Fantasy football waiver wire Week 8: Kyle Monangai, Christian Watson, streamers

This week, I’m making a waiver wire adjustment for everyone. Everything is still here. Don’t worry (like the report)! I’m just getting to the waivers quicker, with streamers coming after the running backs and wide receivers, then the “Worry Report” and “Power Up Players” finishing things off. Hopefully, like the weekly rankings change, you like this better. Don’t forget, Week 8 has six teams on a bye … because the NFL hates us sometimes.

Waiver Wire Running Backs

1. Bam Knight, ARI — I broke it down on the podcast, but Knight is the lead, and few (if anyone) expected the Cardinals to be in control of the game against the Packers until the bitter end. Michael Carter will see more of a 50/50 split in losing or tied scenarios, and he could handle a few more touches if trailing by multiple scores.
2. Kyle Monangai, CHI — Season highs in touches, RBTouch%, yards and fantasy points. Monangai won’t be a weekly RB2, but he’s growing into the David Montgomery role, which can return RB3 value most weeks … especially during byemapocalation (it’s so absurd, I’m combining three words — stop the madness, NFL!).
3. Woody Marks, HOU — TBD pending MNF
4. Tyjae Spears, TEN 😏
5. Tyler Allgeier, ATL 🫡
6. Kenneth Gainwell, PIT 😏
7. Michael Carter, ARI — See: Knight, Bam (bamm! for Flinstones fans)
8. Brashard Smith, KC — Of note, Smith saw a lot of usage with Kareem Hunt hurt and the Chiefs holding a massive lead.
9. Tyrone Tracy, NYG — Saw 30% of the touches. However, six of his nine rushes came in the second half, and most were with the Giants up by three scores. Tracy would be an RB2 if Cam Skattebo got hurt, but he’s also a desperation option if you’re thin.
10. Isaiah Davis, NYJ — Breece Hall returned after an injury scare, but we’re one injury or a Hall trade from Davis being an RB2 as the lead for the Jets.
11. Devin Neal, NO — Neal had one touch after Kendre Miller (ACL) got hurt. While Miller is done for the year, Neal is a deep stash for now, as he could grow into the Miller role, but the Saints don’t appear ready to thrust Neal into it just yet.
12. Emanuel Wilson, GB — Only mentioning him because I expect questions after the Week 7 injury scare for Josh Jacobs. Chris Brooks would timeshare if Jacobs missed time, putting them in a Cardinals-like value situation (tad higher because it’s the Packers).

Purely Next Man Up Ranks
(If an injury ahead of them)

1. Tyler Allgeier, ATL
2. Brian Robinson, SF
3. Rachaad White, TB — once Bucky Irving is back
4. Blake Corum, LAR
5. Tyjae Spears, TEN
6. Ray Davis, BUF
7. Tyrone Tracy, NYG
8. Kyle Monangai, CHI
9. TreVeyon Henderson, NE
10. RJ Harvey, DEN
11. Bhayshul Tuten, JAX
12. Kareem Hunt, KC — if healthy
13. Ollie Gordon, MIA
14. Isaiah Davis, NYJ
15. Jaydon Blue, DAL
16. Hassan Haskins, LAC
17. Devin Neal, NO
18. Tahj Brooks, CIN

Bait Loot
(Leave them on waivers)

• Chris Rodriguez, WAS — Especially because he ruined my Jacory Croskey-Merritt touchdown call. He stole it!

Junk Drop

• TreVeyon Henderson, NE — Here last week. Here again … both of them.
• RJ Harvey, DEN — Henderson and Harvey are merely handcuffs and droppable (through Smith on the waivers list above) if you need a fringe starter (and Hunt is out).

