Waiver Wire Week 8 Picks

Well, this week was one of the worst weeks of the fantasy season when it came to scoring points unless you had Aaron Rodgers or Marvin Jones Jr. on your team. I know many fell victim to the whole David Johnson debacle. The Cardinals go ahead and make him active then proceed to give him just one snap as Chase Edmonds rumbled on for three touchdowns. Pat Mahomes, Kerryon Johnson, Adam Thielen, Matt Ryan, and Will Fuller were some of the bigger names to go down with injuries. With these injuries, as well as byes for the Ravens and Cowboys, let’s get down to this week’s waiver wire pickups. As always, the players listed below are owned in less than 60% of leagues.

Chase Edmonds

Running Back 31.5% owned

If you read one of my Pre-Season articles, “Handcuffs worth drafting”, you will have seen that I considered Edmonds a must draft with one of the last picks of your draft. He showed why this week, with three total touchdowns to go along with 150 total yards. There are reports that the Cardinals are working out Jay Ajayi and Spencer Ware, which indicates that the David Johnson injury could be more serious than originally expected. Although it was against the porous New York Giant’s defense, Edmonds showed us that he can succeed when given a starter’s workload. Available in just about 70% of leagues, Edmonds is easily the top waiver-wire priority for the week

TY Johnson

Running Back 1.2% owned

Kerryon Johnson is set to miss at least next week’s matchup against the Giants, and possibly longer. TY Johnson would then be thrust into the starting role with a dream matchup with the Giants, who as I mentioned above, just allowed Chase Edmonds to go for three total touchdowns and 150 yards. Johnson is an adept pass catcher and should be able to fare well on the ground with such a positive matchup. J.D Mckissic may possibly steal some passing work, but he is no threat to Johnson’s goal-line role. At worst, he should flirt with Top 20 numbers this week as a nice bye week rental. Depending on the seriousness of Kerryon’s injury, TY could hold more long term value than just a one-week rental but as of now, view him like that, with the priority to Chase Edmonds who holds more season-long value.

Kenny Stills

Wide Receiver 15.2% owned

Stills has been included in my article in previous weeks but it’s worth bringing him up once again with the injury to Will Fuller. Fuller has long battled with injuries and early indications are that his latest injury will force him to miss several weeks. Stills has held standalone value this season, even with a healthy Fuller being active. Stills will now step into a near every-down role as the preferred option next to Deandre Hopkins over Keke Coutee, which moves him into the high-end WR3 conversation with upside, due to his deep ball prowess. As long as Stills himself can stay healthy, he should produce solid numbers for as long as Fuller is out.

Corey Davis

Wide Receiver 43.9% owned

Well, well, well… Here I am, a long time Corey Davis hater, including him in a waiver-wire article. While I am not going to overreact after one good game, it does seem that the move from Mariota to Tannehill will be beneficial for him. Davis had a great game, catching six of seven targets for 80 yards and a touchdown. For those of you in deeper leagues, AJ Brown and Adam Humphries get a nice boost with the quarterback change as well. Next up is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who have been absolutely toasted in the passing game all season. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Corey Davis may finish as a Top 15 wide receiver this week and should carry at least WR3 status moving forward with Mariota out of the picture.

Devante Parker

Wide Receiver 8.7% owned

You know it’s a crazy week in the NFL if I have Corey Davis and Devante Parker in the same article, touting them as adds for your fantasy team. While Preston Williams has been generating all the buzz out of Miami lately, Parker has quietly scored in three straight. A good bet to be one of the pass heaviest teams in the league on a week-by-week basis, Parker should continue to see plenty of volume and garbage time fantasy points, especially if Ryan Fitzpatrick remains under center.

Quick Hits

I have been saying to grab Mark Walton for about four weeks now. Again, he took control of the backfield and should be the guy moving forward in that Miami backfield.

With Adam Thielen’s injury most likely costing him at least two weeks, Olabisi Johnson is the most likely beneficiary. He should start next to Stefon Diggs for as long as Thielen is out.

With the injuries to Pat Mahomes and Matt Ryan, neither of Matt Schaub or Matt Moore are attractive options in anything but Superflex leagues. But if you are in a Superflex league and have to pick between these two, Moore is the preferred option over Schaub.

Delanie Walker went down with an injury this week and will most likely miss the matchup against the Buccaneers. Jonnu Smith will be an upside flyer at Tight End if Walker were to miss any time.

Yes, Alex Erickson had an incredible game this week, hauling in 8 passes for 137 yards. But don’t go blowing a large amount of your FAAB on him. I am all for taking a shot on him, but don’t overpay. Bid what your comfortable with and if you get him you get him, if not, it shouldn’t hurt you. Let a league mate waste his FAAB or waiver priority on him instead.

With an 0-7 start and no end to the suffering in sight, the Andy Dalton era could be ending in Cincinnati. Superflexer’s and those of you in very deep leagues can take a shot on Ryan Finley, just in case he takes over that starting gig.

Brandon Bolden looks like a legitimate option in this Patriots defense these past few weeks and is worth grabbing in deeper PPR leagues.