LAFB Week 8 Waiver Wire Wonders

Well hello there and welcome back my LAFB Network homies. Hopefully, Week 7 brought you all you asked for and more: you stomped on your opponent, pooped on them in your group chats, and maybe thinking of starting a trade for their best player and offering your kicker.

If you were on the other side of that matchup, I am sorry and hope you find solace in the weeks to come. Maybe checking out some of these waiver pickups could help. I know that after this week, and the previous, my teams are hurting and in need of depth. Either way, let’s get started on the good stuff, shall we?

Week 8 Waiver Wire Wonders

Quarterback

(CAR) Teddy Bridgewater vs Atlanta Falcons

owned in about 44% of fantasy football leagues

A man who has been on the wire before and needs little introduction is Teddy Bridgewater. In this last week of football, he finished 23 of 28, with 254 passing yards, and 2 TDs. He sprinkled some rushing in but it was an easy 10 yards, but that’s still a point right? Right.

His performance stuck out this week, not because of his 21.7 fantasy point finish, but because of his completion percentage. 82.1% is now his season-high. Previously it was 78.6% in weeks two and three. What does this mean?

Well in layman’s terms it literally means Teddy Bridgewater is a fairly accurate QB. Give Teddy the stream to start for your bye week troubles, the man only has five picks this season so you know he’s someone to rely on.

(SF) Jimmy Garoppolo @ Seattle Seahawks

owned in about 30% of fantasy leagues

Another accurate QB from last week, Jimmy Garoppolo, finds his way on the wire this week but primarily because of his opponent. The Seahawk’s defense got tossed around and even lost the game against the Cardinals. Of course, Kyler Murray had his share of that pie but still, Seattle has been playing shoot-outs practically every week. On average, the Seahawks give up 368.7 passing yards per week. Couple that with a 67.6% passer completion and Jimmy G has a fairly easy week.

(MIA) Tua Tagovailoa vs Los Angeles Rams

owned in about 29% of fantasy leagues

Now don’t see his name and think yah boi is just telling you to run to the waivers and pick him up. I am not. What I am saying is that Tangovailoa should be a speculative add and should find his way to your bench.

I don’t want any part of the first game growing pains that Tua might face but I would be interested in having him on my roster. Now, who would I drop him for? That depends on you and your roster my friends. I personally don’t have the depth, I wish I could just toss some position player for Tangovailoa, but you might be able to.

The big thing to chew on for Tua is the rookie success that we’ve seen so far with Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert. Obviously, each player finds success their own way but call me suspicious because I would take a chance on the new Miami Dolphins starter with all the rookie forthcomings this season.

Running Backs

(SF) JaMycal Hasty @ Seattle Seahawks

owned in about 21% of fantasy leagues

The merry-go-round of a backfield for the San Francisco offense is beginning to feel like a bad parody of the Final Destination films. Mostert’s still sidelined, now Jeff Wilson accompanies him with Deebo Samuel.

The next man up for San Fran would have to be Jerick McKinnon but he hasn’t been producing like the 49ers would hope. So in comes JaMycal Hasty. Hasty has only played in three games total this season, last week included, but in doing so he has averaged at least 4.1 yards a carry. In week 3 he averaged 4.5, Week 6 he averaged 4.1 and now in Week 7, it jumps up to 6.3 yards per carry. Not too shabby.

And if that’s not enough to tempt you maybe some Frisco stats would help. In seven weeks the 49ers have ran the ball an average of 28.8 times a game. That’s third in rushing attempts this season. The only other teams that have more rushing attempts are the Browns and the Cardinals. The Niners have also been averaging 137.7 rushing yards a game with a league-high 12 rushing TDs.

(NYJ) La’Mical Perine @ Kansas City Chiefs

owned in about 16% of fantasy leagues

Yes, I know, the Jets offense is the laughing stock of the football league but think of Perine like this… He’s on a team that’s going to have to throw the ball a lot because of them playing catch-up. Frank Gore is the “workhorse” back taking all the carries but that will cease once the Chiefs pick up a two or three TD lead. Then it will be throw, throw, throw all game. Start Perine as a hail mary and hope you pull the win from where the sun don’t shine!

(SEA) Carlos Hyde vs San Francisco 49ers

owned in about 11% of fantasy leagues

Carlos Hyde finds his way on the wire this week, again, because of Chris Carson’s knee injury. After Carson’s departure, Hyde became the lead back for the Seattle Seahawks; he finished with 15 carries for 68 rushing yards and a TD, along with four targets and three receptions. It helps to know that Hyde’s backup, Travis Homer, is also injured, so we can expect Hyde to carry the bulk of the load for the Seahawks.

