WEEK 9: WAIVER WIRE
Every Tuesday, I will be bringing to light the best potential waiver wire additions across fantasy football. Let’s begin with some basic principles for each article and some of the qualifiers that will be used each week. First off, the minimum rostered percentage threshold that I will be using is 33.3%, so any player that is rostered in ESPN leagues above that percentage will not be written about (until near the end of the season when it gets harder to wade through the constantly thinning waiver wire.) Second, not all waiver wire additions are created equal and all are dependent on the roster you have. Each week I will be writing about players and the potential they bring to your fantasy roster, but I obviously don’t know who is on your team or what you may need in terms of roster construction. If I say a quarterback is the top waiver wire addition for the week, and you have Patrick Mahomes, that doesn’t mean you need to add that player to your team while dropping a potentially valuable player in order to do so. Third, I will frequently be using the abbreviation FAB, which refers to Free Agent Budget. This refers to the potential amount you might spend to acquire someone off the waiver wire if your league has that as a part of their system.
Adrian Peterson- Running Back, TEN
ESPN Roster Percentage- 0.1%
Before I get into the reasoning why Adrian Peterson is making an appearance in this article, I’d like to first pay homage to Derrick Henry and the incredible season he had. Henry was the clear #1 running back on the year and a potential MVP candidate, not to mention the driving force behind the AFC leading Titans. Henry is having surgery for a broken bone in his foot that will likely be the end of his regular season, leaving a small possibility he comes back for the NFL playoffs. Adrian Peterson was signed off the street Monday and is likely to be active for the Titans game Sunday; he is purely a speculative add, though. I would have zero percent confidence playing him in my starting line-up for Week 9, and would need to see something out of him before I insert him into my lineup if I have better options. If you are the Derrick Henry manager, I believe Peterson is the player to add if you are looking for the potential season long answer, not Jeremy McNichols. McNichols may be a better upside play on a matchup basis but won't provide consistent output. Peterson is worth a dart throw as a top waiver wire priority, but not a large FAB bid.
Boston Scott- Running Back, PHI
ESPN Roster Percentage- 4.9%
We knew going into Week 8 that Miles Saunders would miss some time, but I don’t think the expectation was that he was going to head to the IR. That news was announced Saturday and the corresponding news that came out early Sunday was that Boston Scott would take the lead role. Scott looked good on Sunday against a usually feisty Lions team and turned it into a top-10 running back performance on the week. The game scripts going forward will not be as conducive to running the ball 46 times, but this is the identity of the Eagles in 2021; Scott will be the main benefactor in the backfield. He is worth a high waiver priority and a good FAB bid due to the potential for multiple games worth of production.
