Guillotine League Week 8 Waiver Wire Options & FAAB Breakdown

Welcome to the Week 8 guillotine column, where I go through the top players from the teams that got axed last week, focusing on the waiver wire and FAAB strategies.

We have no teams on byes this week so at least we get a break there. However, the injuries are continuing to pile up so it's likely many of you are scrambling to get replacements from chopped rosters.

Before I get into Week 8, here’s some pertinent information on guillotine leagues.

How it works:

• Set up and draft your team just like traditional fantasy football
• Each week the lowest-scoring team gets eliminated
• All of the players from the eliminated team become free agents
• A weekly FAAB bidding war starts among the remaining teams
• Survive the chop and be crowned champion

Because it's a survivor-style format, you can start leagues any week of the season for as long as you want!

Get in now!

Once again there are some big names on the largest chopped list with four of the top 10 directly the result of an injury, a few who were collateral damages of injuries, and one guy who was on a bye (CeeDee Lamb).

Here are the top 10 players chopped across all positions and the percentage of leagues where they were axed.

Quarterbacks

Just four QBs were among the top 50 players chopped in Week 7.

With just 11 teams remaining, the QB position is not one to drop a large sum of money on. Jayden Daniels is a mild exception, as the dual-threat QB was the QB3 in fantasy points until last week when he sustained a rib injury. His rushing floor is juicy and his arm presents serious upside. He may miss time though, so bid accordingly. He should go for $50 - $75.

The other three QBs on this list are team-dependent with some warts, but if you’re struggling for QB points, throw $25 at whichever one you prefer.

Standard Waiver QBs

• Caleb Williams (37.8% available) - $3
• Tua Tagovailoa (84.7% available) - $1

Running Backs

Within the Top 50 most chopped players, 18 of them were RBs in Week 7, down from 20 last week.

Alvin Kamara’s fantasy production has fallen with each injury sustained in the Saints’ offense. In Weeks 1-4, he was the RB1 in PPR scoring, and in the last three contests, while missing key o-line pieces, Kamara put up RB14 numbers. Derek Carr should be back which will help things but don’t go crazy bidding on the New Orleans RB, aim for around $75.

Jonathan Taylor was chopped in 15.3% of leagues which shouldn't be too surprising. There's optimism that Taylor will be back this week but he gets a tough Houston defensive unit that ranks fifth in RB schedule-adjusted fantasy points allowed (aFPA) and to pile on, Indy faces the fourth-ranked Vikings in that metric the next week. When healthy, he’s valuable but ankle sprains are tricky so I’d be conservative with around $100.

If you want consistency, look no further than David Montgomery. He did sustain an injury early last Sunday but did return to limited snaps. The 27-year-old was the RB8 in PPR scoring on a per-game basis from Weeks 1-6 and is a goal-line favorite of Dan Campbell. He’ll continue to produce in every tilt and is a valuable asset worthy of $200 in FAAB.

Some other RBs on this list worth bidding on are James Cook, De’Von Achane, Tony Pollard, and Jordan Mason. Aim for around the $45-75 range.

Standard Waiver RBs

• Jonathon Brooks (50.5% available) - $2
• Ray Davis (55.2% available) -$1

Wide Receivers

Twenty-two WRs were among the 50 most chopped players after the Week 7 games finished.

The 49ers need Deebo Samuel back after losing Brandon Aiyuk for the season, and the good news is he’s a young professional athlete so pneumonia should be shortlived for the 28-year-old. Samuel was the most axed WR last week at 17% and he does have a bye in Week 10 which lowers his price tag a bit. I’d throw $70-80 his way.

It looks like Tyreek Hill will get his QB back this week which certainly provides some hope that his fantasy value will return. We still have to temper expectations after what we’ve seen from Miami this season but he is still worth somewhere in the $50 -75 range based on the freak WR that we know Hill to be.

The game script was not a friend to DeVonta Smith last week and he was on 16% of chopped rosters. A soft schedule is on the horizon with contests against the Bengals, Jaguars, Cowboys, and Commanders on tap who sit 24th, 32nd, 26th, and 25th, respectively in WR aFPA, so he’s worth the add for $55.

CeeDee Lamb is the WR16 in both overall PPR points and on a per-game basis, which is underwhelming based on draft capital. The Cowboys are coming off a bye where they hopefully figured some things out to allow Lamb to get back to scoring fantasy points for us. Dallas should continue to keep slinging the ball which provides hope and with his bye over with, Lamb is arguably the most expensive player on the chopped list this week ($250).

Standard Waiver WRs

• Demario Douglas (45.3% available) $40
• Jauan Jennings (59.2% available) - $45
• Ricky Pearsall (93.4% available) -$8
• Jalen McMillan (95.4% available) $20
• Sterling Shephard (99.1% available) $15

Tight Ends

There were six TEs among the 50 most chopped players last week which is one more than last week’s.

Travis Kelce as a boom-or-bust guy is not something we saw coming in 2024 but we’re here. His targets have ranged from three to 10 from week to week and he’s averaging 8.8 PPR points, thanks to defenses scheming to defend him more with other weapons not available for the Chiefs. He’s worth the gamble if your TE is not cutting it, but keep it mild and under $75.

Trey McBride and Evan Engram are likely upgrades for your current TE and could be added for the modest price of $10-12.

Standard Waiver TEs

• Hunter Henry (48.7% available) -$2
• Cade Otton (58% available) - $1

For even more guillotine information from the man who invented the format Paul Charchian, check out the podcast Chop: The Guillotine League Podcast.