Last week, the fantasy football world got obliterated by injuries. Thankfully, the wide receiver position mostly escaped unscathed. However, there are still a few wide receivers that will be potential hot waiver wire adds ahead of Week 9. One of those players is Cincinnati Bengals’ Tyler Boyd.
Should Tyler Boyd Be a Fantasy Waiver Wire Add in Week 9?
The former Pittsburgh Panther has spent his entire NFL career with the Bengals. While Boyd isn’t the star wide receiver he once was earlier in his career, the veteran still plays a critical role in Cincinnati’s passing attack.
Boyd is the WR52 for the year, averaging 7.6 half-point PPR fantasy points per game. More importantly, he has consistently earned targets — 6.3 per game — this season.
Boyd has seen at least seven targets in all but one game since Week 1, and he’s coming off a solid performance in the Week 8 win over the San Francisco 49ers.
Last week, the veteran wide receiver had only three targets. Yet, he caught all three for 40 receiving yards and a touchdown, scoring 12.1 fantasy points in the victory.
MORE: Week 9 WR Waiver Wire Targets
Boyd has a receiving touchdown in back-to-back games. Through those two games, he caught all 10 targets for 78 receiving yards, two touchdowns, and 25.4 fantasy points, totaling at least 12 fantasy points in both contests.
But while the veteran WR has been productive over the past few weeks, fantasy players should be skeptical.
Boyd has scored double-digit fantasy points in back-to-back games, but he scored fewer than 8.3 fantasy points in every other game this year, including less than seven points in all but one of the first five games this season.
Boyd has never been a high TD producer. He has averaged only 0.28 receiving touchdowns per game in his career. Furthermore, Boyd has only one season in his career with more than five receiving touchdowns. That year was 2018, when he scored seven receiving touchdowns in 14 games.
By comparison, Boyd is on pace for five receiving touchdowns this season, which is what he totaled in 2021 and 2022. He was the WR31 in 2021 and the WR38 in 2022, scoring fewer than 9.5 fantasy points per game in both years.
Fantasy players in deeper leagues should consider adding Boyd off the waiver wire. However, temper your expectations.
This season, the Bengals WR has averaged 12.7 fantasy points per game when finding the end zone and only 5.6 fantasy points per contest when he doesn’t.
Looking to make a trade in your fantasy league? Having trouble deciding who to start and who to sit? Setting DFS lineups? Check out PFN’s Free Fantasy Football Trade Analyzer, Start/Sit Optimizer, and DFS Lineup Optimizer to help you make the right decision!