Waiver Favors™: 2021 Week 9 Fantasy Football Pickups

By Ha Kung Wong  Week 9 Fantasy Football Pickups

Twitter: @FBGarbageTime

As I do every year over the last 9 years, I’m here to help with waiver wire adds via my weekly Waiver Favors™ article!  And I’m assuming if you’re reader right now, you won your fantasy football playoffs last year, so congratulations!

I’ll make a couple suggestions for after Week 9 of the 2021 fantasy football season that hopefully will keep your team running.  You’re welcome.  Again.

As usual, all pickups are available in at least 50% of Yahoo standard fantasy football leagues (with some minor exceptions) as of Sunday evening.

Players I’ve suggested before that deserve a look again this week include:

And here are some new players I’m recommending this week:

Devonta Freeman

RB – Baltimore Ravens – 19% Owned

As essentially every RB on the Ravens roster went down, they went on a hiring spree, including grabbing Devonta Freeman.  And although Freeman scored TDs in Week 6 and 7 before the Week 8 bye, he never had double digit touches.  But in Week 9, Freeman rushed 13 times for 79 yards and caught 2 of 3 targets for 4 receiving yards and a TD.
Le’Veon Bell was also involved, but Freeman’s 6.1 yards per carry was a season-best, and he’s getting the pass catching work, so he’s worth a speculative pickup in 12-team leagues or deeper.

Devonta Freeman Rushing & Receiving Stats
Game Rush Rush Rush Rece Rece Rece Rece
Year Tm G Rush Yds TD Tgt Rec Yds TD
2014 ATL 16 65 248 1 37 30 225 1
2015* ATL 15 265 1056 11 97 73 578 3
2016* ATL 16 227 1079 11 65 54 462 2
2017 ATL 14 196 865 7 47 36 317 1
2018 ATL 2 14 68 0 7 5 23 0
2019 ATL 14 184 656 2 70 59 410 4
2020 NYG 5 54 172 1 10 7 58 0
2021 BAL 6 20 109 2 9 6 59 0
Care 88 1025 4253 35 342 270 2132 11
6 yr ATL 77 951 3972 32 323 257 2015 11
1 yr BAL 6 20 109 2 9 6 59 0
1 yr NYG 5 54 172 1 10 7 58 0

Elijah Moore

WR – New York Jets – 27% Owned

I was totally in on rookie Elijah Moore at the beginning of the season, but injuries and poor play derailed everything…until now. Moore caught 7 of 8 targets for 84 yards and 2 TDs (his first two in the season).  He got one from Mike White and from Josh Johnson, so it doesn’t matter which backup plays, they like targeting Moore.  That’s back-to-back productive weeks for the rookie, and I believe again.  Go get him in all 12 team leagues.

Russell Gage

WR – Atlanta Falcons – 16% Owned

I mentioned last week that someone in Atlanta had to step up with Calvin Ridley, and although I thought Russell Gage would step up, he turned up a goose egg. But in Week 9, Gage caught 7 of 8 targets for 64 yards.  It probably won’t be consistent, but as opposing defenses focus on stopping Kyle Pitts, Gages does have some opportunity, so feel free to stash him in 14-team PPR leagues or deeper.

Deonte Harris

WR – New Orleans Saints – 15% Owned

Turns out that Marquez Callaway isn’t the only one who might benefit from Michael Thomas being out of the season, as Deonte Harris caught 6 of 8 targets for 52 yards in Week 9, now leading the Saints in targets for the second consecutive week. With his downfield play-making ability, this uptick of targets can be the start of a big breakout, so feel free to grab him in all 12-team leagues or deeper.

Donovan Peoples-Jones

WR – Cleveland Browns – 12% Owned

With Odell Beckham Jr. set to be waived by the Browns on Monday, Donovan Peoples-Jones looked to be Baker Mayfield‘s top WR on the outside.  The question is how much would Mayfield lean on Jarvis Landry out the slot and on the ground game.  The answer is “plenty”, but Peoples-Jones caught 2 of 3 targets for 86 yards and a TD, which now has him with at least 70 receiving yards in each of his last 3 games played and 3 TDs in the last 2.  Looks like his role is legit, so feel free to pick him up in all 12-team leagues or deeper.

Ryan Griffin

TE – New York Jets – 0% Owned

I’m not going crazy here, but with Tyler Kroft out with another injury, Ryan Griffin caught 4 of 7 targets for 28 yards and a TD.  It’s probably not going to be consistent, but these are record highs for Griffin and it could be a sign of things to come.  If you’re hurting for a TE in 16-team leagues or deeper, feel free to give him a look.

UPDATE for Monday Night Football

  • Pat Freiermuth – TE – Pittsburgh Steelers – He dominated redzone targets on Monday night, so I’m pointing him out again here.  Your window to pick him up is closing.
  • D’Ernest Johnson – RB – Cleveland Browns – Just when you thought it was safe to go back to Nick Chubb, he tests positive for COVID.  You should scoop up Johnson in case Chubb can’t play in Week 10.
  • Odell Beckham Jr. – WR – Some NFL Team – Looks like OBJ passed through waivers so now he can go anywhere he wants.  I’ve heard the Packers and Patriots floated as potential landing spots, so you might want to scoop him up if he was dropped in your league.

And here’s who I’ve recommended in previous weeks that I still think deserve a look.  I’ve highlighted in Orange the previous pickups that stood out again in Week 9:

10-Team Leagues

RB – Michael Carter

12-Team Leagues

RB – Devontae Booker, Alex Collins, Khalil Herbert, Jordan Howard, Eli Mitchell

WR – Rashod Bateman, Cole Beasley (PPR), Marquez Callaway, Darnell Mooney, Hunter Renfrow (PPR), Darius Slayton (PPR)

TE – Pat Freiermuth, Dawson Knox, Ricky Seals-Jones

14-Team Leagues

QB – Sam Darnold, Justin Fields, Taylor Heinicke, Trevor Siemian

RB – Adrian Peterson, Brandon Bolden (PPR), Samaje Perine, Kenneth Gainwell, Derrick Gore, Chuba Hubbard, D’Ernest Johnson, Ty Johnson, Alexander Mattison, Jeremy McNichols, Boston Scott

WR – Jamal Agnew, Randall Cobb, Jamison Crowder (PPR), T.Y. Hilton, Christian Kirk, Rondale Moore, K.J. Osborn, Tim Patrick, Kalif Raymond, Jalen Reagor, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Kadarius Toney

TE – Dan Arnold, Tyler Conklin, C.J. Uzomah

16-Team Leagues

WR – Zach Pascal, Tajae Sharpe

Check back every week for more Waiver Favors!

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