Fantasy Football 2025 Week 9 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
Tryone Tracy Jr., RB, Giants (49% Rostered): Tracy entered the 2025 season as the Giants’ lead back, and with Cam Skattebo now out for the rest of the season, he’s back in the saddle. Skattebo was more effective in the role than Tracy had been in his brief run this year atop the backfield, but this could still be a positive for the G-Men. Everyone loves Skattebo, but the truth simply is that he wasn’t a very explosive player. Tracy doesn’t run with the grit or power of Skattebo, and he’s going to have more runs for lost yardage, but Tracy also brings a home run element to this offense that it sorely needs. Tracy is going to be a volume hound rest of season, and he’s running behind an improving line. If he’s available in your league, you should bid a healthy percentage of your FAAB because it’s rare to land a rest of season real-life starter on waivers.
Harold Fannin Jr., TE, Browns (46% Rostered): Fannin Jr. is going to be free this week if he’s on waivers, and if he’s rostered already he’ll likely be dropped because he’s on bye. This is a very nice stash if you can scoop him up, because the Browns offense is completely reliant on the running game and the TEs due to the limitations they have at QB. Unlike many TEs who benefit from this kind of scenario though, Fannin is actually very talented, and can be a rest of season option. This is a sneaky add for a good team looking to beef up it’s depth, or potentially fix a leaky position.
Trevor Lawrence, QB, Jaguars (42% Rostered): Lawrence has been a big, fat fantasy dud this year with zero games of 300+ passing yards and only two multi-TD games through the air. He’s not here as any kind of long term fix, but rather as a one-week dart throw coming off a bye week with the Raiders defense on tap. Lawerence is still capable of spike games, and a home date with a terrible defense with an extra week to prep is a good situation.
Kayshon Boutte, WR, Patriots (40% Rostered): I still don’t feel comfortable recommending Boutte because of how boom or bust he can be, but the Patriots offense has been humming, Drake Maye is legit, and he’s scored in three straight games. Boutte’s reception totals are still very low – nine combined in the last three games, with four going for touchdowns – so the floor is legitimately a zero. However, it’s dark times for some with the injury bugs being especially ravenous this season, and with the calendar bringing about the bye week blues. Boutte is a fine dart throw, but anyone jumping aboard the train needs to be aware that it can derail spectacularly.
Troy Franklin, WR, Broncos (38% Rostered): Franklin was close to being booted, but we stuck with him due to the spread-it-out nature of this offense and the matchups. He responded with three touchdowns in the last two weeks vs. the cake matchups that were the Giants and Cowboys, while combining for nine grabs and 108 yards. Don’t get crazy! Franklin is likely to recede again into borderline usable territory, but he showed here that he’s a guy in a good offense who is on the field a bunch. He can pop in good matchups, and even in the tougher matchups he’s probably an okay flier due to his snap rates. The big plays won’t always find him, but they can.
Tre Tucker, WR, Raiders (37% Rostered): Tucker is coming off a bye, and with TE Brock Bowers back he could see his heavy target share plummet. If it does, then we can thank Tucker for his early season service. Until then, however, Tucker’s been a key cog of the Raiders passing game. Has it been a good passing game? Not at all, but he’s been a fantasy glue guy for most of the year and he can be a break glass in case of emergency FLEX option when you’re desperate.
Sam Darnold, QB, Seahawks (36% Rostered): Darnold continues to command very little respect despite following up his shocking breakout 2024 campaign with a quietly solid 2025. People are dealing with injuries and ineffectiveness at QB this year, and while Darnold isn’t challenging the top of the status quo, he has still delivered good production. He’s thrown 2+ touchdown passes in four of seven games and has hit 295+ yards three times. This week’s matchup vs. Washington is a very good one, and is in a standalone primetime game. If you need QB help, go get this man.
Kareem Hunt, RB, Chiefs (35% Rostered): Hunt had a big fantasy night Monday, scoring twice and seeing his snap rate climb back to 31.9% after a pretty steep decline the previous two games. He was still out-touched by Isiah Pacheco, but he was back to being the goal line option, and we did see Pacheco get banged up toward the end of the game. This backfield is way too volatile to trust anyone, and the presence of Brashard Smith throws everything further into chaos because his elevation could come at the expense of either Hunt, Pacheco or both of them at any time. I would treat Hunt like a worst case scenario FLEX play, and you simoly have to pray for a tuddy.
Juwan Johnson, TE, Saints (32% Rostered): New Orleans’ offense is gross, and the QB situation is dire with Spencer Rattler maybe getting benched for Tyler Shough, one of the oldest rookies you’ll ever see. And through it all, Johnson is there to soak up targets and put up middling yardage. Johnson is like Zach Ertz of last season, absorbing garbage short throws and churning out non-zero performances at a position where even elite players are capable of no-shows. He’s one of the least exciting players you can play, but he’s reliable.
