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Week 8 was one of the worst injury weeks in recent memory. Even the return of Dez Bryant and Ben Roethlisberger couldn't soften the blow. Several big names went down in a set of noon games that seemed to have a new injury every 15 minutes. So, pardon my slight exaggeration as we get on with this week's casualty report.

Quarterbacks -

Josh McCown has been injured two weeks in a row. He hurt his shoulder week 7, and now his ribs in week 8. He left the game with a few minutes remaining, and now his status for week 9's Thursday night matchup with Cincinnati is up in the air. McCown has averaged 20 points/game over his last 6 games.

Ryan Fitzpatrick injured the thumb on his non-throwing hand and his status is currently day to day. Geno Smith inspired no confidence from the Jets, who were reportedly calling around for a QB before the game was even over. We'll know later on in the week if he'll be starting against the Jags Sunday.

Running Backs -

Le'Veon Bell has been placed on IR, and his torn MCL means that his season is done. He seemed to pick right up where he left off, so it's a shame that he goes down right as Big Ben comes back. He'll be back in full force next year, and for now, he makes Deangelo Williams the hottest waiver pick up this week.

Matt Forte exited Sunday's game against the Vikings, and of course, the Bears were very hush-hush about it. They did clue us in a little bit later on - Forte hurt his MCL, but doesn't need surgery and should only miss a couple weeks. Forte's absence makes Jeremy Langford possibly the second hottest waiver pickup this week.

Reggie Bush slipped on some concrete and tore his ACL, ending his season, and possibly his career. The 49ers are one of the biggest messes in recent memory, so whoever does wind up replacing Bush will have a really hard time being fantasy relevant. The only hope for fantasy value there is when Carlos Hyde returns.

Khiry Robinson wins the most painful injury of the week award - the worst award you can win on a weekly basis. A broken tibia will end his season, where from fantasy football's perspective, he was just vulturing TD's from Mark Ingram. The Saints will likely sign a third guy, but look for Ingram to monopolize the Saints backfield for now.

Wide Receivers -

Steve Smith Sr. is a guy who I've come to really admire as an NFL player. He's of the toughest players that I can remember watching, so seeing him be carried off the field with a towel covering his face was a little hard to watch. I don't want to see this be his last moment on an NFL field, and hope, like Jim Harbaugh, that he comes back next year. For the rest of 2015, Kamar Aiken will move up to the #1 WR spot in Baltimore. Aiken is still young, and won't be able to produce anywhere close to Smith's numbers.

Calvin Johnson suffered an ankle injury which was probably minor, but since it occurred in a blowout loss, he didn't return to the game. The Lions have the week off coming back from London, so we won't know a lot about Johnson until next week, but there's no reason to think he'll miss week 10.

Keenan Allen has an interesting injury track from the game Sunday. He left, reportedly with a shoulder injury, then it was called back spasms, but now the Chargers report that he is out indefinitely with a kidney injury. It's pretty safe to assume that he will miss week 9 and try to get back after the Chargers' week 10 bye.

Kendall Wright suffered a sprained MCL, which reportedly feels "horrible". Hey, it's nice to know that not everyone has a canned cliché response about an injury. Wright's absence from the lineup may finally lead the way to Dorial Green-Beckham getting some action week 9, when Marcus Mariota is expected to return.

John Brown is a savage, apparently. Go read his twitter if you're trying to figure that one out. Brown disappointed everyone who started him this week by pulling the rare move of being active, but not getting into the game. Clearly, his hamstrings are an issue, but he has a bye week to heal up and we'll know more about his week 10 status a week from now.

Tight Ends -

Larry Donnell was carted off the field in New Orleans, but his injury was just apparently a muscle spasm in his shoulder or neck, which is good news (relatively speaking). It's not clear if he'll be playing week 9 yet, we'll know more by Wednesday. Either way, he's not fantasy relevant for now.

Ladarius Green was in line to get a lot of work with a hobbled Antonio Gates, but then went down with his own injury in the first quarter. With Gates back on the field, the Chargers won't rush Green back, though they really are hurting with injuries this year. The Chargers play Monday night, which means we won't have an official injury report until Thursday night.

Garrett Celek left the game with a concussion, but is now the top tight end in San Francisco with Vernon Davis being traded to the Broncos. Celek won't be a TE-1, especially on this anemic offense.

Week 4 is upon us which means one important thing, bye weeks have come! Only two teams on bye this week but they are the Packers and Eagles which both contain some very fantasy relevant players. If you need some fill ins, or just want to improve your teams depth, the below recommendations should be considered to help your team out.

Note: all waiver picks listed here will have only been owned in 50% or less of Yahoo leagues at the time of publication.

Quarterback

Joe Flacco (BAL) - 29% owned - If you are looking for a bye-week fill in at the quarterback position this week, Flacco has an amazing matchup against a Raiders pass defense giving up 340 passing yards per game and the most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks through 3 weeks.

Honorable mention: Carson Wentz (PHI) - 20% owned (on bye week 4 but nice matchups weeks 5/6)

Running Back

Jordan Howard (CHI) - 25% owned - Jeremy Langford was carted off the field in week 3 with what is reported to be a high ankle sprain, which means Howard will be leading the Bears backfield for at least the next 3 weeks and potentially permanently if he performs well enough. The Bears matchups the next 3 weeks are against average to below average rushing defenses in the Lions, Colts and Jaguars. I consider Howard the waiver add of the week.

Orleans Darkwa (NYG) - 3% owned - With Rashad Jennings sitting out, Darkwa split carries with Shane Vereen in week 3 and ended up with 53 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries as well as a reception for 9 yards. It was reported today that Vereen will now miss the rest of the season with a triceps injury which means Darkwa will be the lead back for however long Jennings remains out. Whenever Jennings returns Darkwa should still hold some minor fantasy relevance.

Honorable mention: Cameron Artis-Payne (CAR) - 19% owned

Wide Receiver

Terrelle Pryor Sr. (CLE) - 23% owned - Pryor was putting up fantasy points every way imaginable against the Dolphins catching 8 out of 14 targets for 144 yards, rushing 4 times for 21 yards and completing 3 out of 5 passes for 35 yards. I'm expecting these kind of stat lines won't be showing up after Josh McCown and Josh Gordon get back in the lineup, but he's definitely worth an add and start in all formats for week 4.

Steve Smith Sr. (BAL) - 39% owned - Although he didn't make it into the end zone in week 3, Smith caught 8 of 11 targets for 87 yards. He has a great matchup against an Oakland defense giving up the most fantasy points to opposing wide receivers so you can expect a big game here.

Honorable mention: Cole Beasley (DAL) - 21% owned

Tight End

Kyle Rudolph (MIN) - 42% owned - Rudolph looks to be a focal point of the Vikings offense this season which is shown by his 166 yards and 2 touchdowns on 14 of 26 targets. These stats make him good for second most fantasy points and targets at the tight end position behind only Greg Olsen.

Honorable mention: Cameron Brate (TB) - 2% owned

Defense/Special Teams

Washington Redskins (WAS) - 7% owned - Recommending the Redskins as a streaming defense this week since they go up against Cleveland who still will be starting their 3rd string rookie quarterback in Cody Kessler. Look for a few freebie turnovers to come the Redskins way this week.