2025 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Week 9: Trey Benson, Tyrone Tracy Top Picks

It’s crunch time now, folks. Hopefully, you don't have seven or eight losses already. If you do have a couple of wins, there’s still technically hope for you in most formats. But playoffs start NOW. Can’t hold anything back. We’re in the midst of the bye week hurricane with 10 teams combined between last week and this. So, if you have to trade - trade. And, if you have to drop all your FAAB or use your priority for a player that goes right into your lineup, you have to do it. It won’t do much for you if you're eliminated from he playoffs!

If you need a little extra boost above and beyond what this article covers, go All-Pro today and head over to Fantasy Alarm's League Sync Waiver Wire Tool right now to uncover the top waiver wire pickups tailored specifically to your leagues. Additionally, if you're an All-Pro subscriber, unlock the exclusive Streamers & Stashes article for even deeper insights on hidden gems ready to stash for the long haul.

2025 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Week 9 Top Targets

As always, our waiver wire discussion will be split into two articles. This is the main article, which covers the top players to add at each position, as well as an update to our Yin & Yang Tight End strategy. The second article, found here, is our Streamers and Stashes article that covers the deeper, more nuanced plays for Fantasy Alarm Members!

NFL Week 9 Waiver Wire Quarterbacks

Sam Darnold - Seattle Seahawks, Yahoo: 36% | ESPN: 21% | Sleeper: 43%

Is this the sexiest pickup? Probably not. But if you need someone to actually start for you in Week 9 with all the bye weeks and injuries, you could do worse than Darnold. He’s got a great matchup against the Washington Commanders. He has one of the best wide receivers in Jaxon Smith-Njigba. And the team seems to have figured out how to get some of the ancillary weapons involved - maybe coming out of the bye, we will see more of the rookies Tory Horton and Elijah Arroyo.

Waiver Priority: Low or Free Add

FAAB: 0-5% (more if he starts for you right away)

JJ McCarthy - Minnesota Vikings, Yahoo: 23% | ESPN: 26% | Sleeper: 21%

If we like Darnold (or perhaps Trevor Lawrence) as the streaming option, JJ McCarthy skews more towards the top stash for us. Sure, he didn’t look good early on. And he’s coming off injury. But we’ve only seen a small sample size of play from him so we have to reserve judgment. If this team were worse he’d be easier to dismiss but he’s coming back to play with Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, T.J. Hockenson, and Aaron Jones - easily one of the best pass-catching groups in the league.

Waiver Priority: Low or Free Add

FAAB: 0-5%

Honorable Mention or Deep League Options: Trevor Lawrence, Tyler Shough

NFL Week 9 Waiver Wire Running Backs

Trey Benson - Arizona Cardinals, Yahoo: 55% | ESPN: 48% | Sleeper: 59%

He’s probably been stashed in any league with an IR spot. And he’s still rostered in around half of leagues on most formats. But if he hit the wire, you have to scoop him up now before it’s too late. The Cardinals already released Michael Carter, signaling the inevitable return of Trey Benson as the lead back for the Cardinals. Their schedule is pretty good, and, on paper, they are still a pretty decent offense, too. I know he can’t return until Week 10, but I’m making sure to be a week ahead of that.

Waiver Priority: Top Priority

FAAB: 25-50%

Tyrone Tracy - New York Giants, Yahoo: 49% | ESPN: 42% | Sleeper: 35%

This is no surprise here. Unless you were out at the pumpkin patch this weekend, you’ve heard by now that Cameron Skattebo suffered a season-ending injury. That’s going to push Tyrone Tracy back into a lead role with Devin Singletary contributing as a change-of-pace back. In deeper leagues, he’s probably still been rostered. But if you’re lucky, he was dropped in your league. And it might be worth throwing a big chunk of FAAB at his or using your top priority, as it’s rare for starting RBs to become available. We like Benson more, but Tracy is next up.

Waiver Priority: Top Priority

FAAB: 25-50%

Tyjae Spears - Tennessee Titans, Yahoo: 31% | ESPN: 36% | Sleeper: 46%

He’s been mentioned as a streaming option for multiple weeks because of the split. They like Tony Pollard for run downs but lean Tyjae Spears for obvious passing situations. That means that negative game scripts favor Spears here. That has seen Spears play more than Pollard two weeks in a row - and we don’t expect the negative game scripts to stop any time soon for the Titans. The deeper league version of this would be Samaje Perine.

Waiver Priority: Low Priority or Free Add

FAAB: 0-5%

Honorable Mention or Deep League Options: Kyle Mongangai, Samaje Perine, Dylan Sampson

NFL Week 9 Waiver Wire Wide Receivers

Troy Franklin - Denver Broncos, Yahoo: 38% | ESPN: 44% | Sleeper: 33%

We are looking for the best combination of long-term upside and immediate usefulness here. And Troy Franklin fits that bill. He’s quietly done something no one else has really been able to do, which is get close to the utilization for Courtland Sutton on the Broncos. This week, Sutton ran 32 routes while Franklin ran 30. The next closest players were Evan Engram with 20 routes and Pat Bryant with 18.

Franklin has also now gotten 10 targets and 8 targets over the last two games. This week actually marks the fourth time he’s gotten 8 or more targets in a game. It also doesn’t hurt that he’s managed to find the endzone three times over the last two games. The connection for Franklin and Bo Nix goes back to their time at Oregon, so we like the way things are trending.

Waiver Priority: Medium Priority

FAAB: 10-15%

Chimere Dike - Tennessee Titans, Yahoo: 8% | ESPN: 5% | Sleeper: 19%

The Titans have clearly decided to give the young kids a shot. I have a sneaking suspicion that’s why Tyler Lockett asked for his release. This week, we saw Chimere Dike not only play the second most snaps behind only Elic Ayomanor, but he also earned some two WR sets over Van Jefferson. And all three got eight targets.

