One week of regular-season games into the 2024 NFL season, and there already are some fantasy football surprises and suddenly intriguing help on the waiver wire.
Isaiah Likely, with the TE1 performance of the week for the Ravens against the Chiefs on Thursday night, kicked off the unpredictable fun. Then some backs with uncertain usage — the Chargers' J.K. Dobbins, the Raiders' Alexander Mattison, and the Buccaneers' Bucky Irving — stole the shocking show on Sunday. Those are among the players widely available on waiver wires.
Whether you're thinking about just this week or upcoming weeks, how should you prioritize the pickups, either through the running of waivers or allocation of your near-full free-agent acquisition budget (FAAB)? Let's break down how to allocate your budget for this week's crop of potential waiver additions.
WEEK 2 FANTASY PPR RANKINGS
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Kickers
Week 2 Fantasy FAAB Advice: Waiver wire QB pickups, streamers
Justin Fields, Pittsburgh Steelers (available in 89% of Yahoo leagues)
Fields and the Steelers failed to produce a TD against the Falcons, but he was back to his busy running self and looked comfortable in the short passing game of Arthur Smith's offense with the occasional deep shots to George Pickens. Should he get the start over a hurting Russell Wilson again in Week 2, he'll go up against a Broncos defense that got burned by Geno Smith in Week 1.
Recommendation: Bid 4-5% of FAAB
Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (available in 64% of Yahoo leagues)
From Fields to Mayfield, who also is an excellent streamer after lighting up the Commanders' defense with Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and others. He draws a shootout scenario in the playoff rematch vs. Jared Goff and the Lions in Week 2 before seeing the Broncos himself in Week 3.
Recommendation: Bid 4-5% of FAAB
Derek Carr, New Orleans Saints (available in 90% of Yahoo leagues)
Don't chase the Carr box score against the terrible Panthers defense, but he should be rostered on the cheap as a backup in most leagues given how good the Saints' offense looked. The Cowboys, however, are a tough Week 2 matchup, so he's not a recommended extended streamer.
Recommendation: Bid 1-2% of FAAB
Sam Darnold, Minnesota Vikings (available in 90% of Yahoo leagues)
Darnold dropped 208 yards and two touchdowns on the Giants while looking accurate and confident in the offense of Kevin O'Connell and good buddy Josh McCown. He also should be picked up as a backup and not a streamer with a shaky revenge game vs. the 49ers' defense next.
Recommendation: Bid 1-2% of FAAB
Week 2 Fantasy FAAB Advice: Waiver wire RB pickups, streamers
J.K. Dobbins, Los Angeles Chargers (available in 51% of Yahoo leagues)
Dobbins did his "J.K. All Day" impression from Ohio State, showing his fully healthy explosive best Ravens self for the first time in a long time. Dobbins had much more pop than former and current teammate Gus Edwards with 10 carries for 135 yards a 61-yard burst and a 12-yard scoring scamper. As expected, the Chargers morphed into a rushing-first offense with Greg Roman, racking up 176 yards on the Raiders. They have a slew of great rushing matchups coming up, starting with Carolina.
Recommendation: Bid 15-20% of FAAB
Jordan Mason, San Francisco 49ers (available in 43% of Yahoo leagues)
Mason ruled as Christian McCaffrey's supersub on Monday night with a starring feature workload against the Jets with Elijah Mitchell done for the season. Isaac Guerendo is speedy, but he's a rookie, and Patrick Taylor Jr. is a Packers castoff. Mason should be rostered as the clear plug-and-play handcuff to fantasy's consensus No. 1 overall pick in all leagues, regardless of managing CMC. He's in too good of a situation not to produce should McCaffrey need to more miss time with his calf injury, starting in Week 2 at the Vikings. Recommendation: Bid 15-20% of FAAB
Alexander Mattison, Las Vegas Raiders (available in 96% of Yahoo leagues)
Zamir White had 15 touches against the Chargers, but they turned into only 46 yards, and he lost a fumble. The stately former Vikings backup took advantage to state his case with nine touches for 62 yards and a receiving TD. Don't panic on White's workload suddenly freefalling, but it's clear they won't load him up with 20-25 touches a week. Mattison is a good contingency should White keep struggling or get hurt.
