Ladies and gentlemen, we’re entering Week 8, with a bye on the byes! There aren’t any teams on bye this week, so we have a full player pool to sort through to find the best waiver wire options of the week. We’ll get you set up for success heading into Week 8’s action.
Note: All rostership percentages use Sleeper for this Week 8 Waiver Wire (2024) article.
Quarterback:
Drake Maye – Sleeper Roster – 26%
- In two starts, fantasy managers have gotten two 20+ fantasy performances for Drake Maye. Granted, most did not start him, but we’ve seen the immense upside from Maye when the counting stats haven’t been overly impressive.
- Maye has 56 total rushing yards and five touchdown passes in his two starts, has been a top-10 fantasy QB in both weeks, and while he gets the Jets, Titans, and Bears in the next three weeks, should still be a perfectly viable streaming quarterback option.
Jameis Winston – Sleeper Roster – 3%
- Normally, when a starting quarterback goes down, fantasy managers are left assessing the options with the backup and going from there. With Deshaun Watson out for the season with an Achilles’ tendon tear and subsequent backup Dorian Thompson-Robinson injuring a finger on his throwing hand, it clears the way for what the ball-knowers have asked for: Jameis Winston starting at quarterback for the Browns.
- While it seems like an eternity since Winston has been a starting quarterback, he’s well-known as a devil-may-care passer who isn’t afraid of a splash play or generating passing volume. In our little game within a game of fantasy, that translates to fantasy goodness, even without Amari Cooper to throw to. Winston immediately led the Browns to a touchdown drive in his limited game action following the two injuries, so we know he’s been itching to get out there. Winston is a true wild card fantasy quarterback, but he could pay immediate dividends for fantasy managers entering the quarterback market on waivers this week.
Tua Tagovailoa – Sleeper Roster – 45%
- Tua Tagovailoa was designated to return from injured reserve on Monday afternoon, so now the countdown starts as he has to clear concussion before he can play. If he does, the Dolphins will have already been on their bye week.
- The Miami offense is in dire need of somebody to bring the offense back to passable, as let’s face it: Skylar Thompson, Snoop Huntley, and Tim Boyle aren’t it. If Tagovailoa plays, he’ll face the Cardinals, who have allowed the fourth-most fantasy points to the quarterback position. Somebody needs to jumpstart the Dolphins’ talented weapons and rejuvenate this offense. Tua may just have to come back and do it, guardian cap or no guardian cap.
Running Back:
Jaylen Warren – Sleeper Roster – 42%
- Jaylen Warren returned to the Steelers’ lineup after a knee injury and had his biggest role of the 2024 season, with 61% routes and 52% snaps, besting Najee Harris in both. He also took 12 carries for 44 yards while reeling in 2-of-3 targets for 15 yards. Not world-breaking numbers, but something to build off of going forward in a run-heavy offense.
- Warren’s rostership should climb big time as he’s been one of the most efficient running backs in the league for the last two seasons, with elite yards after contract per attempt and an elite success rate. The Steelers face the Giants and Warren should be a worthwhile flex play in that matchup as the Steelers should have a favorable game-script for running both Harris and Warren.
Kendre Miller – Sleeper Roster – 11%
- While Kendre Miller is purely a stash-type running back, he should be rostered in many more leagues than 11%. After six weeks of injured reserve, Miller returned to earn 29% of snaps, 17% of routes, six carries for 36 yards, and two catches for one yard.
- Four of Miller’s carries were in the fourth quarter when the game was out of hand, so it was a good time to get him some work regardless of situation. Even head coach Dennis Allen had something nice to say about him, which let’s face it: we’ll take it! By adding Miller, you’re recognizing the contingency-based factor that’s present in the event something happens to Alvin Kamara, We haven’t seen a lot out of Miller so far in his short career, but he’s worth picking up to see what he can do.
Tyler Goodson – Sleeper Roster – 14%
- Tyler Goodson has been pretty useable in a pinch for fantasy managers, but his shelf life is limited when Jonathan Taylor returns to the Colts’ lineup. Still, Goodson has been way better than Trey Sermon, as Sermon has only gotten one top-10 fantasy week based on the fact that he scored a touchdown.
- While earning 48% of the snaps in Week 7, Goodson has been the far superior running back in terms of efficiency, averaging 4.7 yards per carry. Goodson (14) also out-carried Sermon (8) for the first time, the first admission of skill in the backfield even if Sermon is still the leader in snaps and routes. Goodson is a perfect “Band-Aid” RB2 for fantasy managers as long as Taylor remains out.
Wide Receiver:
Jauan Jennings – Sleeper Roster – 36%
- With Brandon Aiyuk out for the season with multiple torn knee ligaments, Deebo Samuel in the hospital battling pneumonia, and Ricky Pearsall coming back from a injured reserve stint following a gunshot wound, the 49ers need reinforcements. Jauan Jennings would be a massive boon for a 49ers team that needs quality bodies, stat.
- Jennings missed Week 7 with a hip injury, but if he comes back in Week 8 against Dallas, he should be an immediate WR3 option for fantasy managers. We know what Jennings can do, as he’s been one of the most efficient wide receivers on a per-route basis, putting up a 2.77 yards per route run in six games.
