We're halfway through the 2026 NFL regular season. That means we're in prime playoff push season for the 2026 fantasy football campaign. Some fantasy managers stand atop their leagues, all but guaranteed a cushy place in the playoff seeding. They've been mercifully spared from major injury. Their first round draft picks didn't bust. Their sleepers woke up early and energized.
That's not our audience. We're here for the grimy managers out there struck down by bad decisions and worse luck. We're addressing the sickos who saw the weird box scores of Week 9 and said "this is how I win."
We were treated to heartwarming stories Sunday like “Tank Dell is back” and more confusing ones like “Audric Estime and Kaleb Johnson were leading rushers for winning
teams.” Weird weeks deserve weird fantasy coverage. So, instead of our typical add/drop analysis for a couple unexpected studs, we’re going to break down four wide receivers who stood out and who you should prioritize with a dwindling pool of free agent cash. Interested in running backs? Hell yeah, brothers and sisters, we've got you covered here.
I'm joined by fantasy expert and Rhode Island Scumbag Mike "Yaj" Boyajian to break down the players who shined in Week 9 and figure out if they’ll be able to keep it up over the back half of the 2026 NFL season.
The rules? There's pretty much only one; players have to be 40 percent owned or less in Yahoo! fantasy football leagues. We've got a handful of receivers who can spark a bidding war on your waiver wire this week. Let's see if we can help prioritize those bids.
Rank the wide receivers who played their way off the waiver wire: Jordan Watkins, Tank Dell, Caleb Douglas and Demario Douglas
Christian:
1. Caleb Douglas, Miami Dolphins. Douglas made the list because he was less than 40 percent owned, but that’s not on us – we’ve been telling you to wait on him since before his explosive NFL debut. He was undeniably the apple of Malik Willis’ eye in Week 9, racking up eight targets when no other Dolphin had more than four. He also had a big run after catch on a play called back for holding and drew a first down via pass interference.
He was targeted on more than one-third of his routes. He posted a catch rate over expected (CROE) ofnearly 13 percent. He plays for a team that trails constantly. He’s a must-start from here on out..
2. Jordan Watkins, San Francisco 49ers.Watkins is slowly expanding his role in the offense, racking up an 18 percent target share the last two weeks. That’s a little concerning given the need in the 49ers receiving room right now, but what he did with his targets isn’t. The Niners averaged 14.2 yards each time Brock Purdy dialed his number in Weeks 8 and 9.
His average target comes more than 16 yards downfield; even if he’s only getting six per game, he can translate that into big production. But he’s also growing his bond with Purdy, so more usage could be on the way, even as San Francisco’s receivers get healthy again.
3. Tank Dell, Houston Texans. I love his redemption story. I question if he can take teams by surprise now that it’s clear he’s back to full strength. He only ran 22 routes in Week 9 and was targeted on nine of them.
He should be on the field more as he ramps up into midseason form, but that target share won’t last. For one, he won’t be blowing out the Los Angeles Chargers each week. Additionally, there are a lot of mouths to feed in a suddenly deep receiving corps – even Kayshon Boutte got in on the action last week.
4. Demario Douglas, New England Patriots. Is this finally time for the Pop Douglas breakthrough? Or is it another mirage? Drake Maye has turned him into 2026’s Kayshon Boutte. While the downfield targets are nice, inconsistency is going to follow.
He’s great at creating space even against press coverage, but he’s traditionally faded in and out of the New England passing attack. Even if he winds up filling that Boutte… uh, void, it’s not like Kayshon was anything more than a fill-in option on fantasy rosters.
Yaj:
1. Caleb Douglas, Miami Dolphins. Of all the receivers on this list, Caleb Douglas has the most secure role and path to targets. Against the Lions he had six catches (on eight targets) for 70 yards. Since his return from injury/bye, he’s now had three targets (two catches, two touchdowns), six targets (four catches, 43 yards) and eight targets (6 for 70).
He’s getting open. Malik Willis knows he has something special to work with. Miami’s bye week is in the rearview, and they face a fantasy friendly schedule for WRs down the stretch. He’s a borderline WR2/3 going forward.
2. Tank Dell, Houston Texans. Is Tank back already? His stat line from Sunday would certainly say so. Nine targets, four catches for 105 yards and a tuddie? I’ll take those numbers all day.
Now, who’s to say what the Texans do week to week, considering he’s still competing for targets with Nico Collins and we also had a Boutte sighting this week as well. Still, it was great to see Tank look like himself again, albeit it much sooner than anyone anticipated.
3. DeMario Douglas, New England Patriots. I had a hard time placing Pop in this exercise. On one hand, he led the Patriots with nine targets (five catches, 102 yards) last week. He has hit at least 16.5 PPR points in four of his last five games.
On the other, what will things look like for him moving forward? He has a great matchup next week against the Detroit Lions, but after that, things get murky. The Patriots have a bye in Week 11. What this roster looks like after that is beyond me. Hunter Henry should recover. AJ Brown could be back. Mack Hollins already returned. The pecking order could change very quickly for Pop, meaning a less significant role after Week 10.
4. Jordan Watkins, San Francisco 49ers. Watkins had a great showing on Sunday, putting up nearly 20 PPR points. He is showing he is more than capable of stepping up in Mike Evans and Deebo Samuel’s absences. My issue with Watkins is how long he will retain the role. De’Zhaun Stribling is progressing in his recovery, and there is still the pending returns of the aforementioned Evans and Samuel. I like the role he’s currently playing, but like Pop Douglas, I'm wary of the duration.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Fantasy football waiver wire: Which rising WR will save your season?
