Welcome back to the 2019 Fantasy Football Week 8 Waiver Wire. It was a rough week for a lot of Fantasy owners, as several high-profile players severely underperformed or got injured. For more on what was happening in Week 7, check out Noah Spurlock’s Trends article.

Speaking of underperforming, imagine drafting Melvin Gordon in the 7th round, have him return from a holdout and perform like this:

Since Melvin Gordon returned, 27 of his 36 carries have gained 3 yds or fewer (75%) with 2 fumbles 11 of his 14 targets have gained 3 yds or fewer (79%) All told, plays intended for Gordon are averaging 2.3 yds 4 have gained 1st downs (8%)#Chargers 0-3 since Gordon’s return — Evan Silva (@evansilva) October 21, 2019

Or you could be a David Johnson owner forced to watch as Chase Edmonds ran all over the Giants for 126 yards and three touchdowns, all while DJ was active. To be fair, Johnson was injured after his first carry, leading to Edmond’s monster day.

Other injuries included: Patrick Mahomes, Kerryon Johnson, and Will Fuller. Their replacements will be discussed below.

The 2019 Fantasy Football Week 8 Waiver Wire will try to focus on players owned in under 35% of Yahoo leagues. Players listed in the “other options” section are between 35 and 50 percent owned.

2019 Fantasy Football Week 8 Waiver Wire

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Quarterbacks

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What is this, 2014? As crazy as it seems, Tannehill is one of the most viable widely available quarterbacks. Starting in relief of the benched Marcus Mariota, Tannehill threw for 312 yards and two touchdowns against the Chargers. That performance built off of his abbreviated appearance in Week 6 when he completed 13-of-16 passes.

He has looked much better than Mariota in his short stint as the starter and will likely start again against the Buccaneers this week. Tampa gives up the sixth-most Fantasy points to the QB position and is allowing 269 passing yards per game, ninth-most in the league.

Pro Football Focus has graded Tampa Bay’s coverage of wide receivers at 47.1, 27th in the league.

Tannehill has decent weapons at his disposal in Corey Davis, A.J. Brown, and Delanie Walker (health pending) and should be one of the better streamers in Week 8.

Matt Moore, Kansas City Chiefs (1% owned)

With Mahomes out for the next 3-5 weeks, the former Panther and Dolphin will be at the helm of one of the league’s best offenses.

Moore wasn’t great on Thursday night, completing just 10-of-19 passes for 117 yards and one touchdown. 57 of those yards came on a Tyreek Hill touchdown where much of the yardage came after the catch. However, Moore has proven to be a solid backup in the past and will likely need to throw against the Packers at home in Week 8.

He won’t put up Mahomes numbers, but with Hill and Travis Kelce as weapons, Moore has a better floor than other streaming options.

Other Options: Mitch Trubisky (25% owned), Teddy Bridgewater (16% owned), Mason Rudolph (6% owned)

Running Backs

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Walton was in last week’s edition but he needs to make another appearance after a second straight solid performance. The former-Bengal rushed 13 times for 66 yards, out-touching, and out-gaining Kenyan Drake by a significant margin.

Kalen Ballage did rain on the parade by vulturing a three-yard touchdown. However, Ballage has proven he can’t be a consistent option and shouldn’t be a threat to take many carries. Granted, these are the Dolphins and anything can happen.

With rumors that Drake will be shipped out before the trade deadline, Walton has a chance to gain the majority of carries in the Miami backfield. Game scripts could be trouble for his carry totals, but Walton showed in Week 6 (six targets) that he is a capable pass catcher and that the Dolphins are not afraid to use him in that role.

Kerryon Johnson left Sunday’s game with a knee injury after five carries, putting Ty in the mix for carries. In relief, the rookie out of Maryland rushed 10 times for 29 yards and caught four passes for 28 yards. The efficiency was not good, but he did receive the majority of the work out of the backfield.

J.D. McKissic will handle some of the touches, mostly on passing downs, but Johnson will likely take the red zone opportunities, as he was the only Lions’ running back with red zone carries (three) on Sunday.

Kerryon was seen in a knee brace following the game, which puts his status in serious doubt for Detroit’s Week 8 matchup against the Giants. If last week was any indication, New York is a perfect matchup for backup running backs to go off and jump into the Fantasy spotlight.

Other Options: Darrell Henderson Jr. (32% owned), Brian Hill (1% owned), Alexander Mattison (25% owned)

Wide Receivers

A.J. Brown, Tennessee Titans (17% owned)

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Like the rest of the Titan’s offense, Brown has been reinvigorated by Tannehill. With the former eighth overall pick under center, Brown had the most consistent game of his career, catching 6-of-8 targets for 64 yards.

The performance didn’t have the flash that his Week 1 or Week 4 performances did, but it did set season-best markers in both targets and receptions.

If Tannehill keeps feeding his rookie receiver the ball, Brown will get the chance to show off his game-changing YAC ability. In case you needed a reminder:

Somewhere out there, Will Fuller owners can be heard screaming:

Fuller is expected to miss multiple weeks after straining his hamstring in Week 7. He has missed 17 games in his four-year career, including several games with previous hamstring strains. It should not be a shock that Fuller is hurt.

Stills took over the role of Deshaun Watson‘s deep threat and made the most of it, catching four passes for 105 yards. He and Keke Coutee will split Fuller’s targets and both are worthy adds for Week 8 against the Raiders.

Other Options: Keke Coutee (3% owned), Diontae Johnson (19% owned). Corey Davis (41% owned), Auden Tate (38% owned), DeVante Parker (11% owned), Zach Pascal (1% owned)

Tight Ends

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Goedert started the season out very slowly but has worked himself into Fantasy relevance with his most recent performance. After seeing eight targets last week, Goedert followed up with 69 yards and a touchdown in Week 7.

He actually led the Eagles in receiving on a night where the offense struggled badly. Goedert, of course, is behind Zach Ertz on the depth chart. However, the Eagles defense is terrible and Goedert should see increased opportunities as Philadelphia is forced to throw.

Add Goedert as a bye week fill-in or deep league starter.

Ben Watson, New England Patriots (4% owned)

Watson re-signed with New England a week after being cut thanks to multiple injuries. With both Matt LaCosse and Ryan Izzo injured, Watson was the only tight end available for Monday night’s game against the Jets.

He didn’t have the greatest debut, catching just three passes for 18 yards. Watson did have five targets and could be used in the red zone moving forward. He won’t be a consistent option with soo many mouths to feed in New England, but desperate owners could do worse than an offense that can move the chains.

With the Patriots hurting on offense, Watson’s performance may point to improved opportunities moving forward.

UPDATE: New England has acquired Mohamed Sanu for a second round pick. With even more mouths to feed Watson will be extremely TD dependant. Add with caution.

Other Options: Rhett Ellison (0% owned)

Deep League Special

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Erickson’s breakout performance came out of nowhere. If you saw it coming, Tweet at me and I’ll sing your praises in next week’s edition.

In another terrible loss, Erickson had a career day, catching 8-of-14 targets for 137 yards. He accounted for 87 yards on their first touchdown drive and was easily their best offensive player.





Relying on a Bengal’s skill player seems like a terrible idea at this point in the season, but the fourth-year receiver is getting the opportunity, with 20 targets in his last two games.

Check out the rest of our 2019 Fantasy Football content from our great team of writers.