Waiver Wire Pick Ups for Week 2

Week one is in the books, and hopefully you won’t have to be making any moves because you drafted an awesome team. Most of us, however, will be making moves – some will need minor upgrades to the bench, some will be looking to replace a Keenan Allen or Sammy Watkins. Luckily, we have a number of guys who should be targeted at each position, so you can refer to this based on your team’s needs.

To qualify for this article, a player has to be under 50% owned in Yahoo! Leagues, so you won’t find guys like Spencer Ware or Eric Ebron in this article, who should be owned in most 12 team leagues.

QB
Joe Flacco (18%)
This one is for the Tom Brady owners looking for a QB to stream, or the Russell Wilson owners who aren’t sure if Wilson will be starting. Flacco gets the Browns in week two, the team that allowed rookie quarterback Carson Wentz to throw for 278 yards and two touchdowns.

Brock Osweiler (28%)
Many fantasy analysts are high on Will Fuller, who caught five passes for 105 yards and a touchdown in the opener. He can give Osweiler two solid wideout options with DeAndre Hopkins to go with their run game. He should be stashed on a bench or maybe even started if you drafted Tony Romo without any trustworthy backup.

Avoid:

Carson Wentz (7%)
Rookie quarterback for the Eagles who benefited from his first game being against the Browns. Yes, he looked good, but this offense is still in a turnover process and Zach Ertz suffered a rib injury that should set him back a bit. Wentz will benefit from a favorable schedule, but other than that he shouldn’t be started just yet.

Alex Smith
The Chiefs fell behind and were forced to pass the ball in order to make the amazing  comeback they did. On most days, the Chiefs will be a run first team and Smith will rank behind plenty of other quarterbacks to start.

WR

Keenan Allen owners will be looking to replace him with someone, and their are two obvious options that could be out on the waiver wire. The first is Allen’s teammate Travis Benjamin, but he’s owned in 75% of leagues. The other is Houston Texan Will Fuller, who is owned in 50% of leagues. If both of those guys are owned in your league, it’s okay, because the wide receiver position has a lot of depth and the following guys should be available.

Phillip Dorsett (39%)

There are a lot of passing options in the Colts offense, especially with the emergence of Jack Doyle in the red zone, but Luck has the potential to support all of these guys. The Colts defense is also hurting, so we can predict a lot of exciting shoot outs on the season. The only problem is it will be hard to predict what games Dorsett is more involved in since he is the third receiver on the depth chart.

Chris Hogan (31%)

Hogan wasn’t expected to have an impact until Brady came back, but after Sunday night's game, it’s clear the Patriots want to use him and don’t have many other receiving options outside of Edelman and Gronkowski. It will be hard to start him right away, but he should definitely be owned in most leagues since this Patriots offense has shown in the past that they can support more than two receivers.

Mike Wallace (35%)

He may have finally found the right team with Joe Flacco’s strong arm. He showed that he still has big play ability with his 66 yard touchdown reception. He comes from the DeSean Jackson mold of boom or bust speed wide receivers, so good luck trying to predict when he will find the endzone, but he will have a good chance to score in week two against the Browns.

Quincy Enunwa (1%)

He had just as many targets as Brandon Marshall and one more than Eric Decker. Enunwa has a chance to hurt fantasy owners more than help them, because if the Jets plan on using him as much as they did, it will make it that much harder for Marshall and Decker to repeat last years performance.

Nelson Agholar (4%)

He got the second most targets behind Jordan Matthews and was able to find the endzone. Agholar might have the most upside on this list, as he is a second year wide receiver being paired with a rookie quarterback.



Tyrell Williams (3%)
Outside of Travis Benjamin, this is the only other San diego wide receiver to own at the moment. He led the team in receiving yards with 71, despite only catching two of five passes from Rivers.

PPR WR

Cole Beasley (3%)
Many of the Keenan Allen owners drafted Allen because he was expected to be a great wide receiver in PPR leagues. One option on the waiver wire with a PPR reputation is Beasley, who caught eight passes on 12 targets. If Dallas runs more of a short pass offense with Romo out, Beasley is a cheap and slightly under the radar option to turn to.

RB

Theo Riddick (35%)
By now, we know who Theo Riddick is as a player. He isn’t reliable on a week-to-week basis but he will occasionally score a touchdown on your bench. Don’t overspend your FAAB dollars on him simply because their is a lack of running backs to go after on the waiver wire. Fortunately, there wasn’t any key injuries to the RB position in week one, but that’s not going to last very long. If you really need a guy, Riddick will play a role in this Lions team that lacks a true offensive star.

Jalen Richard (1%)
Latavious Murray owners, don't freak out! There is a large cast of running backs behind Murray on the depth chart, as Richard, Jamize Olawale, Taiwan Jones, and DeAndre Washington all touched the ball in the first game. Richard had the most impressive run of the game with a 75 yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. He may have emerged as the new handcuff for Murray, but it’s too early to overreact to a backup RB breaking off a run against the poor Saints defense. If you are a Murray owner, you might want to go after Richard, if not, their isn’t a reason to pursue him so aggressively.

Terrance West (29%)
No, Terrance West is not the running back that will win you your league, but like Riddick, the Ravens offense lacks a star and they will have a role for him. He split carries with Justin Forsett and will get an easy matchup in week two against the Browns. If he can somehow find the endzone, you should try to sell high on him. If not, then there will probably be better running back options that emerge on the waiver wire in week three.

TE

Jack Doyle (1%)
It seems like every year a new tight end emerges from out of nowhere. Whether Jack Doyle is the guy in 2016 remains to be seen, but he was the only tight end to catch two touchdowns in week one. The Colts do like the use tight ends in the red zone, but the problem is that Dwayne Allen is ahead of him on the depth chart. Allen, who had more targets, receptions, and yards that Doyle in the first game also caught a touchdown pass.

Jacob Tamme (2%)
He hasn’t been reliable throughout his career, but he did get just as many targets as teammates Julio Jones and Mohamed Sanu in the opener. Tamme could find value in PPR leagues if he can consistently get this type of attention with the occasional touchdown. The Falcon defense will predictably have trouble against most offenses in the league, and should keep Matt Ryan passing the ball like he did 39 times against Tampa Bay.

Austin Seferian-Jenkins (9%)
Seferian-Jenkins is more of a stash play in 12 team leagues or deeper. He caught only one pass, but it was 30 yard touchdown reception. He still has to compete with Cameron Brate and Brandon Myers for the top spot on the depth chart, but he does have upside on an offense that needs passing options outside of Mike Evans.

DEF

Green Bay Packers (52%)
The Pack get an easy matchup against the rival Vikings who were unable to record a passing or rushing touchdown in week one. Tennessee was able to stack the box and contain Adrian Peterson from breaking anything open. Green Bay should do the same, although containing Peterson is easier said than done.

New York Jets (36%)
Yes, A.J. Green lit up the Jets secondary in week one, but Buffalo’s wide receivers will have a hard time repeating that performance. Sammy Watkins’ foot injury should keep him from playing at a high level in this game, forcing the Bills offense to rely more on LeSean McCoy on a short week. Despite giving up 23 points to the Bengals, New York was able to record seven sacks and an interception on Andy Dalton to give them a respectable fantasy total. The Baltimore defense gave up just seven points to the Bills in week one.

Baltimore Ravens (7%)
As stated in the last paragraph, the Ravens held their own over the weekend against the weakened Bills, and now they get another easy opponent in the Browns. With RGIII being placed on the IR, Josh McCown will start for Cleveland. Baltimore should be able to collect a few turnovers and sacks like the Eagles did against the Browns on their way to a solid week in fantasy.