Good W.I.L.L Hunting - Week 8 Waiver Wire

Every Tuesday, @TrueNorthFFB's very own Will Harris @itsharristime will be providing you with his W.I.L.L (Weekly Insights to Lead Your League). He’ll provide an in-depth positional look at the top waiver wire adds of theweek that are rostered on less than 40% of Yahoo leagues. @itsharristime will also give you three Professor Lambeau Picks just in case you cannot get the recommended waiver add for each position. How Bout Dem’ Apples looks at the stat lines of last week’s waiver wire insights and how @itsharristime fared.

QUARTERBACK

Derek Carr- rostered @ 29%, Las Vegas Raiders

With four teams on bye this week, you may be scrambling to find a replacement quarterback in single QB leagues. The good news? There are still serviceable QBs available on the waiver wire and probably in free agency unless your league has a few managers who like to hoard QBs. I will never understand why managers keep so many QBs on their roster in a single QB league! Does not make sense! But I digress.

For the rest of the season, there is no better QB to add at this point than rookie and first-round pick Tua Tagovaiola. The former Alabama quarterback is in an offense that has a bevy of pass catching options in DeVante Parker, Preston Williams, Mike Gesicki and a pass catching back in Miles Gaskin. If you have the ability to stash him, do it. Tua fully recovered from his hip injury will help unlock this offense and set defenses off balance with his mobility. Unfortunately for Miami, his debut comes against the incredibly stingy Rams secondary, and their fierce pass rush led by standout DT Aaron Donald.

We are at that point of the season where fantasy teams are in a fierce battle to make the playoffs and every win counts. Teams might not have the luxury for a to start the rookie Tua in his NFL regular season start. It is definitely a gamble that I would be hesitant to make.

This is why I present to you the Las Vegas Raiders starting QB Derek Carr. You probably didn’t know that Carr sits as QB13 on the year in fantasy production, and is quietly one of the most efficient QBs who is getting ample protection from an improved offensive line. Carr’s true completion rate is number one in the league at 78%, and is number one in play action completion. I know you are saying, “well, he doesn’t throw downfield,” and you’d be right with Carr ranking 30th in the league in air yards per attempt.

However, the ability to throw downfield does not prevent Carr from putting up fantasy points and does it really matter how he generates his passing yards? The Raiders have YAC options galore in the passing game (Darren Waller, Henry Ruggs, Josh Jacobs) and have put weapons around Carr to play to his strengths.

Carr is a safe bet against a Browns team that has given up the 8th most points to opposing QBs and the 2nd most to WRs. Get Tua as a luxury and Carr as a survival play.

Professor Lambeau’s Picks

• Tua Tagovaiola- 29%, Miami Dolphins

• Kirk Cousins, 29% - Minnesota Vikings

• Baker Mayfield, 39% - Cleveland Browns

RUNNING BACKS (Any Seattle Seahawks RB!)

Carlos Hyde, Rostered @ 12%; DeeJay Dallas, @ 0%; Rashaad Penny, @ 3%

Chris Carson is a very good RB in a run heavy offense who is unfortunately, always getting banged up. Carson showed remarkable ‘Matt Breida-like recovery’ after an MCL sprain, coming back the very next week. What might have been the Travis Homer/Carlos Hyde/DeeJay Dallas show never happened because Carson was back on the field.

With an ankle injury that took him out of Monday Night Football, and even with Seattle being coy with their injury reports, it looks like it will be a Carson-less backfield for at least a couple of weeks. Filling in for Carson was Carlos Hyde, who managed 15 attempts for 68 YDs and a score. Hyde looked every bit the part of a strong in between the tackles grinder that made him a 1000 YD rusher in Houston last year. We know that Hyde is more than capable of filling the RB1 job in Seattle, but don’t fret if you miss him on waivers. The Seahawks have an incredibly difficult matchup in Week 8 against San Francisco, and then face the Bills and Rams.

My body cringes at the pounding Hyde will take in the next couple of weeks, and that’s why I’m also recommending adding (if you have deep benches) rookie DeeJay Dallas and Rashaad Penny. Hyde has already missed time this season with an injury, and it would not surprise me if he misses more time with the tough schedule ahead.

