Fantasy football waiver wire: Players you should target in Week 9

It’s not always easy to find immediate waiver wire help at this point in the fantasy season. But there are still players who can be a big boost to your lineup within a few weeks. So this week’s waiver wire adds will have a focus more on some stash players that can make the biggest impact down the stretch for your fantasy roster.

Tre’Quan Smith, WR, New Orleans Saints

Rostered - Yahoo: 30 percent | ESPN: 17.1 percent

Since Ted Ginn was placed on injured reserve, Tre’Quan Smith has seen his playing time increase. It’s yet to lead to production on the field — he has just 10 targets, six receptions, and 62 yards over the past two games — but the potential is there. He’s playing over Cameron Meredith and the Saints have a meeting with the Los Angeles Rams next week — a game that could be a shootout with a defense that has struggled at corner this season. He only needs a little run to be productive, just look at his 111-yard day on three receptions in Week 5.

Jamison Crowder, WR, Washington

Rostered - Yahoo: 38 percent | ESPN: 26.6 percent

It’s easy to forget about Jamison Crowder — and a lot of former owners already have. Because of injury, Crowder hasn’t played since Week 5, but when he returns, he should immediately be the focal point of the Washington passing game. If you watched what Washington did against the Giants on Sunday, it’s a slow burn offense built on taking small chunks of yards at a time. That fits Crowder’s role in the slot perfectly. In his four games to start the season, Crowder has four targets in the first three and eight in the fourth. He’s a good stash option for the stretch run in PPR leagues if you have the bench space and an owner in your league who didn’t.

D.J. Moore, WR, Carolina Panthers

Rostered - Yahoo: 16 percent | ESPN: 10.4 percent

The Carolina Panthers finally gave their first-round pick extended run in the offense and it worked out pretty well. Against the best pass defense in the league, Moore had five receptions and 90 yards on six targets to go along with two rushing attempts for 39 yards. Moore’s six targets led the team and he was responsible for just over a third — 33.52 percent — of Carolina’s targeted air yards in Week 8. Without much success on the outside for the Panthers this season, Moore should continue to get his workload increased each week and he’ll get a matchup against the wide open defense of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 9.

Elijah McGuire, RB, New York Jets

Rostered - Yahoo: 6 percent : ESPN: 4.3 percent

Elijah McGuire hasn’t played a game yet this season, but he returned to practice last week and is eligible to return to games this week. Bilal Powell has a neck injury and the severity is unknown as well as how much time he’ll miss. The Jets elevated DeAngelo Henderson from the practice squad for Sunday’s game against the Bears, but it’s likely McGuire, the Jets’ 2016 seventh-round pick, would take on the bigger role in the offense behind Isaiah Crowell. Last year McGuire started two games, rushed for 315 yards on 88 attempts and caught 17 passes for 177 yards.

Malcolm Brown, RB, Los Angeles Rams

Rostered - Yahoo: 3 percent | ESPN: 2.9 percent

This is going to be a true stash, especially for Todd Gurley owners and not just for an injury. There’s a chance the Rams clinch a playoff spot and a bye early enough that sitting star players over the past few weeks could be an option for Los Angeles. Instead of making that a fantasy disaster, you could hold on to Brown, who has seen playing time in all eight games this season. He has rushed 37 times for 189 yards and with how well Sean McVay creates open running lanes for his backs — Gurley has seen a box of 8-or-more defenders on fewer than 10 percent of his runs thanks to the wide open 11 personnel look of the offense — Brown would be a usable fantasy back even if most of the Rams’ other skill players were on the bench. It might feel like that scenario is still far down the road, but you can never be too prepared too early.