Week 1 is in the books. I hope you were able to grab Dylan Sampson last week because he’s going to be tough to acquire on the waiver cycle. As a reminder, I expect Quinshon Judkins, who recently signed, to supplant Jerome Ford. Dylan Sampson will continue to be involved as a third down back and receiver.
Waiver Wire Strategy for Week 2
Top 5 Waiver Wire Targets – Week 2
Here are my Top fantasy football waiver wire pickups for Week 2:
- RB Dylan Sampson (28.6% rostered)
2. WR, Quinten Johnston (3.8% rostered)
3. TE, Juwan Johnson (1.2% rostered)
4. WR, Ced Tillman (42.5% rostered)
5. TE, Harold Fanin Jr. (0.8% rostered)
6. WR, Donte Thornton Jr. (0.5% rostered)
Waiver Wire Pickups by Position
Quarterbacks
- Trevor Lawrence – 39.2% rostered – I think the Jaguars passing game will continue to get better.
- Cam Ward – 25% rostered – The Broncos pass rush was in his face the entire first week and he was delivering quality passes downfield (many of which were dropped). I think Ward will be good moving forward.
- Daniel Jones – 4.9% rostered – he scrambles well. I don’t think he’ll score two rushing TDs every week, but the Colts have quality talent. This is what the offense looks like with adequate QB play. Jones can be a solid backup for you this year.
- Aaron Rodgers – 8.9% rostered – I just want to acknowledge him here. I like the other QB pickups far more, but if Rodgers can make a habit of throwing 3 or more TDs per week, he’ll deserve a roster spot.
Running Backs
- Dylan Sampson – 32.8% rostered – Don’t worry about Quinshon Judkins. If he ever signs, he will supplant Jerome Ford’s role. Dylan Sampson is locked in as the receiving back.
- Trey Benson – 51.3 rostered – He continues to look better to me than starter James Conner.
- Kareem Hunt – 12.3% rostered – He matched Isaih Pacheco’s stats and I think this trend will continue.
- Kenneth Gainwell – 2 % rostered – I thought he’d be more involved… but even I was surprised just how often he was on the field. He played 29 snaps compared to Jaylen Warren’s 25 (and Kaleb Johnson’s 2).
Wide Receivers
- Ced Tillman – 42.5% rostered – the Browns can pass the ball and Tillman is their best red zone target, at least among receivers.
- Quentin Johnston – 3.8% rostered – Johnston picked up where he left off in 2024. The more encouraging reason to add him is that the Chargers started passing the ball at very un-Jim-Harbaugh like volumes. If this keeps up, three Chargers receivers should be rostered.
- Hollywood Brown – 50.1% rostered – the Chiefs will be routing plenty of passes to Brown while Xavier Worthy recovers from his shoulder injury.
- Donte Thornton Jr. – 14.9% rostered – he had a big first drive, but then fell off a bit in terms of target totals. For a first game against a tough defense, I’m happy with his performance.
- Kayshon Boutte 0.6% rostered – he didn’t look like a standout talent to me, but he was open often and it looks like he had some chemistry with Drake Maye. I always favor high target totals in week 1 when deciding on waiver acquisitions. Teams intent on taking Stefon Diggs out of the game plan will have to deal with Boutte.
- Calvin Austin III 2.4% rostered – He played well, gathering 6 targets on 45 snaps.
- Joshua Palmer 13.3% rostered – The Bills don’t want to make a habit of throwing the ball as much as they did against Baltimore. Palmer looks third in the WR pecking order behind Coleman and Shakir, but he played well.
- Olamide Zaccheaus – 0.4% rostered – he looked about what I thought he’d look like. He earned 7 targets, catching 4 passes. If the Bears can move the ball consistently, these numbers could increase (until Luther Burden takes over the slot role).
Tight Ends
- Juwan Johnson – 1.2% rostered – week 1 wasn’t a fluke. Johnson dominated snaps and had a ton of targets thrown his direction.
- Harold Fanin Jr. – 0.8% rostered – this one caught me by surprise. The Browns had Fanin playing an H-Back role, so he was in the backfield and running routes. He had a ton of targets and looked great in action.
- Brenton Strange – 18.9% rostered – that should have been his touchdown, but Hunter Long filled in for him on the play (one of Long’s 6 total snaps).
- Hunter Henry – 10.6% rostered – The Henry and Maye connection looks to have picked up where it left off from last season.
- Darren Waller – 19.5% – I still think he’ll be good, but Miami looked largely atrocious last week.
- Noah Fant – 0.7% rostered – hopefully you can get one of the guys higher on this list, but Fant looks to have leapt Gesicki on the depth chart. I think his high target totals had to do more with the game plan. It’s not like he’s going to match Chase and out-target Higgins every week.
- Mason Taylor – 6.2% rostered – he played plenty of snaps, but was out-targeted by fellow TE Jeremy Rucker. Though Taylor did run 3x the routes compared to Rucker. I expect him to keep coming along.
Defenses (DST)
- San Francisco 49ers – 19% rostered (vs New Orleans week 2)
- LA Rams – 7.2% rostered (vs Tennessee in week 2)
- Buffalo – 52.4% rostered (vs NY Jets in week 2)
Final Thoughts
Week 1 is the perfect time to take risks on fantasy football sleepers and breakout candidates. Don’t waste valuable roster space on backups who won’t start—use the waiver wire to build depth and find the players who can become difference-makers by midseason.
Stay tuned each week for updated waiver wire targets, sleepers, and roster strategy tips. Let’s dominate this fantasy football season together.