Recommendation: Bid 10-12% of FAAB
Tank Bigsby, Jacksonville Jaguars (available in 95% of Yahoo leagues)
Bigsby was supposed to be more of a thing last season as a rookie to help Travis Etienne. Consider that a season on delay. Etienne still hit rushing paydirt vs. the Dolphins with 14 touches for 69 yards, but he also lost a key, game-altering goal-line fumble. But Bigsby led the team's 128 yards rushing with 12 carries for 73 yards. He is the clear handcuff now, and he can eat into more of Etienne's work if the latter can't secure the ball.
Recommendation: Bid 6-8% of FAAB
Bucky Irving, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (available in 80% of Yahoo leagues)
Bucky Barnes became the Winter Soldier. Bucky the beaver is America's trendiest travel stop mascot. Bucky the Buc is the choice backup and needed complement to Rachaad White. White did rip through the Commanders' defense for six catches and 75 yards on top of the typical 15 rushes for only 31 yards. Irving was a spry change of pace in a blowout with nine carries for 62 yards plus two catches for 14 yards.
Recommendation: Bid 6-8% of FAAB
Justice Hill, Baltimore Ravens (available in 96% of Yahoo leagues)
Hill is needed more on passing downs with Derrick Henry not providing much in that area. He might be busier on checkdowns than expected, given Lamar Jackson needs something other than his own running to save himself behind a shaky line. Hill is a low-upside PPR-leaning option after catching six passes for 54 yards vs. the Chiefs.
Recommendation: Bid 3-4% of FAAB
Week 2 Fantasy FAAB Advice: Waiver wire WR pickups, streamers
Brandin Cooks, Dallas Cowboys (available in 68% of Yahoo leagues)
Cooks is still the busy No. 2 behind CeeDee Lamb. He caught 4-of-7 targets vs. the Browns for 40 yards and a TD. The Cowboys pretty much made it him and Lamb again at wideout for Prescott, so Cooks can keep providing WR3 value.
Recommendation: Bid 10-12% of FAAB
Rashid Shaheed, New Orleans Saints (available in 46% of Yahoo leagues)
Shaheed was shot out of a cannon on scoring the first TD of Week 1 NFL Sunday. His chemistry with Carr showed on the 59-yarder. He also ended up catching two more of his five targets for a team-high 73 yards. Shaheed is inconsistent and needs good deep matchups, but he should be on benches as a WR4 waiting for the right spots.
Recommendation: Bid 10-12% of FAAB
Alec Pierce, Indianapolis Colts (available in 99% of Yahoo leagues)
With Josh Downs out and rookie Adonai Mitchell behind, Anthony Richardson needed to throw deep balls away from Michael Pittman Jr. Pierce led the team by catching all three of his targets for 125 yards and a 60-yard TD. Ashton Dulin nearly matched him with a 54-yard scoring strike from Richardson's roller-coast downfield passing, which makes Pierce hard to trust, especially when Downs returns, but the Packers, who gave up a long score to A.J. Brown, are next.
Recommendation: Bid 8-10% of FAAB
Greg Dortch, Arizona Cardinals (available in 95% of Yahoo leagues)
With Marvin Harrison Jr. held to a catch for four yards in his rookie debut, Michael Wilson scored, and Dortch caught 6-of-8 targets for 47 yards to lead the wideouts behind tight end Trey McBride. Harrison may need a bit to get going with Kyler Murray, so Dortch has some short-term PPR-type value in the meantime.
