With week 7 in the books, we are officially into the second half of the 2014 fantasy football season. For most leagues, week 8 represents the home-stretch and the last 6 to 7 games that you have in order to make the playoffs.  These games will be very important since they will cover 2 of the most harsh bye weeks in the NFL this year.  Weeks 9 and 10 both include 6 teams on bye, which represent more than a third of the NFL teams.  These weeks along with more till the last week of the regular fantasy season are going to make or break most teams.  Even those that have started strong, could find themselves facing elimination in the playoffs or worse yet not making it all if they don’t constantly keep track of what the NFL and their league teams are doing. In week 8, there will be a few opportunities to make your roster even stronger, and with more bye weeks coming, it’s a good chance to stock up with these Hot Off The Wire waiver pickups for this week.

Week 8 Top Waiver Wire Pickups

Running Backs

• Tre Mason – Getting a chance to showcase what he could do, Mason ran for 85 yards on 18 carries and scored a touchdown.   He got the carries despite a moderately healthy Zac Stacy on the bench, which could mean a changing of the guard is in order and for his owners to take note quickly. That situation is still fluid with Cunningham also getting some carries plus all of the receptions out of the backfield.  Benny also added a score from the air so this puts owners in a tough situation, but Mason appears to be the ball carrier for now.  He ran well and showed a lot of a dynamic running ability while toting the rock.  The real problem for fantasy owners is that even the coach has stated there is nothing wrong with Stacy and that he could see 20 plus carries next week.  This situation is quite scary for fantasy owners because there will be 3 potential candidates to get the call so it’s a tough gamble to make.  If you have room, get Mason and stash him, if you own Stacy, you can’t really drop him yet so this is a tough call.
• Denard Robinson – He got the call for the Jags this week and delivered a gem. He ran for 127 yards on 22 carries and got into the end-zone.  He should continue to get touches and get decent fantasy points as long as they stick with most one person, but that appears to be harder than not for them.
• Anthony Dixon – Looks to be the next in line for the Bills who suffered a double blow last week losing both Fred Jackson and CJ Spiller in the same game. Both appear to be out for a couple of weeks so Dixon should see the majority of the carries this week, but look for Bryce Brown to get a fair share of the touches as well.
• Bryce Brown – They want to see what he can do.  Brown was been a nice backup and showed he could carry the full load when he was with the Eagles. He has been known to break off big runs as well so they could be looking to work Brown into the mix more, which should put Dixon on pace for about 10-15 carries, and Brown getting 8-12 carries, but that could change with a hot hand from either.
• Jerick McKinnon – No, it’s not a fluke and it’s been said to add him already for several weeks. He is getting his touches and making things happen and just racked up his second 100 yard game of the year. What more can you ask for in fantasy?
• Jonathan Stewart – He ran okay on his return chugging out 55 yards on 14 carries.  He could provide some flex numbers if you are really hurting at the RB position or in deep leagues.

Wide Receivers

• Doug Baldwin – After getting 7 catches for 123 yards and 1 touchdown on 11 targets following the Harvin trade, many will be adding this veteran receiver. He would be a good option as WR2 going forward and should see plenty of targets each week.
• Martavis Bryant – Making his NFL debut, the rookie 4th rounder didn’t disappoint catching a huge touchdown in the back of the end-zone on the run.  He was targeted the 2nd most times on the team behind Brown, and looks to be making a move toward Wheaton’s spot, who didn’t appear in many of the snaps at the end of the game.
• Jarvis Landry – He has moved ahead of Gibson and will be the primary slot receivers for the Dolphins. He should see a decent amount of targets, but what makes him valuable is the return yards that he gets.  If your league allows return yards then he becomes even more valuable and could be a solid WR3 or flex option.
• Andrew Hawkins – Coming off his first 100 yard game of the year, Hawkins is a solid bye week option for WR3 for deep leagues. He leads his team in targets, receptions, and yards, but also ranks near top 20 in the NFL for targets and receptions.  This is a guy clearly getting the ball and should see more work until Gordon comes back in week 12.