(ARZ) Chase Edmonds Bye Week

owned in about 63% of fantasy leagues

Chris Carson wasn’t the only RB in the NFC East that found himself on the sideline. Kenyan Drake also grabbed some bench last week after having a slight tear in his ankle ligament, so Edmonds had a good amount of time to shine.

And it wasn’t necessarily the rushing game that this man flaunts, Edmonds tears up defenses with his receiving game. Against the Seahawks, Edmonds finished with seven targets, seven receptions, and 87 receiving yards. It definitely feels like some things are changing in Arizona.

Wide Receiver

(SF) Brandon Aiyuk @ Seattle Seahawks

owned in about 49% of fantasy leagues

As mentioned before, Deebo Samuel is hurt again and will be out for a few weeks. Luckily for the 49ers, they have Aiyuk to slip right back into Deebo’s starting spot and soak up all those targets and receptions. Aiyuk had some early success before Samuel’s return but hasn’t been as memorable. Now with Deebo out, Aiyuk finds himself back into fantasy relevancy. Pick up Brandon Aiyuk to fill a roster spot or simply block the Deebo Samuel manager.(BUF) Cole Beasley vs New England Patriots

owned in about 41% of fantasy leagues

Who led the Bills in targets this week? Stefon Diggs, you might think, but no. In fact, it was Cole Beasley. So far this season Beasley has 49 targets, 39 receptions for 470 yards, and two scores, totaling him to 98.0 fantasy points. That means Beasley has been averaging 14.0 fantasy points a week.

Sure that’s not enough to win us a week but you know what, it’s better than shooting a shot in the dark at some unproven prospect. And sure, Beasley isn’t the No. 1 guy for the Bills but that works to his advantage because all the hard coverage will be on Diggs and his routes instead of Beasley in the slot.

(LV) Nelson Agholor @ Cleveland Browns

owned in about 4% of fantasy leagues

In the last three weeks, there has been only one WR for the Las Vegas Raiders who has scored in each game. It wasn’t rookie sensation Henry Ruggs III or Hunter Renfrow, but Nelson Agholor. On the season, Agholor has actually scored 4 out of 7 weeks. He hasn’t been the suave, sexy pick like Ruggs, Agholor has been more of the shot in the dark kind of player for the Raiders.

But this shot in the dark is beginning to brighten after each passing week. In Week 4, he had 44 yards and a score, in Week 5 it was 67 yards and a score, and finally, in Week 7 it was 107 yards a score. Agholor should still give you the skeptic willies but there’s always room on your bench for someone finding their way into fantasy relevance.

(CLE) Rashard Higgins @ Las Vegas Raiders

owned in about 3% of fantasy leagues

Do you have Odell Beckham Jr.? If so then you already know that poor OBJ is going to be out the rest of the year with an Achilles tear. Ouch. That means that Jarvis Landry will be the No. 1 guy for the WR corps. So how come I didn’t bring up Landry on the wire? Because over 70% of fantasy coaches already have him on their roster.

Now if you see him on your wire, do the right thing and scoop him up but if he’s not, look for our guy Rashard Higgins. On the season, Higgins has 12 targets for 11 receptions, 163 yards, and two scores. He has only been active for four games this season so don’t think he has been running around the field with no looks. Naturally, he’s been the third option for Baker Mayfield but now with his promotion to No. 2, success has got Higgins’ name on it.

Tight End

(PHI) Dallas Goedert / Richard Rodgers vs Dallas Cowboys

Goedert owned in about 47% of fantasy leagues

Rodgers owned in about 9% of fantasy leagues

Obviously, if Dallas Goedert is suiting up this Sunday I would put him in my lineup without a second thought. At this moment he is still undecided if he will be playing or not but someone we do know will be suiting up is Richard Rodgers. With Zach Ertz getting injured last week, Rodgers started his first game as one of the starting TEs for the Eagles. As the starter, he finished with eight targets for six receptions and 85 yards, totaling 14.5 fantasy points. Rodgers is definitely a playable TE against the weak Dallas defense.

(IND) Trey Burton @ Detroit Lions

owned in about 21% of fantasy leagues

Trey Boo-Boo is back baby. He’s been activated for only three weeks but in those three weeks, he has accumulated 16 targets from Philip Rivers. The Colts did have a bye for Week 7 but come back to face a squishy Detroit Lions defense. The Lions have actually been giving up 11.6 yards per completion to opposing receivers, as well as giving up 11 TDs through the air this season. Plug Trey Boo-Boo in if you’re needing a playable TE in a pinch.