Fantasy football waiver wire lookahead: 5 players to stash before Week 8

Tom Vecchio, USA TODAY Fri, October 30, 2026 at 4:55 PM UTC · 3 min read About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement With the fantasy football season in the thick of the schedule, being ahead of the curve is more important than ever. Bye weeks and injuries have turned rosters upside down, and it's forcing us to look ahead to next week. Who are some players you can look to stash now, before Sunday's games get underway?

Listen, I'm not here to discuss whether or not McCarthy is truly good, but he's slinging the ball right now, and it looks like the Giants like him. He's on a bye week, so picking him up means you won't have to worry about that for the rest of the season, and frankly he's a solid streaming option if your top starting quarterback has their bye coming up. With some concerns/issues with the Giants' backfield, the passing game could take the front foot in their offense.

I will continue to believe in Black and continue to say he is one of the elite handcuff stashes in fantasy football. We had a bit of an injury scare last week with Christian McCaffrey, which allowed Black to pile up 10.90 PPR points, along with his first NFL touchdown. Even when we saw CMC fully healthy, the 49ers liked to mix Black in a bit, where he had at least five carries in six of the prior seven games. If CMC were to miss time, Black would be the highest priority waiver option all season.

Week 5: Arizona Cardinals running back Jeremiyah Love carries the ball against the Detroit Lions at State Farm Stadium. The Cardinals wore their all-black alternate uniform for the game. (Matt Kartozian, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) Week 5: New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) hands the ball to running back Rhamondre Stevenson against the Las Vegas Raiders at Gillette Stadium. New England wore its legendary "Pat Patriot" throwback for the 45-17 win. (David Butler II, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) Week 5: Green Bay Packers running back Marshawn Lloyd (32) celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field. The Packers debuted their "Rivalries" uniforms - featuring a color palette has been slightly altered with "desaturated vintage green" jerseys and "alabaster" pants and helmets trimmed with the team’s familiar gold. The Packers won the game over their ancient rivals, 31-7. (Wm. Glasheen/Appleton Post-Cresc, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) Week 4: Carolina Panthers wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan (4) celebrates with AJ Dillon (28) after scoring a touchdown against the Detroit Lions during the "Sunday Night Football" game at Bank of America Stadium. The Panthers wore their all-black alternate uniforms for the game. (Bob Donnan, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) Week 4: New York Giants quarterback Jameis Winston throws during a 36-24 win against the Arizona Cardinals at MetLife Stadium. The Giants wore throwback uniforms reminiscent of the team's look in the 1980s on a day when the team celebrated its Super Bowl championship during the 1986 season. (Vincent Carchietta, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) Week 4: Cleveland Browns tight end Harold Fannin Jr. celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Huntington Bank Field. The Browns wore their "Alpha Dawg" alternate uniform for the "Thursday Night Football" game. (Ken Blaze, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) Week 3: Indianapolis Colts kicker Spencer Shrader (3) celebrates with long snapper Luke Rhodes (46) after Shrader kicked a 58-yard field goal against the Houston Texans at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Colts debuted their "Anvil Strike" uniform - featuring an unfamiliar gray uniform and glossy, metallic blue helmet with the familiar horseshoe logo in white. The Colts won, 19-17, for their first win of the season.

Week 3: Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) hands off to running back James Cook III against the Los Angeles Chargers at New Highmark Stadium. For the game, the Bills debuted their "Nickel City" alternate uniforms - the most striking element being the blue "Charge Helmet," adorned simply with an oversized cutout of the team's familiar logo. The Bills won the game, 24-16 .

Week 2: Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford (9) hands the ball to running back Kyren Williams (23) during a 28-6 win on "Monday Night Football" against the New York Giants at SoFi Stadium. The Rams debuted their new "Classic Sol" uniforms, an homage to the team's look during its 1951 championship season.

Week 2: Arizona Cardinals quarterback Jacoby Brissett (7) hands off to running back Jeremiyah Love against the Seattle Seahawks at State Farm Stadium. The Cardinals wore their desert-themed "Rivalries" uniforms in the 31-7 loss to the Seahawks. Arizona's "Rivalries" look was one of the best to debut in 2025 .

Week 2: The Baltimore Ravens' Trey Hendrickson (91) reacts after a sack against the New Orleans Saints at M&T Bank Stadium. The Ravens wore their "White Noise" uniforms, just one of the team's new uniform combinations that will debut during the 2026 season. The Ravens lost the game, 24-17.

