Early Week 9 waiver wire adds for fantasy football

Welcome to the Week 9 waiver wire!

Yes there was football Sunday, but let’s be honest, no one was watching that. Everyone was watching the men’s club ultimate frisbee championship between Seattle Sockeye and Chicago Machine which was won on double-game point! No? Just I was watching that? Well y’all missed out because it was easily the most exciting sports game of the weekend. Congrats to Sockeye who managed to pull out the victory right at the buzzer.

Anyway, since I guess you can here for football talk, here are nine players you should be targeting and working hard to get onto your fantasy team this week (percent owned in Yahoo).

QB Gardner Minshew, Jacksonville Jaguars (54% owned)

Minshew could’ve been on this list for the last nine weeks but I haven’t included him because I’ve always felt like his ownership percentage is likely higher than my 50% limit since #MinshewMania isn’t the most subtle of things. So imagine my surprise as I check this week—Mishew’s fifth week throwing multiple touchdowns mind you—to find his ownership just hovering at 50%. If you are QB needy for whatever reason, you need to add Minshew right the flippity flip now.

RB Alexander Mattison, Minnesota Vikings (24% owned)

Mattison has popped up on this list quite often in recent weeks and for good reason. Mattison is averaging 8.5 attempts and 41 yards per game this year, and that includes his Week 4 showing against the Bears when he only mustered five yards on the ground. He’s by no means an RB2 or regular flex contributor, but he’s a worthwhile add in deep leagues if you need a running back fill-in during a bye week. It also helps that his Week 9 matchup is the Kansas City Chiefs who are allowing the 10th most points to running backs this year.

RB Nyheim Hines, Indianapolis Colts (12% owned)

Take everything I said about Mattison, divide it by two and apply it here to Hines. Hines isn’t going to wow you with his numbers, but he’s currently seeing a little more than six touches per game this season, doing the majority of his work in the passing game. His only real value currently is if you play in a deep PPR league but he’s a name worth monitoring in other leagues has he’s now gone over 34 yards receiving in three of his last four games.

RB Tra Carson, Detroit Lions (0% owned)

It was a grim day for everyone who rushed to the waiver wires to get and start Ty Johnson this week. Matt Patricia pulled a Bill Belichick and didn’t give a f*ck about your fantasy team, giving the bulk of the Lions’ backfield work to ex-Packers running back Tra Carson, who carried the ball 12 times for 34 yards. Clearly this backfield is not going to be as clear cut as we all thought it would be after Kerryon Johnson went down with an injury last week. DAMN YOU PATRICIA!

WR Danny Amendola, Detroit Lions (9% owned)

Amendola has been targeted a whopping 19 times the last two games, catching 16 of them for 200 yards. I don’t know about you, but I’m not going to let that kind of production sit on the waiver wire for much longer. He’s well worth the roster spot in PPR leagues as he’s been one of the Lions’ go-to receivers the last few weeks. I don’t expect him to slow down either as the Lions take on the Raiders who are allowing the fifth most points to receivers this season.

WR Chris Conley, Jacksonville Jaguars (2% owned)

Here’s something that might come as a surprise to you, Chris Conley is currently sniffing a top 25 receiver in non-PPR this season (he’s right now 26th as I’m writing this). He’s now seen seven targets in back-to-back weeks and has a total of 186 yards and a touchdown between the two games. With Dede Westbrook banged up, Conley might once again be the Jaguars’ number two receiver next week against a Texans defense that’s giving up the fifth most yards and most touchdowns to wide receivers.

WR Hunter Renfrow, Oakland Raiders (1% owned)

Hunter Renfrow SZN is finally upon us, it just came eight weeks later than expected. After much preseason hype, and much regular season disappointment, Renfrow was finally able to put together a game, catching all four of his targets for 88 yards and a touchdown. The Raiders now get to play against the Lions, Chargers, Bengals and Jets in their next four games, meaning Renfrow has plenty of chances to build upon his strong performance moving forward.

WR Josh Reynolds, Los Angeles Rams (0% owned)

Get ready for Reynolds’ ownership to spike after a game where he caught three balls on eight targets for 73 yards and a touchdown. Brandin Cooks exiting the game with a concussion was what led to Reynolds’ increase playtime and he’ll likely to continue seeing an uptick as long as Cooks is out. (This is Cooks like fifth concussion so he might be out for a while.) We’ve seen Reynolds come in and perform very well in this Rams offense before, most notably last year when he filled in for Cooper Kupp and caught 29 balls for 402 yards and five touchdowns. He’s well worth adding if you’re hurting at wide receiver.

TE Jonnu Smith, Tennessee Titans (19% owned)

Smith has put up two big performances filling in for a banged up Delanie Walker, his biggest coming Sunday where he caught six balls on seven targets for 78 yards and a touchdown. Obviously it’ll be important to monitor Walker’s health as his return would certainly dampen Smith’s value, but as long as Walker is out, Smith has starting tight end value and is a great streaming option at the position.