Week 8 is in the books. Whether you won or lost in Week 8, you are still here and fighting. Good for you! Now what? Get back to work, that is what now. Just because you came out on the other side of Week 8 does not mean your work is done. We are officially at the halfway point. There is 50% of the season to come.
What we need to know is Week 8 handed us more injuries. We lost Cam Skattebo to a season ending ankle injury. We lost Quinshon Judkins (Week 9 bye) to a shoulder injury that could cost him an IR stint. We lost Drake London just prior to kickoff. Keep a close eye on the Falcons practice and injury reports where London is concerned. Saquon Barkley (Week 9 bye) exited early Sunday with a dreaded groin injury. Alvin Kamara appears to be headed for a long, unproductive season with various injuries piling up.
The key is to hope for a healthy squad. The plan is to insulate your team against the bye weeks. If you have accomplished both, then you are on your way to a successful Week 9. We need to focus on winning our matchups every week! That means sprinkling in a trade if you find a willing partner AND it means working your waiver wire each week. Week 9 will see the Jets, Browns, Eagles, and Buccaneers off with byes.
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WAIVERS:
ADD OF THE WEEK = Tyrone Tracy Jr. – 49% rostered. With Skattebo going down for the season, it is time to fire up Tyrone Tracy with the hope we see 2024 late season Tyrone Tracy. After the Skattebo injury, he played more snaps than did Devin Singletary – 1% rostered and I fully expect that to continue in the second half of the season. Tracy is probably not a league winner, but he might be the player you need to fill in during byes and injuries.
QB: Well, folks, the usual suspects are still on your waiver wire. With four Week 9 byes, if you did not acquire your QB insurance prior to this week, you will be looking at the usual suspects on the wire including Aaron Rodgers, Jaxson Dart, Michael Penix, Tua Tagovailoa and injury replacements Marcus Mariota, Kirk Cousins, and Tyler Huntley. I would not pay a premium for any of these names. Allow your waivers to run then take your pick of the QB scraps.
RB: Devin Neal – 4% rostered is not the Saints RB1 but Alvin Kamara is playing like less than a RB1 to date. Neal should be added in most 12-team leagues as insurance and a speculative add. Of note, he out snapped Kamara 3-1 on 3rd and 4th down in Week 8.
Honorable Mention/Cheaper Options:
Zonovan “Bam” Knight – 19% rostered has taken over the Cardinals lead RB spot and just had his bye. You may be able to acquire him on the cheap this week. Knight out touched Michael Carter 17-9 in Week 7. He was dropped in roughly 3% of leagues during Week 8.
Kareem Hunt – 35% rostered / Brashard Smith – 6% rostered are still sneaky adds with Isiah Pacheco still listed as the starting RB for the Chiefs. Two more TDs on MNF for Hunt means he may be the guy to roster from this backfield. Pachecho looked ineffective, too.
Samaje Perine – 3% rostered can only be rostered if you feel the Week 7-8 Chase Brown performance was the exception versus the rule. Week 7 was, by far, Brown’s best game followed by a two TD Week 8. Perine is only an extremely deep league addition.
Dylan Sampson – 13% / Jerome Ford – 14% rostered. This backfield will be the same mess it was prior to Quinshon Judkins becoming the lead dog. If I had to add one of the two while Judkins is down, it is Sampson and it is not close to me.
Tank Bigsby – 17% rostered is the name if you roster Saquon. Early news out of Philly is Barkley will be ready after the Eagles Week 9 bye week. You want to roster Bigsby as a handcuff just in case.
Troy Franklin – WR – 37% rostered made a name for himself in Week 8 with 6-89-2. He appears to be the clear WR2, and possibly the second option overall in the passing game (over Evan Engram) for the Broncos. Sure, the Oregon Ducks connection with Bo Nix is fun, but it also appears to a real thing. This will probably be the final opportunity you will have to find Franklin under 75% rostered.
Honorable Mention/Cheaper Options:
WR: Jayden Higgins – 27% / Jaylin Noel – 9% / Xavier Hutchinson – 1% rostered each looked good in Week 8 and can be acquired for virtually nothing on your waiver wire. C.J. Stroud has looked better of late, so keep an eye on the Nico Collins injury and fire up these waiver WRs in order that I have them listed if Collins misses another week.
Malik Washington – 15% rostered is getting enough looks from Tua to make him viable as a FLEX option with the right matchup. With the NFL trade deadline looming, and the rumors mill heating up with chatter of Jaylen Waddle being dealt, I think Washington will continue to improve. For what it’s worth, I called his Week 8 TD on our Sunday Start – Sit Show!
Tez Johnson – 17% rostered will be on bye in Week 9 but appears to have a solid connection with Baker Mayfield. Watch your wire as someone may drop him and you can scoop him up for free during his bye week.
TE: Oronde Gadsden – 61% rostered. You may feel as if you missed out on acquiring Gadsden. You may also be surprised to see him available in 39% of leagues. If he is there, jump on him!
As mentioned above, it has only been two weeks, so if you lost, got smashed even, relax. It will be OK. There is no need to rush to drop any specific player, unless you see the name in the opening paragraph.
Follow me @stiles08 on X and send questions comments at the bottom of this article. Make sure you jump around the Razzball site for all your fantasy football needs. We have a ton of free content to include our Slot Versus Wide tool additional articles from our crack team of writers.
-Stiles-
