Waiver Wire Targets For Week 2 – 2024 Waiver Wire Targets

I hope everyone enjoyed the first week of the NFL season.  I was able to watch 9 of the 15 games on Sunday and will catch up on the others early this week.  As everyone knows, I like to see game action in order to really have an understanding of the types of touches players are getting.  A good example of this is Jalen McMillan for the Bucs.  If you look at his stats, he had 3 targets, 1 reception, roughly 25 yards and a TD.  But if you watched the game, you would have seen he was consistently open deep.  He dropped a TD pass and then Baker missed him on a 3^rd.  He could have easily had 3 receptions for 100 yards and 3 TDs. 

In terms of punches to the gut, there was only one that I saw.  Isiah Likely had somewhat of a breakout game for the Ravens to kick off the season.  If you drafted Andrews (who I had has my #1 TE), don’t panic.  Lamar Jackson isn’t going to forget about Andrews.  Andrews played 59 snaps compared to Likely’s 53 snaps.  Likely also caught about 5 or 6 of his passes in the short right portion of the field as a checkdown.  That’s still great production, but my point is that Kansas City was largely ignoring Likely and focusing on Andrews.  Over the first couple of weeks of the season, things will equal out.  All said, I’d still be happy to grab Likely as Baltimore will be sure to take advantage of both TEs in 2 TE formations.

If you play in a FAAB league, where you have a finite budget for waiver wire claims, I’m honestly not seeing much beyond likely that is worth a splurge.  Last year, we had breakouts like Kyren and LaPorta.  This year, we have Likely, but nobody else was a clear stud.

NOTE: NEW FORMAT – I wanted to call out that I’m changing the format up a bit because my waiver wire rankings were too long and somewhat confusing.  I have a lot of people reading this column ranging between beginner players in beginner leagues to super competitive, high dollar leagues.  Beginner leagues will probably have better players available vs the competitive leagues that will likely have the breakout guys rostered.  Rather than break my waivers into categories like “probably gone” or “most likely available”, I’m simply going to rank my favorite players available in at least 20% of the leagues out there.  I’ll note the percentage availability in parenthesis next to each player.  I’ll be pulling the percentage available from ESPN.  There will be many players on here that will be gone.  Similarly ,there will be many that will be available. 

Onto NFL Waiver Wire Targets for Week 2:

Quarterback:  

1. Baker Mayfield (66% available) – after a great season where he nearly outscored Patrick Mahomes, Mayfield started out on fire vs Washington.  He won’t get a ton of rushing yards, but his receivers are fantastic so the TDs should come.
2. Tua Tagovailoa (31.5%) – I’m surprised he’s on waivers given his passing prowess, but this speaks to the need for QBs to have running ability to be weekly starters.  Tua would be one of the better backups in smaller leagues or potentially a starter in deeper leagues.  He’s worth a spot.
3. Sam Darnold (95.8%) – he looked a lot like Kirk Cousins pushing the ball all over the field.  This is now only his 2^nd season with a competent coaching staff (after spending last season backing up Brock Purdy in San Fran).  He has Justin Jefferson on his team, so touchdowns will be available.
4. Derek Carr (95.6%) – he lit up the Panthers so I’m putting him on the list, but I don’t know how sustainable the performance is. 
5. Jayden Daniels (15% available) – I’m favoring QBs that can run, but most of the guys I’d target are rostered.  I’m including Jayden Daniels knowing he’s probably not available for you.  I just want to drive the point home that I think he has top-10 potential
6. Bo Nix (89% available) – I’m being a bit stubborn here. Here are my thoughts: 1. He threw over 40 passes in his first NFL start which displays a faith (ok, and a necessity) by the Broncos coaching staff. 2. He will scramble and pick up some rushing yardage and a few rushing TDs this year. The flip side is he definitely made some awful mistakes. He threw a couple of bad interceptions and had a couple more dropped. If you’re in a deep league and have the space, Nix could improve as the year moves along.

