We made it through another week without multiple serious injuries, other than Cleveland Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. out for the remainder of the season with a torn ACL. Still, this could affect your fantasy teams and you’ll need some fantasy football waiver wire pickups to replace him or block an opponent from a key pickup.
If you’ve been here before, you know what I’m going to say: active fantasy managers win their leagues. With four teams on a bye this week (WAS, HOU, JAX, ARI), you’ll need to find some gems as waiver wire pickups to make an impact this week, especially those teams with the Murray-Hopkins stack.
With that being said, here are my top waiver wire pickups for Week 8 that have some value, given their matchup or injuries on their teams.
There are also some drop-worthy candidates that you can consider dropping at this point, but by no means are must-drop players.
Players must be owned in less than 60 percent of ESPN leagues to be included in the fantasy football Week 8 waiver wire pickups column. All ownerships for waiver wire players will be provided and will reflect that of Monday evening.
Quarterback Waiver Wire Pickups
Joe Burrow, Bengals (49.5%)
The first overall pick has not disappointed much at all as he threw for 406 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception against the Browns last week. I’ve mentioned Burrow here a few times now this season and it’s because of how much he throws the ball. There hasn’t been a single game this season where Burrow threw fewer than 30 times and he seems to be adjusting to the NFL game speed as he’s moving the chains with his legs now. In Week 8, he plays the Titans who allow 19.6 fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks thus far. With the weapons Burrow has around him, he has upside to put up 20+ fantasy points per game. Roster him in every format.
Teddy Bridgewater, Panthers (30.6%)
In my Week 5 waiver wire article, I suggested picking up Teddy Bridgewater because he had a matchup against the Falcons, a defense that surrenders the most fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks and he put up 20.82 fantasy points (in the first half). The Panthers offense has been a pleasant surprise this season especially with Christian McCaffrey sidelined, and that’s mainly in part of Bridgewater’s play. Hopefully he can continue his good play as he plays Atlanta again followed by the Chiefs. Both of these matchups should be good games for Bridgewater and if he can get going early, he’ll easily surpass 20+ fantasy points. At just over 30 percent ownership, he’s likely available in your leagues, especially deeper formats. He’s worth the start this week in deeper formats.
Tua Tagovailoa, Dolphins (20.8%)
This is the end of an era. By era, I mean Ryan FitzMagic. But, Tua Tagovailoa has tremendous upside with a well-coached team with solid targets around the offense as well. Fitzpatrick was doing amazing in this offense and it seems likely a younger, quicker quarterback in Tagovailoa can do the same. It’s going to be a guessing game until after next week to see how he performs throughout an entire NFL game, but it’s promising. The hype for Tagovailoa was high in Miami, and it seems that HC Brian Flores will set him up to succeed. He plays LAR, ARI, and LAC in his next three matchups, which will all be rough matchups but it’s safe to pick him up as a backup to see how he does. Maybe Tua will be the top fantasy playoff quarterback.
Running Back Waiver Wire Pickups
Boston Scott, Eagles (50.2%)
Scott filled in nicely for Sanders as he scored 18.2 fantasy points against the Giants on TNF. If Miles Sanders were to miss two straight games, Scott would be in line for another strong fantasy night in Week 8 against the Cowboys. Dallas surrenders the most rushing yards per game at 178.29 yards and if the Eagles don’t struggle, they should be able to keep it balanced with both the run attack and pass attack. Scott won’t be too viable once Sanders does return, but it’s worth the stash on your bench for easy points if he is the starting running back against Dallas. If he can get involved a little more in the passing game too, he’ll be a very strong start.
Zack Moss, Bills (36.9%)
It’s hard enough to trust any running back in Buffalo because the team doesn’t run much at all, but if you want to own one of them, I think owning Moss is better off. He’s been dealing with injuries but when he has played, he does impress. Last week against the Jets, he carried the ball seven times for 47 yards and caught three passes for 25 yards as well. He’s splitting almost 50/50 with Singletary each game so it’s going to be hard to depend on him for consistent fantasy points, but if Buffalo figures out who’s the RB1, that’d certainly help your decision. Buffalo has a rough three game stretch coming up against the Patriots, Seahawks, and Cardinals but if they’re all high-scoring games, Moss will be looked for in the passing game.
