A lot unfolded in Week 8 of the 2025 NFL season, leaving even more to digest ahead of Week 9 for fantasy football managers. The waiver wire situation is practically a crapshoot at this point in the season, but it is becoming clearer which players fantasy football managers can feel safe dropping.
With six teams on bye in Week 8, the returning players will resurface atop the waiver wire. Perhaps nobody of value was dropped, but managers might have forgotten about players like Parker Washington, Colby Parkinson or Bam Knight, who should all be rostered ahead of Week 9.
Four more teams go on bye in NFL Week 9. The Cleveland Browns, New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles and Tampa Bay Buccaneers will all be out of commission.
Then comes the injury situation, which only continues to get worse. The New York Giants' injury curse continued in Week 9 when star rookie Cam Skattebo suffered a gruesome season-ending dislocated ankle. Skattebo had quickly become a fantasy football star, but is unfortunately now the top drop candidate after being ruled out for the remainder of the year.
Skattebo was the only significant fantasy football injury of the week, but he is not the only player managers need to drop ahead of Week 9. Many leagues are won or lost on the waiver wire at this point in the season, making it the single-most important factor in the game.
RB Cam Skattebo, New York Giants
The best ride of the 2025 fantasy football season is unfortunately over. Giants running back Cam Skattebo was a gift for managers who took a shot on him as a late-round pick, but a dislocated ankle unfortunately cut his sensational rookie season short.
Skattebo had emerged as a bona fide RB1 in recent weeks, but the Giants remain one of the most cursed organizations in the league. His presence helped mask the fact that New York had already lost Malik Nabers to a torn ACL, but the team is now entirely in shambles.
Skattebo's season ends with 410 rushing yards, five rushing touchdowns, 207 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns. He led all rookie running backs in total yards at the time of his injury, but the experience has come to an end, at least for now.
Skattebo is still an obvious hold in dynasty leagues, but he has no further value in redraft formats. He is expected to be ready for the start of the 2026 season, when he should be an early-round fantasy football draft pick. Until then, expect Tyrone Tracy Jr. to reclaim the backfield and become a priority Week 9 waiver wire pickup.
WR Matthew Golden, Green Bay Packers
Nothing is working out for Matthew Golden in his rookie season with the Green Bay Packers. The first-round pick seemed like the frontrunner to immediately become Jordan Love's top receiver in the preseason, but it is clear that he is an apparent afterthought in this extremely run-dominant offense.
Golden has not been productive from a fantasy standpoint all season, but that became painfully evident in Week 8. The Packers finally got Christian Watson back from a torn ACL, who immediately made an impact, catching all four of his targets for 85 yards.
With Watson back, Golden was almost entirely phased out of Green Bay's passing game. He still caught three passes, but turned them into a team-low four receiving yards, a horrendous 1.3 yards per catch.
To make matters worse, Watson's return coincided with Dontayvion Wicks‘ absence due to a calf injury. Wicks could return as soon as Week 10 and will push Golden down to fifth on the Packers' pecking order once he does.
The situation will only get murkier once Jayden Reed returns to the lineup. Golden is a safe drop as Packers fans can only hope that he makes a significant second-year leap in 2026.
WR Elic Ayomanor, Tennessee Titans
The difficult situation that Golden is in must seem like heaven for Tennessee Titans rookie Elic Ayomanor, who has appeared to hit a rookie wall.
After a promising start to his career, Ayomanor has been invisible over the last month. Fans can blame the Titans' inefficient offense, which has certainly played a part, but the Stanford alum has watched fellow rookie Chimere Dike surpass him as Cam Ward's go-to target.
While Ayomanor has yet to top 56 yards in a single game this season, Dike has racked up 163 receiving yards over the last two games. Everyone expected Ayomanor to step up in Calvin Ridley‘s absence, but it has been the fourth-round rookie out of Florida maximizing the opportunity.
Even with his recent slump, everything aligned for Ayomanor to rebound in Week 8 against the Indianapolis Colts, who ranked in the bottom half of the league in generating pass-rush pressure and were without their top two starting cornerbacks. Ayomanor produced his second-highest yard total of the year but was again outshone by Dike, who led the team with 93 receiving yards.
The Titans can barely sustain one fantasy football-relevant receiver, let alone two. At this point, Ayomanor only has a chance to reach double-digits if he finds the end zone, which he has not done since Week 3.
RB Rachaad White, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
When Bucky Irving initially went down, Rachaad White immediately looked like a potential league-winner. White was a top-20 fantasy football running back over the next two weeks, but has since come crashing back down to Earth, even with Irving remaining out.
After dominating against the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers, White ran into a wall in Week 7 against the Detroit Lions. The increased competition certainly affected him, but White failed to rebound in Week 8 against the New Orleans Saints' bottom-10 rush defense.
White, who is averaging just 3.7 yards per carry, is a player who needs volume to be fantasy-relevant. He had the usage in Week 6 and Week 7, but he split the backfield with Sean Tucker in Week 8. White narrowly out-touched Tucker against the Saints, but it was the latter who scored the team's only rushing touchdown of the game.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a bye in Week 9 before returning in Week 10, when Irving should be back in the lineup. White's ceiling is clearly limited even if Irving misses another game, making him one of the top fantasy football Week 9 drop candidates.
RB Rhamondre Stevenson, New England Patriots
Rhamondre Stevenson has barely managed to stay afloat all year long, but his time might have finally come. Stevenson has miraculously remained in the starting lineup despite his inefficiency and fumbling woes, but TreVeyon Henderson‘s Week 8 breakout might spell the end of the line.
Henderson has been the more explosive back all year, but it has become too blatant to ignore. Stevenson enjoyed a brief resurgence in Week 7 against the Tennessee Titans' nonexistent run defense before going back to his plodding ways in Week 8, taking his 14 carries for just 34 rushing yards against the Cleveland Browns. Henderson, meanwhile, exploded with 75 yards on just 10 carries.
Stevenson has averaged over 4.0 yards per carry in just one of his last four games and is now down to 3.4 yards per attempt on the year. Conversely, Henderson is up to 4.3 yards per attempt and has out-gained Stevenson in six of the New England Patriots' last eight games, despite receiving fewer carries.
The Patriots have appeared intent on taking it slow with Henderson in his rookie season. However, with a 6-2 record through eight games, they are suddenly atop the NFC East and in position to make a deep postseason run. The offense is clearly in better shape with Henderson on the field.
