Week 9 Waiver Wire Pickups: Best Fantasy Sleepers to Target on Yahoo

This is perhaps the most important week of the season when it comes to waiver wire pickups for your fantasy football team.

The Week 9 schedule has six teams are on bye, and that means moves have to be made in order to stay competitive against most of the opponents you will face in your fantasy leagues. 

Luckily for many fantasy owners, byes for the Arizona Cardinals, Cincinnati Bengals, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants are not as impactful as they would be if some of the more explosive offensive teams were off this week.

In addition to those byes, fantasy managers have to take the injury status of several players into consideration, including wide receivers Will Fuller (torn ACL) of the Houston Texans and Tyreek Hill (groin) of the Kansas City Chiefs as well as running back Chris Thompson (ribs) of the Washington Redskins.

As a result, fantasy players need sleepers to fill out their lineup to have a chance to win their Week 9 matchups. For our purposes, we define sleepers as players who are on no more than 40 percent of Yahoo rosters.

Week 9 sleepers

QB Joe Flacco, Baltimore Ravens, 37 percent

QB Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys, 35 percent

RB Ito Smith, Atlanta Falcons, 37 percent

RB Chris Ivory, Buffalo Bills, 22 percent

RB LeGarrette Blount, Detroit Lions, 21 percent 

WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Green Bay Packers, 7 percent

WR Tyrell Williams, Los Angeles Chargers, 34 percent

WR Anthony Miller, Chicago Bears, 9 percent

TE Charles Clay, Buffalo Bills, 14 percent

TE Jesse James, Pittsburgh Steelers, 12 percent

QB Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys should have an opportunity to have a big game in Week 9 against the Tennessee Titans at home on Monday night.

After having Week 8 as their bye week, the Cowboys and Prescott should be primed for a big effort as they are coming off a painful loss to Washington. Prescott does not have huge passing numbers this season as he has thrown for 202.4 yards per game with eight touchdowns and four interceptions.

However, he has rushed for 236 yards and two touchdowns, and the addition of wide receiver Amari Cooper from the Oakland Raiders should give Prescott more receiving options and make him more productive. 

Prescott has rushed for touchdowns in each of his last two games, and look for that pattern to continue against the Titans. 

AJ Mast/Associated Press

RB Chris Ivory, Buffalo Bills

This is something of a long shot, considering the Bills are playing a strong defensive team in the Bears this week, but Chicago is also a young and emerging team and may not have the proper maturity level to handle this game.

Chicago is in the last of four consecutive games against AFC East opponents, and the Bears have games against the Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings and Lions (again) over the following three weeks. Games against divisional opponents will determine if the Bears have a chance to win the NFC North and make the playoffs.

Since the Bills are playing Nathan Peterman at quarterback, the belief is that the Bears will take the Bills lightly and can win this game easily. That could come back to hurt them, and Ivory may be in the best position to do quite a bit of damage.

Ivory does not have impressive numbers with 233 yards and one touchdown on 73 carries, but he looked good Monday night against the New England Patriots. He carried the ball six times for 34 yards and also caught one pass for 11 yards; Ivory was more productive than LeSean McCoy when it came to running with the ball.

He could have his best game of the season against the Bears this week.

WR Tyrell Williams, Los Angeles Chargers

The Chargers are also coming off their bye week, and they should be prepared to make a run at the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC West during the second half of the season.

It starts with a tough game on the road against the Seattle Seahawks, and a key win Sunday could help the Chargers accomplish their goals.

The Seahawks have a hard-hitting defense, but they are not as intimidating or as effective as they were in their heyday. They rank fifth in yards allowed but will have to concentrate on slowing down the Philip Rivers-to-Keenan Allen combination.

That should leave Williams with several opportunities to come up with some big plays. Williams has caught 20 passes for 428 yards and four touchdowns. He has an average of 21.4 yards per reception and six plays of 25 yards or more. 

Look for him to have at least one home run play that turns the tide in the Chargers' favor.

TE Jesse James, Pittsburgh Steelers

The Steelers play the Baltimore Ravens on the road this week, and Mike Tomlin's team has already lost to its archrivals once this season.

Pittsburgh appears to be turning it around after a slow start, and getting off to a good start is vital in this road game. While the Ravens will be concentrating on stopping Antonio Brown and James Conner, Jesse James could be a key factor in this game.

He has caught 19 passes for 283 yards and one touchdown, and four of his receptions have been for 25 yards or more. James should be in an excellent position to have an impact against the Ravens.