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Kyle's must-have fantasy football bench stashes and waiver wire sleepers ahead of Week 9 (2022). He picks high-upside NFL players to stash on your fantasy teams.
Bye-mageddon is upon us as the Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, New York Giants, Pittsburgh Steelers, and San Francisco 49ers are all off this week. If you have been hit hard by the byes and need players to start in your lineup immediately, you may not have the luxury of being able to stash away players this week. Nonetheless, we shall dive into this week's top stash players for the rest of the season.
The purpose of this article is to look for players who could emerge in their current situation due to injuries on the depth chart, players traded away, and even coaching changes. Unfortunately, injuries are the ultimate equalizer in fantasy football and we must be prepared as best as we can. Keep an eye on all of the Sunday injury reports and don't be afraid to put a player who is out for tomorrow on your league's Injured Reserve and use the free spot to pick someone up, even if only for a week.
Week to week, it is my job to keep my ear to the ground of all that is going on with 32 teams to help you bargain hunt for some free options on your league's waiver wire. Several weeks ago, D'Onta Foreman was suggested as a late waiver stash with Christian McCaffrey potentially being traded and teams who planned ahead by picking up Foreman were rewarded handsomely. Here are some top players to stash away before Week 9 kicks off.
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Weekend Waiver Wire Stashes Before Week 9
Greg Dulcich, Denver Broncos - 35% rostered
A player who was likely dropped by several teams in your league because of the bye, Dulcich has looked great in his three games so far this season and looks anything like a rookie. He's seen a total of 17 targets and has caught 12 of them for 182 yards and a TD. He's also been a top-12 TE every week that he has played. Dulich can stretch the field and runs routes like a seasoned veteran.
While the Broncos' offense has been anything like what we expected, Dulcich has quickly become a favorite target of Russell Wilson and could be a great addition to your fantasy team for the second half of the season, especially if you are hurting at the tight end position. Dulcich was on Injured Reserve for the first month of the season and has looked great since coming off. In his senior season at UCLA, Dulcich caught 42 passes for 725 yards and five TDs. He has the look of a special player.
Malik Willis, Tennessee Titans - 3% rostered
While he had a lackluster performance in his first NFL start, Willis may get another shot to start this week with Titans starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill still on the injury report. In a 17-10 victory of the Houston Texans last week, Willis completed six of his 10 passes for 55 yards and an INT while rushing five times for 12 yards. It wasn't great, but due to his upside for fantasy purposes, we should still be interested in Willis, especially in deeper 1QB leagues, 2QB, and Superflex leagues.
As we have seen in years past, running quarterbacks can be an absolute CHEAT CODE for fantasy. Just glancing at his stats from his senior season in college, Willis would have accounted for almost 400 fantasy points in four-point passing TD leagues and he would have averaged over 30 fantasy points per game!
Many scouts viewed him as a project who came from a smaller school, but Willis has all of the elite traits that teams should want in a young quarterback: a rocket for an arm, incredible athleticism, the ability to throw the ball all over the field, and is a player who was praised as being a great teammate and easily coachable.
While it's no guarantee that Tannehill wouldn't take his job back, Malik is electric. His upside is far too great to pass up if we can get him for free. If you'd like to know more about Willis, I wrote a rookie profile on him right after the NFL Draft, as well as an in-depth piece on the 2022 Rookie QB Class as a whole.
Treylon Burks, Tennessee Titans - 17% rostered
The 18th overall selection in the 2022 NFL Draft, Burks was starting to emerge as the top pass catcher on the Titans before being sidelined by a turf toe injury. He is a big-bodied receiver who can stretch the field. After spending the last four weeks on the Injured Reserve, Burks is eligible to return at any time.
After the Titans traded A.J. Brown on draft night for the selection that became Burks, they have every intention of making him involved in the offense and even making him the No. 1 target, so the targets and the production should come.
Burks doesn't have much competition on the Titans' current depth chart at wide receiver with the likes of Robert Woods, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, Cody Hollister, and Chris Conley. While we don't yet know when Burks will return, he is going to be an important asset for the Titans' offense as they look to make a playoff push at 5-2 and secure their place atop the AFC South. Before turning pro, Burks finished up his junior season at Arkansas with 66 receptions for 1,104 yards and 11 TDs.
JaMycal Hasty, Jacksonville Jaguars - 9% rostered
After the Jaguars traded away running back James Robinson to the New York Jets, the No. 2 running back role on the Jaguars has opened up. While Travis Etienne Jr. is incredibly explosive and had a great game in fantasy last week scoring his first NFL touchdown, there are still some concerns about him being able to be every down type of back every week.
Last season, JaMycal Hasty looked solid enough in limited time out of the 49ers backfield where he rushed 16 times for 68 yards and a TD, but looked great as a receiver catching 23 passes for 157 yards. He signed with Jacksonville as a free agent this offseason. As mentioned in previous fantasy articles, we always want to be looking to spot running backs who are just one spot away on the depth chart from having some major fantasy football relevance. Last week Hasty had just four carries for 13 yards, but he also had three receptions as well.
