Fantasy Football Waiver Wire: Early Must-Adds For Week 8
Here's the Sunday night kickstart to your fantasy football waiver wire moves for Week 8.
Week 7 of the NFL schedule is winding down, with the Sunday night game and another Monday night doubleheader to be completed. But it’s not too early to look ahead to Week 8, albeit with zero teams on bye.
Here are your early must-adds off the fantasy football waiver wire for Week 8.
Alexander Mattison, RB, Las Vegas Raiders
Zamir White was available Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams after missing the previous two games with a groin injury. But Mattison was still the clear lead back (23 carries for 92 yards, three catches for 31 yards). He now has at least 60 total yards in four straight games, with 10 catches on 11 targets over the last three.
Week 8 brings a very tough matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs, who entered Week 7 allowing the fewest fantasy points per game to running backs and that’s unlikely to change after they shut down Jordan Mason and company on Sunday. But Mattison can offset that a bit with the passing game usage he’s seeing, and on both sides of a Week 10 bye the matchups look better (Cincinnati Bengals-Week 9, Miami Dolphins-Week 11, Denver Broncos-Week 12).
If Mattison’s touch volume ever went away, his fantasy value would basically go away in-kind. But he was the better back than White when both were healthy early in the season, and he’s getting the workload to reflect that now. One of the only good things in the Raiders’ offense should be rostered in all 12-team leagues.
ESPN Ownership: 42.5%
Yahoo! Ownership: 54%
Tank Bigsby, RB, Jacksonville Jaguars
With Travis Etienne (hamstring) out Sunday against the New England Patriots, and a helpful game script, Bigsby offered a glimpse of what him having the lead back role for Jacksonville looks like (26 carries for 118 yards, two touchdowns).
Etienne was labeled as “week-to-week” by head coach Doug Pederson coming out of Week 6, so his status moving forward will be a question mark until shown otherwise. And even if/when he is healthy, Bigsby has simply outdone him so far this season.
Bigsby has been featured in this space before, to the point he is above the general criteria to be a waiver wire add. But he should not be available in basically one-third of ESPN and Yahoo! leagues, so it’s definitely worth checking his status in your league.
ESPN Ownership: 68.3%
Yahoo! Ownership: 66%
Tyrone Tracy, RB, New York Giants
Devin Singletary was back in action Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles, but Tracy (39 snaps vs. 12 for Singletary, h/t to Nathan Jahnke of Pro Football Focus) was clearly the Giants’ lead back. It’s just that the results were bad (six carries for 23 yards, three catches for nine yards), as New York only scored three points in the game.
After a tough matchup in Week 8 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, around a Week 11 bye, the matchups get easier for the Giants’ running backs (Washington Commanders-Week 9, Carolina Panthers-Week 10, Tampa Bay Buccaneers-Week 12, Dallas Cowboys-Week 13, New Orleans Saints-Week 14).
The playing time gap between Tracy and Singletary will likely even out moving forward. The Tracy has earned work when both are available, and whatever affinity head coach Brian Daboll has for Singletary can’t change that fact.
Tracy is hard to rely on as more than a RB3/flex option in 12-team leagues for Week 8, and perhaps beyond if a 50-50 backfield split materializes. But the rookie’s upside, and the possibility he keeps the lead role, makes him a must-add in every fantasy league with 12 or more teams.
ESPN Ownership: 47.5%
Yahoo! Ownership: 57%
Romeo Doubs, WR, Green Bay Packers
After catching two touchdowns in Week 6, Doubs had a team-high eight receptions (on 10 targets) for 94 yards against the Houston Texans on Sunday. He didn’t catch any of Jordan Love’s three touchdown passes in the game, but no other Packers’ pass catcher had more than six targets or 48 yards.
In the six games he has played this season, Doubs has at least 50 yards three times, seven or more targets three times (both twice) and at least 7.9 full PPR points with at least three catches five times.
The Packers’ wide receiving corps can be (is) hard for fantasy managers to navigate and predict, and Sunday was notable the first time all season were Doubs, Christian Watson, Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks were available from the beginning to the end of a game . But a very favorable matchup is coming in Week 8 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, followed by another nice matchup against the Detroit Lions in Week 9 before a Week 10 bye.
Doubs has health and two weeks of positive momentum on his side, which is a notable differentiator among Green Bay wide receivers in the fantasy realm. In 12-team leagues, he is a legit WR3 with upside in each of the next two weeks.
