We soldier on through the fantasy football season, with the bye weeks rearing their head. In Week 9, there are six teams getting the week off, and a number of fantasy stars forced onto your bench.
Fantasy football waiver wire: 5 wide receivers to target for Week 9
Six teams are on bye once again, so fantasy owners have to rely on the waiver wire to fill out their rosters.
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The bye teams are the Arizona Cardinals, Chicago Bears, Cincinnati Bengals, Houston Texans, New England Patriots, and Washington. So there’s a long list of star receivers -- A.J. Green, Larry Fitzgerald, DeAndre Hopkins, Alshon Jeffery, Julian Edelman -- who can’t be used in fantasy lineups this week. Owners will need to use the waiver wire to compensate, so here are our top recommended options at wide receiver. All players are owned in 50 percent of less of Yahoo! standard leagues.
Jamison Crowder, Washington (49 percent)
Crowder is still underappreciated by fantasy owners despite putting up 1,000 receiving yards over the past two years. Now he should continue playing a role with DeSean Jackson injured. Of course, Jackson’s status will depend on healthy is he after the bye week, but Crowder is worth picking up and stashing in the meantime. Washington will have a tough matchup with the Minnesota Vikings in Week 10.
Quincy Enunwa, New York Jets (45 percent)
Enunwa still isn’t seeing many targets, but he’s a legitimate playmaker, making the most of what he gets. He took four catches for 93 yards and a touchdown against the Cleveland Browns, pretty much winning that game by himself. Ryan Fitzpatrick remains a tire fire at quarterback, but Enunwa has proven to be a worthy WR3 most weeks. He’ll have a good matchup with the Miami Dolphins this week.
Sammie Coates, Pittsburgh Steelers (42 percent)
Coates should be mostly healthy after getting the bye week to rest his hand injury. The problem is that Landry Jones is still under center with Ben Roethlisberger out several weeks, but Coates’ big-play talent should be enough to keep him in the flex discussion, particularly in DFS. The Baltimore Ravens are a tough matchup in Week 10, but the schedule loosens up a bit with the Dallas Cowboys’ pass defense, the Browns, and the Colts. Coates’ fantasy value should be revived sooner rather than later.
Kenny Britt, Los Angeles Rams (39 percent)
Britt had a clunker performance in Week 7, but then again, so did everyone else on the Rams’ offense in London. Now coming off the bye, Britt should have a more friendly matchup with the Carolina Panthers’ 30th-ranked pass defense. The concern, as always, is Case Keenum, but Britt is worth the WR4 gamble in deeper leagues.
Phillip Dorsett, Indianapolis Colts (31 percent)
This is more of a deep dive speculation, but with Andrew Luck playing great football Dorsett should have bigger days ahead of him after missing time with injury. He had five catches for 33 yards against the Kansas City Chiefs, but appeared to get injured on the final Hail Mary throw. Owners will have to keep an eye on his Week 9 status, but Dorsett will have some WR4 appeal against a Green Bay Packers secondary ravaged by injuries.