It may also be the perfect time to make an offer on Chris Carson as the schedule on Carson’s return looks rosy for the Seahawks: Week 12 vs Giants, Week 14 vs Jets, and Week 15 vs Washington.

Professor Lambeau’s Picks

• JaMycal Hasty- 21%, San Francisco 49ers

• Lamical Perine, 16%, New York Jets

• Duke Johnson- 19%, Houston Texans

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WIDE RECEIVER

Jalen Reagor - rostered @ 14%, Philadelphia Eagles

It is not often that in Week 8 of the fantasy football season you have the potential to add a WR1 to your lineup.

In the case of rookie Jalen Reagor, not only do you get an incredibly talented prospect, but one that is in line for major volume thanks in part to the depleted Eagles receiving corps. We’ve seen what volume and talent can do in this strange training camp-less and COVID 2020 season: there are three rookie WRs in the top 20 PPR scoring through seven games (Justin Jefferson 10th Chase Claypool 13th & CeeDee Lamb 20th) and Tee Higgins is just on the outside of that at 21st.

With each of these rookies, we knew about their talent but were unsure of their usage. With Reagor, we know the talent, and know the Eagles are in desperate need of receiving help, and were high on Reagor (drafted in the 1st round) before he went down with a UCL tear in his hand.

In the two games that we did see Reagor before his injury, he had snap shares of 66.1% vs Washington and 84.1% vs the Rams. With a possible week 8 return for an Eagles team that has relied on Greg Ward, Travis Fulgham and John Hightower as their receiving corps, Reagor can quickly become the best passing option in Philly for an Eagles team that is throwing the ball at the 3rd highest rate in the league.

Talent? Check. Volume? Check. Price tag? Free. Matchup? Dallas. Ultimate check!!

Professor Lambeau’s Picks

• Denzel Mims - 4%, New York Jets

• Corey Davis- 28%, Tennessee Titans

• Mike Williams - 40%, Los Angeles Chargers

TIGHT END

(** DALLAS GOEDERT (47% rostered) IF AVAILABLE, USE PRIORITY+FAAB TO GET HIM! **)

Harrison Bryant- rostered @0%, Cleveland Browns

Austin Hooper’s appendicitis has opened the door for Harrison Bryant to show the world why he was awarded the John Mackey Award for being college football’s best TE in 2019.

Under the old regime, Cleveland was a team that funneled the ball to TEs, particularly in the redzone. New Head Coach Kevin Stefanski continues this trend, and Bryant was the beneficiary of this in Week 7, seeing 5 targets for 4 receptions and 2 TDs, ultimately ending up as the top fantasy TE for the week.

The TE situation in Cleveland looks to be messy in the future. Hooper will be returning from injury and David Njoku will play a big role in this offense that is now without their much maligned WR superstar, Odell Beckham Jr.

As a one week fill in, flipping the coin on Njoku or Bryant is not a bad bet, especially against a Raiders defense that when faced with legitimate TE talent (Jared Cook Week 2, Travis Kelce Week 5, and Rob Gronkowski Week 7) have given up points and TDs.

As I mentioned above, if Dallas Goedert is available and you need help at TE for the rest of the season, he is the priority add at all positions this week. With Ertz out, and with his profile, previous production, and baked in volume, Goedert has the potential to be the TE1 to finish the season.

Professor Lambeau’s Picks

• David Njoku - 3%, Cleveland Browns

• Gerald Everett - 3%, Los Angeles Rams

• Irv Smith Jr. - 7%, Minnesota Vikings

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HOW ABOUT DEM' APPLES

Daniel Jones, QB New York Giants- 21.68 f/pts, 187 Yds, 2 TDs

Boston Scott, RB Philadelphia Eagles- 18.20 f/pts, 46 Yds, 1 receiving TD

Christian Kirk, WR Arizona Cardinals - 20.70 f/pts, 37 Yds, 5 receptions, 2 TDs

Darren Fells, TE Houston Texans- 0.00 RIP!!

Thank you for reading my waiver wire article. Make sure to come back next week and please leave a comment or message me on Twitter @itsharristime

Editor: Joe Simonetti (@joesimonetti77)

Graphic work: Dan Made Graphics (@DanMadeGraphics)