2020 Fantasy Football Week 8 Waiver Wire: Start, Stash and Stream

It's pretty gross, but there are still some surprising names still out there on the Fantasy Football Week 8 Waiver Wire.

Welcome to the Fantasy Football Week 8 Waiver Wire: Start, Stash, and Stream, where we breakdown the fantasy free agent landscape and give you the best picks for the short and long haul.

We have our three groups of ‘starts’ ‘stashes’, and ‘streams.’ The starts can be inserted into your lineup immediately, the stash guys add depth to the end of your bench and can provide longer-term benefits, and the streamers are generally D/ST’s and QBs that are matchup dependent.

Let’s look back at Week 7 and see our future prospects for the Week 8 Waiver Wire.

Week 7 bye weeks: Cardinals, Washington, Jaguars, Texans

Note: Ownership % based on Yahoo and must be under 50% owned

START

  1. Brandon Aiyuk, WR San Francisco 49ers (49% owned)
  2. JaMycal Hasty, RB San Francisco 49ers (21% owned)
  3. Carlos Hyde, RB Seattle Seahawks (11% owned)/ DeeJay Dallas, RB Seattle Seahawks (0% owned)
  4. Sterling Shepard, WR New York Giants (29% owned)
  5. Cole Beasley, WR Buffalo Bills (41% owned)
  6. Rashard Higgins, WR Cleveland Browns (2% owned)

With all the injuries to the 49ers offense this year, rookie Brandon Aiyuk has worked his way into Jimmy G’s good graces and is being used all over the field in all facets of the game. In this last game in New England, he caught 6 balls for 115 yards. Deebo Samuel also went down with an injury and figures to miss another 1-2 weeks. Aiyuk will be the WR1 operating solely behind Kittle in terms of reliable pass-catchers and he gets the ultimate smash spot next week against the Seahawks defense.

The 49ers ground game was unstoppable in New England this week, when Jeff Wilson went off for 112 yards and 3 scores before exiting with an injury. He’s likely to land on the IR, meaning lead back duties should fall to JaMycal Hasty, who also rushed for 57 yards on 9 carries. It seems like whoever the Niners put in the backfield, they’ll find success in Shanahan’s zone-blocking scheme. They also refused to give Jerick McKinnon the ball as he’s been seemingly fazed out of the offense. This is Hasty’s backfield to run with for the time being.

With Chris Carson dealing with a mid-foot sprain and being labeled as “week-to-week,” Carlos Hyde operated as the lead back (41 of 84 total snaps) after Carsons’ injury. He had a great 24-yard touchdown run and should be able to fill in nicely for however many games that Carson remains sidelined. The Seahawks have one of the highest scoring offenses in the league, so points and opportunity will be there for Hyde in an RB1 role. DeeJay Dallas will likely backup Hyde if Carson is out for a while. Hyde has never been the most reliable guy, so one more injury could thrust the rookie into a big role. Note: Hyde is dealing with hamstring tightness, which means Dallas could be the play here.

After spending a month out of action, Sterling Shepard returned to the Giants offense and picked up his lead WR role right away. Shepard went 6-59-1 on 8 targets and Daniel Jones showed confidence in his wideout right away. The team figures to be playing from behind often this year, and Shepard is the clear target hog of the offense.

All the man does is produce. Averaging right around double digit fantasy points per game, Cole Beasley has been a consistent option for Josh Allen and the Bills. He flourished with John Brown sidelined and ripped off 112 yards and 11 receptions on 12 targets. He won’t always see that level of work, but Beasley has been good for 8-10 points nearly every week. The Bills ground game has been very lackluster so they’ve been more dependent on Allen throwing the ball.

With Odell sidelined for the rest of the year, Rashad Higgins stepped into the WR2 role across from Jarvis Landry. His usage and production went up dramatically, finishing with a season-high 6 catches for 110 yards. Higgins had scored touchdowns in two straight games before this week, so he’s been on Mayfield’s radar for a few weeks. His increased role in the offense going forward should boost his fantasy value for the remainder of the season.

STASH

  1. Dallas Goedert, TE Philadelphia Eagles (47% owned)
  2. Zack Moss, RB Buffalo Bills (46% owned)
  3. Corey Davis, WR Tennessee Titans (28% owned)
  4. Nelson Agholor, WR Las Vegas Raiders (4% owned)
  5. Tua Tagovailoa, QB Miami Dolphins (29% owned)
  6. Tim Patrick, WR Denver Broncos (27% owned)
  7. Eric Ebron, TE Pittsburgh Steelers (46% owned)
  8. Randall Cobb, WR Houston Texans (15% owned)
  9. Tevin Coleman, RB San Francisco 49ers (27% owned)
  10. Tre’Quan Smith, WR New Orleans Saints (29% owned)
  11. Jalen Reagor, WR Philadelphia Eagles (14% owned)
  12. La’Mical Perine, RB New York Jets (16% owned)
  13. Wayne Gallman, RB New York Giants (2% owned)
  14. Scotty Miller, WR Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9% owned)
  15. Denzel Mims, WR New York Jets (4% owned)
  16. Albert Okwuegbunam, TE Denver Broncos (0% owned)

Different week, same story. Eagles need pass-catching help and Dallas Goedert is expected to return to action after the team’s Week 8 bye.

Zack Moss still being out snapped by Devin Singletary, but this job looks like it’s trending toward the rookie taking over in Buffalo. Singletary has been pretty unreliable, rushing for a low YPC, and the team drafted the well-rounded bruiser relatively high for a reason. He rushed 7 times for 47 yards which is pretty productive and even caught 3 balls for 25 yards.

