Fourteen of the 16 NFL Week 1 matchups are in the books, and unsurprisingly, it was wild.
Ben Johnson is one step closer to delivering on his promise of breaking the NFL scoring record—Caleb Williams and D’Andre Swift powered the Chicago Bears to a 59-37 victory over the Carolina Panthers.
Fantasy superstars across the league showed out: Jahmyr Gibbs, Bijan Robinson, Josh Allen, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Jonathan Taylor, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Chris Olave, Ashton Jeanty, and Zay Flowers all scored at least 25 PPR points.
In typical Week 1 fashion, there’s also plenty of panic. Will Ja’Marr Chase ever show up in Week 1? How did we take Colston Loveland in the 3rd or 4th round? What’s the deal with James Cook?
In a week full of highs and lows, it’s important to remember that we need to stay levelheaded and put our teams in a position to succeed across the long 14-week fantasy regular season.
That process starts with grinding the waiver wire.
Here’s an early look at the group of players to target ahead of Week 2.
Note: Only players rostered in roughly <50% of ESPN leagues will be considered.
FANTASY FOOTBALL WEEK 2 WAIVER WIRE TARGETS
QUARTERBACK
JORDAN LOVE, GB PACKERS (42.1% ROSTERED)
It was a tale of two halves for Jordan Love and the Packers, as they saw a 22-10 third quarter lead slip away.
Still, in the realm of fantasy football, we saw just about everything we’d hoped out of Love. He attempted 42 passes, and 62.7% of Green Bay’s plays resulted in a pass attempt for Love.
The late-game deficit undoubtedly played a role in those numbers, but following an offseason of speculation about the Packers putting more on Love’s plate, those numbers are quite bullish.
His 19.48 fantasy points weren’t too shabby, either.
With a quartet of strong to solid matchups on the way (@NYJ, vs. ATL, @TB, vs. CHI), Love should be flirting with QB1 territory for the foreseeable future.
RUNNING BACK
KAELON BLACK, SF 49ERS (15.4% ROSTERED)
Ahead of Week 1, all signs pointed to third-round rookie RB Kaelon Black being the No. 2 back behind presumed bellcow Christian McCaffrey.
On Thursday night in Australia, we received confirmation of that, and then some.
Black played 43.8% of snaps, handled 14 of 24 backfield carries, and posted an encouraging route rate of 30.6%, although those 11 routes led to just one target, which is no surprise.
Black’s role translated to 8.4 XFP (expected fantasy points), per Fantasy Points Data’s model.
While it would be reasonable to expect McCaffrey to stretch the gap between him and Black in the coming weeks, two key points were confirmed in Week 1:
- Black is clearly the RB2 in San Francisco.
- He may have some level of standalone value.
Black immediately becomes a priority bench stash after this outing.
WIDE RECEIVER
DEVAUGHN VELE, NO SAINTS (12.9% ROSTERED)
Heading into the Sunday slate, Saints vs. Lions was pegged as one of matchups that could be particularly fantasy-friendly.
Through 30 minutes of football, it was a total snooze fest—Detroit led 7-0 at the half.
The script soon flipped, and Devaughn Vele was a beneficiary. He ended his day with a 7/69/1 stat line on nine targets, good for 19.9 PPR points.
Beyond the baseline production, Vele ran a route on 92 percent of Tyler Shough’s dropbacks, and his nine targets were good for an 18.3% target share. While the target share leaves something to be desired, seeing him on the field for virtually every dropback is fantastic.
There are two items to note here, though. For starters, Chris Olave was in and out of the lineup due to cramps and a minor back issue, which obviously lends itself to Vele playing more snaps and earning more looks.
The other, far more significant, note is that the Saints ran 86 plays and Shough attempted 56 passes on Sunday afternoon. Neither of those numbers is sustainable. Those are likely to both be season highs.
Still, with Jordyn Tyson out of the lineup, a (near) every-down role, and matchups against the Baltimore Ravens and Las Vegas Raiders in the coming weeks, Vele is an intriguing add in deeper leagues.
RASHOD BATEMAN, BAL RAVENS (8.9% ROSTERED)
If you’re checking the box score, this one might sound strange. Rashod Bateman posted a goose egg in Week 1 while drawing just a single target.
