Injuries abound in week 8 of the NFL, so the waiver wire is extra important this week. Make sure to take a long look at some trade options as trading deadlines come up. Also, check out the injuries from Week 8 to make sure you aren't missing anyone.
Quarterbacks
Tyrod Taylor, BUF – Coming off the bye week Tyrod Taylor will be healthy and ready to go. Before his injury Taylor had 106 fantasy points through 5 weeks. His week 9 match up with Miami is round two for the year with the divisional opponent. When they last faced in week 3 Taylor put up his best numbers of the season going 21 of 29 for 277 yards and 3 touchdowns. He is owned in 39% of leagues right now.
Derek Carr, OAK – Since his week 6 bye, Derek Carr has 7 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. Carr is a good streaming quarterback play as he averages over 30 pass attempts per game. He continues to show improvement in his second year and has outscored players like Ryan Tannehill and Cam Newton, both of whom are owned in over 85% of leagues. Carr’s matchup with Pittsburgh in week 9 is neither really good nor really bad. He did just pick apart the Jets defense though.
Running Backs
DeAngelo Williams, PIT – At 32 years old DeAngelo Williams continues to hold value. LeVeon Bell went down this week and is out for the rest of the season. When Bell went down Williams stepped in and on 9 carries amassed 71 yards. His overall production topped 100 yards as he added 39 yards on 4 catches. He will be a popular pick up this week on the waiver wire. He’s only owned in 24% of leagues.
Jeremy Langford, CHI – The Bears’ Matt Forte suffered an injury this week and will be out at least a couple of weeks. Jeremy Langford stepped in as the every down back when Forte exited. Despite his crucial drop late in the game, Langford was used in a way that makes him valuable to fantasy owners heading into week 9. I will mention that there are rumors of the Bears signing Monte Ball. This is important for two reasons; If Ball is signed this diminishes Langford’s value, and could point to a potential serious injury with Forte. Either way Matt Forte owners will want to add depth at the position on the wire.
Wide Receivers
Kamar Aiken, BAL – Injuries are piling up this season and Steve Smith Sr. couldn’t avoid being bit by the bug either. Kamar Aiken will take over WR1 duties on a brutally thin Baltimore wide receiving corps. That being said there is value in Aiken as he steps into this role. He has value built on his targets this season. He seen 6+ targets in 5 of the 8 games they have played. Baltimore is heading into a bye week for week 9 but you can’t sleep on Aiken. He should be picked up in most formats this week.
Malcom Floyd, SD – Keenan Allen was another casualty this week and all reports indicate he will miss some time. At 34 years old Malcom Floyd is passed his prime, but he will be leaned on in Allen’s absence. At 6’5 Floyd is a huge target and that proved valuable already in week 8. He had 2 TD catches on 6 targets in week 8. Floyd has a decent matchup against Chicago in week 9 before the Charges head into the bye. If you are looking for a guy to plug Floyd is still available in 80% of leagues.
Tight Ends
Benjamin Watson, NO – The Saints are on a 3 game winning streak and Benjamin Watson has had his two best games in those last three weeks. In week 6 Watson had 127 yards on 10 catches and a TD. Last week we saw similar production with 9 catches for 147 yards and a TD. We all know that the Saints famously utilized the TE position and Watson may finally be stepping into that role. He is owned in 53% of leagues, but with tight end production lacking this season Watson is a good add heading into week 9
Kicker
Blair Walsh, MIN – 55 points over his last 3 weeks has Blair Walsh on the waiver radar this week. Minnesota continues to improve as a team behind Teddy Bridgewater. This has been paying off for Walsh in a big way. Double digits are always a welcome sight from your kicker. Three straight weeks in double digits is a good trend and those players streaming kickers should grab Walsh heading into home match up with the Rams.
Defense/Special Teams
Cincinnati Bengals – Cincinnati is coming off of a huge game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Defensively they kept their team in the game which ultimately lead to a victory. They will be riding that high heading into a great match up with Cleveland in week 9. The icing on the cake is Josh McCown being a question mark with a short week ahead. This Thursday night match up give McCown little time to heal which means Johnny Manziel will be the Cleveland QB. The only thing Maziel does better than grabbing negative headlines off the field is turning the ball over on the field. Bengals are widely available and should be picked up for week 9. It should also be noted they have some good match ups coming up with Houston, St Louis and Cleveland again in 3 of their next 4 weeks following week 9.
Last week broke a 3 week cashless streak in the Sunday Million so let's keep that momentum going into week 9! This week we are going with a couple of mid-priced RBs that will see plenty of touches, two high end WRs facing off against each other in what should be a high scoring affair and a QB/WR stack in another game with potential for a lot of points. Good luck this week!
QB - Philip Rivers, SD - $8,600 vs. CHI: Rivers may be down his top receiver after losing Keenan Allen for the year but he will still come through in what could be a high scoring affair on Monday Night against the Bears.
RB - DeAngelo Williams, PIT - $6,500 vs. OAK: With Le'Veon Bell out for the season, Williams will be in for a high volume of touches the remainder of the season. Great price for the production in a decent matchup against the Raiders.
RB - Jeremy Langford, CHI - $6,400 at SD: Another running back due for a high volume week and Langford gets a dream matchup against a Chargers run defense allowing a league worst 5.0 yards per carry.
WR - Odell Beckham Jr., NYG - $9,000 at TB: Look for ODB to stay hot from his 130 yard, three touchdown performance last week. I don't expect much defense in this game so there should be plenty of fantasy points to go to the best players on the field.
