fantasy football waiver wire week 9

Fantasy football IDP free-agent report: Week 9

Check your waiver wire for these IDP Week 9 pickups.

After a full slate in Week 8, bye weeks are back in action in Week 9 with Pittsburgh and San Francisco taking a seat. So bait your hook, and let’s get ready to reel in some IDPs.

Each week, we’ll highlight diamonds in the rough or some players that just need to be rostered in more leagues on the defensive side of the ball. Keep in mind your scoring system and roster restraints when heading to the waiver wire to grab these IDPs.

Defensive linemen

DE Arden Key, Tennessee Titans

The 28-year-old Key is annually a fringe IDP option with spurts of brilliance and disappearance. He’s on the former right now with three sacks in the last two games. He had six tackles and a forced fumble to boot last week. He’ll be chasing around New England Patriots this week.

EDGE Azeez Ojulari, New York Giants

If he has DL eligibility, that’s a major plus. The 2021 second-rounder has sacks in three straight games and has combined for five sacks during the stretch. He also contributed four, three, and seven tackles in each game. Ojulari has two good matchups against Washington and Carolina before his Week 11 bye.

Linebackers

LB Demario Davis, New Orleans Saints

The elder statesman of the bunch, the 35-year-old vet had a season-high nine tackles against the Los Angeles Chargers last week. He has been pretty hit-or-miss and could have been drafted and dumped. He has two great matchups in the Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons upcoming.

LB Eric Wilson, Green Bay Packers

This one is contingent on Quay Walker‘s (concussion) status, but Wilson came in last week and recorded nine tackles in his stead. In Week 7, he had six tackles, two sacks, and a pass defense. The Packers face the Detroit Lions before a bye in Week 10.

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LB Christian Elliss, New England Patriots

The Pats have been playing musical linebackers, and Elliss is at the head of the table right now. He has nine tackles in each of the last two games, and he included a sack and a pass defense last week.

Defensive backs

S Eddie Jackson, Baltimore Ravens

Jackson was a rotational player until he played every snap against the Cleveland Browns. He had 10 tackles and a pass defense. He had eight tackles the week before. If he continues to have this kind of runway, he’s a great pickup this late in the year.

S Eric Murray, Houston Texans

Murray’s role has increased significantly. He played at least 80% of the team’s snaps over the last five weeks. He started last week and picked up seven tackles and three pass defenses. Murray has the New York Jets on tap this week.

S Quan Martin, Washington Commanders

Martin has been hit or miss as the Commanders have been using three safeties. He hit the nail on the head with 11 tackles in Week 8. He has three good matchups against the Giants, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia upcoming to see if he can build on it.

Fantasy football waiver wire: Week 9 free-agent forecast

Here are the top waiver wire targets for fantasy football in Week 9.

Week 8 of the fantasy football season offered plenty of fireworks with a full slate of games, and now we’re back to sifting through the waiver wire amid bye weeks.

Entering Week 9, there will be four teams on a bye, and all four teams have some serious star power who will be sitting on the bench.

Teams on a bye in Week 9 include the Detroit Lions, Denver Broncos, Jacksonville Jaguars and San Francisco 49ers.

We’ll be taking a look at the top available players rostered in Yahoo leagues, using the 75% rostered mark as the threshold. If you have any questions about prioritizing a certain player over another, don’t be afraid to hit me up on X, formerly Twitter, (@KevinHickey11). Your questions and comments are always welcome!

We also will be taking a look at some deeper players to stash and the top streaming options for the upcoming week.

Fantasy football IDP free-agent report: Week 9

Check your waiver wire for these IDP options ahead of Week 8.

Tuesday is the NFL trade deadline, and we’ve already have one spot on the defense open up. Bye weeks resume in Week 9, and the roster crunch will begin to apply pressure as we charge toward the stretch run.

Defensive linemen

DE George Karlaftis, Kansas City Chiefs

The 2022 first-round pick is coming of age in his second season. He has tied his rookie season total with six sacks in half the games, and he has four sacks in the last three games. Karlaftis had seven tackles, a forced fumble, and 2 1/2 sacks last week against the Denver Broncos.

DE James Smith-Williams, Washington Commanders

The Commanders traded DE Montez Sweat to Chicago and are working to trade DE Chase Young. This will open a spot for Smith-Williams to slide in and start. He had three sacks in 14 games of limited action last year, and is probably an option only in deeper leagues, but he did have three tackles two games ago against the New York Giants.

Linebackers

LB David Mayo, Washington Commanders

The 30-year-old veteran opened eyes with 11 tackles in Week 7. He followed it up with nine tackles against the Philadelphia Eagles last week. Mayo doesn’t have much competition at middle linebacker, though, they could opt to go younger later. For now, he’s a banger of a pickup.

LB Leo Chenal, Kansas City Chiefs

With Nick Bolton on IR, the 2022 third-round pick delivered 10 tackles and a sack in Week 8. He has the Miami Dolphins before a bye week, which means Chenal may be a one-week flier if you don’t have room to roster him through the off-week. However, he’s worth the pickup for the potential.

