Waiver Favors™: 2024 Week 9 Fantasy Football Pickups
By Ha Kung Wong Week 4 Fantasy Football Pickups
Twitter: @FBGarbageTime
As I do every year over the last 12 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’re in your fantasy football playoffs, so congratulations!I’ll make a couple suggestions for after Week 9 of the 2024 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.
And don’t forget that I have my previous recommended pickups this season at the end of the article, categorized by which leagues I would still pick them up in.
Last week, I made a number of suggestions for pickups, and many of those still stand if their available in your league, such as, Jerry Jeudy, Quentin Johnston, Zach Ertz, Cedric Tillman and Kirk Cousins. Here are the new waiver wire suggestions:
Justin Herbert
QB – Los Angeles Chargers – 44% Owned
Justin Herbert quietly had another solid game in Week 9 completing 18 of 27 attempts for 282 yards and 2 TDs, adding 3 carries for 2 rush yards. With the Chargers turning adding more drop backs for game and both Ladd McConkey and Quentin Johnston coming on, there’s some serious upside there. And better yet, he’s only thrown one INT all season and that was way back in Week 2. Feel free to pick him up in all 12-team leagues or deeper and definitely in any two QB leagues.
| Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Rush | Rush | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Date | Tm | Opp | Result | Cmp | Att | Cmp% | Yds | TD | Int | Att | Yds |
| 1 | 2024-09-08 | LAC | LVR | W 22-10 | 17 | 26 | 65.38 | 144 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 6 |
| 2 | 2024-09-15 | LAC | CAR | W 26-3 | 14 | 20 | 70.00 | 130 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 18 |
| 3 | 2024-09-22 | LAC | PIT | L 10-20 | 12 | 18 | 66.67 | 125 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | 2024-09-29 | LAC | KAN | L 10-17 | 16 | 27 | 59.26 | 179 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 5 | 2024-10-13 | LAC | DEN | W 23-16 | 21 | 34 | 61.76 | 237 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| 6 | 2024-10-21 | LAC | ARI | L 15-17 | 27 | 39 | 69.23 | 349 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| 7 | 2024-10-27 | LAC | NOR | W 26-8 | 20 | 32 | 62.50 | 279 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 49 |
| 7 Games | 4-3-0 | 127 | 196 | 64.80 | 1443 | 8 | 1 | 24 | 83 |
Adam Thielen
WR – Carolina Panthers – 25% Owned
There are two possible scenarios for Adam Thielen, and both should be good. He’s pretty close to returning from a hamstring injury and if he sticks with the Panthers he’s sure to garner top-2 targets with the team with Diontae Johnson off to Baltimore. The other scenario is that he gets traded to a WR needy team like the Steelers, which gives him an opportunity to get some quality targets from Russell Wilson. Either way, he’s a decent stash in all 12-team leagues or deeper if you’re also WR-needy.
Nick Westbrook-Ikhine
WR – Tennessee Titans – 1% Owned
Nick Westbrook-Ikhine managed to catch 5 of 6 targets for 50 yards with a TD in Week 9. And he’s quietly been productive now having caught a TD in 4 weeks in a row. Calvin Ridley should still lead targets, but Westbrook-Ikhine could be a decent stash for those looking for bye week replacements or a potential future WR4/5 in 14-team leagues or deeper.
Mike Gesicki
TE – Cincinnati Bengals – 13% Owned
Part of this production might be because Tee Higgins has been out, but Mike Gesicki grabbed 5 of 6 targets for 100 yards and 2 TDs in Week 9 after catching 7 of 8 targets for 73 yards in Week 8. In the TE wasteland we have this season, any type of production is noteworthy, but two weeks in a row is worth your waiver attention. Feel free to pick him up in all 12-team leagues or deeper.
UPDATE (11/5/24)
Mike Williams
WR – Pittsburgh Steelers – 9% Owned
The Jets just traded Williams to the Steelers in exchange for a 5th round pick. Williams has been great as a WR2 in the past with the Chargers, and although he couldn’t crack that with Aaron Rodgers, he should have every opportunity to be the WR2 in Pittsburgh opposite George Pickens. It’s been a while since Russell Wilson was in Seattle, but he managed to support multiple WRs there in the past, so there’s some tangible upside here for Williams. Go ahead and stash him in all 12-team leagues or deeper.
UPDATE for Monday Night Football
Sterling Shepard
WR – Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 7% Owned
With both Mike Evans out due to injury and Chris Godwin out for the season, plus Jalen McMillan dealing with a hamstring injury, the WR with the most targets was Sterling Shepard. That’s two weeks with 4 receptions on 5 targets, so if you’re looking for a WR in 14-team PPR leagues or deeper, he’s worth a look.
Here are pickups that I’ve discussed in previous “Waiver Favors” and where I think they should be picked up:10-Team Leagues
RB – J.K. Dobbins, Jordan Mason
12-Team Leagues
QB – Kirk Cousins; Bo Nix
RB – Braelon Allen, Tank Bigsby, Chase Brown, Kareem Hunt, Bucky Irving, Tyrone Tracy Jr.
WR – Romeo Doubs, Josh Downs, Jauan Jennings, Jerry Jeudy, Xavier Legette, Darnell Mooney, Darius Slayton, Cedric Tillman
TE – Tyler Conklin, Zach Ertz, Hunter Henry, Tucker Kraft, Cade Otton
14-Team Leagues
QB – Andy Dalton, Drake Maye
RB – Jeremy McNichols, Samaje Perine, Carson Steele
WR – Calvin Austin III, DeMario Douglas, DeAndre Hopkins, Quentin Johnston, Allen Lazard, Bub Means, Jalen Nailor, Demarcus Robinson, Wan’Dale Robinson, Dontayvion Wicks, Michael Wilson, Elijah Moore
TE – Will Dissly, Isaiah Likely
16-Team Leagues or Deeper
RB – Isaac Guerendo
WR – Tutu Atwell, Tyler Johnson, Alec Pierce, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Devaughn Vele, Parker Washington
Check back every week for more Waiver Favors!