WR - Mike Evans, TB - $7,500 vs. NYG: The New York Giants defense gives up a league worst 323 yards per game to opposing receivers which means there will be plenty of opportunity for Evans to have a big game.
WR - Malcom Floyd, SD - $6,100 vs. CHI: The receiving options are thin in San Diego this week with Keenan Allen out, Ladarius Green doubtful and Antonio Gates questionable. Looking for Rivers to lean heavy towards Floyd.
TE - Jordan Reed, WAS - $5,700 at NE: Great value play at TE this week as Washington will need to try to keep up in points facing off against New England.
K - Stephen Gostkowski, NE - $5,200 vs. WAS: Gostkowski has scored double digit fantasy points the past 6 weeks in a row and nothing should derail that this week.
DEF - Falcons, ATL - $4,900 at SF: Playing defenses against San Fran has been a great strategy all year and it gets even better this week with Blaine Gabbert under center.
Well we couldn't get a Sunday Millions cash streak going last week so it's time to start a new streak starting with week 10! Spending high on a QB/WR stack in a matchup which should be hemorrhaging fantasy points, grabbing a couple highly productive RBs with amazing matchups and playing two WRs whose teams face head to head. Good luck gamblers!
QB - Tom Brady, NE - $9,100 at NYG: Spending high at the QB position this week mostly because I think there will be a ton of fantasy points coming out of the Patriots and Giants matchup. The Giants are also allowing opposing QBs to pass for 308 yards per game which is second worst in the league.
RB - DeAngelo Williams, PIT - $7,600 vs. CLE: No brainer pick this week with Williams toting a cheapish price tag and playing against the league worst run defense in the Cleveland Browns.
RB - Mark Ingram, NO - $7,500 at WAS: Ingram has been putting up consistent points this season and should continue to dominate touches after the loss of Khiry Robinson. He gets a plus matchup against the 4th worst run defense in the league.
WR - Julian Edelman, NE - $8,000 at NYG: Playing Edelman as a combo to Brady this week, he should torch a paper thin Giants secondary.
WR - Golden Tate, DET - $6,300 at GB: Calvin Johnson is shaping up to be a game time decision as he hasn't practiced all week with an ankle injury which means Tate should benefit with more looks in a game that Detroit will need to score a lot of points to win.
WR -Devante Adams, GB - $5,800 vs. DET: Adams is back at the number two WR position after coming back from injury. Somewhat of a pairing play with Tate here as I'm betting on a lot of points being scored in the Green Bay/Detroit game.
TE - Tyler Eifert, CIN - $6,200 vs. HOU: Eifert is coming off a three touchdown performance against the Browns last week. While I don't see him repeating, he's a great play with the red zone targets he gets and has also been lining up wide on plays this year.
K - Brandon McManus, DEN - $4,800 vs. KC: Usually would default to Gostkowski but didn't want to pair a QB and kicker. Kicking in Denver always gives more opportunity for 50+ yard field goals too.
DEF - Panthers, CAR - $4,700 at TEN: The ever consistent Panther defense gets a great matchup against a Titans team giving up the most fantasy points to opposing teams this year.
Welcome to Statistically (in)Significant, the place to find great stats that probably only matter at the water cooler (or bar). Each week I'll dig through the stats of the week gone by and deliver you some choice conversation starters.
52 Carries
Matt Forte has a stranglehold on the carries thus far for the Jets. With Thursday night's performance, Forte now has 264 yards from scrimmage and 3 TD's, making it look like he's still in the prime of his career, and not a 9-year veteran. With Bilal Powell at a miserable 5 carries through two games, Forte has taken 91% of the hand-offs for the Jets, a split that I don't think anybody saw coming. Their next 4 games are against the Chiefs, Seahawks, Steelers and Cardinals, so even against tough defenses, Forte will at least be an RB2 based on volume alone.
55 Points
The San Francisco 49ers have put up 55 points this season, all on offense - thus causing a certain member of the drinkfive team to perhaps eat his words a little and admit that they are not a quote "dumpster fire". The Niners have 7 TD's over two games - thank you Vance McDonald, for being the least likely Gronk fill-in to work out.
32 Attempts
DeAngelo Williams carried the ball 32 times yesterday against the Bengals, a career high. He now leads all RB's in fantasy points through two games and Le'Veon Bell owners are very eager for week 4 to get here. On the other side, the Steelers most impressive feature this season has been their rush defense, which has given up 101 yards total while leading them to a 2-0 record against two teams that can, and usually do, run the ball.
0 Kick Return TD
There have been no kicks (punts and kick-offs) returned for a TD yet in the NFL season. This has always been quite an exciting feature of the games that it seems like the NFL is trying to remove. In the five years since the kick-off was moved up to the 35 yard line, there have been about 24 return TD's per year. It doesn't seem like the touchback being moved to the 25 has changed anyone's strategy. Editor's Note: Eddie Royal took one to the house on Monday Night Football - this was the first return in 5 weeks in the NFL.
1035 Yards
After two games, the Oakland Raiders have given up 500+ yards each time they stepped on the field, most of that through the air. They have quickly become the matchup you want to exploit, and thankfully they have a good offense which can keep up and keep the games high scoring. Upcoming games against the Titans, Ravens, Chargers, Chiefs and Jags will provide all kinds of fantasy upside that might have otherwise gone to waste on your bench.