🎯 Snag these Waiver Wire Targets for Week 9

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It's The Touchdown Press Newsletter. Your #1 source for all things fantasy football, DFS, and sports betting, along with 10,000+ fellow degenerates.

We're 8 Weeks into the season. Where does your team stand?

Today in 5 minutes or less, you’ll learn:

• The Week 8 Studs and Duds ☝

• Waiver Targets for Week 9 🎯 

• How to attack your league’s trade market 🔁 

• The NFL’s latest player news 🏈 

My #PropDrop newsletter has come out of the gate HOT. We had a 12-3 run last week before running into a slightly tougher Sunday slate, then went 2/3 on Monday Night. Join the community and start having fun with these props again.

STUD QB: Sam Howell (WAS)

Howell stood toe-to-toe with Jalen Hurts and actually outplayed him in terms of passing yards, rushing yards, and threw for the same amount of TDs (4). He ended up as Sunday’s top fantasy QB.

The one knock on Howell was the interception he threw, which may have allowed the Eagles to escape the game with a win. But overall, Howell has established himself as a viable fantasy asset.

DUD QB: Patrick Mahomes (KC)

When we watch our superstars, we sometimes come to expect them to be on their game all the time. Obviously, these guys are human.

Mahomes should have been in a terrific spot in his 2nd game against the Broncos in 3 weeks, but the Denver defense kept him in check by sacking him 3 times, picking him off twice, recovering his fumble, and preventing him from throwing a TD.

STUD RB: Gus Edwards (BAL)

While there was nothing eye-popping about the Gus Bus’s numbers this Sunday, he kept up steady production for his offense with 80 yards and 3 TDs on a day when Lamar Jackson didn’t necessarily pop off.

It was his 2nd consecutive week scoring in the 20s for fantasy points, and he’s really starting to bring stability to the Ravens at a position where they really need it.

DUD RB: Tony Pollard (DAL)

Pollard isn’t having the season some of us expected to see when Ezekiel Elliott left the Cowboys. But he’s still been good enough to flirt with RB2 value. This Sunday was a complete dud on a day when the Cowboys rolled.

To be fair, I think game flow has a lot to do with Pollard’s production, or lack thereof, but we need to see more from the guy who was drafted in the 2nd round of many drafts.

STUD WR: DeAndre Hopkins (TEN)

He wasn’t Sunday’s highest scorer. That distinction belongs to CeeDee Lamb. But for Hopkins to break through and have a huge game like this, on a day when the Titans started rookie project Will Levis, was truly and impressive feat.

128 yards and 3 TDs on just 4 catches is a super impressive stat line. Maybe the corner is starting to turn for the former fantasy superstar.

DUD WR: Zay Flowers (BAL)

With Gus Edwards taking so much of the scoring in this one, Flowers was a guy who ended up in the back seat on a week where I truly believed he would have his signature breakout game. It was disappointing.

Flowers was only able to turn his 7 targets into 19 measly yards. It’s a frustrating situation for a guy who has strong target percentages and route participation metrics, according to Fantasy Life’s Utilization Report:

STUD TE: Trey McBride (ARI)

10 receptions, 95 yards, 1 TD, and 25.5 fantasy points.

If you were a week early and grabbed McBride before this fantasy explosion, then congratulations. If he’s still unowned in your league, see below.

DUD TE: Darren Waller (NYG)

I get it’s not fair to hold Waller to the expectations we had for him way back in the summer, and now the Giants are down to the nitty gritty at QB, but this guy was supposed to be the key for moving the chains in New York, and the athletic answer to the poor passing game. It hasn’t materialized.

1 reception for 4 yards for the previously-ranked TE9 is not enough. This game is volatile, man.

#5: RB Chuba Hubbard (CAR)

It seems as though the Miles Sanders experiment is coming to a close in Carolina. Hubbard was inefficient but still received the lion’s share of the volume in the win against Houston. He carried the ball 15 times and got another 2 touches in the passing game.

By contrast, Sanders got 2 carries for no yardage and no targets whatsoever. Even Raheem Blackshear out-carried Sanders 3-2. For the moment, Hubbard is the RB1 on that team, and is probably available if you need help at the position going forward.

