2024 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Week 9: Bo Nix, Cedric Tillman & More

You won’t get a more ELECTRIC week than Week 8 of NFL football. Zero teams on bye weeks. National Tight Ends Day. Big-time division upsets. And a Hail Mary victory. This week had it all. 

So, you would think that the 2024 fantasy football waiver wire for Week 9 would be chock full of exciting faces to add right? Well, yes and no. That’s going to depend on a couple of factors. 

Not every position has stand-out stars available. And how deep your league is will be a huge factor in whether guys are available or not. Luckily for you, we break the Wire Wire articles down into three different pieces for your Week 9 add/drops. That way, everyone is covered!

2024 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Week 9 Top Targets

If this 2024 fantasy football waiver wire for Week 9 is your first time seeing this series, here’s a little idea of how we break it down. 

There are too many articles out there that don’t take into account YOUR team's needs. Whether you just want the best player, you want someone to start now, or you are loaded and you want the best upside stashed, we have you covered. And we break it down like this:

• 2024 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Week 9: This is the current article where we focus on the best waiver wire picks for any format or team needs. Guys that can potentially be started now but also have season-long upside.
   
• 2024 Fantasy Football Streamers Week 9: These are players that are decent starts for Week 9 but might not have great long-term upside (perhaps it’s just a good matchup or the starter has a short-term injury, for instance).
   
• 2024 Fantasy Football Stashes Week 9: These are players that are very difficult to trust in a lineup right now. But we believe in the talent and the possibility of upside down the stretch. Every year there are certain rookies or backups that get a big opportunity and run with it at some point - like Trey McBride last year.

The 2024 fantasy football waiver wire for Week 9 you are currently looking at is free for everyone. The Week 9 waiver wire stashes and Week 9 waiver wire streamers articles are for Fantasy Alarm members only.

If you aren’t a Fantasy Alarm member yet, you can not only get 40% off your annual membership if you sign up right now or 50% off your first month with promo code LETSGO, but we are offering a 7-day free trial RIGHT NOW! You can check out everything we have to offer this week and decide if it's right for you!

P.S. At the very bottom of this article, I will update my Yin & Yang Tight End chart each week!

NFL Week 9 Waiver Wire Quarterbacks

Bo Nix - Denver Broncos, Yahoo: 25% | ESPN: 37% | Sleeper: 35%

Like Draye Maye previously, Box Nix started out in our Stashes column. We warned folks, “Hey we might have something here” but he wasn’t quite startable in single QB or even Superflex leagues. 

Early on in the season, Nix was turning the ball over and he didn’t throw a touchdown pass for three weeks. But he was doing something that is invaluable at the quarterback position in fantasy football - he was running. In fact, he’s currently top five in rush attempts for quarterbacks in the league.

The simple willingness to run the football creates a solid floor and incomparable upside at QB in fantasy so all we really needed him to start doing was throw some touchdown passes. And now he has. 

In three of his last four weeks, he has multiple TD passes (including three this past week). He doesn’t get to play the Carolina Panthers every week but there are only so many mobile QBs out there. So Nix needs to be added. 

• Waiver Priority: Medium Priority
• FAAB: 10-15% (or more if he starts for you right away)

Matthew Stafford - Los Angeles Rams, Yahoo: 39% | ESPN: 19% | Sleeper: 33%  

As with our Tua Tagovailoa analysis last week, something it doesn’t have to be hard. Tua returned to a high-powered offense and was immediately added back to nearly 70% of leagues. 

Matthew Stafford has hit the wire in at least 60% of leagues in all platforms. He has both Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua back. He’s not going to throw four touchdowns every week but he’s a talented player and he’s immediately back in the fold as a fantasy football option. 

