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Oct 20, 2016; Green Bay, WI, USA; Green Bay Packers wide receiver Davante Adams (17) celebrates scoring a touchdown in the fourth quarter against the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Dan Powers/The Post-Crescent via USA TODAY Sports
The waiver wire is what will end up making or breaking your fantasy football season. Here are a few players that could help you off the wire in Week 8.
Entering this week, there are a total of six teams on a bye. Most, if not all owners will be missing a key player on their fantasy team. Hopefully there are players on the bench who can fill in those vacant spots but if not, a player on the waiver wire will have to fill in for at least a week.
For these purposes, we will being using Yahoo! Fantasy Football as a guideline. Any player that is 50 percent owned or less is eligible.
Here are the players you should be targeting on the fantasy football waiver-wire for Week 8.
Oct 23, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Minnesota Vikings running back Matt Asiata (44) rushes the ball against the Philadelphia Eagles during the second half at Lincoln Financial Field. The Philadelphia Eagles won 21-10. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
5. Matt Asiata, RB – Minnesota Vikings (21% Owned)
The reason owners might want to add Asiata this week is because he could be a workhorse in Week 8. Reason being is starter Jerick McKinnon suffered an ankle injury in last Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
As a result, Asiata finished the game with 18 touches and 80 yards. If McKinnon were to miss Monday’s game against the Chicago Bears Asiata would more than likely see 18+ touches in a favorable matchup.
The question is, “How bad is McKinnon’s injury?”
At this point, I’m not sure—but it’s a situation owners need to monitor. With running backs like Jay Ajayi, Le’Veon Bell, Todd Gurley and Carlos Hyde on a bye, Asiata would be a strong RB2 if McKinnon were to miss this game.
Dec 26, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Washington Redskins running back Chris Thompson (25) scores a touchdown between Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Kiko Alonso (50) and free safety Malcolm Jenkins (27) during the third quarter at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
4. Chris Thompson, RB – Washington Redskins (14% Owned)
Thompson will always have a role in the Redskins backfield because he’s a good passing-down back. Now he has a great opportunity ahead of him for more touches because starting running back, Matt Jones, is a fumbling machine.
After last week, Jones has officially fumbled three times in the team’s last five games. Yet, he has put the ball on the ground other times while attempting to take handoffs from quarterback Kirk Cousins. Head coach Jay Gruden is obviously upset and as a result, Thompson saw a season-high in carries (12) and receptions (7) last week. This is a week after he set a season-high in carries with nine in Week 6. He now has 12+ touches in back-to-back games.
Keep in mind Thompson is already a decent option in PPR leagues. Over the last three weeks he is averaging just shy of five receptions and 34 receiving yards per game. If/when his carries increase or stay at his two week pace, he will become valuable even in standard leagues.
As mentioned, there are six teams on a bye week. Also keep in mind there are six teams on a bye in Week 9 too. At the least, Thompson needs to be added in all PPR leagues for a short-term fill-in for owners lacking RB starters and/or depth.
Oct 23, 2016; Nashville, TN, USA; Indianapolis Colts tight end Jack Doyle (84) spikes the ball after catching a pass for touchdown against the Tennessee Titans during the second half at Nissan Stadium. Indianapolis won 34-26. Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports
3. Jack Doyle, TE – Indianapolis Colts (32% Owned)
Doyle did not need Dwayne Allen to go down with an injury to be relevant in fantasy football. After all, he was already the more productive fantasy tight end before he went down with an ankle injury. However in Doyle’s first game without Allen, he really made it count.
Last week against the Tennessee Titans Doyle finished with 10 targets, nine receptions, 78 yards and one touchdown. The targets, receptions and receiving yards were all season and career highs for the former UDFA out of Western Kentucky. He also has a touchdown reception in back-to-back games.
It appears as of now Allen will miss his second-consecutive game and after a game like Doyle had, why would the Colts rush him back and risk further injury?
Doyle does have a tough matchup in Week 8 against the Kansas City Chiefs who have only allowed one touchdown against opposing tight ends in all of 2016. Yet, this year’s tight end group as a whole has been a complete mess and underwhelming. Basically, you are looking for a tight end to basically just score a touchdown. Doyle has a good of a chance as any to do that in Week 8 despite the unfavorable matchup.
