After the eighth full slate of regular season action, the NFL and fantasy football are heading into the back half of the season.
If you had a tough injury in Week 8, or you have a player hitting their bye week at an inopportune time, we’ll scan the waiver wire. For potential pickups, we’ll consider players who are available in at least 50% of ESPN fantasy leagues.
Let’s take a look at some of the potential waiver wire pickups that could help your teams heading into Week 9 of the NFL campaign.
Khalil Herbert, RB, Chicago Bears (47.7%)
Despite David Montgomery still getting the majority of the running back snaps this season (54.2%), Herbert has still found a way to be relevant in fantasy. Through eight weeks, he’s the 18th-ranked running back in fantasy, averaging 11.9 points per contest.
Van Jefferson, WR, Los Angeles Rams (11.7%)
Jefferson really started to find a role in 2021, recording 50 receptions for 802 yards and six touchdowns. However, a knee injury placed him on injured reserve for the first seven weeks of this year, and he returned to action against the San Francisco 49ers.
While he didn’t record any receptions, he did play 31 offensive snaps (53%) which is a promising sign for his health. With Cooper Kupp dealing with an injury and Allen Robinson not exactly meeting expectations, Jefferson could take on a large role over the last half of the season.
Marcus Mariota, QB, Atlanta Falcons (24%)
Mariota has been a surprisingly productive fantasy quarterback this season. He’s averaging 16.2 points per contest – good for eighth among all quarterbacks.
In Week 9, he’ll be taking on the Los Angeles Chargers who lost one of their top cornerbacks for the season in J.C. Jackson. There’s a chance that Atlanta gets Cordarrelle Patterson back this week, giving Mariota another weapon to target, offensively.
Evan Engram, TE, Jacksonville Jaguars (32.2%)
Tight end is a crap shoot. We did pretty well last week with Mike Gesicki, so this week, we’re going to stay in Florida and look at Engram. The former New York Giant has been the 11th-ranked tight end in fantasy this season, averaging 7.1 points per game.
The Jacksonville Jaguars are taking on the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 9 who are allowing the third-most points to opposing tight ends this year.
Dolphins, D/ST (42%)
Hear us out. Miami is averaging just 3.9 points per game, as they’re the 27th-ranked defense in fantasy terms. However, playing against the Chicago Bears, the Dolphins, despite all of their injuries, could force Justin Fields and company to turn the ball over.
Chicago’s offense is the fourth-worst scoring offense in fantasy.