ESPN Ownership: 37%
Yahoo! Ownership: 44%
Hunter Henry, TE, New England Patriots
Henry had a team-high eight catches for 92 yards (on nine targets) on Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Over Drake Maye’s two starts, he has 14 targets with more than 13 full PPR points in both (three catches for 41 yards and a touchdown in Week 6).
The upcoming matchups aren’t great for Henry, with just two of New England’s next six opponents (Los Angeles Rams-Week 11, Indianapolis Colts-Week 13) entering Week 7 in the bottom half of the league against tight ends. But in this tight end economy, beggars can’t be choosers.
There’s history that says as soon as we buy into Henry as a fantasy asset, he lets us down the next week (and/or beyond). But any fantasy manager who’s struggling to find a suitable option at tight end has to have him on their radar. A late bye (Week 14) might increase his appeal for some.
ESPN Ownership: 27.4%
Yahoo! Ownership: 31%
Drake Maye, QB, New England Patriots
Speaking of Maye, he went 26-for-37 for 276 yards with two touchdowns and zero interceptions (along with 18 rushing yards) against the Jaguars on Sunday. He has multiple passing touchdowns and more than 20 fantasy points (Yahoo! scoring) in each of the last two games, with 56 yards on eight rushing attempts in total to bolster his fantasy value.
The matchups naturally get tougher moving forward for Maye. Entering Week 7, four of the Patriots’ next six opponents were in the top-10 (as in, toughest matchups) in fantasy points per game allowed to quarterbacks. But Maye’s first start (Week 6) was in a theoretically tough matchup against the Houston Texans, and he mostly succeeded (243 yards, three touchdowns, 38 rushing yards; three turnovers).
Maye has the look of a solid QB2 in super flex leagues more than anything else right now. But having the latest possible bye week (Week 14) puts him on the radar as a potential fill-in when bye weeks resume.
ESPN Ownership: 13.3%
Yahoo! Ownership: 16%
Keon Coleman, WR, Buffalo Bills
It was easy to downgrade Coleman after the Bills traded for Amari Cooper last week, and Cooper will definitely play more than he did on Sunday going forward (19 snaps, according to PFF). But the rookie set a career-high with 125 yards against the Tennessee Titans, with a long of 57 yards as he tied Khalil Shakir for the team lead in targets (seven).
Coleman has over 50 yards or a touchdown in four of his last five games, with at least five targets in two of the last three. His target volume may continue to be up-and-down, but Cooper’s presence should also line him up for favorable situations to make big plays.
There is serious weekly boom-or-bust to Coleman in fantasy until it’s shown otherwise. But on the idea Sunday could be the launch point for a rise, he’s worth a long look on the waiver wire in leagues with at least 12 teams.
ESPN Ownership: 44.4%
Yahoo! Ownership: 32%
Ray Davis, RB, Buffalo Bills
After filling in capably as the Bills’ No. 1 back in Week 6 (20 carries for 97 yards, three catches for 55 yards), Davis returned to a backup role with James Cook back in action Sunday against the Tennessee Titans. While the rookie only played 13 snaps, he had five carries for 41 yards and a touchdown along with one catch for six yards (seven routes run, according to PFF) in the game. Cook had 12 carries for 32 yards with a score.
As long as Cook is healthy, Davis likely won’t see a ton of snaps overall. But he does see opportunities at a good rate when he’s on the field, and he has scored twice over the last five games.
Davis’ appeal as a waiver wire add is mostly rooted in being the handcuff to Cook. But for fantasy managers who don’t have Cook, there’s a path to some standalone value here and there are a lot of worse ways to fill a bench spot in leagues with 12 or more teams.
ESPN Ownership: 14.7%
Yahoo! Ownership: 26%
Tua Tagovailoa, QB, Miami Dolphins
As first reported by Dianna Russini of The Athletic, Tagovailoa is set to return to practice this coming week and there’s hope he’ll be able to play in Week 8 against the Arizona Cardinals. He’s still in concussion protocol, but by all accounts he will play again this season.
If he were to start in Week 8 Tagovailoa would get a very good matchup against the Cardinals, who entered Week 7 allowing the fourth-most fantasy points per game to quarterbacks (Yahoo! scoring). After that, Week 10 (Los Angeles Rams) and Week 11 (Las Vegas Raiders) are nice matchups if Tagovailoa is able to play.
Tagovailoa’s presumed eventual return to action would good news for fantasy managers who have Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. But for those who are in a position to stash him if he doesn’t play for a couple weeks, he’s well worth an add (however speculatively heading into the week) as we move to Week 8.
ESPN Ownership: 26.5%
Yahoo! Ownership: 45%
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