La’Mical Perine, Jets (11.3%)
I can’t believe a Jets player made one of these articles! With Le’Veon Bell out of the picture in New York, that leaves the backfield down to Grandpa Gore and La’Mical Perine. In Week 7 against the Bills, the Jets didn’t run the ball much but Perine was given the ball 11 times and turned it into 39 yards and a touchdown while catching two balls for 16 yards. Frank Gore is consistent, but isn’t a workhorse anymore and if the Jets want to establish some sort of offensive flow, they’ll have to run the ball more. The Jets play the Chiefs and Patriots in their next two matchups and we all know how those are going to go. Perine is worth the add for now to monitor how he’s utilized in the offense.
Wide Receiver Waiver Wire Pickups
Christian Kirk, Cardinals (48.7%)
With the Cardinals bye week hitting this week, Kirk could slip through the cracks of the waivers for you to add. Kirk has now surpassed ten fantasy points in four straight games and has had back-to-back two touchdown games now. The Cardinals offense is firing on all cylinders this season and after their bye week, their matchups are prime. In Week 9, they play Miami followed by Buffalo and Seattle. Miami allows 23.0 fantasy points per game to opposing wide receivers, and they’ll have to worry about covering DeAndre Hopkins, leaving holes and windows open for Murray to find Kirk. Kirk is always going to be that security blanket for Murray because the focus on Hopkins opens the field up, leaving his upside looking nice moving forward.
Cole Beasley, Bills (41.8%)
I suggested grabbing Beasley last week in the pickups article because of how much Allen trusts him in key conversion plays, and he didn’t disappoint. With John Brown sidelined for last week’s game against the Jets, Beasley automatically moved up the depth chart and caught eleven of twelve targets for 112 yards. Buffalo has some tough matchups moving forward with NE, ARI, and SEA so if they want to win those games, Allen will have to throw the ball and it’s likely going to be Diggs or Beasley catching it.
Rashard Higgins, Browns (0.2%)
With OBJ out for the season with a torn ACL, the Cleveland Browns receivers will have bigger roles moving forward. This makes Rashard Higgins fantasy relevant. When OBJ went out early in Week 7, Higgins stepped up and caught all six of his targets for 110 yards. The Browns are having some quarterback issues right now, but if Baker Mayfield can stay somewhat consistent, I think Higgins becomes his favorite wide receiver target over Landry, since he’s more of a possession receiver. At 0.2 percent ownership, he’s going to be available in your league, and if you’re hurting at the receiver position, he could be in a low cost, high reward situation.
Tight End Waiver Wire Pickups
Dallas Goedert, Eagles (28.6%)
Pick up Dallas Goedert now before he is activated off of IR! If you watched the TNF game between the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants, you could see how much the Eagles need a big playmaker on their offense to get Wentz going. Their whole offense consists of practice squad call-ups and backup players, so once Goedert is back, Wentz will fire it to him all game every game. The Eagles play the Cowboys, who are by far the worst defense in the league, but it’s a possibility they wait it out and activate him after their Week 9 bye. He’s worth monitoring moving forward because if you can get him for cheap or before everyone else gets him, it could pay off big time for you.
Harrison Bryant, Browns (0.9%)
Subbing in for Austin Hooper because of appendicitis, Bryant stepped up in a big way catching four of five targets for 56 yards and two touchdowns. HC Kevin Stefanski wanted Hooper because he runs his offense through the tight end position, but it looked like it worked a lot better with Bryant starting. It isn’t likely Hooper misses much more time with his injury, but if he does happen to miss Week 8 against the Raiders, Bryant will have another great fantasy outing. Las Vegas is allowing the second-most points per game, at 32.89, so if the Browns can get rolling, another 20+ fantasy performance is in the view for Bryant. At just under one percent ownership, he’s worth the stash to see how he is implemented in the offense moving forward.
Drop Candidates
QB: Daniel Jones, Philip Rivers, Sam Darnold
RB: Kerryon Johnson, Jordan Howard, Frank Gore
WR: OBJ (Out for season), Desean Jackson, N’Keal Harry
TE: Cameron Brate, Chris Herndon, Greg Olsen
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