Tyjae Spears, RB, Titans (31% Rostered): Spears continues to look like the shiftier and more explosive back for Tennessee, as Tony Pollard continues to receive more work. Both players are quality RBs operating in an offense that is just total garbage. They’ve got a rookie QB trying to run an offense without playmakers in the receiving corps, a coach that was fired midseason, and a line that struggles to run or pass block. It’s a mess, and even if Spears got the lion’s share of work here, which he won’t, he’d have to contend with all the factors that were just listed. So while I love the talent of Spears, I do believe his ceiling this year is a FLEX option. With that said, he’s worth having at the back of your roster because he can rip off chunk plays and that’s helpful in games when your starters are missing.
Speculative/Deep Cuts
Alec Pierce, WR, Colts (29% Rostered): Pierce is the ultimate dart throw. He’s a pure downfield X receiver, and while his yardage totals this year have been fine in the NFL’s best offense, he has caught five passes just once. He’s averaging an absurd 21.4 yards per catch, somehow down from last year, and his average depth of target is sitting at 22.4. This is not how you want to build a fantasy option, but so far Indianapolis has been such a wagon it’s working. This isn’t sustainable, and floor games are coming, but for now he can be played if you’re hurting, or if you have a tough matchup and are just trying to shoot the moon at FLEX.
Mason Taylor, TE, Jets (28% Rostered): Taylor is going to be a free add with the Jets on bye in Week 9, but if you have space and/or questionable options at TE he is a sneaky player to stash. He’s a very talented pass catcher, and while the Jets QB situation is nightmare fuel, he’s a critical piece of the passing game, and arguably the No. 1 option for as long as Garrett Wilson is injured. He’s had five or more targets in three of his last four games, and after the bye has two plush favorable TE matchups in Cleveland and New England.
Theo Johnson, TE, Giants (24% Rostered): Like Taylor, Johnson is just becoming more and more important to this offense as the weapons become more depleted. In fact, Johnson is the better add because he has a better QB, and the Giants’ missing options aren’t coming back in 2025. Johnson’s targets haven’t been through the roof, but he has had at least four looks in each of his last five games and figures to be more involved near the goal line with Cam Skattebo erased from the offense. This isn’t a league-winner type of add, but he can bring stability.
Bam Knight, RB, Cardinals (20% Rostered): Knight continues to be the guy in Arizona, and his roster percentage is super low due to the bye week this past Sunday. Knight is a Jets washout without superior elusiveness or long speed, so it makes sense that managers are hesitant to lean in. But he’s the clear option for goal line work, and the Cardinals are currently doing roster shenanigans with Michael Carter, showing you how key he is to the offense moving forward. Knight will likely disappear the moment Trey Benson is back, but for now he’s the man who will score rushing TDs in Arizona, and he’s got Dallas in Week 9.
Malik Washington, WR, Dolphins (15% Rostered): Washington finally found the end zone for the first time this year in a surprise trouncing of the Falcons. Washington’s usage hasn’t ticked up like I thought in the absence of Tyreek Hill, and Miami’s offense as a whole seems to be funneled entirely through De’Von Achane and Jaylen Waddle now, which is smart. Still, he’s on the field a bunch and has game-breaking speed so I’d hold out some hope of him being more impactful eventually. For now, he’s another pure desperation play only in plus matchups.
Dylan Sampson, RB, Browns (14% Rostered): Sampson has been a nonfactor since Week 1, with the emergence of Quinshon Judkins erasing the value of any other Browns RB. Judkins did get banged up, however, and we don’t know the extent of his shoulder injury. Should Judkins miss time, Sampson is the next man up and his receiving ability gives him ways to contribute even when Cleveland’s offense is stumbling. This should be a free add now for teams that are in good health and can afford to speculate.
IR Stashes
Jayden Reed, WR, Packers (35% Rostered)
Handcuffs
Tyler Allgeier, RB, Falcons (43% Rostered)
Kenneth Gainwell, RB, Steelers (40% Rostered)
Kyle Monangai, RB, Bears (37% Rostered)
Bhayshul Tuten, RB, Jaguars (32% Rostered)
Brian Robinson Jr., RB, 49ers (27% Rostered)
Tank Bigsby, RB, Eagles (17% Rostered)
Justice Hill, RB, Ravens (15% Rostered)
Ollie Gordon II, RB, Dolphins (11% Rostered)
Jaydon Blue, RB, Cowboys (10% Rostered)
Isaiah Davis, RB, Jets (9% Rostered)
Ray Davis, RB, Bills (9% Rostered)
Blake Corum, RB, Rams (8% Rostered)
Emanuel Wilson, RB, Packers (5% Rostered)
Devin Neal, RB, Saints (4% Rostered)
Devin Singletary, RB, Giants (1% Rostered)