Russell Gage (WR, ATL) - Week 9 Waiver Wire Pickups

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ANALYSIS: It could have been a fluke, or it could have been the first effects of Mohammed Sanu’s trade to the Patriots. Russell Gage and all of his eight combined targets from Weeks 1 to 7 were bumped all the way up to nine in Week 8 alone against Seattle. No matter who is at the quarterback position, Atlanta is a bad team primed to pass and pass the ball again until the game is over, so Gage can become quite a free acquisition.

You already know how it went. And yes, you read it right: Gage amassed all of nine targets this past weekend while catching seven of those passes for a good 58 yards playing under reserve-QB Matt Schaub. That last bit wasn’t a problem at all, and although Matt Ryan should come back soon enough, it looks like the Falcons system--and the fact that they need to catch up often--is built to make any QB look good (Schaub finished with 460 yards on 39 completions).

Up to Week 8, Gage had logged fantasy points in just four of the seven games he had played topping at 2.3 points in Week 7. He was able to score as many as 12.8 this weekend against Seattle and now profiles as the WR3 of the team only behind Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley. Those two are going to eat most of the opportunities (along with TE Austin Hooper), but Gage has become a weekly starter in Atlanta. The Falcons go on a bye in Week 9 so this is the best moment to target and stash/pick Gage up from waivers with most people skipping him. Atlanta will enter a span in which they’ll face five teams ranked 20th or worst in defense against WRs, so you know what to do.