We will have you covered throughout the fantasy football season with our bevy of tools, including our Waiver Wire Assistant. Find the top available players and get detailed analysis on how potential fantasy football waiver wire adds will impact your team. Of course, our team of analysts will also have written advice each week. Check out some of our top fantasy football waiver wire wide receivers to target for the week below. And check out all of our fantasy football waiver wire pickups for the week.
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Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Targets: Wide Receivers
Wide Receivers
Written by Derek Brown
Kayshon Boutte (WR – NE): 40% Rostered
- Next Opponents: ATL, @TB, NYJ
- True Value: $4
- Desperate Need: $6
- Budget-Minded: $2
Analysis: Kayshon Boutte has been a volatile player for fantasy purposes, but he’s on a hot streak, catching passes from MVP candidate Drake Maye. Boutte entered Week 8 with an 11.8% target share, a 17.2-yard average depth of target (aDOT), with 2.03 yards per route run and a 14% first-read share, per Fantasy Points Data. He stayed in the flames against the Browns with a 20.8% target share, 75 receiving yards and another score. Boutte’s role in the offense has also been elevated with Stefon Diggs dealing with a chest issue. The Falcons aren’t a secondary that I am looking to attack in fantasy with Boutte in the Flex, but after that, he gets Tampa Bay and the Jets. Outside of Sauce Gardner and Jamel Dean in those secondaries, there’s nothing to fear, and Boutte will again be a volatile Flex option with strong weekly upside.
Alec Pierce (WR – IND): 29% Rostered
- Next Opponents: @PIT, ATL, BYE
- True Value: $2
- Desperate Need: $4
- Budget-Minded: $1
Analysis: Alec Pierce is a Fllex-worthy option over the next two weeks because he has been Indy’s single-high beater. Pittsburgh utilizes single high at the second-highest rate in the NFL (61.9%), and Atlanta leads the NFL in its usage (72.6%). Pierce entered Week 8 with a 29.2% target share, 4.18 yards per route run and a 32.1% first-read share against single high, per Fantasy Points Data. I expect Daniel Jones to look his way early and often over the next two games.
Troy Franklin (WR – DEN): 37% Rostered
- Next Opponents: @HOU, LV, KC
- True Value: $2
- Desperate Need: $4
- Budget-Minded: $1
Analysis: In Week 8, Troy Franklin finally turned his high-value role in the Denver offense into a monster performance. Franklin entered Week 8 third on the team in deep targets, and he is fifth in the NFL in red-zone targets. Franklin destroyed the Dallas secondary with a 27.5% target share, 89 receiving yards and two scores. Two of Franklin’s next three matchups are rough, but he is a strong Flex option again against the Raiders, who have allowed the eighth-most PPR points per target to perimeter wide receivers, per Fantasy Points Data.
Darnell Mooney (WR – ATL): 47% Rostered
- Next Opponents: @NE, @IND, CAR
- True Value: $1
- Desperate Need: $2
- Budget-Minded: $0
Analysis: The entire Atlanta offense sputtered in Week 8 against the Dolphins. I have to admit, even with Kirk Cousins under center, I didn’t see that coming. Hopefully, Michael Penix Jr. is back under center in Week 9, but I still think that better days are ahead for Darnell Mooney. Last week, with Drake London out of the lineup (hip), Mooney didn’t see a massive workload as he was third on the team in targets with a 12.9% target share, converting that one reception into 11 yards. Even with those disappointing returns, Mooney is an interesting Flex play in each of the next two weeks. New England and Indy have, respectively, allowed the sixth-most and seventh-most PPR points per target to perimeter wide receivers, per Fantasy Points Data.
Malik Washington (WR – MIA): 15% Rostered
- Next Opponents: BAL, BUF, WSH
- True Value: $1
- Desperate Need: $2
- Budget-Minded: $0
Analysis: Malik Washington hasn’t been a high-upside Flex option over the last two weeks, but he does hold some Flex appeal in PPR formats in two of the next three weeks. Over his last two games, he has drawn a 22.4% target share and averaged 4.5 receptions and 33 receiving yards. Toss a touchdown on top of a stat line like that, as Washington did in Week 8, and you have a player who will flirt with low-end WR2 production in PPR leagues. Washington is a decent PPR Flex option against Baltimore and Washington, who, respectively, have allowed the fourth-most and 14th-most schedule-adjusted fantasy points per game to wide receivers, per Fantasy Points Data.
Chimere Dike (WR – TEN): 8% Rostered
- Next Opponents: LAC, BYE, HOU
- True Value: $1
- Desperate Need: $2
- Budget-Minded: $0
Analysis: Chimere Dike earned a full-time role in Week 7 with a 66.7% route share, seeing an 11.8% target share with 70 receiving yards, 2.69 yards per route run and a 17.6% first-read share, per Fantasy Points Data. He built upon that standout performance in Week 8 against the Colts with a 90.6% route share, a 21% target share, seven receptions and 93 receiving yards. Dike is a strong Flex play this week against a Chargers secondary that has been more giving to slot receivers. Los Angeles has held perimeter wide receivers to the second-fewest PPR points per target, while slot receivers have recorded the 10th-most PPR points per target. Dike entered Week 8 with a 76.6% slot rate, per Fantasy Points Data.
Darius Slayton (WR – NYG): 18% Rostered
- Next Opponents: SF, @CHI, GB
- True Value: $1
- Desperate Need: $2
- Budget-Minded: $0
Analysis: Darius Slayton returned to the lineup in Week 8, and while he didn’t post a monster stat line, he did lead the Giants with a 20.8% target share. Sadly, that only amounted to five targets with two receptions and 26 receiving yards. Jaxson Dart is playing at a high level for a rookie, especially when you consider the skill talent and offensive line he’s being asked to work with. Out of the next three games, I don’t want to plug Slayton into a lineup against the 49ers or Packers, but the Bears’ secondary has had its struggles this season and sits at 15th in schedule-adjusted fantasy points allowed per game to wide receivers. Slayton will offer solid Flex value in Week 10 against Chicago.
Wide Receiver Stash Candidates:
Houston refuses to feature its rookie wide receivers in consistent full-time roles, but I’m a believer that talent and cream eventually rise to the top. This is why I’m including Jaylin Noel and Jayden Higgins this week. In Week 7, Noel had a 46.3% route share with a 14.3% target share, 77 receiving yards, 3.08 yards per route run and a 16.7% first-read share, per Fantasy Points Data. That standout performance didn’t stop Houston from capping Noel with a 38.8% snap share in Week 8 despite tying for second on the team with six targets and 63 receiving yards. I don’t know if Christian Kirk (hamstring) will be back this week, and if he is, it’ll send Noel back to the bench. But Noel is a talent worth stashing. If he keeps producing when given opportunities, Houston will have no other option but to play him.
The same can be said for Jayden Higgins. Higgins didn’t have a cap put on his playing time in Week 8, as he led Houston’s receivers in snaps while seeing a 20.5% target share and turning it into four receptions, 34 receiving yards and a score. Higgins could get banished back into a part-time role in Week 9 if Nico Collins is back, as the Texans seem to be obsessed with feeding snaps to Xavier Hutchinson. Higgins and Noel could be stretch run kings if the Texans get out of their own way and let their rookies cook.
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