Fantasy Football Week 9 Waiver Wire Pickup Advice
Is your fantasy team in need of new blood? Each week I’ll bring to you the best pickups to make ahead of the waiver deadline. All the players I list will be owned in fewer than 50 percent of leagues, with the roster percentages coming from Yahoo.com
Quarterbacks
Taysom Hill, Saints (2% Rostered): Hill’s status needs to be monitored because he has been out with a concussion, but should he be back in action, he will find himself under center for the Saints with Jameis Winston out for the season with a torn ACL. Hill could have some low floor outings because he’s just not a consistent passer, but his rushing ability – and Sean Payton’s knowledge of how to properly deploy him – put him immediately in the mix with the likes of Jalen Hurts, or what we saw from Justin Fields on Sunday. Hill also has some soft defenses on the schedule, with Atlanta, at Tennessee and at Philadelphia looming in his next three. He can do damage in these matchups, especially if he gets WR Michael Thomas back at some point, whom he hypertargeted last season.
Tua Tagovailoa, Dolphins (35% Rostered): Tua hasn’t been fantasy friendly for much of his young career, and Sunday’s dud – 205 yards, zero touchdowns, one interception – won’t endear him to fantasy managers. He somewhat salvaged the day with a rushing TD, but we should cut him some slack; he was on the road vs. the Bills. Prior to the tough game vs. Buffalo, Tua had posted back-to-back strong outings vs. the Jaguars and Falcons, showing he can take advantage of cake matchups. He has such a matchup in Week 9, a home date with the Texans, so he makes sense as a bye week fill in.
Tyrod Taylor, Texans (6% Rostered): Much like Tua should enjoy his matchup with Houston, Taylor, if active, could have similar success against Miami’s lagging defense. Taylor isn’t much of a passer, but he’s been known to pop at times against soft defenses, and he also carries significant upside as a rushing threat, especially on a Texans team with four RBs that get time, but zero who are effective.
Running Backs
Latavius Murray, Ravens (40% Rostered): Murray’s roster % dropped big time this week, likely due to injuries/bye week crunches, but fantasy managers should be looking to add him back as a depth piece rest of season. No, Murray isn’t a league-winning type of addition, but in his absence in Week 7 none of Baltimore’s backs stepped up and screamed that they need more work. Prior to getting hurt, Murray had established control of this messy backfield, garnering 18 carries in Week 4 and scoring a touchdown in Week 6 vs. the Chargers. If he’s back, he should lead the Ravens backfield in attempts, and while that may not be a ton – QB Lamar Jackson is basically the RB1 – he’s a consistent TD threat.
Mark Ingram, Saints (37% Rostered): Ingram’s back on the Saints, but these ain’t the good old days. Ingram is fairly shot at this point, and while he’s playable, you’re hoping he falls into the end zone for FLEX value. Right out of the gate he saw six carries for 37 yards, and was used solely to spell Alvin Kamara briefly. It’ll be an uphill battle for him to reach double digit carries most weeks, but those carries are likely to be in short yardage situations, and he’s unlikely to goose managers as a member of the Saints. The problem is he’s also unlikely to break past six points most weeks too. He defines desperation fill-in option.
Boston Scott, Eagles (19% Rostered): The Eagles backfield is a quagmire. Miles Sanders is out, and in his absence there was a full committee at work with Scott, Kenneth Gainwell and Jordan Howard (not a typo). Jalen Hurts is proving that he’s not a very good QB, so moving forward the Eagles are going to run the football. The problem is that Hurts is very involved in that endeavor, and Scott, despite logging 12 attempts, also watched Gainwell receive 13 carries, Howard match his 12, and Hurts run seven times. Yes, Scott finished with 60 yards, which led the team, and two rushing touchdowns, but prior to Week 8 he’d primarily been known as a passing down receiving back. You absolutely cannot count on Scott to see double digit carries with any consistency, regularly receive goal line opportunities, or see more targets than Gainwell. He’s certainly playable, but relying on him is a dangerous game.
Carlos Hyde, Jaguars (6% Rostered): Hyde had nine carries for 32 yards on Sunday, offering little in what was a putrid, disastrous display from the Jaguars offense. James Robinson appears to have avoided a serious injury, so Hyde is not worth much investment, especially with the Bills and Colts up next on the schedule. Unless you are truly desperate, you can just pass him over.
Jordan Howard, Eagles (2% Rostered): Howard was active for the first time in 2021, and saw 12 carries that turned into 57 yards and two touchdowns. The Eagles have a smash matchup vs. the Chargers this week, and Howard seems the likeliest bet for goal line work. With that said, Boston Scott had two touchdowns, Jalen Hurts is just as likely to run the ball in as anyone, and Gainwell did tie for the lead among RBs for touches. You can start him and pray for touchdowns, but I’d avoid it if I could.