Recommendation: Bid 8-10% of FAAB
Wan'Dale Robinson, New York Giants (available in 90% of Yahoo leagues)
Robinson figured to have a more effective role with better health and the ability to play off the coverage attention of rookie first-rounder Malik Nabers. He caught six of a team-high 12 targets for 44 yards vs. the Vikings, adding a rush for 15 yards. He's a good target in PPR-leaning leagues given the Giants seem to stink and might throw a lot. Robinson seems to be the checkdown type of choice, especially with the Commanders' secondary up next.
Recommendation: Bid 8-10% of FAAB
Demarcus Robinson (available in 93% of Yahoo leagues), Los Angeles Rams
Robinson should get more run in the offense along with Tyler Johnson with Puka Nacua (knee) hurting. His role will be inconsistent with Cooper Kupp but he did have a modest 4 catch, 47-yard game on 7 targets against the Lions in Week 1 with the Buccaneers next.
Recommendation: Bid 5-6% of FAAB
Josh Reynolds (available in 99% of Yahoo leagues) and Devaughn Vele (available in 100% of Yahoo leagues), Denver Broncos
Bo Nix looked bad vs. the Seahawks. The passing game got compressed to the point big-play wide receivers Courtland Sutton and Marvin Mims Jr. took a back seat to that random duo above, the two leading targets. This passing game isn't something to want a part of, but desperate times call for ... you know. Ugh, the Steelers' D is next, too.
Recommendation: Bid 1-2% of FAAB
Week 2 Fantasy FAAB Advice: Waiver wire TE pickups, streamers
Isaiah Likely, Baltimore Ravens (available in 72% of Yahoo leagues)
The Ravens have found their big-play source to help Mark Andrews and Zay Flowers. They pivoted to 12 personnel more to get Likely's downfield athleticism on the field, and he responded with a team-high nine catches for 111 yards, which included a big-play TD. Andrews will get his soon, but Likely is operating as the third target at worst. He should be rostered everywhere after a rough week for other tight ends.
Recommendation: Bid 10-12% of FAAB
Luke Schoonmaker, Dallas Cowboys (available in 100% of Yahoo leagues)
Let's see about the knee injury for Jake Ferguson, but with Peyton Hendershot gone, Schoonmaker is the next fun name as Dak Prescott's No. 2 tight end. If he's the No. 1 against the Saints, he can be a worth a deep-league stream.
Recommendation: Bid 0-1% of FAAB
Week 2 Fantasy FAAB Advice: Waiver wire D/ST pickups, streamers
(Note: Do not spend any of your FAAB budget on D/ST! Get them for $0 after waivers run!)
Los Angeles Chargers (available in 89% of Yahoo leagues)
The Chargers started slowly vs. the Raiders under Jesse Minter but ended up with four sacks and three takeaways in a dominant performance. They draw the Panthers, who looked absolutely terrible vs. the Saints' defense, in Week 2. Yes, please.
Indianapolis Colts (available in 92% of Yahoo leagues)
The Colts were about to be unplayable and gave up a ton of yards and points to the Texans at home. But now they get a break vs. the Jordan Love-less Packers back in Indy, getting to take advantage of either Malik Willis or Sean Clifford to rebound.
Minnesota Vikings (available in 51% of Yahoo leagues)
Holy Van Ginkel! This defense went gangbusters as a wire-to-wire fantasy force for Brian Flores against the mess of the Giants. They do get the 49ers next week, but keep in mind they won by driving Brock Purdy batty at home last season.
Houston Texans (available in 47% of Yahoo leagues)
The Texans' defense gave up a ton of big plays to the Colts but also had their moments. Now they get to face Caleb Williams and a slow-starting Bears offense at home in prime time.
New England Patriots (available in 97% of Yahoo leagues)
The Patriots played very well under Jerod Mayo in taking down the mighty Bengals in Cincinnati. So they definitely come into play vs. the Seahawks, even though that team looked potent offensively at home vs. the Broncos.
Washington Commanders (available in 99% of Yahoo leagues)
The Commanders will get Jones and the Giants next, a much easier time for Dan Quinn's new-look defense than the Buccaneers' offense.
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