Patrick Mahomes is out for a couple of weeks, so you should grab Kansas City’s backup Matt Moore if you don’t already have him as a handcuff in your fantasy football league. If you’re looking for waiver wire pickups for Week 8, then also consider TE Gerald Everett (LA Rams), RB Chase Edmonds (Arizona Cardinals), and WR Corey Davis (Tennessee Titans).
Who knows how long Mahomes will be out? When Matt Stafford suffered a similar injury, he missed four weeks with a dislocated knee cap. You better grab Matt Moore before someone else in your fantasy league decides to block you.
NFL WEEK 8 – WAIVER WIRE PICKUPS:
Matt Moore (QB, KC Chiefs)
Gerald Everett (TE, LA Rams)
Chase Edmonds (RB, Arizona Cardinals)
Corey Davis (WR, Tennessee Titans)
The tight end situation is always precarious with the LA Rams. It seemed like Tyler Higbee and Gerald Everett split time, and you never knew which one will become a major target in Sean McVay’s offense from week-to-week. It currently looks like Everett has emerged as the #1 tight end with the Rams.
Arizona backup RB Chase Edmonds had a monster game in Week 7 with three touchdowns. It’s a serious oversight we didn’t mention him last week with David Johnson nursing a sore ankle.
Meanwhile, Corey Davis will benefit the most down in Tennessee after Marcus Mariota got benched in favor of backup Ryan Tannenhill.
Plugging Matt Moore into Andy Reid’s Offense
In a year in which quarterbacks have been dropping like flies, no one expected Mahomes would join the growing list of knocked out quarterbacks. Mahomes was already weakened by two ankle injuries. He played through the pain, but he looked like a mortal compared to the godly Mahomes we’ve grown accustomed watching week after week.
Look on the bright side; at least Mahomes can rest his ankles while he’s out for 4-6 weeks. Sprained ankles are nagging injuries that are tough to shake once you get one early in the season.
Matt Moore is a career backup QB, but he never anticipated he’d be thrust into the spotlight on Thursday Night Football. After all, he joined the Chiefs late into preseason after backup Chad Henne broke his ankle. At best, he was supposed to be a backup to the backup.
In relief, Moore looked a tad rusty, tossing 10-for-19 passes. Moore finished with 117 yards and a touchdown. He got sacked once, but avoided any interceptions. Moore managed a second-half blowout as well as you could. Credit the KC defense for finally stepping up when called upon.
Moore should vastly improve with more reps in practice, and a tweaked playbook. Alex Smith is living proof that any quarterback can thrive in an Andy Reid offense.
Where Did Chase Edmonds Come From?
Chase Edmonds is a running back out of Fordham University in the Bronx. Fordham isn’t a football powerhouse, so Edmonds didn’t garner significant attention like his counterparts at higher profile schools.
The Cardinals were aware of Edmonds’ collegiate exploits. They took a flier on him in the fourth round of last year’s draft. Edmonds backed up David Johnson last year, but rushed for only 208 yards in limited action.
So far in his second season as a pro, Edmonds emerged as a valuable backup to DJ. Edmonds averaged 5.6 yards per carry for four touchdowns. He came off the bench to replace a hobbled Chris Johnson against the NY Giants. The G-Men couldn’t stop Edmonds who rushed for 126 yards on only 26 carries. Edmonds found the end zone three times, caught two passes, and tallied 150 total yards from scrimmage.
In Week 5’s victory over the Cincy Bengals, Edmonds popped up on the fantasy radar when he rushed for 68 yards and a touchdown.
Johnson is still listed as day-to-day. DJ might return to action against the New Orleans Saints, but Edmonds is a worthy addition because the Cards play two games inside of a span of 11 days, with a Thursday Night game scheduled for Week 9.
27 rushes
126 rushing yards
3 TD @ChaseEdmonds22 put on a show vs. the Giants. pic.twitter.com/EVLCAkO7Sw— Arizona Cardinals ⋈ (@AZCardinals) October 21, 2019
Against the Giants, Edmonds set an Arizona team record with a trio of 20-plus yard touchdowns in the same game. He also became only the sixth player in NFL history to rush for three touchdowns of 20 or more yards in one game.
Rams TE Coinflip
LA Rams backup TE Gerald Everett has emerged as Jared Goff’s favorite tight end option. In the last four weeks, Everett racked up 18 catches, 239 yards and two touchdowns. He’s been targeted eight or more times in three out of the last four games. In Week 7’s victory over Atlanta, Everett caught four passes for 50 yards. In Week 5’s loss to Seattle, Everett caught seven receptions for 136 yards and a touchdown.
Tyler Higbee started in Week 7, but he barely saw any action. Goff targeted Higbee only once, and he recorded just a single reception for eight yards.
Corey Time in Tennessee
Former Heisman Trophy winner, Marcus Mariota, found himself in Mike Vrabel’s doghouse and got promptly benched after multiple poor performances. Vrabel tapped ex-Dolphins QB Ryan Tannenhill to start last week. The Titans beat the LA Chargers in a sketchy ending, and Tannenhill jump-started the passing game. He threw for 312 yards and two touchdowns.
Corey Davis and AJ Brown both caught six passes from Tannenhill, and Davis also added a touchdown. It seems like Davis will be the biggest benefactor of the QB switch. We mentioned AJ Brown earlier in the season as a potential waiver wire pickup.
Corey Davis catching dimes from @ryantannehill1 👀 pic.twitter.com/IBmsK5FbAY
— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) October 20, 2019
Davis, one of Western Michigan’s all-time greatest players, set FBS records for receiving yards. He’s now putting his Michigan-grit on display for the rest of the league to see.
