The best fantasy football players are locked in on every small detail across the league. That brings them to the waiver wire, where free agents become season-winning icons. Trust me, it can happen, and after weighing a ton of data points, I think these are the best early waiver-wire targets to snag ahead of Week 9.

Mike Washington Jr. — 69% Available

The Raiders sat Ashton Jeanty on the bench for much of Week 8. So much so that Washington ran the ball 25 times and Jeanty ran it twice. Speculation suggested the benching stemmed from Jeanty's mid-week comments about the Jets' offense. Whether true or not, Jeanty was sat with confidence, and it requires attention.

Fantasy managers can absolutely expectJeanty to earn back his majority role. But Washington now has 32% of the team's 2026 rushing attempts, and he is averaging 1.6 more Yards per Attempt than Jeanty. Washington is a great handcuff: a top-40 running back with top-25 weekly upside.

Chris Rodriguez Jr. — 76% Available

Rodriguez Jr. is averaging 8.5 touches per game and has scored 3 touchdowns in his 7 games. They have also won three games by at least 24 points. A run script is common for the Jaguars, especially at home.

Over their last 16 games played, the Jaguars are 19.34 points better in margin of victory at neutral sites and 38.68 points better on the road.

In the three games in which the Jaguars won by at least 24 points, Rodriguez Jr. has 20 rushing attempts, 101 rushing yards, and 2 touchdowns. He also ranks 12th out of 44 qualified running backs in PFF Rushing Grade. He is an elite handcuff for a team that ranks 7th in EPA per Rush.

Adonai Mitchell — 89% Available

Mitchell just caught 7 of 9 targets for 142 yards and a touchdown against the Raiders. In games where he played fully healthy in 2026, Mitchell averages 7.7 targets, 5.3 receptions, and 88.3 yards per game.

Mitchell not only had an elite game, but he also played a role in Omar Cooper's day with zero targets, while Mitchell caught seven targets. As a Cooper Jr. owner, I'd be mildly worried, as Mitchell clearly has a hold on that WR2 role by volume. Both players had the same amount of pass-play snaps, but again, Cooper didn't even see a single target while Mitchell recorded nine.

Ryan Flournoy — 59% Available

Flournoy has now recorded at least three receptions in every game this season. In fact, Week 8 was his season low, with Flournoy catching only 3 passes. But he is clearly a focal point of this Cowboys offense, and Flournoy scored a touchdown in Week 8.

He is also getting as many snaps as CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens. In fact, Flournoy ran one more route today than Pickens did. Not only is Flournoy a viable fantasy piece on one of the NFL's top passing offenses, but if Lamb or Pickens got hurt, then Flournoy's role would become solidly that of a WR2 in fantasy football.

Eli Raridon — 96% Available

Raridon has 15 targets and 10 receptions over his last four games. His route rate over that stretch is 60%, and when he runs a route, he's been targeted 20% of the time. The main reason for his Week 9 addition is his teammate Hunter Henry's injury.

Henry injured his foot on Sunday. It's hard to say how severe it is, but early reports suggest Henry could miss at least one game. Again, we don't have confirmation of its severity, but it makes Raridon a key name to monitor as Tuesday approaches.

More Fantasy Sports On SI News: