Week 8 of the football season is here, and with the halfway point already coming, fantasy leagues are starting to separate the contenders from the pretenders. The waiver wire remains a critical resource during the bye weeks.
Fantasy football waiver wire: 5 wide receivers to target for Week 8
With Week 7 in the books, we take a look at five more waiver wire options at the wide receiver.
This week, the Buffalo Bills, Philadelphia Eagles, Jacksonville Jaguars and Washington all have the week off, making names like Allen Robinson, Allen Hurns and Pierre Garcon unavailable. To help you out, here are some wire options owned in 50 percent or less of Yahoo! leagues.
Tavon Austin, St. Louis Rams (49 percent)
The Rams keep force-feeding Austin targets, suggesting that they’re determined to make him a real part of the offense rather than the gadget role he played last year. The diminutive speedster remains a heavy boom-or-bust player, especially in the Rams’ run-first attack with Todd Gurley front and center. We don’t feel like he’s an every-week starter, but if you’re in a crunch, he’s worth a dart throw as a guy who can break off massive gains on any given touch.
Stevie Johnson, San Diego Chargers (41 percent)
Johnson made his return from a hamstring injury last Sunday. He was relatively quiet, catching just four of eight targets for 50 yards, but there should be volume to go around in San Diego. The Chargers aren’t even pretending to have a running game anymore, and a porous defense ensures that they will be playing from behind more often than not. Even with Antonio Gates expected back next week, Johnson has a great matchup with the Ravens’ equally poor defense. This game has shootout written all over it, making Johnson a sleeper WR3 play.
Marvin Jones, Cincinnati Bengals (40 percent)
Jones is coming out of the bye, having had his best game of the season in Week 6. He ripped up the Buffalo Bills with nine catches for 95 yards and a touchdown while all the coverage was drawn to A.J. Green. Jones is locked in as the No. 2 receiver and should continue to benefit from Green demanding attention. He has a great matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers and has weekly WR3 upside.
Ted Ginn, Carolina Panthers (33 percent)
Ginn is still miscast as a No. 1 receiver and will continue having peaks-and-valleys production, but someone has to catch the targets that aren’t going to Greg Olsen. The Panthers have a friendly defensive matchup with the Indianapolis Colts on Monday night -- Indy is 28th in the league in passing yards allowed per game. Ginn is a tough sell in 12-team leagues, but will be a reasonable WR4 Hail Mary in deeper formats.
Tyler Lockett, Seattle Seahawks (16 percent)
After shining as a return specialist, Lockett proved that he can play on offense too, beating the San Francisco 49ers for 79 yards and a touchdown last Thursday. Lockett’s upside is still capped in a Seahawks offense that wants to run the ball first, but when he has the ball in his hands, few receivers are more capable of breaking a big play. Lockett remains more valuable in return-yardage leagues than regular fantasy, but he’s starting to get there. He’ll be a DFS lottery ticket against the Dallas Cowboys this week.
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