#4: WR Demario Douglas (NE)

“Pop” Douglas didn’t do anything crazy in the Patriots’ latest loss to the Dolphins. He caught 5 balls for 25 yards and added 4 more on an end around play. But he’s shown some impressive athleticism and may be the only dynamic player on the New England roster.

Combine that with the fact that the team could be without Mac Jones’s favorite receiver, Kendrick Bourne, for multiple weeks, and Douglas could be in line for a bigger role.

#3: QB Will Levis (TEN)

Welcome to the NFL, kid!

The rookie became just the 3rd player in NFL history to throw 4 or more TDs in his debut. He showed some serious arm strength and accuracy on the day, too. He stood in there vs. the pass rush and took care of the football.

For a young guy to step in and do that can only mean promising things, and he can provide some value for your fantasy squad.

#2: WR Rashid Shaheed (NO)

I wrote about Shaheed last week in this space and also as a decent pivot play for DFS in the Saints-Colts matchup.

My argument was that even though many of Shaheeds targets are on low-percentage deep throws, all he’d need was a couple to hit to have a very valuable game, and he did.

As he continues to work on his relationship with Derek Carr, Shaheed should continue to turn in more big catches like what we saw on Sunday.

#5: WR DK Metcalf (SEA)

Metcalf has been dealing with nagging injuries that have had him bouncing on and off the Seahawks injury reports. The inconsistency has been frustrating. He’s only scored 2 TDs, and those are games in which his yardage total failed to reach 50.

However, he was peppered with 14 targets in Week 8, and even though he was inefficient with them, it could represent a sign of things to come for the hyper-athletic Metcalf. I still believe in this guy, and I think he just needs to put it together a bit.

#4: WR Chris Olave (NO)

The expectation was for Olave to have a huge game against a Colts’ cover-3 scheme that has allowed a lot of production to opponents’ WR1s. Instead he underwhelmed with 5 targets for 46 yards.

Fantasy managers might be a little bit frustrated with Olave at the moment, but a quick look at Fantasy Life’s Air Yards tool shows us that maybe we just need to be patient. He’s 3rd in the league in air yards and has a strong 15.1 ADOT. If he puts it all together he could easily launch himself into WR1 territory.

#3: QB Lamar Jackson (BAL)

Alright, hear me out. There are a lot of impatient fantasy owners out there who may have pressing needs at other positions. As some of the younger QBs start to emerge, Jackson could become a valuable chip for someone.

Week 8 represented his 2nd-worst fantasy output of the season. He rushed for his season-low 17 yards, and Gus Edwards took most of the scoring opportunities on the ground.

Jackson will be back. If he’s someone who might be available, throw an offer over to your league mate.

#2: TE Dallas Goedert (PHI)

Goedert tends to get lost in the noise of the many talented Philadelphia pass-catchers. This week he took a bit of a back seat to DeVonta Smith. But over the last 4 weeks, Goedert has averaged 7.25 targets per game and on the season, he’s fantasy TE8 despite having no fantasy stats in Week 1. He’s one of just 10 TEs averaging double-digit points per game.

As a proven value, I’m more comfortable making a move for him than I would be for one of the flash-in-the-pan guys we’re seeing this season.

CLICK HERE for my #1 Buy-Low trade target of Week 7

👀 Bills Adding Veteran FA RB; 1,000 Yard Guy

❤️‍🩹 The Latest on Kirk Cousins’ Injury Status

🚑 Giants QB Released From Hospital Monday

🙏 Coach Tomlin: QB Remains Game Time Decision

🔁 Pro Bowl Lineman Traded to Seattle

🦵 Patriots’ WR1 Out for Season

🐻 Chicago to turn to QB Again In Fields’ Absence

🐴 Broncos’ Payton: “We’re Not Shopping Anyone”

👑 Despite Team’s Denial, RB Could Still be Traded

🙌 Giants QB Expected to Play in Week 9

Keep on getting those reps in, and good things will happen. That’s true for the football field AND the sports betting apps. Look it up.

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