Staying active on the waiver wire is an important way for season-long fantasy owners to improve their teams and get an edge on the competition. Shifts in opportunities for players due to injuries or performance cause value spikes that owners can take advantage of to fill in roster holes to build a championship lineup.
Each week, we will discuss waiver wire targets at each position to consider for both the week ahead and the rest of the fantasy season.
Week 8 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Adds
* Current roster % in home leagues is noted in parentheses (from Sleeper)
Tua Tagovailoa, QB (Miami Dolphins) (46%)
With the benefit of a trio of easy matchups in a row, the Dolphins have kept their playoff hopes alive after Tua Tagovailoa went down with a concussion in Week 2. He is slated to return for their home matchup this week against a Cardinals defense allowing the 28th-most fantasy points to quarterbacks.
Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, De’Von Achane, and Raheem Mostert are still on this offensive roster to give Tagovailoa one of the most potent weapon systems in the game. With the likes of Patrick Mahomes and other quarterbacks toiling in fantasy mediocrity this season, the upside that Tagovailoa provides is worth picking up from the waiver wire.
In his only healthy game of the season, Tagovailoa completed 23-37 attempts for 338 passing yards and a score. He finished as the ninth-best fantasy quarterback last season with 4,624 passing yards and 29 touchdowns.
Looking for more fantasy football content? Make sure to check out Sean Koerner’s and Chris Raybon’s weekly fantasy football rankings by subscribing to FantasyLabs’ 2024 fantasy football kit to see how other waiver wire candidates look this week.
Alexander Mattison, RB (Las Vegas Raiders) (62%)
While there is not a lot of excitement in the Las Vegas offense, aside from rookie tight end Brock Bowers, it is hard to ignore a workhorse share of touches. Alexander Mattison has averaged 21 touches over the last three weeks and finally turned those opportunities into efficient production in Week 7.
On the season, Mattison is averaging 3.6 yards/carry and 2.4 catches per game. He reached the 4.0 yards/carry threshold for the first time against the Rams with 92 rushing yards on 23 attempts.
The upside is not high for Mattison, especially with Kansas City coming to town this week, but he should be picked up and stashed to see if this workload continues. Zamir White only saw four carries last week in his return from injury, and the Raiders do not have many other viable backfield options.
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Ricky Pearsall, WR (New Orleans Saints) (25%)
What an incredible story for rookie wideout Ricky Pearsall to make his NFL debut last week after a life-threatening shooting incident prior to the season starting. The first-round pick caught three passes on five targets for 21 yards in the 49ers’ loss to the Chiefs.
Certainly, it’s wonderful to see Pearsall on the field. He flashed a ton of talent at the University of Florida and earned a 76% snap share as the third receiver option with Jauan Jennings out of the lineup. A long-term injury to Brandon Aiyuk suffered in the game could spell a big role for Pearsall in this creative offense.
Of the waiver wire options this week, Pearsall has the highest ceiling, but it remains to be seen what opportunities he will receive in the banged-up Kyle Shanahan offense. A home game against Dallas is not a bad sight for San Francisco, as they are in the bottom half of the league in fantasy points allowed to receivers.
Hunter Henry, TE (New England Patriots) (30%)
The first two games of the Drake Maye era in New England have turned into 14 total targets for Hunter Henry as a safety blanket over the middle. He caught eight out of nine targets in London for 92 yards against the Jaguars.
Henry has three double-digit fantasy point weeks this season, but with the challenges at the position, those weeks have turned into three top-10 weekly fantasy finishes. At the bottom of the starting tight end pack, Henry is at least seeing consistent targets with the rookie quarterback, and the Patriots expect to be playing from behind most of the season.
Don’t expect big breakout weeks from Henry, but he is worth picking up for a bye-week replacement or potential long-term option if the targets continue.
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Detroit Lions, D/ST (15%)
Certainly, the loss of superstar defensive end Aidan Hutchinson is a blow to the Detroit front, but they still have playmakers in the backend with Brian Branch and company. The Lions held the Vikings somewhat in check on Sunday in a close win and tallied four sacks for the second week in a row.
Detroit has at least one interception in each game this season, with 11 total turnovers. They face a Titans squad reeling from a blowout loss to the Bills. Mason Rudolph managed just 215 passing yards on 40 attempts as Tennessee put up just 10 points.
The Lions’ schedule gets tougher with the Packers and Texans in the following weeks, but they are a great one-week streaming defense for Week 8.
