The fantasy football season has passed the halfway mark and it’s time to get serious about the playoff race. We’ve only got about a month of the regular season left, so playing the matchups and getting smart about waiver wire pickups will be more important than ever.
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We have more tight end injuries to account for this week. Jordan Reed, the eternal injury report, pulled his hamstring and Washington is already ruling him out of Week 9. Far more serious was Zach Miller’s knee dislocation, which punctured an artery and required emergency surgery to save his leg. He’s done for the year and possibly his career, which is a real shame. Mitchell Trubisky and the Chicago Bears get even thinner in the pass-catching corps.
Besides the injury news, fantasy owners once again have to deal with six bye teams — the Chicago Bears, Cleveland Browns, Los Angeles Chargers, Minnesota Vikings, New England Patriots, and Pittsburgh Steelers. That means Rob Gronkowski, Kyle Rudolph, Jesse James, Hunter Henry, and David Njoku aren’t available in Week 9.
In other words, it’s slim pickings on the waiver wire this week, but let’s look at some of the top tight ends available in less than 50 percent of Yahoo! leagues.
Jack Doyle, Indianapolis Colts (50 percent)
Doyle had what will almost certainly be his best game of the year, putting up 121 yards and a touchdown on 12 catches. With T.Y. Hilton seemingly falling out of favor, Doyle is probably the last reliable weapon Jacoby Brissett has left. He’s a legitimate TE1 this week, especially with the byes and injuries. The Colts get the Houston Texans next.
Austin Hooper, Atlanta Falcons (47 percent)
We’ve been fooled by Hooper teases before — he’ll have one big game that hints at his potential before disappearing for weeks on end. It’s possible that will happen again after he had four catches for 47 yards and a touchdown, and he gets a bad matchup with the Carolina Panthers defense this week. Hooper is a big gamble in standard leagues.
Ed Dickson, Carolina Panthers (25 percent)
We knew Dickson wouldn’t touch his Week 5, 175-yard outburst again, but he’s been almost invisible with 78 yards combined in the past three games. The one saving game is his targets — with 11 catches over the same span, it makes him slightly useful in PPR formats. Dickson’s pretty much all the Panthers have at tight end until Greg Olsen comes back from injured reserve, so he’s on the TE2 radar against the Falcons this week.
Vernon Davis, Washington (12 percent)
Reed is hurt again, and Davis has a knack for big games in his absence, so here we are. With Reed set to miss Week 9, Davis is on track for a big target share once again. The only problem is that he’s playing the Seattle Seahawks, who still have a good defense despite getting shredded by Deshaun Watson last week. Davis should be picked up by all Reed owners this week.