Waiver Wire Wide Receivers

1. Christian Watson, GB — Dontayvion Wicks aggravated his injury, and Matthew Golden still couldn’t eclipse 81.8% of the routes. Watson may take a game to get fully incorporated, but there is a good chance he’s a top-two option for the Packers when ready.
2. Tez Johnson, TB — With Mike Evans done for the year and Chris Godwin an unknown, Johnson steps into a top-two role … at least for one week. Johnson has Top 30 upside while Godwin is out, and even if/when Godwin returns, Johnson would still be a boom/bust WR5.
3. Tre Tucker, LV 😏
4. Elic Ayomanor, TEN — It didn’t result in much, but Ayomanor is the top Titans receiver until Calvin Ridley returns.
5. Darnell Mooney, ATL 😏
6. Troy Franklin, DEN 😏
7. Darius Slayton, NYG — Maybe he returns this week? Slayton will be a WR4 when finally healthy.
8. Kayshon Boutte, NE — I would have kept Boutte in “Bait Loot,” but I could picture the pitchforks and torches. Look, Boutte is your prototypical WR4 in fantasy. It’s cool if you want to ride the hot streak, but we’re talking about someone with two games of more than three targets. This is Nick Westbrook-Ihkine territory. I’m not going to say it can’t hit again, but chasing this — at least in that you expect WR2 value — is how people lose their shirts at roulette.
9. Alec Pierce, IND — Even if Josh Downs returns, Pierce is the perfect Hail Mary play as your third/fourth wide receiver. Daniel Jones seemingly chucks it deep to Pierce at least once a game.
10. Josh Downs, IND — More of a floor play when active.
11. Xavier Legette, CAR — Legette was the beneficiary of being the No. 2 receiver facing the Jets, but that’s also two out of three good games for Legette since his return. Yes, Jalen Coker (top stash below) is breathing down his neck, but Legette is worth a bench stash in case he keeps this up, particularly while Andy Dalton is at quarterback.
12. Malik Washington, MIA — It sounds as if the Jaylen Waddle injury isn’t serious, but even if Waddle is okay, Darren Waller is going to miss time, putting Washington in the WR4/5 range.
13. Marvin Mims, DEN — Benefitted from catch-up mode in Week 7. Mims has never run more than 62.8% of the Broncos’ routes and has just three games where he topped 52.3%. I get it. It’s baffling Sean Payton doesn’t use Mims more given his effectiveness. But Mims is a pure Hail Mary play every week.
14. Chimere Dike, TEN — Van Jefferson is the current No. 2, and it wouldn’t be a shock to see Tyler Lockett traded (for a case of Gatorade). Dike is more of a deep stash (see below), but mentioning him since he led the Titans in Week 7.
15. Chris Moore and Jaylin Lane, WAS — At least we have clarity in how these two will fill-in. As seen, we don’t really want any if Terry McLaurin and Deebo Samuel are out. If just one is playing, though, we can chase the other for WR5 value. Moore would be the McLaurin replacement and Lane would be Samuel’s.

Stashes

• Jalen Coker, CAR
• Tory Horton, SEA
• Isaac TeSlaa, DET
• Luther Burden, CHI
• Isaiah Bond, CLE
• Pat Bryant, DEN
• Andrei Iosivas, CIN

Bait Loot
(Leave them on waivers)

• Hollywood Brown, KC — Just trolling me with that touchdown on … 19 routes. Rashee Rice only ran 19 in his first game back (and with the blowout). Brown might have 1-2 good games left in him the rest of the season.
• Tyler Johnson, NYJ — No Garrett Wilson. The only players you want on the Jets are Wilson, who could return this week, Hall and a Davis stash.

Junk Drop

• Jerry Jeudy, CLE — Rinse and repeat last week. Can argue him through Legette (above).
• Luke McCaffrey, WAS — Zero uptick with McLaurin and Samuel out. Instead, we saw the return of Robbie Chosen.

HP Restored ❤️
(Can pick them back up)

• Jauan Jennings, SF — Fine. Whatever. I give up trying to figure out just how healthy Jennings is. The truth is, if Jennings is healthy — enough — he’s the top wideout, even with Ricky Pearsall active. Apparently his five broken ribs and three ankle sprains are healed. Sure. Jennings has weekly Top 30 upside with a big, fat, goose egg floor.

All In Speed Run Pod

Reserve Heroes: Deployed
(Streaming Section)

Streaming Quarterbacks

• Jaxson Dart, NYG at PHI
• Marcus Mariota, WAS at KC
• Joe Flacco, CIN vs NYJ
• C.J. Stroud, HOU vs SF
• Spencer Rattler, NO vs TB
• Michael Penix, ATL vs MIA (possibly Kirk Cousins)

“Thou Shall Not… Pass!”
(No thanks, not worth the risk)

• Aaron Rodgers, PIT vs GB
• Andy Dalton, CAR vs BUF
• Tua Tagovailoa, MIA at ATL
• Cam Ward, TEN at IND
• Dillon Gabriel, CLE at NE

Streaming Tight Ends

• Mason Taylor, NYJ
• Cade Otton, TB
• Evan Engram, DEN
• Oronde Gadsden, LAC
• Theo Johnson, NYG
• Harold Fannin, CLE
• Colston Loveland, CHI

Streaming DST
(First team listed is streamer)

Week 8

• IND vs TEN
• BUF at CAR
• ATL vs MIA
• LAC vs MIN
• TB at NO
• BAL vs CHI
• CIN vs NYJ
• SF at HOU
• HOU vs SF