Now, we don’t know how things will shake out when Calvin Ridley gets back. It could still just be Elic Ayomanor and Calvin Ridley as the top two WRs. But it’s worth taking a look at Dike in deep leagues to see if maybe you can catch lightning in a bottle. He’s the only one that can seemingly catch the ball from Cam Ward, as he’s now caught 13 of his 15 targets the last three weeks - and this week he just caught 7 of 8 for 93 yards.

Waiver Priority: Low Priority or Free Add

FAAB: 0-5%

Christian Watson - Green Bay Packers, Yahoo: 16% | ESPN: 13% | Sleeper: 15%

The Packers like Christian Watson. So much so that they signed him to a one-year extension for 2026 while he was still rehabbing his injury. He came out this week in his first game back and resumed his role as the field-stretching outside wide receiver for Green Bay, catching all four of his targets for 85 yards. It’s probably more of a deep league move, and he’s likely more of a guy you just start for bye weeks and injuries, but his style of play and role offer intriguing one-week upside at the very least. And who knows - maybe he can put it all together this year and offer more consistency than he has in years past. We still don’t know for sure who the best WR is on this team.

Waiver Priority: Low Priority or Free Add

FAAB: 0-5%

Honorable Mention or Deep League Options: Alec Pierce, Kayshon Boutte, Darius Slayton, Jaylin Noel, Jalen Coker

NFL Week 9 Waiver and Yin & Yang Tight End

Juwan Johnson - New Orleans Saints, Yahoo: 32% | ESPN: 33% | Sleeper: 35%

The theory here is pretty simple. Outside of Trey McBride and Tyler Warren, Juwan Johnson has had the best combination of route participation and target share this year for tight ends. He hurt his ankle in the Bills game, which saw a couple of down weeks for him. But for the last two weeks, his usage has been much closer to what we saw early on when he was a reliable option.

Yes, the questions about are quarterback are a problem. But the Saints have been rumored as a team to possibly trade away a wide receiver for multiple weeks now. So I’d like to get Johnson rostered where I can to see if that happens. Not only does he have spot start upside, but the trade deadline is next Tuesday, so we will get answers there soon.

Waiver Priority: Low Priority or Free Add

FAAB: 0-5%

Colston Loveland - Chicago Bears, Yahoo: 22% | ESPN: 24% | Sleeper: 24%

Unless they have a full role right away, rookies often need some sort of catalyst to get them into one. With the injury to Cole Kmet, we are at least getting a peek at what Loveland might look like as a full-time tight end. It’s now up to him to run away with the job. There’s a chance that Loveland goes back in the bottle, and he’s only a spot start for a couple of weeks. Or there’s a chance that the 10th overall pick catches fire and earns a bigger role moving forward. We at least want a shot at the chance that he runs with the job here. Names like DJ Moore and Cole Kmet have been floated in the trade rumor mills, and that would certainly help him out.

Waiver Priority: Low Priority or Free Add

FAAB: 0-5%

**Check the bottom of the article for free rest of season half PPR tight end rankings with our Yin & Yang tight end chart!**

NFL Week 9 Waiver DST

Los Angeles Rams DST, Yahoo: 40% | ESPN: 36% | Sleeper: 34%

The Chargers vs the Titans are the priority, and possibly the Lions against the Vikings are a good option too if they were dropped during their bye as well. But they are still rostered in more than half of leagues on most platforms. The Rams are much more widely available with a great matchup against the Saints this week. It’s never a good sign when a team isn’t sure who their starting quarterback will be this week.

Jacksonville Jaguars DST, Yahoo: 8% | ESPN: 10% | Sleeper: 9%

This defense should be available in most leagues because they haven’t been particularly great as of late, despite generating a lot of turnovers during their first few games. I can’t imagine many teams held them through the bye. Teams like the Titans and Raiders are the ones we want to be targeting for one-week spot starts, so the Jaguars aren’t a bad option here in Week 9.

Honorable Mention or Deep League Options: Baltimore DST vs. MIA, Giants DST vs. 49ers, 49ers DST vs. NYG,

NFL Week 9 Waiver K

Brandon McManus K, Green Bay Packers Yahoo: 9% | ESPN:9% | Sleeper: 10%

We’re willing to chalk the two misses last week up to rust after McManus missed what amounts to three weeks of time with the bye week and two games of injury. He’s still the kicker for one of the NFL’s best teams. And he gets a matchup with the Carolina Panthers this week, where they should be able to put points on the board.

Joshua Karty - Los Angeles Rams K, Yahoo: 9% | ESPN: 9% | Sleeper: 3%

We can’t really blame Karty for his five points last week in the game before the bye. The Rams simply scored every chance they got, and he hit all five of his extra points. The efficiency of Davante Adams and Kyren Williams in the red area is a little concerning, but there really aren’t many good kickers on good teams with good matchups floating on the wire. Karty was dropped by many teams over his bye week, and he gets the Saints this week.

NFL Yin & Yang Tight End Rankings

As promised, here are our Yin & Yang tight end rankings. This has been our bread and butter the last few years, and how we find breakout tight ends. Here is how the chart works.

If you have someone in the “standalone” section, then great - you don’t need to roster another tight end outside of injury and bye week. Outside of that, we are rostering two. We are looking for someone “safe” to start while stashing the most high-risk, high-reward option, trying to find a breakout.

The tight ends in red are injured and at risk of missing time. If you can put them in an IR spot, great. If not, you may have to prioritize either a Yin or Yang tight end ranked above them to start for you.

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