But Bateman could prove to be an interesting option in Week 2.
Both Zay Flowers and Ja’Kobi Lane exited with injuries during the Ravens’ Week 1 win over the Colts.
If one or both of them are unable to suit up in Week 2, Bateman would face an incredibly low level of target competition against a rather uninspiring Saints defense.
Bateman should be a pickup for teams in desperate need of WR or Flex production in Week 2. He holds very little long-term value, so if your roster is in good shape, he can be left on the wire.
CALEB DOUGLAS, MIA DOLPHINS (15.6% ROSTERED)
As expected, the Miami Dolphins’ passing attack looked a bit rough to open the year. Malik Willis did post a respectable 8.1 YPA through the air, but 220 passing yards and zero TDs just isn’t going to get the job done. This also came in what was supposed to be a favorable matchup against the Raiders.
In this sort of environment, consolidating routes and targets is key for any pass catcher to be fantasy relevant. Caleb Douglas seems capable of doing just that.
He drew seven targets in his NFL debut, turning in 14.4 PPR points. He also had a few nice plays in his NFL debut.
Douglas could reasonably cede work to any of Chris Bell, Malik Washington, or Greg Dulcich in the coming weeks, but for the time being, Douglas is worth a roster spot while we evaluate what the Dolphins’ offense has to offer.
DEMARIO DOUGLAS, NE PATRIOTS (1.1% ROSTERED)
The New England Patriots will be without star wide receiver A.J. Brown for the next 4-6 weeks, opening the door for other receivers to take on larger roles.
DeMario “Pop” Douglas is one of the players in line for a boost in production.
Against the Seahawks, Douglas posted a 76.2% route rate and drew a target on 22% of his routes. Expect him to be the Patriots’ go-to slot receiver in the coming weeks (87.5% slot rate in Week 1).
Given his shallow aDOT and general archetype, he’s not a high-ceiling type of player, so much like Bateman and Vele, he’s more of a roster band-aid than a long-term contributor.
Expect the play of Drake Maye and the Patriots offense to improve in easier matchups, potentially allowing Douglas to PPR scam his way to Flex-caliber production.
TIGHT ENDS
MIKE GESICKI, CIN BENGALS (1.5% ROSTERED)
Welcome back to the waiver wire discussion, Mike Gesicki!
On the back of a 5/78/1 performance, the Cincinnati Bengal has all but locked up a top-5 finish on the week.
We’ve been here before. Remember when he scored 20.6 PPR points in Week 14 last year, only to put up 2.1 points in Week 15? Or when he scored 27.0 in Week 9 of the 2024 season, then followed it up with 32.8 points in the next six weeks… combined?
Gesicki can flash from time to time, especially in an offense like the Bengals’. But I remain skeptical of his ability to be a regular contributor, especially considering he ran just 17 routes on Joe Burrow’s 37 dropbacks.
However, with the bar remaining incredibly low at TE, Gesicki warrants some waiver wire consideration. If your roster is in a bad way at TE, he’s worth a look.
DALTON SCHULTZ, HOU TEXANS (19.9% ROSTERED)
For years now, the thesis on Dalton Schultz’s fantasy value has remained simple: he’s going to run nearly every route and is talented enough to earn targets often enough to deliver fringe TE1 production.
We saw that thesis play out in Week 1. He ran a route on 78.6% of C.J. Stroud’s dropbacks and posted a 21.6% target share.
Hauling in just four of his eight targets led to Schultz scoring a measly 7.5 PPR points, but given his typically low aDOT, expect that catch rate to climb in future weeks.
The Texans’ offense also showed some juice against the Bills, scoring 31 points, posting 381 yards of offense, and averaging a respectable 5.2 yards per play.
Given Schultz’s role and what should be a solid offensive environment, he remains a quality, volume-driven option.
MICHAEL MAYER, LV RAIDERS
Michael Mayer offers a very similar outlook to Schultz. With Brock Bowers sidelined, Mayer has a clear runway to routes and targets, and that showed up in Week 1.
Against the Dolphins, he drew seven targets, a team high, turning them into six receptions for 32 yards.
There is some optimism that Bowers will be able to take the field next week, but that seems a bit too optimistic.
If Bowers remains sidelined, Mayer is very much a viable starting option in PPR leagues.
