Waiver Wire Week 8: Fantasy Projections for Top Pickups and Sleeper Targets

Last week, Chase Edmonds was the waiver-wire star who decimated opponents in fantasy football leagues everywhere.

Halfway through the fantasy season, injuries and byes are tightening benches and forcing players off of the waivers and into starting lineups. 

To help determine which waiver-wire targets can help you outduel your rivals, we've got Week 8's top pickups and sleepers.

Predicated on non-point-per-reception and four-point-per-passing-touchdown leagues, these players are available in under 33 percent of Yahoo fantasy leagues and project as the most viable week-winners. 

Quarterback

Top Pickup: Teddy Bridgewater, New Orleans Saints, vs. ARI (16 percent owned)

As a starter, Teddy Bridgewater is undefeated and boasts a 103.7 quarterback rating. Over the last three weeks, he averaged 278.3 yards per game and threw seven touchdowns to just one interception. He has been performing admirably, even against defenses that are tighter than his Week 8 opponents, the Arizona Cardinals.

The Cardinals have allowed a league-high 17 passing touchdowns this season. Patrick Peterson is magnificent, but his return does not plug all of that secondary's holes. On offense, they keep the tempo high and creatively attack defenses.

The New Orleans Saints defense is an impossibly tough nut to crack, but if Alvin Kamara isn't healthy enough for Arizona to succumb to the run and Christian Kirk is healthy enough to expose New Orleans' only Achilles' heel, its slot defense, Bridgewater should have a big week.

Projection: 329 yards, three touchdowns, one interception

Sleeper Target: Ryan Tannehill, Tennessee Titans, vs. TB (5 percent owned)

In one start, Ryan Tannehill surpassed the Tennessee Titans' former season-high passing yards in a game by 57 yards. He threw for 312 yards, two touchdowns and an interception on a 79.3 percent completion rate.

For six weeks, the Titans' talented pass-catchers had largely been ignored by the team's scheme, but that is liable to change with the 31-year-old under center.

Tannehill is more than a game manager and has some sling to his gun, making him an appealing play against what looks like the league's worst secondary. 

Projection: 312 yards, three touchdowns, one interception

Running Back

Top Pickup: Ty Johnson, RB, Detroit Lions, vs. NYG (1 percent owned)

Last week, a backup filling in for an injured starter put up 31 carries and targets for 150 yards and three total touchdowns against the New York Giants.

Ty Johnson may not boast the same electricity as Chase Edmonds, but, as Kerryon Johnson recovers from his knee injury, the volume should be there in a great matchup. 

I'm not sold on Ty's talent yet, but he's shown flashes of versatility and is a truer runner than J.D. McKissic. Once Kerryon went out in the second quarter of Week 7, Ty received 14 looks (10 carries and four targets)—enough to convince that we should expect a sizable workload for him to try to take advantage of.

Projection: 96 yards, one touchdown

Sleeper Target: Mark Walton, RB, Miami Dolphins, at PIT (21 percent owned)

The Dolphins are shopping Kenyan Drake and that makes it Walton time in Miami.

In Week 7, the 22-year-old led the team in snap-count percentage (52 percent), carries (10), rushing yards (66) and yards per carry (4.7).

Kalen Ballage is liable to vulture touchdowns and Drake may continue getting touches to demonstrate his value for potential suitors, but Walton has some juice in his step and that should carry over in Week 8. 

Projection: 78 yards

Wide Receiver

Top Pickup: A.J. Brown, WR, Tennessee Titans, vs. TB (17 percent owned)

Am I suggesting you can stack Tannehill and A.J. Brown against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers? Yup.

In Tannehill's first start, Brown received a career-high in targets (eight) and snap-count percentage (61 percent). He turned that into six catches for 64 yards, which is actually impressive considering how strong the Buffalo Bills secondary had formerly been.

If you've seen the picture of Brown with college teammate D.K. Metcalf, you probably have high expectations for how physical the 6-footer can be. In flashes, he has proved it with contested catches and a bulldozer mentality after the catch.

With Tannehill, the Tennessee Titans passing game is in play, and Brown should be against a Buccaneers defense that is as weak in the air (304.5 passing yards allowed per game, worst in the league) as it is strong against the run (68.0 rushing yards allowed per game, best in the league). 

Projection: 92 yards, one touchdown

Sleeper Target: Devante Parker, WR, Miami Dolphins, at PIT (13 percent owned)

Devante Parker now has a touchdown in three consecutive games and hasn't played less than 83 percent of his offense's snaps since Week 1.

Last week, he received a season-high 10 targets from the gambler himself, Ryan Fitzpatrick, and turned those into five catches for 55 yards and a trip into the end zone. 

His matchup isn't quite as juicy as Brown's, but any defense can get lit up when Fitzpatrick is slinging the rock with his signature reckless abandon. Parker is a prototypical X-receiver and could continue to produce with Fitzmagic. 

Projection: 48 yards, one touchdown

Tight End

Top Pickup: Dawson Knox, TE, Buffalo Bills, vs. PHI (28 percent owned) 

The breakout game has yet to come for Dawson Knox, but that should change soon.

The 22-year-old rookie continues to lead Buffalo Bills tight ends in snaps and has the team's third-most targets behind Cole Beasley and John Brown.

Buffalo's offense is an enigma and so is Knox. His highlight plays are monstrous while his drops are puzzling. The Philadelphia Eagles' secondary is not an enigma, it's porous. If Philadelphia can force Buffalo into needing to throw the ball, Knox is an obvious candidate to finally produce. 

Projection: 61 yards, one touchdown

Sleeper Target: Dallas Goedert, TE, Philadelphia Eagles, at BUF (13 percent owned)

In a game of opposites, Dallas Goedert is Knox's antithesis. The Eagles' secondary is horrible, while the Bills' is great.

Goedert has caught 71.2 percent of passes thrown his way in his career, while Knox has caught just 52.2 percent. 

While Goedert doesn't play the most snaps among tight ends on his team, the Eagles have started running both tight ends out so he has been on the field for 68.3 percent of offensive snaps over the past four weeks. Over the past two weeks, he's seized that opportunity and turned 12 targets into nine catches for 107 yards and a touchdown.

The Bills matchup isn't ideal, but the 24-year-old may continue getting enough opportunity to capitalize upon his talent.

Projection: 72 yards