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LB Nakobe Dean, Philadelphia Eagles

Dean was hurt in Week 1 and missed a month with a foot injury. Upon returning, he didn’t do much with four tackles and three tackles. And then Week 8 happened, and Dean had 12 tackles. Weeks like those are probably not going to be the norm, but he is in the middle of a talented defense and is a flex consideration.

Defensive backs

FS Quandre Diggs, Seattle Seahawks

The 31-year-old safety is one that fantasy owners are familiar with as he’s usually on the periphery of a pickup or a one-week play. Three weeks ago, he had eight tackles and fell back to three tackles and a pass defense in Week 7. Diggs delivered nine tackles last week, so expect peaks and valleys.

FS Juan Thornhill, Cleveland Browns

Thornhill, a 27-year-old second-round pick in 2019, has delivered 32 tackles in six games this season. He had seven, five, seven and seven tackles in the last four weeks. There’s nothing glamorous about it, but a seven-tackle player is hard to find on waivers.

CB Jamel Dean, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

A cornerback pops up in this week’s list, and he’s performing like a safety. He had 10 tackles and a fumble recovery two weeks ago and delivered eight tackles and two pass defenses last week. Dean has a soft part of the schedule coming up with the Houston Texans and Tennessee Titans, so he may have a nice window here.

Fantasy football IDP free-agent report: Week 9

Check your waiver wire for these IDP options ahead of Week 9.

The 2022 NFL season keep chugging along, and we’re past the league’s trade deadline into Week 9. There are still moves you can make that can make a difference in your season. We’re here to help guide you in the right direction.

Defensive Linemen

DT Derrick Brown, Carolina Panthers

The 2020 No. 7 overall pick gave pretty marginal results over his first two seasons, but he has begun to break out. Over the last four games, he has 28 tackles and a sack in what could be the beginning of his prime seasons. DE Brian Burns is staying put, and that can only mean good things for Brown moving forward.

DE Travon Walker, Jacksonville Jaguars

The No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft really didn’t have high expectations in fantasy because he was viewed by many as more of a project. That project has been getting extra credit lately as he has five tackles in four of the last five games. He also picked up 1.5 sacks over the last two games after being shut out since Week 1. He should be owned more often than he is because of his tackling ability.

Linebackers

LB Za’Darius Smith, Minnesota Vikings

If he’s DE-eligible in your league, even better, but Smith has wreaked havoc the last two weeks with five sacks. Rushing the passer opposite of elite EDGE Danielle Hunter has really served him well as Smith has been the lesser of the two evils in pass-blocking schemes. More importantly, Smith has 11 tackles over the last two weeks after needing five games to acquire his first 11.

LB Sione Takitaki, Cleveland Browns

He’s on a bye this week, so your roster construction will dictate whether you can afford to stash him for a week. Takitaki has had his two best tackling games the last two weeks with eight and 13 on Monday night. He also picked up his first sack Monday night as the 27-year-old looks to be blossoming in his fourth season. He’s more of a deep-league pickup, but keep him on your watch list if you can’t stash him for a week.

Defensive Backs

S Myles Hartsfield, Carolina Panthers

The injury to stud S Jeremy Chinn opened the door for the third-year product out of Ole Miss. Hartsfield has taken it and ran with it with seven or more tackles in three straight weeks. It’s hard to find that kind of consistency on the wire at this point in the season, and he could serve as a one-week play in Week 9 if Chinn isn’t available to play once more.

CB Tyson Campbell, Jacksonville Jaguars

The 2021 second-round pick from Georgia quietly had a solid rookie season with 73 tackles and two INTs last year. He has matched the INTs and is on pace to surpass the tackles as he already has 40 on the year. Campbell has racked up five tackles in five straight games. Over the last three, he has 19 tackles, a forced fumble, an INT and four pass defenses. It’s time to take notice on the up-and-comer as the former Bulldog should be busy against the Raiders and Chiefs the next two weeks.

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Best fantasy football waiver wire options for Week 9

The best fantasy football waiver wire options for Week 9.

With just one more game left to be played in Week 8, we are on the verge of turning the page to Week 9, when there will be a total of six teams on a bye.

Those six teams include the Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, New York Giants, Pittsburgh Steelers and San Francisco 49ers.

Here’s a look at the fantasy-relevant players from each team who will be sitting it out on their bye in Week 9:

Browns: RBs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt, WR Amari Cooper, TE David Njoku

Cowboys: QB Dak Prescott, RBs Ezekiel Elliot and Tony Pollard, WRs CeeDee Lamb and Michael Gallup, TE Dalton Schultz, Cowboys D/ST

Broncos: QB Russell Wilson, RBs Melvin Gordon and Latavius Murray, WRs Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton, TE Greg Dulcich, Broncos D/ST

Giants: QB Daniel Jones, RB Saquon Barkley, WR Wan’Dale Robinson

Steelers: RB Najee Harris, WRs Chase Claypool, Diontae Johnson and George Pickens, TE Pat Freiermuth

49ers: QB Jimmy Garoppolo, RB Christian McCaffrey, WRs Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk, TE George Kittle

Now, the best waiver wire options for Week 9.