Another week goes by and more moves need to be made.
You may have lost Drew Brees. Maybe you lost Ben Roethlisberger.
Perhaps you lost both.
Your fantasy draft is just half of it, now we have to keep your team going.
And always remember this, just because you get off to a slow start doesn’t mean your season is over.
You could have started 0-3 last year and then ended up adding Tyler Boyd and Phillip Lindsay.
Next stop? A fantasy football championship. OK, maybe it’s not that easy. The point is you can turn your season around with waiver wire adds.
Let’s jump in.
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QUARTERBACKS
Jameis Winston vs. NYG
Jimmy Garoppolo vs. PIT
Josh Allen vs. CIN
Teddy Bridgewater (super-flex)
Mason Rudolph (super-flex)
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Injuries, injuries, and more injuries. That was the theme when it came to quarterbacks in Week 2. Sam Darnold missing the game with mono might have been foreshadowing at the position.
Regardless, the season must go on. Let’s start off with Jameis Winston who’s looked very pedestrian thus far, even referring to himself as a game manager. He’s yet to exceed 208 passing yards or throw for more than one touchdown in his first two games in Bruce Arians’ offense.
It’s going to take some time but luckily for Winston he gets the Giants in Week 3. The Giants got handled by Dak Prescott in Week 1, allowing him to throw for more than 400 yards and four touchdowns. In Week 2, Josh Allen threw for a touchdown and rushed for a touchdown against them. If there’s any game Winston can get right, it’s home against this secondary.
Jimmy Garoppolo looked rusty in Week 1, his first regular-season game since tearing his ACL last year. Well, in Week 2 he looked better, passing for 297 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception. He’ll have a great opportunity to keep it going in Week 3 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, who have allowed at least 300 passing yards and three touchdowns in each of their first two games.
Speaking of Jimmy G, the team he just routed in Week 2 was the Cincinnati Bengals, Josh Allen’s opponent in Week 3. Despite the turnovers in Week 1, Allen has actually showed some improvements as a passer. Last year he completed just 52.8% of his passes, but so far this season he has completed 64.2% of his passes. He’s also scored a rushing touchdown each of the first two weeks. His rushing provides safety to his floor considering he’s still a work in progress as a passer.
Drew Brees will miss 6 to 8 weeks with a thumb injury while Ben Roethlisberger is out for the rest of the season. If you play in a super-flex or two-QB league and you own either Brees or Roethlisberger, you’re going to have to be decently aggressive on their backups, Teddy Bridgewater and Mason Rudolph. In those formats, you don’t want to be left without that second quarterback in your lineup.
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RUNNING BACKS
Raheem Mostert vs. PIT
Jaylen Samuels at S.F.
Frank Gore vs. CIN
Rashaad Penny vs N.O.
Carlos Hyde at LA Chargers
Chase Edmonds vs CAR
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The fantasy industry has said for years that we want to utilize Kyle Shanahan’s running backs. No matter where he’s been, no matter which players he’s had on his teams, Shanahan finds way to make fantasy-relevant running backs.
Entering the season we assumed Tevin Coleman and Matt Breida would handle most of the work, but this is fantasy football where things change very quickly.
Enter Raheem Mostert. In Week 2 against the Bengals, Mostert led the 49ers in offensive snaps (31), running back opportunities (17, carries plus targets), and scrimmage yards (151). It’s definitely annoying that Jeff Wilson, Jr. has now worked his way into the mix, too, but Mostert has been successful whenever he’s been given an opportunity. He’ll be in the flex discussion in Week 3 against the Steelers. Speaking of the Steelers, James Conner injured his knee in Week 2, which should automatically set off a light bulb.
Hopefully if you own Conner, you also own his backup Jaylen Samuels, but if you don’t make sure to pick him up. The Steelers have long focused on just one running back in their offense and we actually saw Samuels flourish last season when Conner was hurt. Conner missed Weeks 14, 15, and 16 last season and in those games he averaged 14 carries, four receptions, and 109.3 total yards per game. If Conner can’t go in Week 3, expect Samuels to be a high-end RB2.
