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Matt MacKay's must-have fantasy football bench stashes and sleepers ahead of Week 8. He picks high-upside players to stash on your teams who can emerge as starters.
With the trade deadline looming, front offices across the league have already begun to make moves to their 53-man rosters, creating potential new opportunities for players buried on the depth chart. We've already seen Mark Ingram II return to New Orleans, while players like Marlon Mack and DeVante Parker are also rumored to be on the trade block leading up to the November 2nd deadline.
With injuries and byes restricting the ability to insert top players every week, rostering a low-usage skilled player from a team that is rumored to be in the mix with trading away a high-usage player creates additional value for the rest of the season.
Here are some of the best widely available players to target off of waiver wires heading into a jam-packed Week 8 NFL slate.
Editor's Note: Discover RotoBaller’s top Fantasy Football Sleepers to gain an edge in your drafts. Our free who to draft tool and expert picks spotlight undervalued players, breakout candidates, and late-round gems for all league formats.
Samaje Perine, Cincinnati Bengals
Cincinnati has built what appears to be a legitimate contender this offseason that includes enough running back depth to spell Joe Mixon. Fifth-year running back Samaje Perine is the RB2 behind Mixon and has been highly efficient when given the opportunity on the field, averaging 4.5 YPC and hauling in eight receptions for 77 yards and a touchdown on only ten targets. Perine has managed to find the end zone as a ball carrier and rushes 45.1 percent of the time when given snaps. None of the Cincinnati running backs draw a significant target share, but Perine has proven that he can produce in all three phases of his assignments: blocking, rushing, and receiving. Stash him off of waiver wires as a depth piece to deploy in the coming weeks as Perine's role could continue to evolve.
Phillip Lindsay, Houston Texans
David Johnson has received the most attention after the team opted to trade Mark Ingram back to New Orleans, where he began his career. However, Phillip Lindsay should not be ignored despite remaining the RB2 behind Johnson. Ingram is vacating 53.5 percent of the team's rushing share, which means a few of these carries will trickle down to Lindsay. Additionally, his involvement in the Texans' passing attack has been virtually nonexistent at a mere 2.2 percent target share. Still, this number will undoubtedly increase to raise the floor for Lindsay in PPR formats. Despite being third on the depth chart on a team that is constantly playing catch up with its opponent, the fourth-year running back has managed to score a rushing touchdown and a receiving touchdown on only four targets. He's been bogged down in the running game, but due to opportunity in the rushing and passing game, and with the potential for more trades to occur between now and the deadline, Lindsay is a good stash off of waiver wires in a decimated running back landscape.
Kalif Raymond, Detroit Lions
It's taken him longer than most, but sixth-year wide receiver Kalif Raymond has continued to develop into a reliable target for Jared Goff to trust on a primarily barren offense. Injuries to Quintez Cephus and Tyrell Williams sent both wideouts to Injured Reserve, allowing Raymond to ascend into the WR1 role across the last few weeks. Rookie Amon-Ra St. Brown and Trinity Benson comprise most of the other targets in the receiving corps, but Raymond will not fall out of favor due to Goff's chemistry. He has seen seven targets or more in three games this season and has 15 across the last two weeks, yielding 12 receptions for 152 yards. While D'Andre Swift and T.J. Hockenson are the alpha targets and players within the offense, it's ill-advised to dismiss stashing Raymond. He is a borderline WR3 with WR2 upside against a sub-par Philadelphia Eagles defense in Week 8, where he can be inserted into lineups if necessary.
Kendrick Bourne, New England Patriots
Kendrick Bourne is a massive beneficiary of the talented play displayed by rookie quarterback Mac Jones. Bourne has become the deep threat within the offense, averaging 12.5 yards per target and 15.9 yards per reception, leading Jakobi Meyers and Nelson Agholor. He's racked up 22 receptions for 350 yards and two touchdowns despite playing on only 55 percent of offensive snaps, as the Patriots prefer to deploy heavy 22 and 21 personnel within their run-centric approach. Meyers is the underneath route runner who soaks up targets but is not the end-zone or downfield target that Jones and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels prefer. Nevertheless, his upside is attractive and can help win a week, so stash Bourne off of waivers as a WR4 with WR3 upside.
Darius Slayton, New York Giants
Darius Slayton is another name that has entered the trade deadline rumor mill, but he remains with the New York Giant for the time being. The third-year wideout has dealt with injuries that kept him out of three games earlier in the season but now finds himself healthy during a time when most of the Giants' receiving corps is injured. This includes splash free-agent signee Kenny Golladay, first-round rookie sensation Kadarius Toney, and veteran wideout Sterling Shepard. In a surprisingly dominant Week 7 win over Carolina, Slayton drew a team-high nine targets and should continue to benefit from the improved play displayed by quarterback Daniel Jones. Slayton is a great floor-play and a quality stash off of waiver wires ahead of their Week 8 prime time contest against a Kansas City Chiefs defense ranked last in nearly every statistical category. Slayton can be considered a low-end WR3 Flex option in Week 8, especially with Saquon Barkley and Golladay remaining on the sideline with trainers at practice.
Mo Alie-Cox, Indianapolis Colts
The tall frame of Mo Alie-Cox cannot be missed on the football field, as he is quickly becoming a favorite red-zone target for Carson Wentz. Before the season began, it was difficult to tell whether veteran tight end Jack Doyle would retain a lead on the targets and routes run or if rookie Kylen Granson could ascend. Instead, Cox has emerged as the leading receiver for the Colts' tight end group, scoring all four of his touchdowns in three of the last four games. The entire offense is getting hot, and while Cox only draws between three to five targets per game, most of these come near the goal-line, which is the most lucrative aspect of rostering a streaming tight end. So stash Cox off of waiver wires and view him as a fringe-TE1 that will have a prime opportunity against a bad Titans pass defense.
Mac Jones, New England Patriots
Jones has the 10th-most completion yards (1,779) and a blistering 70.4 percent completion rate, third-best amongst these top-ten quarterbacks. While most rookie quarterbacks are struggling to overcome terrible playcalling or a lack of personnel, Jones has excelled under Josh McDaniels and Bill Belichick, shredding a good Jets pass defense for over 300 yards and two touchdowns in Week 7. He's surpassed 35 pass attempts in four games and has above a 100 quarterback rating (QBR) in the same span. Jones certainly isn't shy when it comes to downfield targets, as he ranks 18th in air yards per game (277.1) and quietly flies under the fantasy radar. Stash Jones off of waiver wires, and don't hesitate to insert him into lineups in one-quarterback leagues if necessary.
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