Fantasy Football Week 9 Waiver Wire: Deeper League Pickups (QB, RB, WR, TE)

Dan's top fantasy football Week 9 waiver wire pickups, sleepers, stashes for deeper leagues for 2025. His waiver targets include Sam Darnold, Tyjae Spears, Christian Watson and more

Week 9 will offer a minor reprieve from bye weeks, as the number of teams will decrease from six to four. Unfortunately, three of those teams (Philadelphia Eagles, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the New York Jets) have players that we have come to rely on in fantasy this season.

Thankfully, there weren’t too many injuries that will carry over to Week 9. Still, fantasy managers will need to scour the waiver wire to uncover some gems that have the upside to push for a fantasy playoff spot.

This article will focus on fantasy football players who are at or below a 40% roster rate on Yahoo! -- and can be considered deeper league waiver wire options. We'll cover a few players from the QB, RB, WR, and TE positions. Let's get to it!

• 2025 fantasy football rankings
• Running back (RB) fantasy football rankings
• Wide receiver (WR) fantasy football rankings
• Tight end (TE) fantasy football rankings
• Quarterback (QB) fantasy football rankings
• FLEX fantasy football rankings
• Defense (D/ST) fantasy football rankings
• Kicker (K) fantasy football rankings
• Dynasty fantasy football rankings

Quarterback Fantasy Football Waiver Wire

All QBs are rostered in 40% of leagues or less

Sam Darnold, Seattle Seahawks- 36% rostered

Sam Darnold has proven that his strong season with the Minnesota Vikings in 2024 wasn’t a fluke. Darnold has completed 68.4% of his passes for 1,754 yards, 12 touchdowns, and four interceptions in seven games before Seattle’s bye week.

There have been highs and lows for the veteran quarterback, but he has mostly proven that he can operate as an efficient passer in a lower-volume passing attack throughout the season. That has mostly translated to fantasy as well.

From Week 2 to Week 6, Darnold was the QB6 in fantasy, averaging 19.8 fantasy points per game. During that stretch, he had five games with at least 16 fantasy points per game and two games with 20+ fantasy points. The Seahawks have a matchup against a Commanders defense that has struggled with consistency in 2025.

J.J. McCarthy, Minnesota Vikings- 23% rostered

J.J. McCarthy struggled in his first two starts, completing 58.5% for 301 yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions. A high-ankle sprain in Week 2 has kept the second-year quarterback on the sideline for the last six weeks.

Head coach Kevin O’Connell has made it clear that McCarthy will be the Vikings’ starting quarterback once he is healthy. All signs are pointing to Week 9 being that time.

While McCarthy has been out, the Vikings have gotten Jordan Addison back from his suspension, Aaron Jones Sr. back from injured reserve, and numerous pieces of their offensive line back to full health. McCarthy is the ultimate high-risk, high-reward player in fantasy.

If he can play within the offense and let his weapons carry the offense, he can put up big fantasy performances. However, we have also seen him struggle to do that in his two starts.

His offensive environment is too good to ignore in fantasy, and he needs to be rostered with the hope that he can get his season back on track with one of the best pass-catching groups in the NFL.

Running Back Fantasy Football Waiver Wire

All RBs are rostered in 40% of leagues or less

Tyjae Spears, Tennessee Titans- 31% rostered

Tyjae Spears continues to see his role grow with the Titans as he gets healthier following an IR stint to start the season. Spears had his second-highest snap share (52.1%) along with season-highs in both rushing (nine carries for 59 yards and a touchdown) and receiving (three receptions for 23 yards) in a loss to the Colts last week.

Tyjae Spears all the way down to the ONE

TENvsIND on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/fqZybP7adS

— NFL (@NFL) October 26, 2025

More importantly, Spears looks to have regained his explosiveness after his preseason high ankle sprain. The third-year running back is averaging career highs in yards per carry (5.5) and yards per touch (5.6). Since returning from injury, Spears is averaging 5.8 carries and 2.8 targets per game. He has three straight weeks with at least three targets.

