With Week 7 behind us, it’s time to look ahead to Week 8 and what players we should look to pick up at the wide receiver and tight end positions of the waiver wire.
Week 8 is also a massive week for byes as six teams — the Arizona Cardinals, Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars, Las Vegas Raiders, Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks — are on bye.
See below for my top pickups and stashes ahead of Week 8.
Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Targets & Stashes
All players listed below are rostered in 39% or fewer of Yahoo! leagues.
WR Handcuffs, Targets & Stashes
Troy Franklin (WR – DEN) | 21% Rostered
Troy Franklin has maintained his No. 2 WR status on the Broncos, catching three of his 10 targets for 19 yards and a touchdown. He’ll continue to be targeted behind Courtland Sutton.
Kayshon Boutte (WR – NE) | 32% Rostered
Kayshon Boutte saw just two targets this past week, but has three touchdowns over the last two weeks. He’s worth adding.
Jalen Coker (WR – CAR) | 14% Rostered
Jalen Coker saw just two targets against the Jets in his first game back. Quarterback Bryce Young is out with a high-ankle sprain, and now Andy Dalton will be under center for a bit. This may help raise the value of other players besides Tetairoa McMillan, but either way, Coker is worth a speculative add.
Darnell Mooney (WR – ATL) | 29% Rostered
Darnell Mooney has been up and down with injuries, but this past week, returning from an injury, he saw five targets. He’s an emergency Flex play for this week with six teams on bye.
Christian Watson (WR – GB) | 11% Rostered
Christian Watson has yet to play. When he does, though, he’ll be a great deep threat option for a competent Packers offense that’s also seen Dontayvion Wicks suffer some injuries over the past couple of weeks.
Xavier Legette (WR – CAR) | 6% Rostered
Xavier Legette saw a season-high 11 targets in Week 7. He caught nine of them for 92 yards and a touchdown. He’s second on the team in target share at 14%, but again, with Andy Dalton under center, perhaps Legette could have a bit more value.
Malik Washington (WR – MIA) | 15% Rostered
The Dolphins are a total disaster, but Malik Washington has seen five targets or more in four of his last five games. He doesn’t do a bunch with those catches, but in a PPR league with six teams on bye, you could do worse.
Jack Bech (WR – LV) | 1% Rostered
This is a speculative add on the premise that the Raiders could potentially shop Jakobi Meyers. If he is traded, Jack Bech, who’s moved into the No. 3 WR role, could see an increased role on a team that passes a fair amount. The Raiders call pass plays 56.74% of the time, which is 15th in the NFL.
Tez Johnson (WR – TB) | 16% Rostered
Mike Evans broke his collarbone against the Lions and will miss a large chunk of the season. This clears the way for Tez Johnson, who had a touchdown against the Lions, to be more involved down the stretch. He’ll compete with tight end Cade Otton for targets after Emeka Egbuka.
TE Handcuffs, Targets & Stashes
Oronde Gadsden II (TE – LAC) | 4% Rostered
Oronde Gadsden II has put together back-to-back excellent performances, catching 14 out of 17 targets for 232 yards and one touchdown.
Gadsden is third on the team in target share over the last two weeks (18.5%) and has run a route on 78% of Justin Herbert‘s dropbacks. He’s being used a bunch and must be rostered.
Mason Taylor (TE – NYJ) | 39% Rostered
Another team that’s a disaster, the Jets need some options to throw to with Garrett Wilson hurt and the team benching Justin Fields. It’s unclear if Fields will start next week or if the team will turn to Tyrod Taylor.
Based on recent play, if Tyrod Taylor starts, that’ll be a better outcome for Mason Taylor and this Jets’ passing attack.
Juwan Johnson (TE – NO) | 30% Rostered
After a few quiet weeks, Juwan Johnson caught five passes on seven targets for 79 yards last week in a loss to the Bears. He’s third on the team in target share at 19.2%, trailing Chris Olave (31%) and Rashid Shaheed (19.7%).