• Waiver Priority: Low or Free Add
• FAAB: 0-5%

NFL Week 9 Waiver Wire Running Backs

Isaac Guerendo - San Francisco 49ers, Yahoo: 8% | ESPN: 4% | Sleeper: 9%

Typically, we’d be all over something like this. Fantasy football is a weekly game and any chance to start the 49ers starting RB, even for just a game, we have to take it. Christian McCaffrey hasn’t played all year and Jordan Mason left last week after aggravating a shoulder injury. So Guerendo got another chance to be the last dog and once again looked good.

The issue? The 49ers go on bye this week. That increases their chances of getting Jordan Mason and/or CMC back for Week 10. So it’s still worth trying to grab him but I think someone else is going to end up overpaying here. Especially because it’s a bit of a down week on the RB waiver wire.

• Waiver Priority: Low or free
• FAAB: 0-5%

Tyler Allgeier - Atlanta Falcons, Yahoo: 37% | ESPN: 51% | Sleeper: 47%

There reality is there just aren’t a lot of players under 50% rostered on any platform that are getting consistent carries. And those are the kinds of players we focus on in this article. There are plenty of great handcuffs out there that we’ll highlight in the Week 8 Stashes article but here and in the Streamers article we focus on viability.

With the high-end splits like Miami, Detroit, even Seattle, those guys are rostered and often started. Antonio Gibson was getting consistent touches before he got nicked up in Week 6. As of late Allgeier is one of the few backups playing 30-40% of the snaps and getting carries every single week that you might be able to utilize. 

• Waiver Priority: Free Add or Late Priority
• FAAB: 0%

NFL Week 9 Waiver Wire Wide Receivers

Cedric Tillman - Cleveland Browns, Yahoo: 19% | ESPN: 16% | Sleeper: 24%

This one is a correction from last week. I was off Cedric Tillman. And that was a mistake. I was worried about the low sample size and the fact that Tillman wasn’t even in the rotation until Amari Cooper was traded. But clearly we saw this week they are giving him that full-time role. And Jameis Winston likes him.

Tillman is really only a split end so, in hindsight, it makes sense that he wouldn’t play slot/flanker. He needed Amari gone. And Winston has always been willing to let it fly. There is chemistry there between Jameis and the high aDot Tillman so we’re going to try to catch lightning in a bottle here. Congrats to the folks who added him last week. 

• Waiver Priority: First
• FAAB:15-20%

Xavier Legette - Carolina Panthers, Yahoo: 15% | ESPN: 3% | Sleeper: 36%

This one comes with some breaking news - the Carolina Panthers have traded Diontae Johnson to the Baltimore Ravens. So, even if Adam Thielen comes back healthy at some point, Xavier Legette is going to have a fulltime role in this offense and possibly be the top target. Diontae Johnson was getting 8.3 targets per game which opens up a lot of opportunity out there. That makes this one a shot worth taking. 

• Waiver Priority: Medium to High
• FAAB: 10-15%

Jalen McMillan - Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Yahoo: 49% | ESPN: 42% | Sleeper: 60%

We wanted Jalen McMillan to get the Chris Godwin role. In that role, you play slot for 3 wide receiver sets then move out wide to flanker for 2 wide receiver sets. Jalen McMillan DID get a full time role, but it’s not quite that exact role. He’s still one of the best waiver wire picks, but here is the set up.

Trey Palmer played spit end, which Mike Evans will take over when he gets back. McMillan played flanker opposite him. When they went with 3 WR sets, Sterling Shepard came in to play slot. Then he came out of the game for 2 WR sets. It’s still good for McMillan to play as much as he did but we really wanted to see him get those slot reps because of how much it can help matchup wise.

• Waiver Priority: Low to medium priority
• FAAB: 5-10%

Mason Tipton - New Orleans Saints, Yahoo: 4% | ESPN: 0% | Sleeper: 2%

We talked about this concept when the injuries happened. Bub Means was playing Chris Olave’s role. Mason Tipton was playing Rashid Shaheed’s role. The key difference there was that Chris Olave had a short-term injury while Rashid Shaheed’s injury was season-ending. 