Week 9

• LAR vs NO
• LAC at TEN
• BAL at MIA
• JAX at LV
• IND at PIT
• CHI at CIN
• HOU vs DEN
• SF at NYG
• ATL at NE

Manual: Rules of Play

• Players must be under 60% rostered on Yahoo
• Listed in order of preference: I’ll regularly prioritize potential upside over immediate replacement production
• No FAB suggestions: Varies wildly by league tendencies and need
• Streaming QB, TE, DST order might change in the ranks with more news and projections
• Emojis for brevity
  • 😏 = mentioned multiple times, multiple weeks — either you want him, or don’t
  • 🫡 = Next Man Up but with deeper startability

BYES: Arizona, Detroit, Jacksonville, LA Rams, Las Vegas, Seattle

Worry Report
(Scale 1-5: more 🦆 = more worry)

• Jordan Love, QB, GB: 🦆🦆🦆 — There’s something to be said for continuity. Love has dealt with health issues among his wideouts, and then the team plane was stuck on the tarmac for six hours. If you’ve played sports, you know routine and comfort play a part in performance. All that said, there is a concerning aspect to Love’s season: lack of attempts. Love has just one game over 31 pass attempts with four in the 22-29 range. The Packers are too good on both sides of the ball with a great running back to boot. They just don’t need Love to do a ton, which is going to keep him as a mid-QB2.
• Saquon Barkley, RB, PHI: 🦆🦆🦆 — Barkley’s 19 touches in Week 7 is actually a rebound from nine and 14 the two games prior. Barkley is actually on pace to eclipse his receptions from 2024, but his Yards Per Reception is down from 8.4 to 6.8, and even worse, his Yards Per Carry is down to an abysmal 3.3 from 5.8 last year. The main issue is the offense/offensive line. Barkley is getting stuffed 30.1% of the time compared to 17.1% last year, and he’s averaging just 0.87 Yards Before Contact after 2.64 in 2024. It’s hard to get the same level of Yards After Contact when you’re hit closer to the line, so Barkley is down there as well, but it’s not awful (2.40 after 3.17). So, yeah, we’re concerned because the Eagles are doing Barkley no favors. The good news is he’s on pace for 300+ touches, and the Eagles aren’t going to stop using Barkley. The bad news is Barkley is more of a fringe RB1 — even with a rebound — than a Top 5 option this year.
• Rome Odunze, WR, CHI: 🦆🦆 — It’s been a quiet two weeks, but Odunze still leads the Bears in Route% (95.0) and TmTGT% (20.4), with DJ Moore second in both. The main issues are 1) Caleb Williams and Odunze have been off a bit (36.4 REC% after 57.1 in the first four games), and 2) Odunze has zero red zone and end zone targets the past two games after six and five, respectively, in the first four games. Odunze still has WR1 upside, and while you can argue he’s more of a high-end WR2 with Williams’ recent mediocre play, he’s a good buy-low.

Power Up Players
(Scale 1-5: more Mario 🍄 = more excitement)

• D’Andre Swift, RB, CHI: 🍄🍄🍄 — That’s back-to-back 20+ point games for Swift, who is also leading the NFL in Yards Per Touch (8.7) and is third in Yards Per Carry (7.0) the past two weeks. Obviously, Swift won’t continue to be this efficient, but he’s also Top 5 in both categories if you include the game before the Bears’ bye. No one wanted Swift in fantasy, but Ben Johnson wants him as the Bears’ version of Jahmyr Gibbs. As mentioned above, Monangai is working his way into being their Montgomery, and while neither will be as good as their Lions counterparts, Swift is a Top 20 running back.
• Chris Olave, WR, NO: 🍄🍄 — Olave has as many games with single-digit targets as George Pickens has with double-digits — two each. The difference is the offenses, hence Pickens being WR2 on the year and Olave WR10. It also took two touchdowns in Week 7 to get Olave to crack the WR1 tier. With the second-most targets and third-most receptions, volume has been king for Olave. The low yardage and aforementioned offense will keep Olave from being a WR1 rest of season, but Olave — as long as he’s healthy — is a consistent floor WR2.
• Wan’Dale Robinson, WR, NYG: 🍄🍄🍄 — Since Malik Nabers got hurt, Robinson is Top 12 among qualified receivers in TmTGT% (26.5), receptions (17) and yards (209), and 18th in FPPG (11.9). Even if Slayton returns, Robinson has been Jaxson Dart’s top option, and he’s still seeing opportunities downfield even after the change from Russell Wilson. Oh, and he managed 12.5 points against a tough Broncos defense. Robinson is a locked-in WR2.