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Week 9 fantasy football waiver wire pickups for Brandon Aiyuk, Jalen Coker, Sterling Shepard in 2025. Read their waiver wire outlooks for fantasy football.
Wide receivers on waivers are always interesting players to try to snag. They can be hugely boom-or-bust players, especially in PPR leagues, where receptions count for a full point.
That one point counts for the same as 10 rushing yards, 10 receiving yards, or 25 passing yards, meaning even players that sometimes operate as "PPR scams", where they catch a lot of passes but average a low yards per catch, can be valuable as flex players.
San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk (knee), Carolina Panthers WR Jalen Coker, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers wideout Sterling Shepard are each available in around 50 percent or more of fantasy leagues. But should you pick them up this week? Let's dive in.
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Brandon Aiyuk Week 9 Waiver Wire Pickups
Rostered: 52% of Leagues
Baller Move: Add in 14+ Team Leagues
Aiyuk was on an absolute heater in the 2023 season and got into a contract dispute with his team in the 2024 offseason. They eventually signed him to a new contract, and he returned to play, but he wasn't very productive in fantasy despite putting a lot of excellent reps on tape and gaining good separation.
Then, unfortunately, he tore his ACL and MCL and significantly damaged his meniscus when one of his legs was pinned to the ground and a defender collided with his knee, causing it to buckle. He hasn't played in a game since. It's plainly obvious how serious the injury was.
Sucks to see this happen but it is not good #49ers fans @49ers the Brandon Aiyuk injury isnt for the faint of heart. Dont watch if you dont like this stuff. #KCvsSF #brandon aiyuk pic.twitter.com/AqPfVjzbVV
— The Chili & Cam Show (@chilicamshow) October 20, 2024
You can see the play above. Aiyuk still has no timetable for return, and we're nine weeks into the season. The injury happened in Week 7 of last year. Recently, we've seen players return from ACL tears in under 12 months -- Green Bay Packers WR Christian Watson returned in Week 9 after tearing his ACL on January 5, 2025.
Aiyuk's issue is much more serious. At this point, it's questionable if he'll have an impact at all this season -- he'll likely need significant time to ramp up his usage after he returns and could be very rusty. At this point, I don't expect to see him back before Week 12. His 21-day practice window has not opened up yet.
That makes him more of a deep league stash.
Jalen Coker Week 9 Waiver Wire Pickups
Rostered: 13% of Leagues
Baller Move: Add in 12+ team leagues
Coker returned from a quad injury in Week 7 and didn't catch a pass. Last week, he caught three passes for 36 yards on four targets, totaling 6.6 PPR fantasy points. His usage spiked, too -- he played in 66 percent of offensive snaps after just 37 percent in Week 7.
It's so nice seeing Jalen Coker back making plays for the #Panthers offense. He's easily their best route runner, garnering consistent separation on key, must-have 3rd downs. Looking forward to seeing No. 9 throw his way soon. pic.twitter.com/wW9tvtcoig
— Jared Feinberg (@JRodNFLDraft) October 27, 2025
It looks like he's still playing well. He's a good receiver with a big frame and is a very technical route-runner who consistently gets away from coverage. Right now, the Panthers' starting QB, Bryce Young (ankle), is injured, but we could see him back soon, and he'll likely target Coker plenty, like he did last year.
Coker in the slot role in this offense could be valuable down the stretch, especially in deeper leagues, so I like having him rostered in those leagues. In 12-team leagues, it would just depend on how desperate you are at WR, but he's a fine stash for now.
Sterling Shepard Week 9 Waiver Wire Pickups
Rostered: 24% of Leagues
Baller Move: Don't Add
There isn't much reason to add Shepard now. The Buccaneers are heading into their bye week, which will afford injured WR Chris Godwin (fibula) more time to get healthy. Their WR1 appears to be Emeka Egbuka for now, though Godwin could challenge for a 1A/1B type of split moving forward.
Shepard has been clearly outplayed by rookie Tez Johnson, even in the absence of former Bucs WR1 Mike Evans (collarbone, concussion), who's set to miss most of the rest of the season. Shepard's role as a 32-year-old WR is that of an auxiliary piece and not much more now.
Tez Johnson scores on the screen pass!
TBvsDET on ESPN/ABC
Stream on @NFLPlus and ESPN App pic.twitter.com/fLNxdLnDPm— NFL (@NFL) October 21, 2025
Johnson's draft capital wasn't great, but he's played well. Snag him or Godwin if they're on waivers in your league, but Shepard being consistently startable this season is probably a pipe dream.
Who Should I Pickup Tool
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Popular Player Comparison Searches - Who To Pickup
Below are some popular searches and comparisons from our Who To Pickup tool for 2025 for Brandon Aiyuk, Jalen Coker, and Sterling Shepard:
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