Waiver Wire Pickups Week 8

Waiver Wire Pickups Week 8

With another 4 teams on bye this week, make sure to scope out some of these Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 8. A few repeat appearances this week, check out my waiver calls last week and make sure you come back every week to see who I pick. After having a very successful week last week here are my calls for this week:

Quarterback

Christian Ponder- 41% owned – Ponder was absolutely horrible against a very strong Cardinals defense. But on both games before Ponder faced Arizona he threw for 250 yards and two touchdowns. Ponder has two very solid weapons in Percy Harvin and Kyle Rudolph. The Vikings have a great match up against a Tampa Bay defense that gave up big numbers to the Saints, most coming in the first half of the game. Look for the Vikings to put the ball in the air plenty of times, very similar to the way the Saints attacked the Bucs. Drew Brees had 377 yards and 4 touchdowns so look for Ponder to have at least 250 yards and 1 touchdown.

Brandon Weeden- 16% owned – After having another decent week Brandon Weeden has arrived on the blimp of the fantasy spectrum. Weeden had his 3rd consecutive game where he threw two touchdowns and he posted above 15 points (standard scoring) in all three games. If the Browns had more weapons in the passing game Weeden could very well be a top 15 quarterback but there are other guys who are more set up for success. Weeden is doing very well with what he has and he has gotten better each week and with Richardson possibly missing this week, Weeden and Josh Gordon will be relied heavily on to get the job done against a weak Chargers pass defense.

Running back

Rashad Jennings- 26% owned – If there is anyone you should grab this week it is Rashad Jennings. Grab him over William Powell, over Larod-Stephens Howling, over most time share backs this guy looked good when MJD held out in the beginning of the year and with MJD injured possibly out for the rest of the season, Jennings looks like a solid RB2 every week. Most people jumped off the Jennings band wagon when MJD got back in the mix but with a match up with Green Bay this week Jennings will once again be fantasy relevant and will be gone faster than anyone else this week off the waiver wire.

Vick Ballard- 35% owned – After looking better than the week before Ballarad should lock up at least a 75-25 split of carries in the backfield of the Colts. He lost 11 carries to back up Delone Carter, but this week should be better for Ballard. Some of those carries are for rest, some are for getting carter experience, and some were for the fact that Ballard did not look good last week. Against a less than average Titans run defense, look for another decent day out of Ballard. This SEC talent still has a lot of ground to cover but more than enough potential to get to be a weekly flex or RB2 play.

Jonathan Dwyer- 24% owned – The Steelers proved they can still run the ball last week and Dwyer was the biggest beneficiary. Dwyer had his second career 100 yard game and grabbed control of the starting job in the Steelers backfield. Dwyer is not a solid weekly play yet but I could justify him as a flex play or maybe a RB2 in a really deep league. Dwyer needs to find his way to the end zone more often to become a real fantasy stud. This week the Steelers face the Washington Redskins and Dwyer will still be the number one option out of the Steelers backfield going forward. That is until Mendenhall returns.

Wide Receiver

Jeremy Kerley- 43% owned – Jeremy Kerley has quietly tossed his name in the hat for bye week roster consideration. He is the number one option for Mark Sanchez to throw to and torched the Patriots secondary all day. He had 7 catches for 120 yards and is worth playing this week against a Miami defense that has 284.8 passing yards per game to opposing teams. While the Jets don’t throw the ball a lot Kerley will be the guy to get the down field looks and the biggest workload from Sanchez.

Brandon Gibson- 35% owned – Gibson is a repeat appearance on the list because I guess no one believed me the first time. He has not had a game where he didn’t gain fantasy points, he had 6 points last week, which is not amazing but is acceptable. If the Rams want any chance of throwing the ball he will be the main and proabably only target. The Rams face the Patriots this week and after watching the Jets receivers smoke the Patriots secondary I would feel pretty good about running Gibson out there especially in a ppr league.

Deeper Sleeper: Davone Bess- 26% owned – Bess has assumed the second wide receiver role in a less than potent Miami passing attack and produced decently consistent numbers every week. He has had at least 4 points every week and has had as much as 12 points. He is widely available and a decent option this week as the Dolphins face the New York Jets.

No Risk, High Reward: Titus Young- 25% owned – Heading into this season Titus Young only had “upside” and “there was no way Burleson starts over Young”. Well Burleson started over Young and produced fairly decently, but now has a broken leg. Young will most likely assume the WR2 duties in a shaky non-existent Detriot Passing game. The risk is nothing to grab Young but if the Lions ever get it going again, Young will almost have to get in the mix and he could mold into a decent flex or WR3 play.

Tight End

Dustin Keller- 27% owned – In another repeat appearance Dustin Keller is still a great play this week. The Jets looked for Keller a good bit against the Patriots using him to try to match Gronk and Hernandez. Keller had a good day and I really liked him going into the season but after an injury kept him sidelined I had to leave my hopes for him behind. If it means anything Keller needs a new contract after this year and will need to prove his worth on the field. Sanchez is not an ideal quarterback but if he can continue to find Keller he is going to make sure to get him the ball. I’m still not 100% sold but if your tight end is on a bye this week I may play Keller and if he has another good game hold on to him because he could turn into real quick value as a TE1.

Jacob Tamme- 43% owned – Tamme has a great match up this week against the Saints and if you need to play him he will get you some catches. The biggest deterrent to Tamme all year has been Joel Dreessen “the touchdown vulture”. Tamme has been a solid tight end in real life but as far as fantasy football goes he has been nothing short of frustrating to own. If you want to play the guessing game on the touchdowns Tamme has caught 1 (in week 1) and Dreessen has 3 in the last 4 weeks. But I like Tamme’s upside because he will get the yards which will almost equal the touchdown so all he has to do is have that one end zone grab and he will have 12 or more points.

Defense/Special Teams

New York Jets- 45% owned – Without Reevis Island on the field the Jets Defense has still managed to be decent. They have a very favorable match up against a Miami offense that is still trying to figure itself out. Although Miami is coming off of a bye week I personally don’t believe besides the rest and recovery time that the bye week does very much for a team. No one will be doing anything new mid-season no matter how much the Dolphins want Hartline involved, they will run the same plays that got him catches in the first place. The Jets should have a pretty good day.

Kicker

Matt Prater- 28% owned – With the Broncos heading into a Sunday Night game with the Saints at home look for Prater to notch a few field goals and probably 3 or 4 extra points as this looks to be another high scoring match up. Prater has been solid on the year hitting 100% of his field goals attempted with a long of 53 yards.

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