The Desai Guys continue their Waiver Wire Fantasy Football coverage this week with injury updates and replacements.
Fantasy Football Updates: Week 8 Injuries And Waiver Wire Week 9
Cooper Kupp, WR – Los Angeles Rams
- Kupp had his ankle rolled up on toward the very end of the game against the 49ers
- Diagnosis is still coming, but it looks like he avoided a serious injury
- Head coach Sean McVay said he’s “kicking himself” for leaving Kupp in the game when the game was pretty much decided at the point of his injury
- There is a possibility that he could miss this coming week, but we’ll have to wait and see as the week progresses
- If the Rams want to make a run for the postseason, they may consider keeping him out one game in order to play for the season
- The Los Angeles offense would be pretty ineffective if Kupp can’t suit up this coming week, but Allen Robinson would see an uptick in targets
- Also, you can look at players like Tyler Higbee, Van Jefferson, and Ben Skowronek
- It would be more advisable to look at receivers on other offenses for this week if Kupp can’t play in Week 9
Guys like Mack Hollins, Romeo Doubs, Rondale Moore, and Devin Duvernay
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Jonathan Taylor, RB – Indianapolis Colts
- Left the game in the first quarter with an ankle injury against the Washington Commanders
- He did return to the game with a wrapped ankle, but it’s certainly a situation to monitor
- Wasn’t effective once he came back into the game even coughed up a crucial fumble in the Colts red zone
- He did return to the game with a wrapped ankle, but it’s certainly a situation to monitor
- Taylor has already missed some time with an ankle injury and if he re-aggravated the injury then it could be best for the Colts to rest him again
- Even when Taylor was in the lineup, this offensive line wasn’t doing the best in generating running lanes for him
- Taylor had a sensational Week 1, but since then has yet to score a touchdown again and also has more than 80 rushing yards in a game
- If Taylor misses this coming week or more, it’s best to avoid any running backs in this Indianapolis offense
Look at guys like Khalil Herbert, James Cook, Chuba Hubbard, and Latavius Murray (who has a Week 9 BYE week)
Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Week 9 Picks
Waiver Wire Quarterbacks
Mac Jones, New England Patriots vs. IND (ESPN Roster Percentage – 6.3%)
- There seems to be a quarterback controversy in New England, at least the fans and media are trying to make one
- With Jones being healthy, he will be the starter for the Patriots and not Bailey Zappe
- Heading into Week 9, the Patriots have the eighth fewest passing attempts and the sixth most rushing attempts
- Clearly, they move the ball with the ground game and not the passing game
- While Jones may not be the best option this week, he’s one of the safer options as you try to escape the Week 9 with six teams on a BYE
- It’s not a good week if you need to stream a quarterback this week…
Marcus Mariota, Atlanta Falcons vs. MIA (ESPN Roster Percentage – 24%)
- I don’t know how but this guy is a fantasy dream because he’s an okay passer but a good runner so even if the passing game is lacking, he has that ability to still rack up points.