Week 2: New York Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson (5) celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Green Bay Packers at MetLife Stadium. The Jets debuted their "White Out" uniforms for their home opener, which ended in a 20-17 overtime loss.

1 / 18 Can't-miss alternate and throwback uniforms of the 2026 NFL season Week 5: Arizona Cardinals running back Jeremiyah Love carries the ball against the Detroit Lions at State Farm Stadium. The Cardinals wore their all-black alternate uniform for the game. (Matt Kartozian, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) 1 / 18 Can't-miss alternate and throwback uniforms of the 2026 NFL season Week 5: Arizona Cardinals running back Jeremiyah Love carries the ball against the Detroit Lions at State Farm Stadium. The Cardinals wore their all-black alternate uniform for the game. (Matt Kartozian, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) 2 / 18 Can't-miss alternate and throwback uniforms of the 2026 NFL season Week 5: New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) hands the ball to running back Rhamondre Stevenson against the Las Vegas Raiders at Gillette Stadium. New England wore its legendary "Pat Patriot" throwback for the 45-17 win. (David Butler II, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) 3 / 18 Can't-miss alternate and throwback uniforms of the 2026 NFL season Week 5: Green Bay Packers running back Marshawn Lloyd (32) celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field. The Packers debuted their "Rivalries" uniforms - featuring a color palette has been slightly altered with "desaturated vintage green" jerseys and "alabaster" pants and helmets trimmed with the team’s familiar gold. The Packers won the game over their ancient rivals, 31-7. (Wm. Glasheen/Appleton Post-Cresc, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) 4 / 18 Can't-miss alternate and throwback uniforms of the 2026 NFL season Week 4: Carolina Panthers wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan (4) celebrates with AJ Dillon (28) after scoring a touchdown against the Detroit Lions during the "Sunday Night Football" game at Bank of America Stadium. The Panthers wore their all-black alternate uniforms for the game. (Bob Donnan, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) 5 / 18 Can't-miss alternate and throwback uniforms of the 2026 NFL season Week 4: New York Giants quarterback Jameis Winston throws during a 36-24 win against the Arizona Cardinals at MetLife Stadium. The Giants wore throwback uniforms reminiscent of the team's look in the 1980s on a day when the team celebrated its Super Bowl championship during the 1986 season. (Vincent Carchietta, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) 6 / 18 Can't-miss alternate and throwback uniforms of the 2026 NFL season Week 4: Cleveland Browns tight end Harold Fannin Jr. celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Huntington Bank Field. The Browns wore their "Alpha Dawg" alternate uniform for the "Thursday Night Football" game. (Ken Blaze, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) 7 / 18 Can't-miss alternate and throwback uniforms of the 2026 NFL season Week 3: Indianapolis Colts kicker Spencer Shrader (3) celebrates with long snapper Luke Rhodes (46) after Shrader kicked a 58-yard field goal against the Houston Texans at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Colts debuted their "Anvil Strike" uniform - featuring an unfamiliar gray uniform and glossy, metallic blue helmet with the familiar horseshoe logo in white. The Colts won, 19-17, for their first win of the season.

We all know Tyson has been out since training camp, but he should be on his way back. Just to be clear, this is a bit of speculation since the Saints are on their bye week right now, but they have a very favorable set of games coming up after this bye week. Tyson is set to be their WR2 behind Chris Olave, and with how bad their running game is, Tyson should see solid volume. However, his overall playing time might be inconsistent at first as they ramp him back up.

While the Commanders ' season is likely "lost" in the grand scheme of things, they're still going to have fantasy value since their defense is bad. They give up a ton of points and are forced into heavier passing game scripts, which puts Treylon Burks in a decent spot. We know that Terry McLaurin is done for the season, which puts Burks in a spot to be WR2 on the team, with the potential for WR1 work. Stefon Diggs' name has been brought up as a trade option, which would leave the Commanders with Burks and rookie Antonio Williams as starting wide receivers.

Does anyone truly know what's going on with the Colts ? It looks like they're starting a fire sale, but the future is entirely unknown. Colts' starting and elite running back Jonathan Taylor has publicly stated that he has not requested a trade. While that might be true, if the Colts receive an insane offer for Taylor, they should always look to do what's in the best interest of the franchise. If they do trade him, that would push McGowan into the starting role. He would be in line for consistent volume and is only rostered in 24% of Yahoo leagues.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fantasy football waiver wire lookahead: 5 players to stash before Week 8

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