Naturally, with Chris Olave returning this week, he took his role back. So Chris Olave played 58 snaps while Bub Means played only 14. Mason Tipton, in the Shaheed role, played 56 snaps, only two fewer than Olave. That’s the guy we want long-term for fantasy football purposes. Hopefully, he has a connection with Derek Carr when he returns. 

• Waiver Priority: Low Priority
• FAAB: 0-5%

NFL Week 9 Waiver Tight End + Yin & Yang TE

YIN (Good Floor, Low Ceiling)

Zach Ertz - Washington Commanders, Yahoo: 28% | ESPN: 53% | Sleeper: 40%

No change here. Zach Ertz is still our best “safe but boring option”. He’s got a decent floor for targets. And he can score a touchdown in any given week if the game script allows. Just don’t expect him to start breaking tackles and racking up a ton of yards after the catch. 

That’s never been a part of his game and, at 33 years old, don’t expect that to start now. If he’s my starting tight end, I’m still stashing some upside on the bench. 

• Waiver Priority: Low or Free Add
• FAAB: 0-5%

Jonnu Smith - Miami Dolphins, Yahoo: 6% | ESPN: 7% | Sleeper: 11%

Basically what we have here is a discount version of what we have in San Francisco. Which makes sense because the scheme is incredibly similar. Both teams use a fullback which keeps the WR3 off the field for a huge chunk of snaps. And that can consolidate targets among the other players.

There are a couple of key differences here though between George Kittle and Jonnu Smith (besides the fact that there is only one George Kittle). The first is that George Kittle is a full-time player. He routinely played 90%+ of the snaps including this week where he played 94%. Jonnu rotates with blocking tight ends so he has actually only played more than 50% once - this past week at 66%. 

The other difference is that the WRs are hurt in SF and they are healthy in MIA. But that’s also why one guy is rostered in 100% of leagues and the other in 6%. If you are desperate for a spot start, you could do worse than Jonnu. 

• Waiver Priority:  Free Add
• FAAB: 0%

YANG (High Risk, High Reward)

Hunter Henry - New England Patriots, Yahoo: 31% | ESPN: 27% | Sleeper: 30%

Hunter Henry has been the guy for us in this spot for weeks now. And that’s not going to change - not after he got 6 targets against a stingy New York Jets defense. He is routinely among the top of the Patriots pass-catchers in routes run and targets. 

He’s not a locked in start, especially if Drake Maye misses time, but we want to have him stashed at least in case the Patriots offense can catch stride down the stretch. His first two games with Drake Maye were pretty good. 

• Waiver Priority: Medium Priority
• FAAB: 10-15% 

Will Dissly - Los Angeles Chargers, Yahoo: 1% | ESPN: 1% | Sleeper: 3%

Seems crazy to say given his blocking profile. And his serious injury history. But Jim Harbaugh is in charge so who are we to argue? Will Dissly has emerged as focal point of this pass attack along with Ladd McConkey with 5, 11, and 7 targets over the last three weeks. 

Maybe he goes back in the bottle when Hayden Hurst comes back but one of our key rules is to give guys a shot if they are a top two target on the team. Lately, Will Dissly has been a top two target. 22 targets over three games is no joke. 

• Waiver Priority: Free Add
• FAAB: 0% 

Week 9 Yin & Yang Tight End

As promised, here are our updated Yin & Yang Tight End rankings going into Week 9. If you are not familiar with this strategy, the full write-up on it is available in our 2024 Fantasy Football Draft Guide. The short and sweet is that, if you don’t get an elite tight end, you roster two – someone “safe” to start early on (Yin) and the highest risk, highest reward option on the bench (Yang). 

As you can see, we separate who we consider a Standalone tight end option where we only care about their bye week vs. the situations where you should roster two. You can use your own judgment on that based on your league size and you can also roster two Yang tight ends if you want to play the high risk, high rewards game or two from the Yin side if you are super conservative. 

We’ll be updating this throughout the season, not just for the 2024 fantasy football waiver wire in Week 9!