- He’s scored 15+ points in 3 of his last 4 games
- He plays the Chargers (who have allowed all but one of their opponents to score 19 or more points), Panthers, Bears, Commanders, and Steelers
Waiver Wire Running Backs
Kenyan Drake, Baltimore Ravens vs. NO (ESPN Roster Percentage – 18.3%)
- His rostered percentage dropped by 20% last week after an absolutely miserable half point performance
- However, that was an overreaction because he still had 11 carries, an impressive number, especially in that offense
- Plus he won’t be too hot of a pick up given the fact that he’s two weeks away from a BYE
- This is a pretty solid flex option if you’re hurting for one right now
Khalil Herbert, Chicago Bears vs. MIA (ESPN Roster Percentage – 47.7%)
- Herbert is looking more suited for this offense compared to the “starter” David Montgomery
- With about the same amount of carries, Montgomery (92) is averaging 3.9 yards per carry compared to Herbert (91) who is averaging a whopping 6.2 yards per carry
- Herbert has yet to go over 20 carries this season, but the one time he did he totaled 157 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns
- This guy is dominant in the running game and the Bears need to feed him more in this offense to ease the pressure off of Justin Fields
- Miami is not an easy opponent to run the ball on, but Herbert could be in the long-term plans for Chicago and could be worthy of a stash if you can afford to do that
Waiver Wire Wide Receivers
Devin Duvernay, Baltimore Ravens vs. NO (ESPN Roster Percentage – 29%)
- Yeah his inconsistency has been maddening but let’s be real here: he’s the second-best receiver on this team (obviously I’m not including Mark Andrews!) and at this point in the season on the waiver wire, that’s hard to come by
- Plus his usage is extremely versatile which once again means that if Lamar Jackson is having a bad day passing, they can still find ways to use him
- The Ravens post-BYE schedule is a cupcake (Panthers, Jags, Broncos, Steelers, Browns, Falcons)
Mack Hollins, Las Vegas Raiders vs. JAX (ESPN Roster Percentage – 6.4%)
- For everything we thought Hunter Renfrow was going to be in this Raiders offense, it’s all coming from Hollins instead
- Renfrow has been dealing with injuries this season and has been just like a shell of himself
- In his place though, Hollins has stepped up and become a great secondary option behind Davante Adams
- Second on the team in all receiving categories and actually leads the team in yards per reception
Waiver Wire Tight Ends
Evan Engram, Jacksonville Jaguars vs. LV (ESPN Roster Percentage – 32.2%)
- Talked about Engram in our Starts/Sits segment from last week and how he’s becoming more involved in the offense
- Over the last five weeks, Engram is ranked as the sixth-best fantasy tight end
- He finally scored his first touchdown last week in London, but it shouldn’t be his last touchdown this season
Engram may slowly usurp the second option in this passing offense, over Zay Jones
Greg Dulcich, Denver Broncos – BYE Week 9 (ESPN Roster Percentage – 34%)
- He has seen 5 targets or more in two of his three career starts
- Russell Wilson and Brett Rypien both have looked his way a lot and Albert Okwuegbunam is clearly no longer considered a threat to overtake him.
- This offense will be passing it a lot to stay in games which means more opportunities for him to capitalize.
Waiver Wire Defenses/Special Teams
Minnesota Vikings vs. WAS (ESPN Roster Percentage – 9.8%)
- Don’t be fooled by the win, Washington was dominated by the Colts defense on most drives except for the last one.
- Yes this offense is talented but it’s also inconsistent
- The Vikings defense meanwhile has proved that they can force turnovers fairly consistently.
- This is two games in a row where they’ve scored 10 points or more with a third likely on its way
Kansas City Chiefs vs. TEN (ESPN Roster Percentage – 6%)
- The Chiefs are ranked second-best in the NFL (rushing yards) in stopping the run this season
- Tied for second in fewest rushing touchdowns allowed
- The Titans do have a behemoth in Derrick Henry obviously, but if the Chiefs can limit Henry and force Ryan Tannehill to beat them, they can get some good fantasy points this week
Waiver Wire Kickers
Matt Prater, Arizona Cardinals vs. SEA (ESPN Roster Percentage – 23.3%)
- In a divisional game against the Seahawks, expect both teams to have lots of chances to score
- Prater had a great week against the Minnesota Vikings last week (scored nine fantasy points) and should be in line for a similar point total this coming week too
Jason Sanders vs. CHI (ESPN Roster Percentage – 6.7%)
- This Miami offense is weirdly too high-powered for Sanders to be a truly effective kicker.
- However, this simply isn’t sustainable so it’s just a matter of time where they’re playing close games and McDaniel has no choice but to settle for field goals
- Worst case scenario, you know he’s probably not going to put up a sub- five point performance so at worst, he’s a middle-level bet here
