Fantasy Football Week 9 Waiver Wire: Will Levis and More Top Free-Agent Pickups
The midway point of the 2023 NFL season is upon us, which means the fantasy football playoffs are quickly creeping up.
Managers should be focused on getting their rosters in tip-top shape to make a championship run, but that's far easier said than done due to the rash of injuries that have struck some of the game's biggest stars.
The quarterback position has been hit particularly hard this year. Kirk Cousins, Matthew Stafford, Kenny Pickett, Tyrod Taylor and Desmond Ridder all exited their respective contests in Week 8, joining the likes of Aaron Rodgers, Anthony Richardson and Deshaun Watson on the shelf.
Fortunately, though, there was one standout replacement who made the most of his opportunity to step into the starting lineup and immediately became a prized waiver target in the process.
With that in mind, read on to find out who the top free-agent pickups for Week 9 are. All suggestions are rostered in 50 percent or fewer of Yahoo! formats.
Will Levis, QB, Tennessee Titans (3 Percent Rostered)
1 of 5
It's not often that a backup quarterback becomes a top waiver-wire pickup after his first NFL start, but Will Levis is making an exception following his phenomenal debut.
The No. 33 overall pick in the 2023 draft replaced an injured Ryan Tannehill and not only led the Tennessee Titans to a rare victory, but he also did so by posting some absurd numbers.
Levis completed an efficient 19 of his 29 throws for 238 yards and a whopping four touchdowns while avoiding being picked off. To put that into perspective, Tannehill had just two touchdowns and six interceptions over his first six starts this season.
Levis became just the third quarterback in NFL history—joining Marcus Mariota and Fran Tarkenton—to tally four passing scores in his first career game.
The Kentucky product showed immense chemistry with wideout DeAndre Hopkins, as the battery combined for 128 yards and three touchdowns on just four receptions.
The veteran wideout hadn't scored since signing with the Titans this offseason and hit a low point with a mere one catch for five yards just last week. With Levis likely to remain under center for the remainder of the season, Hopkins seems to have become a viable fantasy starter again as well.
While the rookie will be hard-pressed to continue putting up these types of scoring numbers, he offers far more upside than any other quarterback widely available in most leagues.
Levis will get a chance to prove the performance was no fluke when the Titans host the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday Night Football this week. If your regular QB is out on bye, injured or simply underperforming, he is well worth a dice roll in this contest.
Emari Demercado, RB, Arizona Cardinals (36 Percent Rostered)
2 of 5
DK DFS Value: $4,700
Emari Demercado just took on a feature-back amount of volume for the second consecutive week but is surprisingly still only rostered in slightly over one-third of fantasy leagues.
It's clear he'll be leading the Arizona Cardinals' backfield during James Conner's absence, a status that makes the undrafted free agent a must-add in just about every format heading into Week 9.
While Conner could come off the IR as early as Week 10 for a matchup with the Atlanta Falcons, there's at least one more game in which Demercado will see enough usage to justify a place in most starting lineups. Although that will come against a fierce Cleveland Browns foe, the rookie running back just followed up a 13-carry, 58-yard performance in Week 7 with a 20-carry, 78-yard outing against a formidable Baltimore Ravens front.
The 24-year-old has been involved as a pass-catcher as well, snagging five of the six targets that have come his way during that two-game stretch for 18 yards.
Even if Conner does return to action after Week 9, Demercado seems to have done enough to force a more even timeshare going forward. If not, he still has some value as a handcuff who is ready to step right back into a feature role should the starter go down with injury again.
Conner has never played a full NFL season since entering the league in 2017 and is showing signs of wear-and-tear in his age-28 campaign, so it's far from guaranteed he'll be available down the stretch.
With the free-agent pickings looking rather slim at running back right now, placing a waiver claim on Demercado should be a top priority for anyone in need of help at the position for Week 9 and potentially beyond.
Brandin Cooks, WR, Dallas Cowboys (41 Percent Rostered)
3 of 5
DK DFS Value: $4,400
Brandin Cooks failed to live up to lofty expectations early in his first season with the Dallas Cowboys. The wideout was supposed to be a major contributor in a high-powered offense who could take advantage of the soft coverage he'd face while lining up across from CeeDee Lamb, but his first five weeks with the organization resulted in just nine catches for 73 yards.
