Football is back!
Oh man does it feel great to say that. I love fantasy football through and through and I look forward to the sound of that first kickoff as soon as I recover from my Super Bowl hangover.
The anticipation was well worth the wait! Week 1 of the NFL season brought with it some great games including an opener decided by 1 or 2 shoe sizes, a thriller in Brazil and an overtime matchup with the Lions and the Rams on Sunday night. The 49ers absolutely stomped Aaron Rodgers and the Jets on Monday night football without Christian McCaffrey which wasn’t announced until about an hour before game time. Not suspicious at all.
Some managers will be hitting the panic button after a tough start, others will be gloating to their friends already talking about their championship aspirations. That is the way it goes. I hope you fall into the latter but if that’s not the case and you are ready to blow it all up, here are some waiver wire targets to consider ahead of your week 2 matchup.
Notable Injuries to keep in mind:
- Jordan Love (Knee)
- Week-to-week
- Puka Nacua (Knee)
- Will be placed on IR for at least 4 weeks
- Rome Odunze (MCL)
- Week-to-week
- Jordan Addison (Ankle)
- “Significant Soreness”. Worth keeping an eye on
- David Njoku (Ankle)
- Week-to-week
- Jake Ferguson (MCL sprain/Bone Bruise
- Week-to-week
Waiver Wire Targets:
Baker Mayfield (Rostered in 34% of ESPN leagues)
I’ll be the first to admit that I wasn’t the highest on Baker Mayfield headed into this season. In my pre-season rankings, I had Mayfielf ranked as my QB 21. They lost their OC and WR coaches to the Panthers and that sort of turnover doesn’t always bode well for on-field performance. However, Mayfield proved myself and many others wrong this past Sunday. Mayfield threw for 289 yards and 4 touchdowns against the Commanders. With Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, you can’t really ask for a more reliable receiving core. He has some nice matches coming up that could bode well for fantasy managers. Don’t count out Baker this year!
Bucky Irving (Rostered in 20.7% of ESPN leagues) Genius Pick of the Week
Another Buccaneer for the list, Irving presents as one of the better handcuffs in fantasy this year. A 4th round pick out of Oregon, Irving rushed for 62 yards on 9 attempts and chipped in 2 receptions for 14 yards in his debut. Now is probably the best chance you will have to stash Irving this year. If he continues to perform as the number 2 back, don’t expect him to last on waivers. If anything were to happen to Raschaad White, Irving looks to be the next man up.
Side note: This is my girlfriend’s favorite player and made me draft him in just about every league.
Jordan Mason (Rostered in 37.5% of ESPN leagues)
An absolute dominant performance from Mason on Monday Night Football. With McCaffrey out, Mason rushed for 147 yards and 1 touchdown. The 49ers o’line looked like they hadn’t lost a step. If McCaffrey misses week 2 Mason is a great option in that high powered 49ers offense. If McCaffrey returns Mason is a great handcuff. Either way, as of week 1, it looks like this guy is worth rostering.
Rashid Shaheed (Rostered in 42% of ESPN leagues)
This addition hurts me a little this week as I got to watch Shaheed torch my Panthers on the Saints opening drive. An absolute dime over the top and Shaheed kicked on the burners for a 59 yard touchdown. Behind Olave there is not much competition. Eric Moody had a great stat that said Shaheed led the league with nine receptions of 30-plus air yards. That will probably set the tone for Shaheed as a boom or bust kind of player moving forward but there is a lot to like. Worth rostering
Demarcus Robinson (Rostered in 14.7% of ESPN leagues)
In Lieu of the Puka Nacua injury, Demarcus Robinson stands to see an increase in production. I say this because he emerged as a reliable WR3 for the Rams in the second half of the 2023 season. He scored a touchdown for 4 weeks straight and from weeks 11-15 he averaged 16.02 yards per reception. If absolutely necessary, Robinson could be a flex play.
Greg Dortch (Rostered in 1.6% of ESPN leagues)
If you know you know, Greg Dortch is that dude. He has been a sleeper pick for what feels like forever but nothing has ever really materialized. That could be for a variety of factors (coaching change, QB1 injury, etc…). Against the Bills, Dortch put up 11.1 fantasy points. While that doesn’t jump off the page, what does catch my eye is the 8 targets he saw. He even chipped in on the ground with 1 rush attempt. It looks like he is going to be the main receiver out of the slot. If Dortch somehow continues to maintain a strong target share, he could be an interesting stash play.
Honorable mention:
Isaiah Likely (Rostered in 10.4% of ESPN leagues)
Likely will be remembered for his week 1 performance for more than just his unfortunately large shoe size. In the season opener against the Chiefs, Likely exploded for 111 yards and a touchdown on 12 targets to the disbelief of many Mark Andrews fantasy owners. Outside of Lamar, Likely seemed to be the only consistent offensive option. I would be doing a disservice if I excluded Likely from my waiver wire targets as he is a talented player worth rostering but I do want to waive a flag of caution. Andrews had a pretty quiet game but still played more snaps and ran more routes. The Chiefs however seemed dialed in on him which limited his production. Likely is unlikely (ha) to repeat this performance on a weekly basis. Add him if you need a TE or a quality back up option but don’t expect a changing of the guard after one big game.
*Point totals mentioned assume full point PPR scoring
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