Hey folks! We cannot understate the importance of being in on Week 8 waiver wire players early while the free agency acquisition budget (FAAB) price is cheapest (or free!), so you can add them to your roster. This is not just for adding them to your roster so your league mates don’t get them first; this will help you build a strong roster that has depth and can provide some additional cover from the chaos of the NFL season.

As we know, nothing goes exactly to plan in the NFL, so we want you to be as prepared as possible to weather the uncertain storm of injuries, role changes, scheme changes, and any other general chaos that can happen in a given NFL season.

I’m Kevin Tompkins, and while I may not have drafted a running back ever, I have picked up quite a few in my day as a noted “Zero-RB” guy; luckily, it won’t just be the running back position I’ll be helping you all with this season.

Each week, I’ll provide five players as look-ahead players for the next week, who could be THE waiver wire claims for the following week. But they won’t be available in your league because you already have them.

We’re already looking ahead to Week 8’s players, so you can be ahead of the game now that we’re deeper into the bye weeks with both the Bears and Cowboys taking the week off. I think the Cowboys needed it more than most!

Note: I cannot be held responsible if these players get hurt in Week 7, so please don’t tweet me @ktompkinsii if that happens.

~ Check out our Week 7 Fantasy Football Rankings ~

Week 8 Waiver Wire QB

Drake Maye (QB – NE)

ESPN Rostership (11.1%)

Yup. we are FOR SURE doing the Drake Maye thing again.

When announced as the starter last week, Maye was 3.4 percent rostered, but in a game where he threw for three touchdowns and rushed for 38 yards, he only got up to 11 percent this week? That’s not enough for the upside this man has. Maye’s 13 percent scramble rate was the second-highest among all quarterbacks in Week 6, which is a great sign for the rushing upside we so crave in our fantasy quarterbacks.

But we’re not just looking for the rushing upside. He threw for three touchdowns, took a comatose Patriots’ offense, and shocked the system. He lifted weapons like DeMario Douglas and Kayshon Boutte, who each scored a touchdown and had their best games of the season. Hunter Henry also got into the end zone. Nobody is expecting Maye to reinvent the wheel, but he’s doing a damn good job of making the Patriots’ brass, fans, and fantasy managers aware that he might be the man who could.

With a matchup against the Jaguars in London on tap for Sunday morning, I have Maye ranked just inside my top-12 quarterbacks, and in a must-win matchup in the King’s Classic, I’m starting him over Brock Purdy. The rushing component changes things, but bringing the passing game along with him makes him a threat to be an amazing contributor for fantasy. He should be on somebody’s roster in every fantasy league; make that roster yours, no matter who your quarterback is.

Week 8 Waiver Wire RB

Ray Davis (RB – BUF)

ESPN Rostership (17.3%)

The thesis for Ray Davis in the offseason was that he was drafted to be a younger, more dynamic complement to James Cook in the Buffalo rushing attack. They signed Damien Harris in free agency last season, and he didn’t last long before his season ended due to injury. The team signed Latavius Murray, and he was a plodding, marginally effective version of a “thunder” element in the run game.

Eventually, Murray outlived his usefulness; the team brought in Ty Johnson and Leonard Fournette with limited to no success. Cook became a league-winner because he had to shoulder so much of the rushing workload.

For this season, Davis and Johnson worked their way into the fold from the background as Cook made double-digit touches in four of the first five games before succumbing to a turf toe injury that caused Cook to miss Week 6.

In that matchup on Monday Night Football, after Ty Johnson got the first carry of the game, Davis started taking on more and more work. In addition to showing off his receiving chops on a wicked catch, Davis took the entire rushing pie for himself, and Johnson didn’t see a carry the whole of the second half.

 

Now Cook has been turning in full practices and will likely suit up as the Bills play the visiting Titans. With Cook likely to play, it’s possible people may have dropped or will drop Davis if Cook is off the injury report. In most leagues, if that happens on a Friday and you put in a waiver claim, you’ll get Davis onto your roster on Sunday morning.

Still, with 17.3 percent rostership for Davis, he’s far less rostered than he should be, and with that Week 6 MNF performance of 20 carries, 97 yards, plus catching 3-of-3 targets for 55 yards, Davis has earned a much bigger slice of the Buffalo pie.

Don’t let that slip by if you need a running back on a team that loves to churn out yards on the ground.

