Fantasy Football 2025 Week 8 Waiver Wire Pickup Advice
Is your fantasy team in need of new blood? Each week I’ll bring to you the best pickups to make ahead of the waiver deadline. All the players I list will be rostered in fewer than 50 percent of leagues, with the roster percentages coming from Yahoo.com.
Immediately Useful
Tyrone Tracy Jr., RB, Giants (44% Rostered): Tracy has definitely lost his lead back role to Cam Skattebo, but that doesn’t mean Tracy isn’t a playable option. This offense was believed to be dead when Malik Nabers blew out his knee, but Jaxson Dart has breathed life into it, and now Tracy is in the role of high-efficiency playmaker. He ripped off a TD Sunday against a tough Broncos defense, and in general should see around 10 opportunities per week. That doesn’t make him a weekly FLEX by any stretch, but he’s someone you can play in a pinch and hope for a big play.
Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, WR, Chiefs (44% Rostered): Brown scored another touchdown this week vs. the pitiful Raiders, but that masked a two-catch performance. With Rashee Rice back, we’re back to the bad old days of the Chiefs being one of the best offenses in football and having few reliable fantasy options to cash in on. Rice will be the focal point, and Travis Kelce is a weekly TE start. Brown has a skill set essential to this offense, but he shares those skills with Xavier Worthy and Tyquan Thornton, who all mix in. Brown’s snap count was down to 33% in this one, so you can play him and pray for a long TD, but you’re now running major doughnut risk.
Jaxson Dart, QB, Giants (42% Rostered): Dart wasn’t incredible statistically vs. Denver, completing fewer than 50% of his passes, but he threw for 283 yards and three touchdowns, and took big chances down the field despite a receiving corps that’s well below the norm. He also ran the ball five times for 11 yards and a score, his second trip on the ground in as many weeks, and his third rushing touchdown in four games. Dart isn’t always going to be pretty, but he is not content to sit back and take bits and pieces that a defense gives him. He will force the issue, and make plays either down the field or with his legs. It will certainly have drawbacks for the G-Men in a real life sense, but fantasy wise that’s a QB you want.
Michael Carter, RB, Cardinals (41% Rostered): Carter saw just seven carries this week, totaling 36 yards from scrimmage. With no Emari Demercado, this should’ve been a nice volume game for Carter, but it’s something we’ve seen throughout his career. Opportunity comes, he does okay, and then he’s bypassed. Carter has already lost his grip on the better part of this timeshare; he retains value and playability because he’s still the passing downs back, and because the carry split can go back in his favor at any time. But as it stands he’s as shaky a play as you’ll find.
Mason Taylor, TE, Jets (39% Rostered): Taylor is still getting a nice chunk of the Jets passing game pie, it’s just that the pie is extremely small and is not good whatsoever. Volume is really the most important thing at TE, so I’m willing to give Taylor another week, especially if the Jets make a full time switch to Tyrod Taylor who should provide marginal improvement in target quality.
Kareem Hunt, RB, Chiefs (39% Rostered): Hunt seems to have ceded backfield control back to Isiah Pacheco again, while also losing passing down work to Brashard Smith. The backfield is a whole mess for fantasy purposes, but another week like Sunday in which Hunt saw only four carries, and I don’t think he’ll even be in dart throw territory without an injury in front of him.
Juwan Johnson, TE, Saints (30% Rostered): If you stuck with Johnson you were rewarded with a five-catch, 79-yard game. He hasn’t found the end zone since Week 2 which is annoying, but weeks like this are a reminder that he’s a pretty important player for this offense because he’s their best bet over the middle. That, plus his red zone ability, makes for a pretty useful fantasy TE.
Speculative/Deep Cuts
Tyjae Spears, RB, Titans (29% Rostered): Spears is Tony Pollard when Tony Pollard was in Dallas. He’s a shifty, electric runner with real deal passing chops who is stuck behind a veteran who is still good enough in all facets of the game to run ahead of him. Spears has the ability to still be a fantasy relevant option even in a limited role, but the Titans offense he’s mired in further caps his upside. Right now he’s a very high-end handcuff for Pollard, and he’s on the outer fringes of a desperation FLEX. It sucks, but he’s so talented that he is still worth stashing if your team has the space.
Michael Penix Jr., QB, Falcons (24% Rostered): Penix has been very underwhelming from a fantasy perspective, but he has gone over 240 passing yards in three straight games, suggesting he’s finding a bit of a rhythm. He also, crucially, has the Dolphins next up on the slate meaning he can be played by anyone dealing with QB issues. He’s not a season-long option in anything but two-QB/SuperFlex formats, and even then he’s a low-end QB2. But for one week, I’d be okay with throwing him in there because the Dolphins are a zombie team.
