It’s crazy to think about how close we are to the halfway point of the NFL season. I’ll continue to bring you players weekly on the offensive and defensive side of the ball, whom you can target on the Week 9 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire! I’ll give you two players at each of the offensive positions and three IDP options.
NOTE: I’ll only recommend players that have less than 50% ownership across the major redraft fantasy football platforms (Yahoo Fantasy, ESPN, NFL.com Fantasy).
Week 9 Waiver Wire Picks for 2025 Fantasy Football
Quarterbacks
QB#1 Sam Darnold, Seattle Seahawks: His ownership is low, and he’s still playing well and should be rostered in a majority of league types. He had a down week 7 fantasy-wise wise but he’s been pretty good for 15-20 points most weeks.
QB#2 Joe Flacco/Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals: If you have the room on the roster, Burrow projects to be back in December still, and Flacco can handle the job until he returns.
NOTE: Both QBs I see as backups, but could certainly give you startable production if you’re dealing with injury or bye weeks.
Running backs
RB#1 Tyrone Tracy, New York Giants: Unfortunately, Skattebo is out, but someone will have to carry the load. Tracy looks like the next man up and definitely can carry the workload. Singletary will get scraps, and then they’ll inevitably bring in a 3rd back for depth.
RB#2 Tyjae Spears, Tennessee Titans: I mentioned him earlier this year, as it was just a matter of time with Pollard playing meh football and Spears just needing to recover from injury. He looked explosive, and though I expect it to be a timeshare for another week or so, Spears should start seeing the bulk of the work.
Wide Receivers
WR#1 Troy Franklin, Denver Broncos: I mentioned him in previous articles, but he’s still got low ownership and should be rostered. He’s not going to get a ton of targets weekly, but should see an increased role and keep getting at least 4-6 targets most likely a week.
WR#2 Kayshon Boutte, New England Patriots: Another player I’ve been banging the drum for most of the season, he will continue to have a role in this offense and get a fair share of the targets on a weekly basis.
NOTE: Tennessee wideouts Elic Ayomanor and Chimere Dike are rosterable at this point. Getting targeted and showing rapport with Ward is a big deal.
Tight Ends
TE#1 Theo Johnson, New York Giants: Another name I keep saying needs to be rostered, he’s an athletic big-play threat that Dart likes.
TE#2 Gunnar Helm, Tennessee Titans: If Chig isn’t rostered, you could target either as a TE2 on your team, but both have a role and are getting involved.
IDPs
IDP#1 Alex Wright, DE, Cleveland Browns: The last month, you’ve seen Wright produce well defensively, and if you’re in need of some depth with potential startable upside, this 25-year-old looks like he has found a strong role in this defense.
IDP#2 JD Bertrand, LB, Atlanta Falcons: He’s seen a strong snapshare and produced well the last couple of weeks, definitely a rosterable linebacker in all fantasy leagues.
IDP#3 Malachi Moore, S, New York Jets: Moore is definitely seeing an increase in role and is a player I loved coming out of college this year. He’s a depth player at the moment, but I keep seeing an increase in fantasy output over the last couple of weeks, so he could be a guy you can start as the season goes on.
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