Waiver Favors™: 2020 Week 9 Fantasy Football Pickups
By Ha Kung Wong Week 9 Fantasy Football Pickups
Twitter: @FBGarbageTime
As I do every year over the last 8 years, I’m here to help with waiver wire adds via my weekly Waiver Favors article! And I’m assuming if you’re a returning reader, you won your fantasy football championship last year, so congratulations!But it’s a new year, so I’ll make a couple suggestions for after Week 6 of the 2020 fantasy football season. 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.
Drew Lock
QB – Denver Broncos – 20% Owned
Drew Lock has had an up and down season, marred by injury, but he looks to be finally hitting his stride. He threw for 313 passing yards and 2 TDs along with 7 rushes for 47 rush yards and another TD. That pretty solid, and he’s building a considerable rapport with Jerry Jeudy, Tim Patrick, KJ Hamler and Noah Fant. He’s a terrific bye week fill in or back up QB in all 12-team team leagues or deeper and all two QB leagues.
| Year | G | Cmp% | Yds | TD | Int | Y/G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 5 | 64.1 | 1020 | 7 | 3 | 204.0 |
| 2020 | 5 | 58.0 | 927 | 4 | 5 | 185.4 |
| Care | 10 | 61.2 | 1947 | 11 | 8 | 194.7 |
Jake Luton
QB – Jacksonville Jaguars – 3% Owned
Minshew Mania ran rampant over Jacksonville for longer than we could have ever expected, but that ride may finally be over. Minshew was struggling this year but an injured thumb has put him out of commission for the foreseeable future. In stepped 6th round draft pick Jake Luton, completing 26 of 38 passes for 304 yards with a TD and an INT, also running for a 13-yard TD against the Texans. Regardless of the fact that the Texans defense has been a shell of it’s former self, that’s pretty darn good for a rookie 6th round pick. Perhaps he won’t be the next breakout 6th round pick a la Tom Brady, but he could certainly help you in 14-team leagues and all two QB leagues, particularly in Week 10 against a struggling Packers defense.
| Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | School | Class | G | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | TD | Int | Rate |
| 2015 | Idaho | FR | 6 | 51 | 80 | 63.8 | 403 | 1 | 4 | 100.2 |
| 2017 | Oregon State | JR | 4 | 83 | 135 | 61.5 | 853 | 4 | 4 | 118.4 |
| 2018 | Oregon State | SR | 8 | 140 | 224 | 62.5 | 1660 | 10 | 4 | 135.9 |
| 2019 | Oregon State | SR | 11 | 222 | 358 | 62.0 | 2714 | 28 | 3 | 149.8 |
| Career | Overall | 496 | 797 | 62.2 | 5630 | 43 | 15 | 135.6 | ||
| Idaho | 51 | 80 | 63.8 | 403 | 1 | 4 | 100.2 | |||
| Oregon State | 445 | 717 | 62.1 | 5227 | 42 | 11 | 139.6 |
Garrett Gilbert
QB – Dallas Cowboys – 2% Owned
Dak Prescott went down, Andy Dalton went down and Ben DiNucci wasn’t ready for primetime. So why not go with Garrett Gilbert, former 2014 6th round draft pick (amazing that we have two of these in this column), former AAF league Orlando Apollos QB, and all around journeyman, against one of the toughest defenses in the league? Guess what, it almost worked, coming down to literally the last play of the game. He ended up losing by less than a TD, and completed 21 of 38 passes for 243 yards, a TD and an INT, adding 3 rushes for 28 rush yards. Perhaps more importantly, he made almost every Dallas skill player relevant again. He’s well worth a look in 16-team leagues or deeper and all two QB leagues.
Duke Johnson
RB – Houston Texans – 15% Owned
Unfortunately for all you David Johnson owners (and yes, I was one of them), David Johnson didn’t get to take advantage of the solid matchup going out early with a concussion. Duke Johnson stepped in and took advantage rushing 16 times for 41 yards and a TD, also catching 4 targets for 32 receiving yards. It wasn’t pretty, but if David Johnson remains out, Duke Johnson will have value in all 12-team leagues or deeper.
Kalen Ballage
RB – Los Angeles Chargers – 1% Owned
Justin Jackson was also in for a nice matchup, but injured himself during warmups and sat out the game, and surprisingly, it wasn’t Joshua Kelley that got the majority of the touches in the backfield, it was practice squad player Kalen Ballage. Remember when he was kind of a big deal in Miami? Anyway, Ballage did share touches, had the edge 17 to 14 getting 15 carries for 69 yards and a TD, and adding 2 receptions for 15 receiving yards. Who knows what happens for the Chargers next week, but Ballage would be an interesting stash in 14-team leagues or deeper as we see how this shakes out.
KJ Hamler
WR – Denver Broncos – 2% Owned
Denver seems to be catching fire on offense, and rookie KJ Hamler is starting to catch along with with them. In Week 9, he was second in targets behind only Jerry Jeudy, catching 6 of a whopping 10 targets for 75 yards, adding a carry for 15 rush yards against the Falcons. Consistency probably won’t be there, but if you’re looking for a flex option in 14-team leagues or deeper, he might be worth considering.
UPDATE for Monday Night Football
Jakobi Meyers
WR – New England Patriots – 14% Owned
I told you to pick up Jakobi Meyers 2 weeks ago, but in case you missed it, this may be your last chance. Meyers has since recorded the league’s second-highest target share (37.9%) since Week 7 behind only Davante Adams (38.8%). The Pats need targets and Meyers is making the most of them, catching 12 of an amazing 14 targets in Week 9 for 169 yards. Go get him in all 10-team leagues or deeper.
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
QBs – Justin Herbert
12-Team Leagues
QBs – Teddy Bridgewater, Kirk Cousins
RBs – DeeJay Dallas (subject to Chris Carson and Carlos Hyde injuries), Chase Edmonds, Wayne Gallman (subject to Devonta Freeman injury), Damien Harris, Darrell Henderson, Justin Jackson, Joshua Kelley, Boston Scott (subject to Miles Sanders injury), J.D. McKissic (PPR)
WRs – Robby Anderson, Brandon Ayuik, Chase Claypool, Travis Fulgham, Mecole Hardman, Tee Higgins, Justin Jefferson, Allen Lazard, Jakobi Meyers, Curtis Samuel, Sterling Shepard
TEs – Dalton Schultz, Irv Smith Jr., Robert Tonyan
14-Team Leagues
QBs – Derek Carr, Nick Foles, Tua Tagovailoa
RBs – Matt Breida (subject to injury), Malcolm Brown, Gus Edwards, Devonta Freeman, JaMycal Hasty, Nyheim Hines (PPR), Jordan Howard, Jerick McKinnon, La’Mical Perine, Jordan Wilkins
WRs – Nelson Agholor, Cole Beasley, Kendrick Bourne, Keelan Cole, Corey Davis, Gabriel Davis, Rishard Higgins, Alshon Jeffery, Scotty Miller, Zach Pascal, Tim Patrick, Breshad Perriman, Henry Ruggs, Laviska Shenault, Preston Williams
TE – Harrison Bryant, Jimmy Graham
16-Team Leagues
QBs – None
RB – Mike Davis, Tyler Ervin, Carlos Hyde, D’Ernest Johnson, Dion Lewis, Alexander Mattison, Benny Snell Jr., Jeff Wilson Jr.
WR – Deonte Harris
TE – Drew Sample
Check back every week for more Waiver Favors!