Welcome to the Week 8 waiver wire. We had a couple players from last week’s wire turn in good games. I’m looking at you Omar Cooper Jr., Geno Smith, and T.J. Hockenson. This week we once again have some rookies worth adding to your fantasy teams, but there are a few sneaky picks worth your time.

The Houston Texans, New Orleans Saints, New York Giants, and San Francisco 49ers will all take next week off for some R&R.

Waddle suffered a chest injury in the fourth quarter of the Broncos win over the Cardinals. We’re still waiting on news, but it would be a big hit to the Broncos’ passing game. Courtland Sutton would be the No. 1 receiver if Waddle misses time.

Jones is dealing with a knee injury that forced him from their win over the Colts in the fourth quarter. If Jones does miss time, it would be a major boost to Jordan Mason, who just returned from I.R.

Wright suffered a quad injury in the third quarter and was unable to return against the Jets. He’s been dealing with a foot injury and now the quad on Sunday. This should keep Ollie Gordon as the no-doubt lead back, which he’s taken to well. This could only boost his value more.

Noel suffered a turf toe injury in their loss to the Giants in Week 7. We don’t know the severity, but we do know turf toe isn’t usually a minor injury. And with Marvin Harrison and Tank Dell now in the receiver rotation, I just don’t see Noel being a useful fantasy option in the immediate future.

Skattebo pulled up a little lame on his long 40+ yard run to set up the game winning touchdown run by Devin Singletary in their win over the Texans. At this point it doesn’t sound like they’re too worried about him, but it is worth keeping an eye on, as Skattebo took the lead back role back from the committee and put up good numbers this week. The good news is they have a bye next week.

Tracy was forced from the game Sunday due to a hamstring injury, but it did not appear to be severe. Tracy scored a touchdown in this game, but so did Devin Singletary and Skattebo. At this point, Skattebo has the best shot at any consistency as long as he remains the lead back. But, with a bye week on the horizon, there’s a good chance all the Giants RBs will be ready for Week 9.

The Saints third-down back left the game early with a shoulder injury, which helped Alvin Kamara take the lead role. They have a bye in Week 8 and they also could get Travis Etienne Jr. back from I.R. This is a situation that remains tough for fantasy. Etienne is still rostered in over 80% of leagues on Yahoo, but he also wasn’t doing much before his injury.

Penix Jr. now has back-to-back three touchdown games and appears to have found his groove, at least a little bit. He has some great talent around him with Drake London and Bijan Robinson, so if he can keep up the good play, he has a chance to be a consistent starter.

Willis had his best game of the season in the Dolphins first win of the season. He completed 14 of 21 passes for 208 yards and two touchdowns and rushed six times for 39 yards and another touchdown against the Jets. Willis was a trendy sleeper pick coming into the season, but the Dolphins were just not ready for primetime yet. It seems like they are inching that way now. Ollie Gordon is playing great, and both Caleb Douglas and Chris Bell are healthy and Darren Waller can’t help but score a touchdown it seems. But, in the end, we need Willis to keep running so he can have a good fantasy floor. And over his last two games he’s rushed 16 times for 111 yards and two touchdowns.

The Broncos have a three-man running back committee at the moment, but Coleman is just off of I.R., and he ended up being the closer late in the game. He led all the backs with nine carries for 54 yards and caught two passes for 15 more yards. J.K. Dobbins and R.J. Harvey both scored touchdowns, while Coleman didn’t, but I think that will just help you pick him up without a big FAAB bid.

Knight continued to show the most “juice” between himself and Tyler Allgeier in their loss to Denver this week. It will be hard to keep him off the field next week against Dallas if Jeremiyah Love remains out. That’s a great matchup, so even if Allgeier and Knight continue to split work, Knight would be a fantasystart.

McGowan rushed 11 times for 46 yards against the Vikings, adding one reception for two yards. He saw 20 snaps, which was his high on the season, which coincided with trade rumors revolving around Jonathon Taylor. McGowan wouldn’t be a league winner if Taylor is shipped off, but he would likely be startable without much trouble.

Tucker is still not rostered enough, especially after catching 10-of-19 passes for 200 yards and three touchdowns over his last two games. He gets a good matchup against the Jets next week.

Cooper continued where he left off last week, catching all five of his targets for 115 yards and a touchdown against the Dolphins. In his two full games in the NFL, he has now caught 11-of-12 targets for 218 yards and two touchdowns. That’s not something you see that often, and if he’s still on your waiver wire, don’t miss him this time.

The rookie receiver just put up a huge breakout game against the Titans and has been playing well much of the season. He is rostered on 60% of Yahoo leagues, but there is a chance he’s available in shallower leagues. This week he caught eight of a team high 10 targets for 129 yards and added 23 yards on three carries.

Tyson is eligible to come off I.R. following their Week 8 bye. If you have room and he’s available, he should be rostered, as he has the ability to go toe-to-toe with all these rookie wide receivers starting to put up fantasy numbers.

Douglas didn’t get many targets, but he sure made the targets he did get count. He ended up catching two of three passes for 70 yards and two touchdowns in his first game back since Week 2. He has the ability to earn many more targets than that, but consistency on the Dolphins’ offense will be difficult.

We’re still waiting on news if Jaylen Waddle’s shoulder injury might keep him out of any games, but if he misses any time, Sutton should see more concentrated targets. Marvin Mims would likely get a boost as well, but I don’t know if we can trust him just yet.

Taylor has seen the bulk of the tight end snaps over the last three weeks and this week was Geno Smith’s security blanket in the end zone, as he caught two short touchdown passes. Of course, we can’t rely on touchdowns, but they also need to be a distinct possibility when choosing who to start at tight end.

Without Davante Adams, Matthew Stafford went to Davis Allen in the end zone, helping him to two touchdowns. But, Colby Parkinson was also a key target, while Tyler Higbee was third on the tight end receptions list. I expect Stafford will continue targeting tight ends in the end zone. Picking one from this group is tough, but, if you’re hurting at the position, this situation should continue to produce touchdowns.

With Terry McLaurin out, there are a few pass catchers worth looking at on waivers from the Commanders. Antonio Williams and Treylon Burks both might have some value, but I’d rather grab Okonkwo if available. He hasn’t done much this season, but he’s been dealing with injuries. When McLaurin went down with an injury early in Week 6, Okonkwo became the lead receiver against the 49ers. He ended up catching all seven of his targets for 69 yard, which led the team in yards and receptions.