Week 8 Waiver Wire WR

Noah Brown (WR – WAS)

ESPN Rostership (1.4%)

The search for the Commanders’ second pass-catcher continues, with Zach Ertz being the current placeholder. Noah Brown may be on the way to snatch that role from him. After Brown missed Week 5, he came back in Week 6 to tie for the lead in targets (eight) with Terry McLaurin, put up the second-most receiving yards (58), and tie for second on the team in receptions (four) in Week 6.

Brown also added 35 percent of the air yards for the Commanders and 24 percent target share on 63 percent of routes in Week 6. Washington uses several depth receivers, and there’s a large sample of routes on Dyami Brown (career 1.07 yards per route run, 12.5 percent targets per route run) and Olamide Zaccheaus (career 1.22 YPRR, 13.7 percent TPRR) that shows they aren’t efficient and haven’t been target earners in their career. Brown’s numbers (1.45 YPRR, 17 percent TPRR) are a bit better and has earned targets last season with Houston following the Tank Dell season-ending injury.

Brown is an under-the-radar add in deeper leagues but could have some PPR upside as a quality target earner outside of McLaurin. Jayden Daniels can’t always pass to McLaurin, so a consistent second target is dire for the Commanders.

Jalen Coker (WR – CAR)

ESPN Rostership (0.1%)

Jalen Coker is a bit of a deep cut here, as he’s very unlikely to be rostered in the vast majority of fantasy leagues. But this is a spot where you could be getting a worthwhile contributor that nobody picks up on, and when they do, you’ll be holding the bag, having gotten him for free. Coker is a small-school wide receiver who has produced every season at FCS Holy Cross.

With the Panthers, he’s worked his way up through the wide receiver depth and in Week 5 against the Bears, Coker saw a meaningful 64 percent of routes per dropback while catching all four of his targets for 68 yards. While the routes may have been in part due to a shoulder injury suffered by Xavier Legette, Coker immediately produced in the limited time on the field.

Last week against the Falcons, with the full complement of receivers healthy, Coker ran 75 percent of routes and surpassed Jonathan Mingo, who dropped down from 71 percent of routes in Week 5 to just 33 percent in Week 6. Coker jumped Mingo and caught all three targets for 30 yards.

With Coker running primarily in the slot (86 percent and 79 percent in the last two weeks) for the Panthers, he’s going to be an interesting name for fantasy managers looking for PPR upside. The Panthers should be in plenty of garbage-time scripts as a 1-5 team, but Dave Canales is going with a full-blown youth movement at the skill positions with caretaker quarterback Andy Dalton.

That’s not a bad place to be in for fantasy scoring, so if you’re looking for a deeper name and staring at a waiver wire with picked-over names, keep Jalen Coker in mind. He’s running the routes, and with the attention being focused on Diontae Johnson and Xavier Legette, Coker is in a prime position to capitalize.

Week 8 Waiver Wire TE

Theo Johnson (TE – NYG)

ESPN Rostership (2.2%)

Theo Johnson has been the top tight end for the Giants from the start of the season, winning the job straight out of training camp and the preseason. Johnson has played roughly 81 percent of all snaps for the Giants as he’s dusted Daniel Bellinger following the retirement of Darren Waller a few months ago. Johnson hasn’t really produced for fantasy managers over the first four weeks of the season, compiling only three receptions for 37 yards on seven targets.

The last two weeks have shown that there’s at least a little something there for Johnson, as he’s caught 8-of-9 targets for 78 yards in the last two weeks. His yards per target have jumped from 5.2 yards to 8.7, and his targets per route run have doubled from 6 percent in the first four weeks to at least a middling 12 percent. It’s baby steps, but the Giants’ offense has found a bit of a groove, and that’s been without Malik Nabers.

The tight end position is a hard position to squeeze blood from a stone, but keeping an eye on rookies who are running meaningful routes with little competition and slowly gaining some trust, like Johnson, is a good way to stay ahead of the curve. I’m not projecting superstardom for Johnson or even good, consistent fantasy usage, but he’s a name to keep an eye on with some forward momentum where it’s difficult to get a progression-based read on a player until he breaks out.

Kevin Tompkins is a contributor to Optimus Fantasy Football. Find more from Kevin on X (formerly Twitter) @ktompkinsii and right here on Optimus Fantasy.