Ahead of Week 8, head coach Doug Pedersen told the Jacksonville media that Hasty would see more carries going forward since the Robinson trade. While he still has a long way to go, he feels like a great stash for our rosters right now.
Isaiah Likely, Baltimore Ravens - 35% rostered
A fourth-round selection of the Ravens in the 2022 NFL Draft, Likely showed some serious flashes in the preseason and has looked good in the limited action he has seen so far with the team. The bad news? He is currently buried on the depth chart behind Mark Andrews, whose playing status for Monday Night Football remains up in the air.
After sophomore wide receiver Rashod Bateman was placed on injured reserve and will miss the remainder of the 2022 season, the Ravens' current wide receiver corps is depleted and they may be forced to run multiple TE sets and get Likely more involved in the passing game. So far this season, Likely has 16 receptions for 181 yards and a TD. While also a rookie like Dulcich, he has looked anything but during his time with the Ravens.
Last week on TNF against the Buccaneers, Likely caught six passes for 77 yards and a TD. If Andrews were to miss this week's MNF contest, then Likely should be in your lineups at all costs as he could have a big game.
Rachaad White, Tampa Bay Bucs - 32% rostered
So far, the Tampa offense has looked anything but what we expected, but the good news is White has started to see the field a lot more than he did in the first few weeks. So far this season, he has rushed 30 times for 90 yards and a TD with 17 receptions for 128 yards.
While Tampa Bay sits at 3-5, White is only one spot behind Fournette from having some serious fantasy value. The Bucs have a big contest with the Rams this week followed by another game against Seattle before heading to their Week 11 bye. White is a dynamic pass catcher out of the backfield and is very shifty in open space. His upside is limited from Fournette being the RB1 on the team, but White is a player worth rostering based on his sheer upside alone.
Last season at Arizona State, White rushed for over 1,000 yards averaging 5.5 yards per carry while having 43 receptions for 456 yards and a TD. In deeper formats, he is a great stash to hold on your roster.
Isiah Pacheco, Kansas City Chiefs - 31% rostered
Ahead of Week 8, Andy Reid and the Chiefs announced that Pacheco would be the team's starting running back against the 49ers in Week 7. While it didn't change too much of the results, Pacheco played just 30 percent of the team's offensive snaps and rushed just eight times for 43 yards.
While the current situation does currently make it difficult to start any current Chiefs RBs in fantasy, everyone would agree that Pacheco is the most explosive of the Chiefs' three running backs. In seasons past, we have seen the bye week become a bump for rookie players, meaning that many rookies saw extended action coming off their teams' bye week as the coaches began feeling more comfortable having them out there.
Pacheco was a seventh-round choice of the Chiefs in the 2022 NFL Draft and impressed many in training camp. He has the kind of upside that we want from players on our bench and Pacheco could be the type of league winner for teams as an RB2 later in the season as the Chiefs' offense is going to become more fine-tuned as the season goes on. He was a player that JJ Zachariason raved about all summer as a late stash worthy of your attention.
DeAndre Carter, Los Angeles Chargers - 28% rostered
The Chargers offense has been decimated by injuries this season. Currently, starting wide receivers Keenan Allen and Mike Williams are set to miss the team's contest against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 9, who are currently giving up the most fantasy points to wide receivers on the year.
Josh Palmer has been the No. 3 WR on the team, but he has even been held out of practice this week after returning from a concussion. There is an off chance that Carter could potentially go from the No. 4 WR on the team to the No. 1 WR for the Chargers this Sunday. In Week 7, Carter had seven targets where he caught three of them for 37 yards.
Justin Herbert is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL and we know the Chargers shouldn't have a hard time moving the ball against the Atlanta defense. If some of the other Chargers WRs continue to miss time, Carter could be a great plug-and-play for this week, as well as a stash with value going forward.
Taylor Heinicke, Washington Commanders - 10% rostered
Last week against Indianapolis, Heinicke was the QB8 on the week with 23.06 fantasy points, which is great if you need a streaming option. In his two starts this season, Heinicke is 2-0 as a starter while throwing for 480 yards, three TDs, and adding 33 rushing yards on the ground along with a rushing TD. In his Week 7 start, Heinicke was also the QB13. In his 15 starts last season after filling in for Ryan Fitzpatrick, Heinicke rushed for 313 yards and a TD, so he does have some fantasy value on the ground for our teams.
After a rough start, the Commanders have bounced back to 4-4 and Heinicke will play the next two games after starter Carson Wentz was placed on injured reserve with a broken finger. Ron Rivera likes Heinicke and the weapons around him are much better than last year with a healthy Curtis Samuel and rookie phenom Jahan Dotson.
While the backfield is mostly a three-headed monster and a complete mess for fantasy purposes, Heinicke could provide us with some value during a bye week or as a valuable depth piece in Superflex leagues. The entire coaching staff is under fire in Washington and if Heinicke should start winning games, there is no guarantee they will go back to Wentz. Keep your eye on Heinicke as he is a much better quarterback for fantasy than he is being given credit for, real-life aside.
I hope you enjoyed these picks. Feel free to follow me on Twitter for more waiver and player analysis throughout the season!
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