The first week of the 2024 NFL season was wild, full of upsets, under-performers, possible breakouts, and injuries. We even had a third-act surprise when Christian McCaffrey was downgraded to out just hours before the 49ers’ contest against the New York Jets on Monday Night Football. With the injury bug already hitting rosters, depth is a necessity. Here are six names to consider picking up before Week 2.
Waiver Wire Week 2
Baker Mayfield
Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 42% Rostered
Baker Mayfield, in his second year with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, seems to have picked up right where he left off. It’s difficult to know if his success was primarily the result of playing a poor Washington defense, or largely due to his growth as an NFL QB. Either way, if you lost Jordan Love or have a mid-tier starter who let you down in Week 1, Mayfield could be an option. Against Washington, Mayfield threw 30 times for 289 yards and four touchdowns and finished with a QB rating of 146.4. He also added 21 yards on the ground. Judging by his 10% start rate, it was the type of performance very few expected. Mayfield won’t find as much success every week, but with weapons like Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Jalen McMillan, and Rachaad White, Mayfield could put up consistently solid numbers. This week he gets a Detroit secondary that Matthew Stafford picked apart (albeit in a loss) to the tune of 317 yards and one touchdown. Mayfield is my favorite QB pickup this week.
Tank Bigsby
Jacksonville Jaguars, 11% Rostered
Recommending Tank Bigsby always comes with a grain of salt. His rookie season was one of hope and disappointment. But after his first action in 2024, things are looking up for the second-year back. Against the Miami Dolphins Bigsby ran 12 times for 73 yards. His 12 carries were as many as starter Travis Etienne Jr. and he averaged 6.1 yards per carry compared to 3.7 for Etienne. But don’t hear what I’m not saying. There is no chance, barring injury, that Bigsby will overtake Etienne as the lead running back on the Jaguars, but one more performance like this and could certainly earn him more work. The one caveat to all of this is that, at least in this game, Etienne appeared to be the goal-line back and Bigsby had no presence in the passing game. He could grow into getting a bigger slice of that pie, but for now,, Bigsby that may take some time. That’s why I’m not recommending him as a start this week. He is merely someone you should pick up and keep your eyes on, and if his role continues to grow then he is someone you should consider for your lineup.
J.K. Dobbins
Los Angeles Chargers, 59% Rostered
J.K. Dobbins, on the other hand, could be someone to start in Week 2. Dobbins has had a difficult journey in his NFL career so far, suffering ACL and Achilles tears. But at just 25 years old there could still be some juice left in him, and if he continues to play like he did on Sunday he could have league-winning potential. Against the Raiders, Dobbins ran 10 times for 135 yards and a touchdown and was targeted three times. But he wasn’t just serviceable, he was electric. Dobbins had runs of 46 yards and 61 yards. He simply looked like the superior option to Gus Edwards’ plodding style. This could mean a larger role going forward. The one fear is another injury. But it’s impossible to predict when those might occur and in the meantime, I would reap the rewards. Dobbins finally looks healthy and against a Carolina defense that couldn’t do anything right in Week 1, allowing Alvin Kamara to finish with 110 combined yards and one touchdown, Dobbins could be in for another busy week.
Rashid Shaheed
New Orleans Saints, 44% Rostered
Rashid Shaheed is the definition of a boom-or-bust candidate. Any given week he can take a deep ball to the house, but he can also disappear completely if that doesn’t happen. Still, I recommend picking him up because when he hits, Shaheed can put up points in a hurry and he was tied (with Kamara) for the most targets on the team. If Shaheed is going to be heavily targeted then it stands to reason that his chances of taking advantage of producing increases. On Sunday, Shaheed finished with 73 yards and a touchdown on three catches. But 59 of those yards came on one play. This may be the best fantasy week he’ll have all season, and he may leave you disappointed more often than not. But the Saints are still in need of a consistent No. 2 receiver behind Chris Olave, and if Shaheed emerges as that receiver then his numbers could become much more consistent and valuable to a fantasy roster.
Demarcus Robinson/Tyler Johnson
Los Angeles Rams, 12% and 0% Rostered
I couldn’t choose between these two receivers so I’m recommending both. WR Puka Nacua is dealing with a PCL strain and is heading to IR which means he’ll miss several weeks. This could open the door for other wide receivers not named Cooper Kupp to step up and gain more work. Robinson has some recent history of fantasy success. In 2023, Robinson was a top-25 (or better) wide receiver in four of his last five matchups. Kupp will be hyper-targeted and should receive in the ballpark of 15-20 targets. But Stafford makes a lot of throws and should be able to support multiple fantasy-relevant pass-catchers. Robinson has the safer floor, but Tyler Johnson may have more upside. On Sunday Night Football, Johnson caught five of seven targets for 79 yards. But after a week of preparing for no Nacua and facing an Arizona defense that allowed Josh Allen to throw for 232 yards and two touchdowns we could see both Robinson and Johnson get heavily involved.
Isaiah Likely
Baltimore Ravens, 31% Rostered
Last Thursday in the season opener, Isaiah Likely showed out and showed off, receiving 12 targets from Lamar Jackson, catching nine of them for 111 yards and a touchdown. He almost had a second touchdown, but upon further review, his feet were deemed out of bounds. All of this was good enough to make him the overall TE1 of the week. Perhaps more telling was his involvement. Likely played nearly as many snaps as starter Mark Andrews and his 12 targets were a team-high. Likely was a popular pickup last season as well after Andrews’ season was ended by injury. While filling in, Likely finished with four top-10 performances, and I like his chances of doing so in Week 2 against the Raiders defense if Andrews is out. Even if Andrews does play, Likely could have earned himself more playing time. He is the No. 1 priority pickup at tight end this week.
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