Oct 9, 2016; Green Bay, WI, USA; Green Bay Packers wide receiver Davante Adams (17) scores a touchdown during the second quarter against the New York Giants at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
2. Davante Adams, WR – Green Bay Packers (20% Owned)
Adams has been flying under the radar this fantasy season. But after his last game on Thursday Night Football, that will no longer be the case.
The former Fresno State Bulldog blew up for 13 receptions, 132 yards and two touchdowns in Week 7. Although he probably won’t see that many targets (16) or have that many receptions in any game this season, his performance was anything but a fluke.
Adams came into Thursday Night Football with a touchdown reception in three out of five previous games. He also saw seven-plus targets in three out of five previous games too. The Green Bay Packers offense hasn’t been what many expected for most of this year, but last week’s game was a step in the right direction. If it can get back to it’s 2014 form, Adams should continue to be a solid fantasy contributor.
Randall Cobb and Jordy Nelson get all the attention and rightfully so. They both are Pro-Bowlers and have had monster seasons in the recent past. Yet, the Packers offense does not feature the tight end all that much so that makes room for three fantasy relevant wide receivers.
Oct 13, 2016; San Diego, CA, USA; Denver Broncos running back Devontae Booker (23) runs the ball during the second half of the game against the San Diego Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium. San Diego won 21-13. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports
1. Devontae Booker, RB – Denver Broncos (36% Owned)
Well, it finally happened. Everyone was waiting for it and the Broncos coaching staff kept talking about it. Now they finally did it. The coaching staff wanted to get Devontae Booker more touches and they did just that on Monday Night Football.
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Booker set season and career highs in carries (17), rushing yards (83) and touchdowns (1) against the Houston Texans.
He had two more total touches than the Broncos starting running back C.J. Anderson (18/16) and although that might not be the case every week, he should be seeing 12+ touches from here on out. He should be looked as an RB2 and if anything were to happen to Anderson injury wise, he would be a surefire RB1.
Right now Booker is averaging 4.8 YPC and 5.2 yards per touch. In comparison, Anderson is averaging 4.0 YPC and 4.5 yards per touch. Just from a pure eye-test, Booker looked far more explosive with his touches on Monday Night Football. This is obviously something the coaching staff saw during practice and in his limited touches during the games.
The rookie isn’t going anywhere anytime soon and needs to be the No.1 priority for fantasy owners this week.
Oct 16, 2016; Landover, MD, USA; Washington Redskins tight end Vernon Davis (85) celebrates after catching a touchdown pass against the Philadelphia Eagles in the second quarter at FedEx Field. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Other Receiving Votes
Here are a few more names you want to consider when you go through your fantasy football waiver wire.
Washington Redskins TE Vernon Davis (23% Owned) – That is now back-to-back solid games Davis has had filling in for the injured Jordan Reed. If Reed misses his third-straight game, Davis will once again be on the TE1 map with a good matchup against the Bengals.
Jacksonville Jaguars RB Chris Ivory (48% Owned) – By no means is he a priority add but he is somebody to consider. Teammate T.J. Yeldon has only out-touched Ivory once out the last four games and Ivory is also the goal-line running back. The combination of these two factors makes Ivory the better running back to own in Jacksonville.
Washington Redskins RB Rob Kelley (1% Owned) – As mentioned earlier, Matt Jones fumbling issue is becoming a real problem. Chris Thompson should get first crack at more touches but Kelley could see some too. The rookie scored his first career NFL touchdown last week.
New England Patriots RB Dion Lewis (27% Owned) – He could be nearing a return soon from injury.
Seattle Seahawks RB Thomas Rawls (40% Owned) – He too could be nearing a return soon from injury and could have a role with Christine Michael failing to rush for more than 66 yards in five out of six games this season.
Kansas City Chiefs QB Alex Smith (38% Owned) – Smith is a decent streaming option this week against the Colts. If you need quarterback help, he could be your guy.
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