RADIO
Dan Fornek's fantasy football quarterback waiver wire pickups before Week 9 of the 2021 NFL season. His free agent QBs to add, stream and stash off waivers.
Week 8 was a breath of fresh air after the onslaught of teams on bye in Week 7. Only two teams were missing from action in Week 8, although they did feature two strong fantasy producers in Lamar Jackson and Justin Herbert. Unfortunately, a bigger slate of games didn’t necessarily mean offensive fireworks in Week 8.
When all was said and done Mike White, the Jets backup quarterback making his first career start, paced the quarterback position in passing yards against the Bengals (405). Only four other quarterbacks were able to surpass 300 yards through the air this week (Tom Brady, Jimmy Garoppolo, Davis Mills, and Matthew Stafford). There was also a lack of passing touchdowns this week; only six quarterbacks were to generate three passing scores (Brady, White, Stafford, Ryan Tannehill, Joe Burrow, and Carson Wentz). It was a down day for passing attacks, but thankfully the quarterback position won’t be affected much by the teams on bye in Week 9. Tom Brady and Taylor Heinicke are the most significant quarterbacks on bye, joined by Jared Goff and Geno Smith. Thankfully there are plenty of compelling options on the waiver wire this week for teams missing a starting quarterback or in need of a boost while getting ready to make a playoff push.
In this article, I will be focusing on players who are under 65% rostered in fantasy leagues while adding a couple of deep sleepers for two-quarterback leagues (less than 20% rostered).
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Top QB Streamers and Adds
Derek Carr (QB, LV)
Yahoo: 61% rostered ESPN: 57% rostered
The number of teams on bye the last two weeks likely forced Derek Carr to the waiver wire, and if that’s the case in your league, then you need to grab him immediately. Carr went into the bye week on a hot streak, throwing for at least 323 yards and two touchdowns against the Broncos and Eagles. On the season, Carr has five games with at least 300 passing yards and six games with two passing scores. Carr is playing some of his best football this season for the Raiders and is a consistent QB1 option for fantasy teams that faded quarterback early in their draft.
Carr’s upcoming schedule looks fantastic, making him even more of a priority on the waiver wire. The Raiders have upcoming matchups against the Giants, Chiefs, Bengals, Cowboys, Football Team, and Chiefs again. Given the high-passing volume of the Raiders’ offensive attack (and the passing ability of those opponents), Carr is a must-add in all leagues.
Carson Wentz (QB, IND)
Yahoo: 56% rostered ESPN: 32% rostered
The memory of Carson Wentz’s Week 9 will be unfortunately marred by an ugly interception he threw in his own end zone trying to avoid a safety. In all reality, Wentz had another strong fantasy day despite some bad decisions. Wentz completed just 52% of his passes for 231 yards and three touchdowns and two interceptions against a Titans defense that has looked better in recent weeks. It was his fifth week with multiple passing scores. While Wentz doesn’t provide much in the yardage department, he is putting up a solid touchdown total with the Colts.
Wentz has two games coming up against porous passing defenses in case of potential bye weeks at the quarterback position. Wentz will have home matchups against the Jets in Week 9 and Jacksonville in Week 10. The Jets were doing well against quarterbacks before Joe Burrow came to town and threw for 259 yards and three touchdowns in a loss. The Jaguars have been bottom-10 against fantasy quarterbacks and then gave up 195 yards and two touchdowns against Geno Smith.
Tua Tagovailoa (QB, MIA)
Yahoo: 36% rostered ESPN: 37% rostered
All things considered, Tua had a decent day against the best defense in fantasy football against quarterbacks. The Dolphins’ signal-caller completed 21 of 39 passes for just 205 yards and an interception but was able to get to 15 fantasy points thanks to a rushing score. It fell well short of his prior two games but was still an encouraging sign that he didn’t turn the ball over much throughout the game. The Dolphins don’t have their bye week until Week 14, which means Tua is a safe streamer for any of the upcoming weeks with his modest rushing upside and a steady passing volume (at least 39 attempts since returning from his injury).
Tua has a strong matchup against Houston in Week 9 before an avoidable matchup with the Ravens in Week 10. The Dolphins then have games against the Jets, Panthers, and Giants questionable secondaries in Weeks 11 through 13. Tua likely won’t be more than a QB2 during that stretch, but he does have some solid streaming upside against a stretch of favorable passing defenses.
2QB Options and Stashes
Ben Roethlisberger (QB, PIT)
Yahoo: 21% rostered ESPN: 16% rostered
Ben Roethlisberger’s best days are clearly behind him, but he can still generate some solid fantasy statistics. Roethlisberger led the Steelers to a big win against Cleveland in Week 8, completing 64% of his passes for 266 yards and a touchdown. Roethlisberger now has six straight games with at least 200 passing yards and has a passing touchdown in every game this season. The Steelers quarterback has five games with at least 12 fantasy points. Big Ben won’t likely finish as a QB1 anytime soon, but there are worse options during a week with four teams on bye.
The Steelers have matchups with the Bears and Lions on deck, giving Big Ben a shot to have solid fantasy days against undermanned secondaries. The Bears are allowing 17.8 fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks this season and have generated just four interceptions this season.
Mike White (QB, NYJ)
Yahoo: 1% rostered ESPN: 1% rostered
Mike White put together a highly efficient NFL debut against a Bengals’ defense that has been improved throughout the course of 2021. White completed 37 of 45 passes (82%) for 405 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions. When all was said and done, White ended Week 8 with the third-most passing yards for a quarterback in their debut in NFL history. More importantly, it was the best the Jets’ offense has looked this entire season. White played well enough to earn the starting nod in a short week against the Colts.
White has a limited window of being fantasy viable since the Jets will almost certainly return to starting Zach Wilson, their highly drafted rookie, once his knee is healed up and ready to go. With that being said, White showed enough ability running the offense at Week 8 to make him a compelling add if you find yourself navigating bye weeks in Week 9.
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