on the depth chart. Stills had 100 yards receiving on 5 catches and a TD.
Marquise Lee JAX – I cannot quite figure out why Lee had just as many targets as Allen Robinson this Sunday, but maybe it is that while A-Rob draws all the best defensive attention Lee gets the best matchup. He did the most he could with his 8 targets catching 7 of them for 107 yards while A-Rob caught 2 of his 8 targets for 9 yards, that’s disgusting. Allen Hurns had 7 targets and caught 4 for 45 yards. This is not a very exciting scoop, but he may end up being the most fantasy relevant on this team for the remainder of the season. Jury is out.
Watch List – Corey Coleman CLE, Cordarelle Patterson MIN, Adam Thielen, Nelson Agholor PHI, Chris Conley KC, Robert Woods BUF, Breshad Perriman BAL, Anquan Boldin DET, Seth Roberts OAK, Michael Floyd ARI
Tight End
Vernon Davis WAS – VD caught all six of his targets for 79 yards. I will say that Reed has been cleared to begin practicing, but I have very little confidence in his ability to stay healthy.
Jack Doyle IND – Jack was on every one of my DFS lineups last week and he was the highest scoring fantasy tight end. His play, especially redzone targets, has earned him a spot as a waiver wire add in season long leagues. Jack caught 9 balls and one for a TD on Sunday.
Watch List – Lance Kendricks LA, Vance McDonald SF