Week 2 Waiver Wire Targets
Can you believe Week One of the NFL season is already in the books? It’s crazy how fast time flies, and if you are anything like a majority of fantasy football players, you might be panicking after your Week One performance.
Thankfully the season doesn’t end in one week, so you have plenty of time to make changes to your roster, and that includes hitting the waiver wire. The first few weeks of the waiver wire are always the most exciting. You get to see what offenses looked like, who played the most snaps, and who already went down with an injury.
Please don’t panic after one week of action, but do make sure to scour the waiver wire this week to see if there is anyone out there worth adding, especially after a few key players did go down with multiple-week injuries. That said, it is only Week One, so be careful with your FAAB. Yes there are some players (notably Running Backs) who you need to try and grab, but always be careful with boom Wide Receivers. They often don’t repeat.
Gus Edwards and Justice Hill – Running Back – Baltimore Ravens (21% and 0% rostered)
Our first massive blow to a starter came immediately in Week 1, with J.K. Dobbins tearing his achilles late in their game against Houston.
Justice Hill ended up getting two touchdown scores in relief, although he only rushed for nine yards on eight attempts. He did not record a catch.
Gus Edwards didn’t score, but used his eight carries for a much better 32 yards.
Moving forward, Edwards and Hill will probably get pretty even number of carries, with a slight edge to Edwards (in my humble opinion). Hill hasn’t shown much in relief over the last season with both Edwards and Dobbins missing a lot of time, so he will have a bit to prove.
I personally will be using my FAAB on Edwards first. I believe he is the overall better Running Back who has averaged over 5.0 ypc for his career. Either way, both Edwards and Hill are solid pickups.
FAAB: $25 for Edwards, $15 for Hill
Tyler Allgeier – Running Back – Atlanta Falcons (44% rostered)
Tyler Allgeier was all but forgotten this offseason after rookie Bijan Robinson was drafted by the Falcons. Everyone was so lost in the “shiny new toy” that they dismissed a second-year back who already rushed for over 1000 yards in his first season.
Now of course Bijan Robinson had himself a fine game too, but Allgeier went off against the Panthers for 75 yards and two touchdowns on only 15 carries. He also caught three passes for 19 yards.
It seems like the Falcons will be a running team, with not a ton of weapons for the passing game. Desmond Ridder only threw the ball 18 times, so we can expect more of the same moving forward.
Seems like both Robinson and Allgeier have shown they can run and catch the ball, so we will see a nice healthy split between the two (at least until one of them starts to struggle).
Still, Allgeier is looking like a good NFL back who is must-roster, especially if Robinson happens to miss any time this season.
FAAB: $20
Kenneth Gainwell – Running Back – Philadelphia Eagles (22% rostered)
Kenneth Gainwell is another back that was seemingly cast aside by fantasy players this offseason, getting drafted behind D’Andre Swift and Rashaad Penny.
And yet Penny was a healthy scratch and Swift only saw one carry. Even fellow long-time Eagle Boston Scott only saw one carry. It was Gainwell who garnered most of the work, rushing 14 times for 54 yards. He also caught four passes for 20 yards.
Now that stat line is nothing to write home about, but they did play in the rain against an always tough New England defense. I have no clue what is wrong with Penny and Swift, but for now it seems like Gainwell has first crack at this backfield.
He should be rostered in most leagues until the Eagles start using other backs.
FAAB: $10
Kyren Williams – Running Back – Los Angeles Rams (10% rostered)
Cam Akers is back to his inefficient self, running 22 times for 29 yards against the Seahawks.
On the other hand, second year back Kyren Williams rushed 15 times for 52 yards and two touchdowns. He was targeted twice but failed to record a catch.
Akers came on strong in the second half of the 2022 season, but really struggled in this one. Williams wasn’t necessarily electric himself, but he still doubled Akers’ yardage with seven fewer carries.
The Rams were a bit of a surprise in Week 1, blowing out a good Seahawk team in Seattle…without their star Wide Receiver Cooper Kupp.
That bodes well for Williams, who may see his usage increase if he keeps outperforming Akers.