Bam Knight, RB, Cardinals (22% Rostered): We noted last week that Knight was getting all the goal line work for Arizona, and now he’s just getting most of the work. His ceiling is capped by being uninvolved in the passing game, but he’s seen double-digit carries the last two weeks, and he’s being used as a short yardage hammer. When Kyler Murray returns to action, this should open things up further for the RBs, and it makes Knight an RB3 with a reliable floor. I don’t view him as having much space between his floor and ceiling, but there’s value in players like this.
Marvin Mims Jr., WR, Broncos (23% Rostered): Mims had a nice game vs. the Giants, tying a season-high reception total with six, and piling up a season-high 85 yards. He remains a one-dimensional receiver, but he’s seeing an uptick in his targets and he has breakaway speed that allows him to turn any catch into a big play. He isn’t my cup of tea, but Denver has proven it can be explosive at times so Mims is as good a dart throw as any.
Troy Franklin, WR, Broncos (21% Rostered): Franklin scored on Sunday, and if you didn’t watch the game, you don’t know how ridiculous it was. Regardless, it counts, and while I was ready to take Franklin out of this weekly rundown, he earned another week. Three catches for 19 yards sucks, but he drew 10 targets in this game which cannot be ignored. Ultimately, he’s not going to be more than a WR3 this year at any point, and he’s barely that now, but as long as he’s on the field and seeing looks in this offense he’s not a terrible guy to roster. I’d rather have Franklin on my team than Mims.
Theo Johnson, TE, Giants (18% Rostered): It’s a solid week to need a TE, because there’s some useful ones laying around. Theo Johnson has emerged as a regular target in the Giants’ offense, which is without Malik Nabers. Nabers’ target share was massive, and it’s freed up a lot of opportunity. Wan’Dale Robinson has soaked up the biggest share of it, but Johnson is also becoming a key cog for rookie Jaxson Dart. Johnson has four touchdowns in the last four games, and while he’s caught three or fewer passes in three of those four games, two of his scored are from 15 yards out or longer. The Giants don’t really have reliable red zone targets outside of Johnson, so he’s a solid play moving forward.
Jalen Coker, WR, Panthers (14% Rostered): Coker had no catches in his return to action, but he’s a stash anyway until he shows he’s all the way back. The Panthers offense isn’t any great shakes, but with Tetaroia McMillan serving as a real alpha, Coker could be heavily targeted out of the slot as the season progresses and he gets into proper form. He’s not immediate help, but he might be valuable in crunch time as playoffs approach.
Joe Flacco, QB, Bengals (11% Rostered): Flacco is an ageless wonder. After looking like an old chewed up dog toy in Cleveland, he was dumped to a desperate Bengals team and in the last two games has put up 219 yards and two touchdowns vs. Green Bay and then 342 yards and three scores against the Steelers. He’s lined up against the Jets this week, and the Bears in Week 9 before a bye and then Pittsburgh again in Week 11. You could really do worse than Flacco, even if the floor is very low. Fantasy football isn’t always pretty, and it may feel bad cutting bait on younger talents like Jordan Love or Trevor Lawrence for an old geezer, but if you want to win you have to make hard choices.
Oronde Gadsden, TE, Chargers (4% Rostered): Gadsden has come on strong the last two weeks, earning 17 targets across his last two games and turning them into 14 receptions for 232 yards and a touchdown. He’s leapt up to 75% snap share in these two games, indicating this shift is for real. These numbers are going to come down of course, but the underlying point is that he’s on the field now for most of their snaps and he’s shown that he can make a big impact when used. Snap him up.
IR Stashes
Jayden Reed, WR, Packers (36% Rostered)
Handcuffs
Kenneth Gainwell, RB, Steelers (44% Rostered)
Bhayshul Tuten, RB, Jaguars (40% Rostered)
Tyler Allgeier, RB, Falcons (39% Rostered)
Brian Robinson Jr., RB, 49ers (31% Rostered)
Kendre Miller, RB, Saints (34% Rostered)
Emanuel Wilson, RB, Packers (16% Rostered)
Ollie Gordon II, RB, Dolphins (14% Rostered)
Jaydon Blue, RB, Cowboys (12% Rostered)
Blake Corum, RB, Rams (11% Rostered)
Ray Davis, RB, Bills (11% Rostered)
Justice Hill, RB, Ravens (10% Rostered)
Kyle Monangai, RB, Bears (7% Rostered)
Isaiah Davis, RB, Jets (4% Rostered)