⁠Fantasy football last-minute pickups for Week 8 - ESPN

At various points during the fantasy football season, injuries, bye weeks and breaking news can cause you to need reinforcements for your fantasy lineup. Every Friday throughout the 2026 NFL season, Matt Bowen will offer some late-week pickup options at each of the primary fantasy positions to help fill those holes, with an emphasis on deeper leagues.

Because of that, this column will focus mostly on players rostered in under 50% of ESPN leagues, with occasional exceptions.

This week, we will start with a veteran passer in a positive matchup and a dual-threat option who is coming off a season-best performance in Week 7. At wide receiver, I see two options with higher floors given their route tree and anticipated usage, plus I have an upside play, too. As usual, the running back spot is pretty lean, but there are some deeper-league targets. And we'll finish with a tight end seeing consistent volume and take a shot at a D/ST in a tough week to find quality matchups.

Geno Smith, New York Jets (25.4% rostered; vs. Raiders)
Smith had 23.48 fantasy points last week against Miami (his second-highest total of the season) and he was really efficient with the ball, completing 76.7% of his throws. Smith finished with 287 yards and three touchdowns, plus the emergence of rookie wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. — two straight games of 100 or more yards receiving — gives the Jets a rising playmaker. On Sunday, it's a matchup with a Raiders defense ranking in the bottom five against quarterbacks, so let's get Smith in the lineup as a fringe QB1.

Malik Willis, Miami Dolphins (9.1% rostered; at Patriots)
Willis had a season-best 26.02 points against the Jets in Week 7, and while the passing numbers don't jump here, Willis did throw two