FAAB: $5
Puka Nacua – Wide Receiver – Los Angeles Rams (3% rostered)
Just as we all expected, rookie Puka Nacua lit it up in Week 1, catching 10 of 15 targets for 119 yards. The first year player out of BYU basically became Cooper Kupp, which bodes very well for at least the next few weeks.
With Kupp on IR and out till Week Five, Nacua looks like he will indeed take on the Kupp role. Now Tutu Atwell had a nice day as well, catching six-of-eight targets for 119 yards as well.
Still, Atwell probably is more of a downfield guy whereas Nacua may be a monster PPR type player moving forward. Even when Kupp returns, Nacua may be a big part of this offense…and as always with hamstring injuries, the lingering issue could hold Kupp back from really performing early this season.
Now he is a rookie, and it was one game, but I do believe Nacua is worth a shot for most leagues just in the off chance he continues this run.
FAAB: $10
Jordan Love – Quarterback – Green Bay Packers (16% rostered)
Jordan Love had some ups and downs in his first real start as the Packer Quarterback, but finished a solid performance with a decent fantasy game. He completed 15 of 27 attempts for 245 yards and three touchdowns. He carried the ball three times for 12 yards.
The completion percentage is a bit worrying, but he didn’t look uncomfortable in the pocket and really didn’t make any awful throws. And they beat down the Bears without their number one Receiver Christian Watson, who sat with a hamstring injury.
Figuring they stay healthy, Love is an intriguing Quarterback option for those who need a Quarterback change after one week. The Packers have a fairly favorable schedule in the upcoming weeks, with games against Atlanta, New Orleans (that will be a test), Detroit and Las Vegas.
I’m not 100% sold on Love yet, but I think you at least can play him in three of the four games coming up if need be.
FAAB: $5
Kendrick Bourne – Wide Receiver – New England Patriots (2% rostered)
Kendrick Bourne had some fantasy relevance in the last few years, especially when Jakobi Meyers missed time. Now Meyers is gone, yet Bourne was still undervalued thanks to DeVante Parker and newly added JuJu Smith-Schuster.
Parker ended up sitting with a knee injury, and JuJu only caught four of seven targets for 32 yards. JuJu has also had a bit of bad press lately, with reports coming out that he has a bad knee that might not last all season long. With his and Parkers’ past injury history, Bourne may end up leading this receiving corps.
Bourne finished with six catches on 11 targets for 64 yards and two touchdowns. This game was rainy and against a tough Eagle defense, so we shall see how this offense performs against a Miami defense that gave up over 30 points to the Chargers.
FAAB: $4
Allen Robinson II – Wide Receiver – Pittsburgh Steelers (2% rostered)
Ok hear me out.
Diontae Johnson went down with an odd leg injury late in their loss to the 49ers. He was immediately grabbing his hamstring, which does not bode well for his availability in the next few weeks.
Allen Robinson II has pretty much failed on every new team, but maybe Pittsburgh will be different. He did catch five passes for 64 yards, most of it coming when Johnson left the game. George Pickens was held in check, but that’s to be expected going against a top NFL defense.
I’m giving Robinson one more chance. The Steelers aren’t good, so they will have to throw plenty enough. If Pickens can’t step up and Johnson misses time, Robinson is at least someone to look at.
FAAB: $3
Jake Ferguson – Tight End – Dallas Cowboys (7% rostered)
I’m going to go fanboy here as a fellow Badger, but I do believe Jake Ferguson is a solid pickup this 2023 season. The Cowboys have always utilized a pass-catching Tight End, and felt comfortable enough letting Dalton Schultz walk this offseason.
That has to mean they felt confident in who they had, which in this case is Ferguson. Ferguson had a few nice plays to cap off the Cowboys’ season last year, but got his real first “starting” action against the Giants last night.
Frankly, he wasn’t needed. The Cowboys’ defense completely obliterated the Giants. I mean Dak Prescott only completed 13 of 24 pass attempts in a rainy game, yet seven of those attempts went to Ferguson. Now he did only catch two of them for 11 yards, but the target share was at least promising.
If you need a Tight End (cough Okonkwo cough), Ferguson is a solid speculative add.
FAAB: $5
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