Week 9 Waiver Wire Tight End Priority List | Picking Between Trey McBride, Taysom Hill, Michael Mayer and Luke Musgrave

The tight end position is typically the toughest one to find a multitude of playmakers at, but the week 9 waiver wire is a fairly deep one at the position.

Using FantasySP’s Fantasy Assistant tool and predictive adds, let’s take a look at some of the top waiver wire options at tight end and determine how you should be prioritizing them within the position. We’ll stick with players who have a pre-waiver own percentage of below 50%.

I already published a story on quarterbacks, another on running backs and a third on wide receivers in this criteria, so be sure to check those out if you are set at tight end but lacking at other positions.

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Sought After Waiver Wire Tight Ends

While there’s a bunch of tight end waiver wire options, not many of them fit my criteria. However, Arizona Cardinals’ Trey McBride, New Orleans Saints’ Taysom Hill, Las Vegas Raiders’ Michael Mayer and Green Bay Packers’ Luke Musgrave are all guys owned in under 50% of leagues that could potentially help you out moving forward.

Let’s start with maybe the hottest name on the waiver wire this week, McBride. He started in place of the injured Zach Ertz and delivered one of the best showings from the position this season.

McBride was targeted a whopping 14 times in week 8, catching 10 passes for 95 yards and a touchdown. He played 63 snaps and made two grabs on three red zone targets.

The second-year tight end had been involved a bit on offense all season, but the injury to Ertz opened up a big void. He might not be able to replicate those numbers every week, but on an offense lacking a ton of veteran playmakers, McBride has the chance to consistently produce for Arizona.

Hill had arguably his best showing of the season in week 8. He simply did it all, tallying 121 total yards.

Hill passed for 44 yards, completing one of his two passes. He caught one of his two targets for a 14-yard gain. Hill made his biggest impact on the ground, rushing nine times for 63 yards and two scores.

Hill has been playing more snaps of late, although he was only on the field for 29 offensive snaps this past week. There’s still a point to be made, which is that Hill is utilized heavily when he’s on the field, and I don’t see a reason why that wouldn’t continue, as that’s when the offense is at its best.

Mayer was a tight end I loved coming off a 75-yard performance a couple weeks ago. He hasn’t done much of anything the past two weeks, with just 32 receiving yards on three catches and six targets.

The low numbers aren’t for a lack of snaps, as he’s played over 40 the past two weeks. The Raiders’ offense simply stinks right now, and with Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers currently on the team, along with Josh Jacobs, there’s several mouths to feed before Mayer.

The Packers’ offense is also a mess right now, which gives a guy like Musgrave the chance to carve out a consistent role for himself. Instead of improving as the season has gone along, Musgrave’s numbers have actually dipped in recent weeks.

He hasn’t topped 35 receiving yards since week 3 after accomplishing the feat twice in the third three weeks. He also hasn’t scored a touchdown yet. Like Mayer, it isn’t because of a lack of snaps, as he’s played over 40 in the past three contests.

The Priority List

There’s two hot names on this list, and then two names that might have to be your last resort.

I think McBride shouldn’t only be your top waiver wire tight end option, but also your top waiver wire option at any position. I like his outlook in the team’s offense, regardless of who the team decides to start at quarterback each week.

Give me Hill next. His role isn’t really set in stone, but he’s going to be involved somehow, someway every week. He’s a possible flex option each week now, even if the touchdowns stop happening.

Musgrave and Mayer are two guys I’d stay away from completely on the waiver wire in standard leagues. If you put in claims for McBride and Hill and they both fail, then you can reassess the free agent pool at tight end before making a decision on who to add. In deeper leagues, I’d give the slight edge to Mayer because he’s shown the potential to put together bigger performances.