Cedric Tillman – Sleeper Roster – 2%
- With no Amari Cooper, Cedric Tillman slotted into the “X’ receiver role, running routes on 83% of dropbacks for the Browns, earning 11 targets and a robust 8-81 line. Tillman also had the sixth-most air yards (120) entering Monday’s games.
- While you can’t just pencil Tillman in for this kind of production every week, the passing game should get a meaningful bump with Deshaun Watson out for the season and with a broken finger on backup Dorian Thompson-Robinson’s throwing hand, it’s likely we’ll get Jameis Winston starting for the Browns. Tillman seems like a solid low-end WR3 with some routes-based upside.
Jalen Tolbert – Sleeper Roster – 33%
- With the Cowboys on a Week 7 bye, Jalen Tolbert may have fallen through the cracks in a number of leagues. Make no mistake: Tolbert is the clear-cut WR2 for the Cowboys with Brandin Cooks still on injured reserve for the next couple of weeks.
- Tolbert has run routes on 91% of Dak Prescott’s dropbacks with 15 targets, 11 receptions, 130 yards and a touchdown in Weeks 5-6. The role is there, the production is getting there, and in a condensed Cowboys’ target tree, Tolbert has a chance to return a ton of value in a relatively bare-bones passing attack outside of CeeDee Lamb and Jake Ferguson.
Tight End:
Hunter Henry – Sleeper Roster – 33%
- The old “rookie quarterbacks lean on tight ends” adage may not be true in most instances as it’s an often-cited fantasy football trope. But to quote Tobias Funke, “…but it might work for us.” And for the Patriots, it has. Hunter Henry caught a touchdown against the Texans on 3-of-4 targets for 41 yards, and against the Jaguars, led the Patriots with 8-92 on nine targets.
- With this kind of production and Drake Maye lifting the boats of this Patriots’ offense, Henry needs to be the top tight end on waivers heading into Week 8. While the upcoming matchup against the Jets isn’t great, Maye has been good enough to at least get some production out of his pass-catching unit in tough matchups.
Zach Ertz – Sleeper Roster – 41%
- Zach Ertz has been a beacon for steady, boring production at tight end this season. With four top-12 finishes in seven games, Ertz has been a non-nonsense target earner, averaging just shy of five targets per game as the de facto second target in Jayden Daniels’ offense.
- With an 18% target share on the season, it’s hard to not notice what Ertz has done, even if the huge games haven’t been there. He’s a perfect stopgap tight end for fantasy managers as his “boring” brand of tight end production tends to go unnoticed, as evidenced by the 41% rostership.
Ja’Tavion Sanders – Sleeper Roster – 6%
- Sanders has run routes on 74%, 75%, and 77% over the past three weeks, while averaging six targets per game as Tommy Tremble has been out with a concussion. The Panthers and head coach Dave Canales are preaching youth and getting young players into key roles. Sanders is part of that, and he’s been improving week after week.
- The Panthers were a black hole in their passing game with nothing working… except for Sanders. Sanders led the team with a 6-61 line on six targets, 51% of the team’s air yards, 10.2 yards per target, a robust 3.59 yards per route run and 35.3% targets per route. While the threat of Tremble’s return looms, he’ll likely be slotted in as an in-line blocking tight end; a role in which Ian Thomas currently occupies. With Sanders producing, it’s hard to put the toothpaste back in the tube. If you want a little upside with your tight end in a burgeoning role, Sanders is a solid choice.
D/ST:
Los Angeles Chargers – Sleeper Roster – 35%
- If Derek Carr remains out for the Saints, they’ll have to contend with the Chargers’ defense. While the Chargers hit a bit of a snag against the Cardinals on Monday Night Football, they’ve been a typically stingy fantasy defense with four top-12 finishes in six weeks.
- The Chargers can also be a long-term defense, with matchups at home against the Saints, in Cleveland against the Browns, and back home against the Titans. These are three exploitable matchups that fantasy managers can place in their lineups and will not need to worry about the position for a few weeks.
Detroit Lions – Sleeper Roster – 15%
- Even without all-world defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, the Lions are still a solid fantasy defense. With two top-12 finishes in the last four games, they get the gift that keeps on giving: the Tennessee Titans.
- Whether the Titans’ quarterback is Mason Rudolph or Will Levis, the Lions are on such a roll right now in all three phases that this feels like a layup. It’s likely people dropped the Lions when the Vikings came up on the schedule in Week 7, but the Lions should be added with some solid matchups on tap, including this week against the Titans, plus back-to-back matchups against the Jaguars and Colts in the next few weeks.
Houston Texans – Sleeper Roster – 34%
- The Texans are coming off of back-to-back top-10 fantasy performances against the New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers — both on the road. Luckily, the Texans get a bit of a reprieve as they come back home to face the struggling Anthony Richardson and the Indianapolis Colts.
- The Texans have averaged 3.5 sacks, 1.5 fumble recoveries, and two interceptions per game over those two games, and Richardson’s six interceptions in five games comes to Houston. If you can’t get the Chargers or Lions, the Texans are a nice fallback option for fantasy managers.