Corey Davis is flying under the radar so much that his 11.2 ppg still has him under the 30% ownership mark. Davis is flashing his skill for a revamped Titans passing attack. He actually led the Titans with 10 targets last week and makes for a reliable perimeter option across from AJ Brown.

Don’t look now, but Nelson Agholor has scored touchdowns in three straight games now for Las Vegas. Waller continues to be the top target of the offense, but Agholor tied him with 9 targets this week and finished with 5-107-1. He’s done a full turnaround from his days in Philly and has emerged as a deep threat for Carr with some nice matchups up next.

Tua Tagovailoa surprisingly was declared the starter despite Ryan Fitzpatrick playing lights out for the Dolphins. Tua has a lot of hype surrounding him and he could potentially capitalize given the talented Miami receivers. Wolf had marked him previously as a potential late-season waiver wire hero and I generally tend to follow all of Wolf’s hunches for my own sake.

He had a quiet week, but Tim Patrick has been playing like the WR1 in Denver. He plays nearly every snap and was second on the team in receiving yards this week with 44. His big-play ability each week makes him a solid candidate.

Eric Ebron played nearly every snap of Sunday’s game against the Titans. He finished with 50 yards on 6 catches (8 targets), he was the third leading receiver for the team. Ebron’s a big body that is a great candidate for positive regression in the touchdown department. The issue giving pause to Ebron though is all the skilled receivers ahead of him on the team’s target totem pole each week.

The leading receiver in Houston from Week 7, Randall Cobb is starting to earn that big salary he was given this offseason. Eight catches for 95 yards on 10 targets, Cobb was working all over the field as the Texans chased Green Bay on Sunday. They have a bye coming up next, but a juicy matchup with the Jags in Week 9.

There’s a small chance Tevin Coleman returns for Week 8, but Week 9 is more likely. Coleman is one of the many hurt 49ers RBs right now, but his return would be welcomed by everyone in San Francisco and he could get lead duties back over JaMycal Hasty based on his experience.

If Michael Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders are both out for a little longer, then Tre’Quan Smith offers value as the current WR1 in New Orleans. Granted Kamara still garners a huge portion of the aerial pie, but Smith is out there for every play in a major receiving role.

There’s a small chance Jalen Reagor comes back this week after being activated from the IR, but nonetheless, he’s very much needed for an Eagles team craving pass catchers.

La’Mical Perine more than doubled Frank Gore in snaps (40 to 16) and the game script generally won’t be great but the rookie did work his way into the end zone with his limited touches. Perine toted the rock 11 times for 39 yards and even caught two balls for 16 yards.

Wayne Gallman didn’t start, but he played the most snaps at RB (32 to 15) this week after Devonta Freeman left the game with an ankle injury. Although Gallman’s typically a plodder, he did look elusive running between the tackles and plunged in a score. He could take over lead back duties of this offense, but I’ve had a hard time trusting him, historically.

If it wasn’t for Antonio Brown showing up in Tampa this week, Scotty Miller would find himself much higher. He finished with a 6-109-1 line on 9 targets, catching a beautiful back corner touchdown pass from Brady. There will just be so many receiving options in Tampa going forward, it will be tough to see Miller carve out a significant role for himself.

In his first action this year, rookie Denzel Mims led the team in all receiving categories, going for 4 catches and 42 yards on 7 targets. This team will be playing from behind all season, and Perriman was dinged up last week, meaning Mims could take on a larger role moving forward. Jamison Crowder has also been dealing with nagging injuries.

I don’t know how to pronounce his name, but Albert Okwuegbunam led Denver in all receiving categories this week against the Chiefs, totaling 7 catches for 60 yards on 7 targets. He obviously falls behind Fant, but should Fant go down, then he’d offer some nice replacement upside.

STREAM

  1. Jimmy Garoppolo, QB San Francisco 49ers (30% owned)
  2. Teddy Bridgewater, QB Carolina Panthers (44% owned)
  3. Derek Carr, QB Las Vegas Raiders (29% owned)
  4. Gus Edwards, RB Baltimore Ravens (8% owned)
  5. Richard Rodgers, TE Philadelphia Eagles (9% owned)
  6. Harrison Bryant, TE Cleveland Browns (1% owned)
  7. Marquez Callaway, WR New Orleans Saints (1% owned)

Jimmy Garoppolo faces the Seahawks next week who have allowed the most points per game to opposing QBs.

It’s a quick turnaround but Teddy Bridgewater gets Thursday night action against the Falcons this week.

We just watched Joe Burrow throw for over 400 yards and three scores while running for one more against the Browns. Now Derek Carr gets to face them with his weapons.

Mark Ingram appears unlikely to play this week, and while the matchup is rough, Gus Edwards could be the RB1 for the Ravens. He played two more snaps than Dobbins against the Eagles, and the coaches weirdly love to give him the ball.

With Ertz and Goedert still sidelined, Richard Rodgers should do well against the Cowboys defense that sucks. He went for 6-85 on 8 targets against the Giants.

Austin Hooper is facing another missed game due to his appendicitis. Harrison Bryant stepped up with 4-56-2 on the day while starting over Njoku. Bryant would play a large role again without Hooper and now Odell Beckham out for the year.

Unknown Marquez Callaway stepped up with all the injuries to Saints pass catchers and turned in an 8-75 game on 10 targets. He actually looked pretty good on the day and similar to Tre’Quan, could play a much bigger role for New Orleans if these injuries/illnesses sustain.

Author

  • THE Inaugural 2016 RSJ Fantasy Football League Champion. Owner of a #bigbrain, and lover of football, baseball and college hoops. When not grinding for the RSJ, can be found captaining his beer league softball team.

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