Week 8 Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Waiver Targets: Xavier Legette, Chimere Dike and More

Week 8 was a good one for superstar wide receivers. Players like Ja'Marr Chase, A.J. Brown, CeeDee Lamb, and Davante Adams all had monster games, just to mention a few of the household names to come through for fantasy managers.

Unfortunately, all the big names eating meant there wasn't room for many breakout performances. With that said, there are still some players worth considering, who either had big games on Sunday or have simply been solid all year. Let's break them down. 

Check out the top waiver wire options at each position every week. Explore the best in-season fantasy football tool to manage your team and get league rankings with the Fantasy Assistant. Use our trade analyzer and trade value charts to break down trade scenarios with Fair Trade ratings.

Wan'Dale Robinson, New York Giants (53.7% Rostered)

I have literally listed Robinson in every single one of my in-season wide receiver articles so far this season; I'm not going to stop until he is rostered in far more leagues.

With six catches for 95 yards and a touchdown on 12 (!!) targets yesterday, Robinson is now the half-PPR WR21 for the season. There's no reason to think he can't keep providing solid numbers, so jump on him now if the rest of your league is still sleeping. 

Darnell Mooney, Atlanta Falcons (45.6% Rostered)

Mooney finished 2024 as the WR31 in half-PPR points. If we remove an injury-shortened Week 11, he averaged a very respectable 10.5 points per game. So far this season, he has missed time with both shoulder and hamstring injuries. But when he has played, he has still been a solid part of the Falcons' passing offense.

In his three complete games this season, Mooney has posted target shares of 19%, 23%, and 13%. His air yards shares have been 36%, 40%, and 38%. That's an undeniably exciting role as a downfield target for the Falcons. This week, he caught three of five targets for 8.3 points, a solid outing. As long as this usage picks up, we should see more solid outings (not to mention some huge weeks when he hits on a big play) in Mooney's future. 

Xavier Legette, Carolina Panthers (14.2% Rostered)

As mentioned, this was a week of big performances from big names. However, there's one name in this week's top 10 receivers that sticks out like a sore thumb, and that is Legette. While the fantasy community was excited for Jalen Coker's 2025 debut in Week 7, Legette showed that he is not going to just step aside and give up his starting spot.

The 2024 first-rounder led the Panthers with an 89% route participation rate, just ahead of this year's first-rounder Tetairoa McMillan and well ahead of former UDFA Coker (44%). Legette made the most of his routes, racking up a team-high 11 targets for a 34% target share and a 47% air yards share. He caught nine of those looks for 92 yards and a TD, finishing with 19.7 half-PPR points.

Now, I should note that those 19.7 points were more than Legette had scored in the entire season combined heading into Week 7. He missed a couple of weeks with a hamstring injury, but was still a complete fantasy non-factor in his four previous healthy outings. However, this is still an impressive performance.

Legette also recorded 60 of his 92 yards after Andy Dalton took over for the injured Bryce Young; maybe he can continue to produce if Young misses time. At the end of the day, if Quentin Johnston can have a third-year breakout, we shouldn't be surprised if Legette can also make good on his prospect potential.  

Kayshon Boutte, New England Patriots (21.2% Rostered)

Boutte's usage isn't great. He has just a 69% route participation rate for the season (75% in Week 7). That number leads the Patriots' WR room, but it is 65th among WRs with at least three games played. His 12% target share is even worse, 71st at the position.

However, Boutte has one key thing going for him: with a team-leading 27% air yards share, he is Drake Maye's primary deep threat. Given that Maye is breaking out as one of the league's premier quarterbacks, that is a valuable role to have. Boutte only saw two targets on Sunday, but one of those two targets went for a 39-yard TD. That was his fourth score of the season, with an average distance of over 27 yards. 

Relying on big plays for fantasy production means Boutte will always be a high-variance option. In shallow leagues, where consistency is key (and readily available), he's not particularly appealing. But in deeper formats, it's hard to look past the fact that he is currently the WR25 in half-PPR formats. As long as the deep balls keep hitting, consider riding the wave with Boutte as a boom/bust flex option. 

Chimere Dike, Tennessee Titans (1.4% Rostered)

At first glance, this is an exciting situation. The Titans fired their head coach, Brian Callahan, heading into Week 7. Immediately, fourth-round rookie Dike broke out with 14.9 points, easily the best fantasy outing of his young career. He showcased big-play ability on a 38-yard TD in the first quarter and also added three more catches to finish with 70 total yards.

Unfortunately, things get worse the deeper we look. Even with Calvin Ridley sidelined, Dike was the Titans' clear WR3 behind Elic Ayomanor and Van Jefferson, with just a 67% route participation rate. His 12% target share was also nothing to write home about.

Meanwhile, Tennessee's offense is arguably the worst in the league, with or without Callahan. With all that in mind, Dike is best viewed as a speculative stash in deep formats, nothing more. 

Malik Washington, Miami Dolphins (16.5% Rostered)

I have always been a believer in Washington, as his per-route numbers coming out of Virginia were downright disgusting (in a good way). When Tyreek Hill went down in Week 4, I hoped that Washington, who had served as the team's WR3 up until that point, would see his role expand. Unfortunately, that didn't quite happen. Nick Westbrook-Ikhine stepped up to be Miami's primary X receiver, while Washington remained in his part-time gadget role. 

In fact, Washington's route participation rate was lower in the first two games without Hill (54%) than it was with him (64%). But this changed on Sunday. Washington didn't just set easily a new personal high in route participation rate; he also led the entire Miami offense at a starter-level 78%. He also led the team with seven targets (23%) share. As usual, his ADOT was low at just 5.6 yards, but that was a step in the right direction from his season average. 

If he can maintain this increased usage going forward, the big question for Washington's fantasy will be whether Miami's offense can stay respectable. The Dolphins ranked just barely above average in EPA per play coming into Week 7, but that certainly won't have lasted following a second straight three-interception game from Tua Tagovailoa.

If Mike McDaniel can get things back on track and continues to feature Washington as a designed target for YAC opportunities, the second-year WR could find PPR flex value. If that doesn't happen, feel free to send him back to the waiver wire.