Spears will continue to see a consistent role for the Titans, but his time share with Tony Pollard isn’t going anywhere either. Since returning from injury, Spears has as many games with a majority snap share (50% or higher) as he does with a lower one. He can provide a solid fantasy floor with RB2 upside if he finds the end zone.

Jaydon Blue, Dallas Cowboys- 10% rostered

Jaydon Blue has back-to-back games with seven or more carries. He’s had at least three carries in each of his last four games. The results haven’t been there (55 rushing yards), but he is getting consistent work behind Javonte Williams.

Blue is getting a consistent workload in blowout games, but he’s also the RB2 behind a veteran who has an injury history. The Cowboys’ defense has proven that it isn't going to stop anybody this season, so the rookie running back will likely have a role going forward as well.

Wide Receiver Fantasy Football Waiver Wire

All WRs are rostered in 40% of leagues or less

Kayshon Boutte, New England Patriots- 40% rostered

Kayshon Boutte has emerged as the most consistent downfield threat for the Patriots' offense in 2025. Boutte is third on the team in targets (30) and receptions (23) but is second in yards (423) and leads the Patriots in touchdowns (five). His 18.7 yards per reception is third in the NFL among players with at least two games played.

Boutte has earned at least five targets in two of his last three games and has at least three targets in seven of eight games this season. There is a lot of boom-or-bust to his game, but right now things are in his favor. Boutte has scored four touchdowns in his last three games.

Kayshon Boutte fingertip grab for a 39-yard touchdown!

NEvsTEN on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/3Ia00yOPjX

— NFL (@NFL) October 19, 2025

The third-year receiver leads New England’s wide receivers in snap share (66.1%) and route participation (70.9%). His role makes his fantasy production volatile, but he’s clearly an important and trusted piece of this passing attack.

Christian Watson, Green Bay Packers- 16% rostered

Christian Watson made his 2025 debut in Week 8 and made an immediate impact. Watson was third on the team in route participation (59.5%), yet finished second on the team in receiving yards (85). Watson finished first on the Packers in average depth of target (18.3) and posted the second-highest air yards share (35.8%) in Green Bay. Watson scored 12.5 PPR points in his first game.

There will be frustrations going forward with Watson in fantasy. The Packers' passing offense will continue to spread the ball around and will get both Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks back soon. Logically, Matthew Golden should see his role expand as the season goes on. The Packers will continue to build Watson up as he returns from a late-season ACL injury in 2024.

That said, he can put together big weeks in fantasy as a downfield weapon in the Packers’ passing attack. That will be valuable, especially with so many players injured and on bye.

Tight End Fantasy Football Waiver Wire

All TEs are rostered in 40% of leagues or less

Noah Fant, Cincinnati Bengals- 4% rostered

Noah Fant has at least four targets in five of seven games this season. He has at least four receptions in four games this year. Since the Bengals traded for Joe Flacco, Fant has caught all 11 of his targets for 112 yards and a touchdown. He also has consecutive games with 40+ receiving yards.

Fant isn’t a game changer in fantasy, but he’s getting a consistent workload in an offense that is going to be in negative game scripts with a quarterback who is going to consistently get the ball out on time. He won’t ever earn targets over Ja'Marr Chase or Tee Higgins in the passing attack, but could settle in as the third option in the passing attack with weekly touchdown upside.

Theo Johnson, New York Giants- 24% rostered

Since Malik Nabers was injured in Week 4, tight end Theo Johnson has stepped up as a piece of the passing attack. Over the last four games, Johnson has averaged 5.5 targets per game.

During that time, he’s put up modest receiving production (14 receptions for 146 yards) but has been able to be consistently fantasy relevant thanks to his ability to score touchdowns (three touchdowns). Since Week 5, Johnson has had two top 10 finishes. He also has two weeks with fewer than 5.0 fantasy points scored.

The Giants don’t have much target competition at wide receiver to siphon targets away from him in the passing attack, which gives him a decent target floor weekly.

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