With so many teams on a bye this week and a crazy amount of injuries in Week 8, the Week 9 fantasy football waiver wire is going to look a little thin…

At this point, a waiver wire pickup should either:

A. Get you through the bye week

B. Add depth to your bench for the playoffs

But, how exactly do you identify who is worth adding with the regular fantasy football season almost over?

The first thing you want to do is look at player’s who are going to see a bigger workload because of injuries.

He’s probably on everyone’s radar after his two touchdowns and 94 receiving yards, but Malcom Floyd is inline to see a big workload each week with Keenan Allen sidelined for an unknown period of time. Philip Rivers is averaging 43.62 passing attempts per game and 344.3 passing yards per game. That means Week 8 wasn’t a fluke. Floyd will see a ton of work from week-to-week.

If you want to add some depth and have room for a speculative pick, take a look at Justin Hardy. I know that tight Jacob Thamme saw most of Matt Ryan’s looks outside of Julio Jones in Week 8, but the good news for Hardy is that he saw the second-most targets among receivers. With Roddy White and Ryan no longer showing a connection, Hardy could eventually see his fair share of targets when he starts to develop more of a rapport with Ryan. Remember, this was the first game he played in all season.

For Week 9, you are basically looking at a few running backs who are only going to serve as starters for a few games, but they could be very valuable during those few weeks. You never know if a short gig can turn into a starting job…

The first back to take a look at is Pierre Thomas. Even though he’s been in the league since 2007, Thomas only has two 16-game seasons under his belt. The fact that he has averaged 326.12 receiving yards a season during that time, however is impressive. The San Francisco 49ers also signed Shaun Draughn, but Thomas won’t have a lot of competition until Carlos Hyde returns.

Matt Forte may be out for at least two weeks, and that means Jeremy Langford is the next man up. The Chicago Bears are also reportedly interested in Montee Ball, who head coach John Fox had under his regime in Denver. Langford is probably the better pickup now, but whoever starts for the Bears could see enough work to be successful for fantasy players during Forte’s absence. Forte is averaging 19.42 carries and 3.5 receptions per game.

Although he didn’t add much on Monday Night Football, I think it is just a matter of time before Ahmad Bradshaw sees a bigger role. Since offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton was just fired, I think the brass for the Colts are ready to shake things up. With the Colts last season, Bradshaw hauled in six touchdown passes in just 10 games. Franke Gore has yet to catch a touchdown pass from Andrew Luck.

So there you have it. Whether you need to filler for your bye week or want to add some depth and adjust your roster, these are a few picks that stand out for the Week 9 waiver wire.

Categories: 2015 Fantasy Football

Tags: Jeremy Langford Waiver Wire, Waiver Wire Week 9 Help, Waiver Wire Week 9 Picks, week 9 waiver wire fantasy football, week 9 waiver wire pickups