Alright, listen up, kids, Mr. Ismail is out sick today, so I’m your substitute teacher for this week’s waiver wire column. Or as I call it, “you won’t listen anyway, so I get a short list of guys for the streamers article this week.” Waleed usually does guys rostered in fewer than 50% of Yahoo! leagues unless there is a very special man who needs to be rostered. In this case, there are two guys you might not remember to snag if I don’t remind you, despite them inching over the 50% roster threshold. Ok, class is in session. And by that I mean I’m putting Mean Girls on the TV and taking a nap.
Waiver Wire Quarterbacks
Michael Penix, Atlanta (18% rostered)
Penix has back-to-back three-touchdown efforts, and finished with over 20 fantasy points in both of those games. While the Bears two weeks ago were not a tough matchup, the 49ers rank 26th in fantasy points allowed to quarterbacks. The Falcons are cooking and have the Buccaneers on the docket this week, which isn’t a defense that scares me (I am not the Carolina Panthers).
Malik Willis, Miami (18% rostered)
Willis, like Penix, has back-to-back 20+ point games, but not because he’s throwing touchdowns. Willis is finally running, logging eight carries in each of the last two games, both of which had a run end in a touchdown. He has five total touchdowns in the last two games, so this could be the beginning of something good, and he has the Patriots’ beatable defense in week eight.
Fernando Mendoza, Las Vegas (5% rostered)
This is a deep league stash play if he isn’t already rostered. Klint Kubiak was non-committal when asked if Kirk Cousins would be under center this Sunday, so the price of brick is going to go up for the first overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. Get him before the price rises in a beatable Jets matchup.
Waiver Wire Running Backs
Rachaad White, Washington (55% rostered)
You might have forgotten that this happened because it occurred before a Monday Night Football game and before a bye week, but Jacory Croskey-Merritt is on IR. The Commanders also cut Kaytron Allen, so the backfield is Rachaad White, Jeremy McNichols, and an aged Austin Ekeler. White finished with 15.7 PPR points against the 49ers, as he ran & caught the ball (his normal skillset) and kicked in a touchdown. The matchups aren’t great coming up, but White needs to be rostered.
Jonah Coleman, Denver (35% rostered)
Coleman has two games under his belt in his career, and he has double-digit touches in both of them. He finished week seven with a modest eleven touches for 69 yards, but after the game, Sean Payton said he wanted to get Coleman more touches: “[touches are] something you earn and he’s done a good job of that.” The Broncos backfield is likely to be a three-headed mess, but two of those heads are some of the more injury-prone guys in the league.
Kaelon Black, San Francisco (28% rostered)
It’s probably nothing, but Christian McCaffrey missed a massive chunk of the 49ers’ loss to the Falcons with a thigh injury. CMC was able to return in the fourth quarter, but Black had 15 opportunities in his stead. The 49ers are on Bye, so you won’t get any payoff on this right away, so this is a lower-level add.
Bam Knight, Arizona (25% rostered)
Knight has 27 touches in the two games without Jeremiyah Love, and he has done nothing but produce RB2/Flex numbers on limited touches. With Love’s short-term health up in the air, Knight is well worth an add.
Dylan Sampson, Cleveland (8% rostered)
Both Sampson and Quinshon Judkins returned from injury this week, and both logged what appear to be their normal workloads. Sampson played 47% of snaps, ran a route on 39.5% of drop backs, and finished with nine touches on 31 snaps. It was a nice first day at the office for Sampson this season, and he appears to be a core part of their running back rotation.
Elijah Mitchell, Philadelphia (0% rostered)
Remember Eli Mitchell? He’s back, in Eagles form! As I was writing this up, both Dameon Pierce and Saquon Barkley left the game with injuries, leaving Mitchell as the last man standing in that backfield. He’s a former top-20 fantasy running back in his time with the 49ers and is worth a deep league shot.
Waiver Wire Wide Receivers
Omar Cooper Jr., N.Y. Jets (48% rostered)
Cooper is the crown jewel of the waiver wire this week, as the 48% roster rate should fly up into the 80s after back-to-back 100-yard-plus-a-score games. There’s even more meat on the bone there, as he played just 81% of snaps in week six, and 67% of snaps in week seven. The Jets are going to get him even more involved, and I am guessing we already saw his best two-week stint. Still, he’s a must-add in all formats and in all size leagues.
Caleb Douglas, Miami (10% rostered)
This is a speculative add, but not one that I feel like will create consistent production given the Chris Bell/Caleb Douglas/Malik Washington three-headed monster. Douglas returned and caught two of his three catches for 70 yards and two scores, but had just 32 air yards (behind Greg Dulcich), and his three targets sat behind Chris Bell. He also ran only 19 routes, which was behind Malik Washington. All arrows point toward this being an extremely diverse target tree, so you may not get what you want from Douglas, but he’s worth a shot.
Waiver Wire Tight Ends
T.J. Hockenson, Minnesota (53% rostered)
Hockenson is over the 50% threshold, but I have four words for you: Week Eight Detroit Lions. The Lions allow the most fantasy points per game to tight ends, and Hockenson has 24.9 and 13.5 PPR points in the last two games that he didn’t leave with a concussion after one target. This is a match made in heaven as a one-week add if you are in the lucky league where Hockenson is available.
Chigoziem Okonkwo, Washington (17% rostered)
“Big” Chig Okonkwo is my pet tight end this season, and he popped off against the 49ers in week six to the tune of seven catches for 69 yards. This comes after catching four balls for 60 yards the week before. With Terry McLaurin on the shelf, there’s more to go around in Washington, and I’ll lean into the guy who led the team in routes in their last game, and who has the most targets, the highest yards per route run, and the most receiving yards over the last two games in Washington.