Adrian Peterson, Titans (1% Rostered): Peterson is a name that has come up as the news of Derrick Henry’s potentially season-ending injury rocks fantasy leagues everywhere. The Titans have brought him in and he’s somewhat interesting from a fantasy standpoint. Last we saw AP, he was averaging 3.9 yards per carry last year for Detroit, frustrating D’Andre Swift managers. He had lost his signature explosiveness, but still provided value as a short yardage back, and managed seven rushing touchdowns. Tennessee, as a run-heavy offense, could use a bruiser like Peterson who would likely be a healthy source of touchdowns. Now 36 years old, Peterson’s value likely maxes out as a FLEX play, but I’d be more interested in him than Jeremy McNichols, the current next man up.
Sony Michel, Rams (35% Rostered): Michel remains a pure handcuff, who rushed nine times for 42 yards (4.67 yards per carry) in garbage time on Sunday. He can get it done in this awesome offense if called upon, so Darrell Henderson managers should make sure they scoop him up if they can.
Wide Receivers
Darnell Mooney, Bears (42% Rostered): Mooney once again outpaced Allen Robinson in targets and yards, drawing nine opportunities from Justin Fields that turned into six receptions for 64 yards. It wasn’t a great game by any means, but it was perfectly useable as a FLEX option. Mooney is constantly on the field, and regularly seeing seven or more yards per target, while averaging nearly seven targets per game. He’s only scored once on the season, which means positive regression is due at some point, and we could see Mooney spike in the next few weeks. You might not ever feel comfortable playing him, but if you are stuck with injuries or bye weeks, you could do far worse.
Hunter Renfrow, Raiders (42% Rostered): Much like Latavius Murray at the RB position, Renfrow is a nice floor play who likely had to be dropped by a lot of managers due to the bye week woes. Renfrow’s seen five or more targets in every game, and logged five or more receptions in all but one game this season. He can get in the end zone here and there, but really you’re counting on 5-6 receptions for about 50-75 yards. As a full-PPR option that’s very palatable, and even in other formats the near-guarantee of a non-zero is appealing during bye-heavy weeks.
Rashod Bateman, Ravens (30% Rostered): Bateman is interesting, despite being on one of the lowest-volume passing offenses in the NFL. Baltimore loves to run the ball, so even a big target share here is skimpy compared to other receivers, but he has seen six targets in back-to-back games since being activated, which is A.J. Green-esque. He went from four receptions for 29 yards in his debut to three catches for 80 yards against the Bengals, and has the Vikings and Dolphins as his next two games on the schedule. Bateman is risky, yes, especially if Sammy Watkins gets mixed back in. He’s also got a lot more upside than Watkins, and is someone Baltimore drafted highly. I’d stash him if possible, and as a plus he’s through his own bye week.
Tim Patrick, Broncos (28% Rostered): Here’s your weekly reminder that Patrick is a pretty safe play. He caught all three of his targets on Sunday for 64 yards. A great day? Not at all, but he managed to be useful even with Jerry Jeudy back. He should see increased volume this week with Trevon Diggs likely erasing Courtland Sutton, and after that Denver has home games vs. Philadelphia and the Chargers.
Nico Collins, Texans (1% Rostered): Collins has seen his snap % rise in the last three weeks, and he’s shown some real talent, even if the numbers are underwhelming. Hey, you try to put up stats with Davis Mills under center. Collins can’t be trusted just yet, but his size makes him a dangerous red zone weapon, and he could find consistency when Tyrod Taylor returns to the lineup.
Tight Ends
Tyler Conklin, Vikings (25% Rostered): Conklin is on the field all the time these days, and seeing a pretty healthy target count for a tight end. Minnesota has too many stars at the skill positions for Conklin to ever dominate, but his upcoming matchups at Baltimore, at Chargers and home for Green Bay are all friendly for TEs. I’d scoop him up if my TE is going to be on bye, or if I just had some crappy TE matchups on the slate.
Mo Alie-Cox, Colts (16% Rostered): Alie-Cox goosed this week, so he’ll be free on waivers, or if he is already rostered, the manager will probably drop him. Understandable, but also an overreaction because the Titans have been tough on TEs all year. He’s got a nice matchup Thursday vs. the Jets, then an absolute smash matchup with the Jaguars for his next two games. Looking for cheap touchdowns? Who isn’t? Alie-Cox is your man if you can stomach some high risk.