Whisnant’s Week 9 Waiver Adds
Alex Collins, RB, Baltimore Ravens
Collins had his best week Thursday night against the Dolphins. He was finally able to out-touch Buck Allen and capitalized on the opportunity. After Thursday, Collins is averaging nearly 6 yards through all of his carries this season. While he still may be splitting time, his production is just becoming so much better than the others in that backfield. His playmaking ability should be a huge difference now that Joe Flacco is probably out for a decent amount of time. In week 9, he has a matchup against the Titans who are allowing more defensive rushing yards on average than the Dolphins were going into week 8. Collins has long-term flex play and is a good fill play for the upcoming bye weeks.
Vernon Davis, TE, Washington Redskins
With Jordan Reed dealing with a hamstring injury and Niles Paul week to week with a concussion, Davis jumps right in as a streaming option. Davis’s career is a long and successful one. At this point, it’ll be rare if he puts up TE1 numbers but being a main weapon on the Redskins offense can give Davis some good fantasy weeks while the other tight ends are dealing with injuries. He has some tough matchups against Seattle, Minnesota, and New Orleans but with all the byes and injuries coming up, Davis can give you TE2 upside.
Robby Anderson, WR, New York Jets
Anderson came into the game against Atlanta as a second wide receiver in the game and had his best game all season. Jermaine Kearse has been a steady force and leads in receptions but is now second in yards behind Anderson. The last three games have been huge for Anderson as he has had a touchdown or has either cleared 75 yards in them. He faces the Bills and the Buccaneers in the next two weeks and could see a good uptick. He is still a boom or bust play but is seeing a good increase of play for the second half of the season and can fill at a flex or WR3 spot.
JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers
If you haven’t heard of this name yet let’s take a look at the last two weeks for JuJu. With Martavis Bryant and all of his social media antics, we saw JuJu get more snaps in the game against Cincinnati where he caught a touchdown. Then, in the Sunday night game against the Lions, JuJu blew up for 7 receptions, 193 yards, and a touchdown. These next three weeks the Steelers play the Colts, the Titans, and the Packers. All of this points to JuJu having WR2 potential and a must add in all leagues. We have seen JuJu find a role over these last two weeks and there’s no reason the Steelers take his spot away from him. Plus he locked up his bike, so there’s no distracting him now.
Paul Richardson, WR, Seattle Seahawks
Look, Seattle has changed over the last few years, with Marshawn Lynch gone they have no successful running game and can really only rely on Russell Wilson to throw the ball. Richardson had a major game Sunday against the Texans and has some favorable matchups in the next three weeks against the Redskins, Falcons, and the Cardinals. With Doug Baldwin being the clear number one, Richardson has had a number 2 role carved out for him since late last season and needs to be an immediate grab if he’s on waivers.