Fantasy Football Week 2 Waiver Wire Pickups
Is your fantasy team in need of new blood? Each week I’ll bring to you the best pickups to make ahead of the waiver deadline. All the players I list will be owned in fewer than 50 percent of leagues, with the ownership percentage coming from Yahoo.com.
Quarterbacks
Alex Smith, Chiefs (23% Owned): Smith absolutely lit it up on Thursday night vs. a Patriots team with all offseason to prepare for him. This wasn’t Smith finally announcing himself as a fantasy force; it was, however, him reminding us that sometimes he’s liable to detonate. With upcoming matchups vs. the Eagles, Chargers and Redskins, he’s got a chance to outperform whoever you drafted if you waited on QB.
DeShone Kizer, Browns (10% Owned): Kizer was exactly what I said he’d be, a mistake-prone rookie with the chance to perform anyway because of his legs. Kizer held his own vs. a tough Steelers defense, throwing for 222 yards, and rushing five times for 17 yards and a TD. That’s a big help in leagues where passing TDs are worth four points instead of six. You’ll want to avoid him at Baltimore in Week 2, but that matchup just means he should be free on waivers. Then you fire him up for Week 3 against the Colts’ horrible defense.
Running Backs
Tarik Cohen, Bears (14% Owned): Cohen will probably be the most added RB in fantasy, and I’ll buy in. He intrigued me this preseason, and Week 1 solidified my opinion; he is a playmaker and someone who can make a real difference. This doesn’t soften my stance on Jordan Howard; Atlanta made Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman work right? Cohen is more Theo Riddick than Tevin Coleman, but he has a clear role and he may end up leading Chicago in targets.
Jeremy Hill, Bengals (49% Owned): Hill did nothing encouraging last week, and he’ll probably be one of the most dropped players in fantasy rather than most added. Don’t fall for it. No one was good for Cincinnati, and no RB – definitely not preseason darling Joe Mixon – separated himself at all. Hill is the same guy who has scored nine or more touchdowns for three straight years. Play him in good matchups. If you started him vs. Baltimore in Week 1 then shame on you.
Giovani Bernard, Bengals (17% Owned): Like Hill, the fantasy community blew their load seeing Mixon run a few times and pretended Gio Bernard is dead. He’s alive, and he got nine touches last week. In PPR leagues he remains a startable FLEX player, and one injury to Hill or Mixon dramatically increases his role. He’s still a very good running back people!
Marlon Mack, Colts (9% Owned): Mack saw 10 carries and a target in the passing game, looking much more spry than Frank Gore. It’s a stretch to think he’ll take over for Gore this quickly, but the Colts would be stupid to not increase Mack’s workload while Andrew Luck is out. They are going to need playmakers on the field, and Gore is not that. He complements Luck well, but Mack can help Scott Tolzein/Jacoby Brissett more than Gore can.
Chris Thompson, Redskins (17% Owned): No, I’m not overreacting to Thompson’s impressive TD last week. I’m reacting to his steady role on passing situations for the Redskins, and the utter lack of opportunity given to rookie Samaje Perine. Rob Kelley isn’t great, but he’s got Perine buried. That means Thompson has a floor of 10-12 touches most weeks, and he can see close to 20 in shootouts.
Kerwynn Williams, Cardinals (7% Owned): Williams is the likely player to own if David Johnson is, in fact, going to miss several weeks. He’s only seen extremely limited action in his career, but has averaged 4.6, 5.3 and 8.7 yards per carry over the past three seasons. The Cardinals are expected to roll with a committee, but Williams will likely get the most work, and see the goal line touches.
Andre Ellington, Cardinals (1% Owned): Ellington is absolutely worth owning in PPR leagues for however long Johnson is out of action. He will get very few carries, but passing downs should belong to him, and he has the ability to split out as a wide receiver too. He’s an explosive player, and will be fine as a FLEX in leagues where receptions score you points.
Wide Receivers
Kenny Golladay, Lions (19% Owned): Looks like the hype was real. Golladay stood out like a sore thumb in preseason, and scored twice in Week 1 vs. a talented Arizona secondary. He might have some flop weeks, but he looks like the other WR to own in Detroit rather than Marvin Jones. Don’t expect two touchdowns every time out, but the way the Lions chuck it he can expect six+ targets on a weekly basis.
Sterling Shepard, Giants (44% Owned): If Week 1 showed us anything about the Giants’ offense, it’s that maybe Brandon Marshall’s addition was overstated. Eli Manning barely looked Marshall’s way, and chose to pepper Shepard with eight targets. Shepard hauled in seven of them, for just 44 yards, but that’s okay. Shepard has profiled as more of a PPR-type player, and I thought his value would nosedive with Marshall stealing his TD opportunities. After one week Shepard looks like he will be fine.
Nelson Agholor, Eagles (14% Owned): Many will shrug off Agholor’s Week 1 because of the fluky nature of his big TD catch. And yeah, that was obviously a broken play that worked out for him. The larger point, though is that Agholor was targeted eight times and and looks like he has a solidified place as the WR2 behind Alshon Jeffery. You can probably wait until waivers pass, but think about throwing a $0 or $1 bid on him as depth for your team.
Kendall Wright, Bears (14% Owned): Chicago’s receiving corps is an absolute wasteland now that WR Kevin White is out for the year, so if you are throwing darts looking for a team’s top wideout, Wright is probably the guy here. No guarantees.
Tight Ends
Charles Clay, Bills (11% Owned): Not much to see here besides Clay. I was skeptical of him entering the year despite Buffalo’s dearth of receiving talent. I’m no longer skeptical. Clay isn’t elite, but he’s clearly Tyrod Taylor’s No. 1 option.