Zach Thompson takes a look at some of the early names to watch on Week 8’s waiver wire for your season-long fantasy leagues.

We’re already a dozen games into Week 7 with Sunday Night Football and a Monday Night Football doubleheader still on tap to round out the week. After some exciting finishes and big games, it’s time to start looking ahead for your fantasy football team. Let’s take an early look at some of the emerging options to watch for as you start looking at waiver wire pickups for Week 8.

Throughout the week, DK Network will have you covered with potential pickups and strong plays for Week 8 and the rest of the season. Be sure to stay tuned to the outstanding coverage from the whole team. This post is designed to be an early look at some of the names to keep an eye on coming out of Week 7.

Another key factor to keep a close eye on every week is new injuries. Here are some new situations to monitor moving forward:

Players with new injuries from Week 7 to watch:

QB Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders

QB Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers

QB Justin Fields, New York Jets

RB Breece Hall, New York Jets

RB Kendre Miller, New Orleans Saints

WR Brian Thomas Jr., Jacksonville Jaguars

WR Chris Olave, New Orleans Saints

WR Dyami Brown, Jacksonville Jaguars

WR Luke McCaffrey, Washington Commanders

TE Darren Waller, Miami Dolphins

TE Cole Kmet, Chicago Bears

With those injuries in mind, here are some of my early names to watch if you’re shopping on the Week 8 waiver wire.

WR Chimere Dike, Tennessee Titans

The Titans made a coaching change midweek and are reportedly going to “simplify” the offense for Cam Ward (12.2 FPTS). They were also without Calvin Ridley (hamstring) this week, opening up playing time for younger options at receiver. While Elic Ayomanor (4.9 FPTS) got most of the hype leading into the week, it was fellow rookie Chimere Dike (16.9 FPTS) that made the biggest impact.

Dike led the team with 70 yards and had the only receiving touchdown on the day against the Patriots. He caught that on this beautiful play early in the game:

He only had three other targets on the day but he hauled them all in to finish with four catches and 16.9 fantasy points since he lost a yard on his one carry.

Dike is a solid speculative pickup if you’re looking for help from the Week 8 waiver wire at wide receiver. I’ve already hyped up Kayshon Boutte (13.5 FPTS) in this post before, and he continues to emerge as a great play in the Patriots’ progressing offense. Parker Washington (10.2 FPTS), Alec Pierce (12.5 FPTS) and Xavier Legette (24.2 FPTS) also had big games but have inconsistent roles and erratic production as a result.

RB Kyle Monangai, Chicago Bears

The Bears listed D’Andre Swift (20.8 FPTS) as questionable for Sunday’s game against the Saints, but the veteran back was able to play through the issue and put up a good game. I highlighted rookie Kyle Monangai (17.4 FPTS) as a good play if Swift was out, but Monangai was involved enough to still be a good play.

The rookie from Rutgers took 13 carries for 81 rushing yards with a touchdown and added a pair of catches for 12 more yards as a receiver. It was a huge increase in workload for Monangai, and it wasn’t all in garbage time. Monangai handled red zone opportunities in the first quarter of this game and scored his touchdown in the second quarter.

His workload is uncertain since Swift is still the primary option in the backfield, but the Bears offense has been rolling and coach Ben Johnson has made multiple running backs successful in the past. The Bears’ backfield tandem is still a long ways from Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, to be sure, but Monangai is worth a look after this breakthrough game.

Another rookie in a very interesting role is Brashard Smith (13.1 FPTS) of the Chiefs. The converted receiver from SMU had a career-high 14 carries and added five catches for 42 yards. He probably won’t get that many carries going forward since most came in garbage time, but he has at least three catches in four straight games, totaling 14 catches for 122 receiving yards.

QB Joe Flacco, Cincinnati Bengals

Can it really be that Joe Flacco (29 FPTS) is fantasy relevant again? While he played on Thursday Night Football, he was the top scoring QB of the week, and he seems right at home in his new home in Cincinnati.

Flacco went off for 342 passing yards and three touchdowns against the Steelers in one of the most “out of nowhere” performances in recent memory. He didn’t look that sharp in his Bengals debut, but he does have great weapons in Ja’Marr Chase (41.1 FPTS), Tee Higgins (21.6 FPTS) and Noah Fant (14.4 FPTS).

While I’m not sure how much I’m buying in long-term on Flacco, his upcoming schedule is extremely fantasy-friendly. In the next two weeks, the Bengals face the Jets and Bears before their Week 10 bye week. If Joe Burrow is still out, Flacco would get to face the Steelers again.
With this group around him and favorable matchups ahead, he’s definitely a great QB2 or bye week fill-in for the next few weeks.

TE Oronde Gadsden, Los Angeles Chargers

While Fant can be an interesting short-term pickup at tight end, I like rookie tight end Oronde Gadsden (22.4 FPTS) of the Chargers, who has taken over the starting role for the Bolts and turned in back-to-back big games. I highlighted Gadsden in my fantasy football tight end sleepers for this week, and he delivered on his extremely high potential with the top score of any tight end on Sunday’s main slate.

The Chargers drafted Gadsden in the fifth round from Syracuse, and he wasn’t even active for the first two weeks of the season. He mixed in a little bit in the next few weeks, but has really emerged as a top option in the offense in the last two weeks. He worked his way up to a 54% snapshare in Week 5 and a 75% snapshare in Week 6. He had seven catches for 68 yards in the Chargers win against the Dolphins, and he was even better in Week 7, hauling in seven more passes for 164 yards and his first NFL touchdown.

Even with Will Dissly healthy, it’s clear that Gadsden is the team’s top receiving tight end and one of the most reliable pass-catchers in the Chargers’ offense.

Next week, the Chargers host the Vikings on Thursday Night football, before facing the Titans, Steelers, and Jaguars before L.A.’s Week 12 bye week.

Colts DST

The Colts DST (7 FPTS) is available in half of leagues and they have the best record in the NFL after beating Gadsden and the Chargers on Sunday. The Colts had three sacks and two interceptions against the Chargers.

Next week, the 6-1 Colts have a great matchup at home against the struggling Titans. Tennessee has been the best matchup of the year for the opposing DST, and the Colts will be in a smash spot to pick up another win next week. If you’re looking further ahead, they head to Pittsburgh in Week 9 before hosting the Falcons in Week 10.

If someone else in your league already has the Colts, other solid streamers to consider from the waiver wire in Week 8 include the Chargers (vs. MIN), the Buccaneers (at NO), and the Bengals (vs. NYJ).