Bjorn Yang-Vaernet examines which players on the waiver wire are worth prioritizing for Week 9 and highlights others to preemptively stash.

This week’s waiver wire is very different from prior weeks where injuries opened up a lot of value. The waiver wire for Week 9 is more about picking up high-quality stashes and finding bye-week fill-ins. 

I think these types of weeks are great for seeing which teams have good in-season management and which managers are elite at this skill. It doesn’t hurt that by this point in the season, some managers, especially ones that haven’t had the season they envisioned, may be getting some football fatigue. For managers who stay on the grind, the waiver wire can quickly become a big advantage. 

Enough of the silly introduction, let’s get to the players!

The waiver wire is one of the most important pieces of season-long draft leagues. It is the easiest way to acquire new players and every year there are gems to be found. The goal of this article will not only be to highlight which weekly breakout players to prioritize but find others to preemptively pick up before the breakout happens.

This article will only reference players that are less than 50% owned in ESPN leagues. The players are categorized by position group and within each group is the order of how I would prioritize them. 

Quarterback

Derek Carr (Available in 79% of ESPN leagues)

Derek Carr is the weekly QB waiver wire streamer for Week 9. For how disappointing the Saints have been, Carr has been consistently decent for several weeks. Since Week 5, Carr has put up four straight games of more than 15 fantasy points, ranking as the QB13 in fantasy points per game in that span. While he has not topped 20 fantasy points either, his floor makes him a nice bye-week fill-in for Week 9.

Carr hasn’t had a huge ceiling game yet because the Saints prefer to rush when they are in the red zone. Week 8 is a perfect example. The Saints scored four red-zone TDs and three were from rushing.

The Saints play the Bears in Week 9, a team that the Saints should have no trouble scoring on. The Bears have allowed 30 or more points in four of their last five games. Additionally, four QBs have either passed for at least 300 yards or scored three or more TDs. The Strength of Schedule Streaming app pegs this game as the fourth-best matchup for QBs in Week 9.

Overall, I think Carr has a safe floor in Week 9 and a greater-than-normal chance to crack the 20-point barrier. With several QBs on bye, including Trevor Lawrence, Brock Purdy, and Jared Goff, Carr is a strong option.

Kyler Murray (Available in 69% of ESPN leagues)

The majority of the following text is from my Week 8 waiver wire article. Since Kyler Murray has not yet been activated, he remains a high-end stash for the same reason as the previous week.

The Cardinals opened the 21-day practice window for Murray after Week 6. On Monday, head coach Jonathan Gannon said Clayton Tune or Murray would start in Week 9. National reporters have already announced that it will likely be Tune for Week 9. As disappointing as it is, it is not surprising that the Cardinals — a team without playoff aspirations — are choosing to be conservative with their presumed franchise QB. I would be surprised if Murray is not starting by Week 10.

The reason to stash Murray for later in the season remains the same as last week:

At this point in the season, the waiver wire is about finding players who can fill in for a bye week or an injury or stashing players with league-winning upside. Murray fits the latter category. Murray has been an extremely fantasy-friendly QB throughout his career so far — primarily using his legs to extend plays and scramble. The obvious caveat is that this production was before his ACL injury and it’s uncertain how much he will run when he takes the field next.

For teams that have a bench spot to use, Murray is an excellent hold to see if he is even 80% of the player he was. An 80% Murray could definitely be an important part of a roster that makes a late-season push for playoffs and beyond.

Running Back

Chuba Hubbard (Available in 57% of ESPN leagues)

Following the bye week, the Panthers installed Chuba Hubbard as their starting RB. During the first six weeks of the season, Hubbard outplayed Miles Sanders on every standard and advanced metric that RotoViz tracks.

In Week 8, Hubbard played on 67% of the snaps and received 17 opportunities (71% of the opportunities given to the RB position). Interestingly, Sanders wasn’t just the backup RB, he only played two more snaps than Raheem Blackshear and was out-touched two to five.

Hubbard is an easy pickup on volume alone. The sweetener is the Panthers play the Colts and the Bears the next two weeks. These games should be played close, which should keep Hubbard more involved. Second, the defenses are sieves to the RB position. The SOS Streaming app rates these matchups as the sixth-best matchup for RBs during the next two weeks.