That disappointing run led many managers to give up on the veteran, but Cooks has shown some life over his last two outings and may be worth rostering again.
Although he's yet to have a true breakout game in a Dallas uniform, the 30-year-old did catch all four of his targets for 36 yards and finally found some paydirt in Week 6. He had a similar performance coming off the Cowboys' Week 7 bye, reeling in three of his four looks for 49 yards and a score this weekend.
The touchdowns—which helped Cooks claim consecutive top-30 finishes at his position—are a promising trend and could lead to more volume coming his way in the future.
The Oregon State product has a great chance to build on this resurgence in Week 9. Dallas is heading to the City of Brotherly Love to take on the rival Philadelphia Eagles in a clash that should feature plenty of offense.
The Eagles are vulnerable against the pass right now, evidenced by the outing Sam Howell had Sunday. The quarterback diced up their defense to the tune of nearly 400 yards and four touchdowns, with four different Washington Commanders pass-catchers notching at least five catches, 44 yards and a score against Philly.
This game represents the best chance Cooks will get to reestablish himself as a fantasy weapon in 2023. He's worth picking up and deploying immediately as a spot starter due to the vast upside this plus-matchup provides.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Rashid Shaheed, WR, New Orleans Saints (36 Percent Rostered)
4 of 5
DK DFS Value: $4,500
Rashid Shaheed created a blip on the fantasy radar in Week 1 when he finished as the No. 12 wide receiver, but he quickly faded back to irrelevance during a four-game stretch in which he failed to finish above No. 54 at his position.
The New Orleans Saints pass-catcher reemerged in Week 6 with another No. 12 finish and put himself squarely on the fantasy radar by ranking No. 8 this past week.
Despite seeing a mere three targets against the Indianapolis Colts, the second-year veteran had the best statistical performance of his short NFL career. He reeled in all three of those looks for a whopping 153 yards and a score, breeching the 100-yard mark for the first time as a pro and scoring his third TD of the campaign.
While volume (Shaheed is averaging a shade under five targets per game) and consistency (he sandwiched a No. 52 performance between his two recent top-12 showings) are holding him back from fantasy stardom, his upside is too high to let him languish on the scrap heap.
If Shaheed can iron out those two glaring issues in the next few weeks, he'll be a major asset come the fantasy playoffs. In the meantime, treat him as a touchdown-dependent WR4 with a low floor and sky-high ceiling.
Trey McBride, TE, Arizona Cardinals (19 Percent Rostered)
5 of 5
DK DFS Value: $3,700
The Arizona Cardinals didn't get Kyler Murray back this week as some may have hoped, but the team still found a spark and kept things competitive against the Baltimore Ravens thanks to an impressive performance from Trey McBride.
The second-year tight end stepped into larger role after Zach Ertz landed on injured reserve this past week, and he made the most of his expanded opportunity.
McBride may have started 13 contests as a rookie and logged a pair of starts earlier this season, but he never had a performance like the one he put together on Sunday. The Colorado State product had a career day against the Ravens, exceeding his previous best marks in targets (14), receptions (10) and receiving yardage (95) while scoring only his second NFL touchdown and first of the 2023 campaign.
It's clear that the Colorado State product is going to be a major part of Arizona's passing attack while Ertz is on the shelf. The 32-year-old tight end was placed on the IR with a quadriceps injury ahead of Week 8 and won't be eligible to see the field again until a Week 12 clash with the rival Los Angeles Rams at the earliest.
If McBride continues to produce at the level he did on Sunday, Ertz—who hasn't had more than six catches or 56 receiving yards in a game this season—may see his role reduced upon his return.
With Arizona running an offense that sees relatively heavy tight end usage (30 percent of the targets had gone to the position entering Week 8), McBride should get plenty of run over these next few weeks.
With head coach Jonathan Gannon not ruling out a Murray return in Week 10—the star quarterback has to be activated off the PUP list no later than that in order to be eligible to play in 2023—McBride has even more upside in the coming weeks.
Given the dearth of viable free agents at this position—Taysom Hill is the only other notable option who may still be available, but he should be rostered in most competitive leagues by now—McBride should be considered a must-add for those lacking a top-tier tight end.
Fantasy points and rankings are based on FantasyPros' PPR data.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
.png?w=480)