Running Back:

1. JK Dobbins (23.1% available) he is probably long gone in your league, but he is the top waiver wire claim for me if he is waiting for you to pick him up in your league.
2. Jaleel McLaughlin (55.7%) – He led the Broncos backfield in touches.  I think Audric Estime is a bigger thread to Javonte Williams than he is to McLaughlin. 
3. Bucky Irving (79.3%) – he looks like the superior runner already.  Rachaad White is a strong receiver which means we are looking at a committee. 
4. Tank Bigsby (95.4%) – He’s not going to overtake Etienne, but he definitely outplayed him in week 1.  Bigsby has turned this one-man backfield into a committee. 
5. Justice Hill (96.7%) – He’ll have a role in the passing game until Keaton Mitchell returns.
6. Emmanuel Wilson (98.8%) – everyone is focused on MarShawn Lloyd’s return, but I think Wilson will be tough to play off the field.  Lloyd and Wilson will more likely share backup snaps behind starter Josh Jacobs.
7. Jamaal Williams (93.3%) – I don’t love that he’ll share short yardage carries with Taysom Hill, but this is a great system and Wiliams has a role.

Wide Receiver:

1. Jameson Williams (31.9%) – he’s for real and when teams try to take Amon-Ra St. Brown out of the game, they’re going to pay.  Williams should be rostered in all formats.
2. Rashid Shahid (58%) – sorry, I missed him on my potential breakout players for week 1.  He’s available in 58% of leagues out there and he has a secure place as the #2 receiver for the Saints.  Don’t expect him to outperform Olave every week, but Shahid is an emerging talent.
3. Jalen McMillan (97.9%) – he was wide open on three deep passes.  He should have had 3 TD receptions in his first NFL game.  Take advantage of the average-looking statline.  McMillan is going to be a factor this year.
4. Tyler Johnson (100%) – Nacua will be on IR for the next 4 weeks.  Tyler Johnson stepped into Nacua’s role and grabbed 5 catches in roughly 2 ½ quarters of work.  We could also see Jordan Whittington a bit more, but this looks like Tyler Johnson’s job until Puka returns to the field.    
5. Khalil Shakir (50.3% available) – He was #3 on my potential breakout WRs last week and I liked what I saw in week 1. 
6. Greg Dortch (99.4%) – Rondale Moore is no longer splitting slot snaps with Dortch.  He played well while the Bills were focused on shutting down Marvin Harrison Jr.  Dortch should be an asset in PPR leagues.
7. Xavier Legette (71% available) – he led his team in targets in his first NFL game.  Granted, the Panthers played poorly and he didn’t have many yards, but he could be the #1 guy for a decent Panthers receiving group.
8. Devaughn Vele (99.9%) – it’s impressive to see an undrafted free agent have 8 targets in week 1 of his rookie season. 
9. Xavier Gipson (99.5% available) – I’m writing this before the MNF game, but if Gipson starts and commands targets, he should be considered. 

Tight End:

1. Isaiah Likely (91.2% available) – He certainly broke out.  He should have season-long value on a Ravens team that will often play two tight ends. 
2. Noah Fant (93.4%) – for years, the Seahawks would split targets among 3 TEs.  Fant didn’t score well vs the Broncos, but he did consolidate the TE targets.  I think that bodes well for his worth later this season.
3. Taysom Hill (54.2%) – the dude gets a lot of rushing attempts.  He’s listed as a TE, but I’d sooner list him as a RB this season.  He’s going to get valuable touches, but he’ll lack consistency for your roster.
4. Juwan Johnson (85.3%) – when he plays, he is a red zone threat.  Teammate Taysom Hill also has value, but Juwan Johnson is the true TE in this offense
5. Zach Ertz (97.7%) – Washington didn’t have a ton of completions, but Ertz dominated the target share among TEs
6. Theo Johnson (99%) – in his first NFL game, he led the Giant TEs in targets.  I think it’s going to be a long season offensively for the Giants, but a rookie TE is always worth taking a chance on when they open their career as a starter

Defense:

1. LA Chargers (25.8%) – My third ranked defense last week played very well vs the Chargers.  Now they draw a bad Panthers team in week 2.  Snap them up.
2. Philadelphia (85.4%) – they had a tough matchup in week 1 vs GB, but I thought they played well.  They are going to give Atlanta problems in week 2. 
3. Kansas City (39.6%) – I avoided them last week because I didn’t like their matchup vs Baltimore.  I like the week 2 matchup vs Cincinnati much more.
4. New England (98.6%) – they shut down Cincinnati in week 1 and play the Seahawks in week 2.  I think they’ll keep up the momentum.
5. Chicago (63.3% available) – they were also my top ranked DST group heading into week 1.