Frank Gore has been productive for the Bills. Rookie back Devin Singletary left in Week 2 with a hamstring injury and as a result, Gore played 40 snaps and had 21 touches for 83 total yards and a touchdown. In Week 3, the Bills face the Bengals who just allowed 317 total yards and three touchdowns to 49ers running backs in Week 2. Next up is Rashaad Penny who ran for 62 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries. Penny only played 25 snaps to Chris Carson’s 43, but Carson did fumble in this game. Penny isn’t a player you can start on a weekly basis but if Carson continues to fumble, this could become a more even split.
It feels as if Carlos Hyde has been around as long as Gore but Hyde is actually eight years younger, and he looked it in Week 2. With the Texans playing with a lead Sunday, Hyde played 39 snaps and ran for 90 yards on 20 carries. On the season, Hyde has averaged 5.77 yards per carry. He’s not done yet and in games the Texans are leading, Hyde will be given opportunities similar to this. Chase Edmonds has just 7 rushing yards on the season.
So why is he a pickup? If you own David Johnson, just make sure you have Edmonds on your roster, too. Johnson left briefly in Week 2 after being tackled, but you have to play it safe and add Edmonds as well.
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WR
Demarcus Robinson vs. BAL
Deebo Samuel vs. PIT
DJ Chark vs. TEN
Geronimo Allison vs. DEN
Hunter Renfrow at MIN
James Washington at SF
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It might feel as if you’re chasing fantasy points, but we need as many options in this Chiefs passing attack as we can possibly get. Enter Demarcus Robinson who just finished as the WR1 in Week 2, one week after Sammy Watkins did exactly that. Robinson went off for 172 yards and two touchdowns, catching all six of his targets.
What I find most encouraging for Robinson as that his offensive snaps went up from 43 in Week 1 to 68 in Week 2. He actually out-snapped Mecole Hardman in Week 2. Robinson might be inconsistent but we just saw what his upside was. There’s a theme with these waiver adds as we’re really focusing on the San Francisco 49ers.
We already talked Garoppolo and Mostert but Deebo Samuel should also be considered off the waiver wire. In Week 2, Samuel led all 49ers pass catchers in targets (seven), receptions (five), receiving yards (87) and he scored a touchdown in the red zone. Samuel and the 49ers face the Steelers in Week 3, a team that has allowed the fifth-most fantasy points to wide receivers through the first two weeks of the season.
It’s only been one game but DJ Chark might be Gardner Minshew’s go-to target. In Week 2, Chark led the team in targets (nine) and receptions (seven), going for 55 yards and a touchdown.
Additionally, his snaps went from 41 in Week 1 to 52 in Week 2. All three of Chark, Chris Conley, and Dede Westbrook played more than 50 snaps against the Houston Texans. They’re clearly the top three receivers in this offense and at 6-foot-4, Chark seems to have the most upside. These next three wide receivers are far from slam dunks but are intriguing.
Geronimo Allison is the slot receiver for the Packers, playing behind Davante Adams and Marquez-Valdes Scantling but he caught a touchdown in Week 2. He’s somebody that could have value during the bye weeks. Next up we have rookie Hunter Renfrow who went from 16 snaps in Week 1 to 46 in Week 2. Renfrow led the team with eight targets in Week 2, which accounted for 21% of the target share. Then there’s James Washington, who has played at least 33 offensive snaps in each of the first two weeks. Why is that significant? He played the second-most snaps among Steelers wide receivers in Week 2 and now Mason Rudolph is the starting quarterback for the Steelers. Rudolph and Washington played four seasons together at Oklahoma State and Washington had nearly 4,500 receiving yards and 39 touchdowns.
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TIGHT ENDS
Will Dissly vs N.O.
Tyler Eifert at BUF
Jason Witten vs MIA
Gerald Everett at CLE
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When streaming tight ends, you’re trying to find somebody who can sneak in the end zone. Well, Will Dissly did so twice in Week 2 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Dissly’s snaps went from 26 in Week 1 to 46 in Week 2, out-snapping teammate Nick Vannett in both games. He finished with five catches for 50 yards and two touchdowns on five targets. Both of the touchdowns came in the red zone, which makes sense. Opposing defenses are focused on stopping the likes of Tyler Lockett, DK Metcalf, and Chris Carson in that area of the field.
Dissly will be a sneaky streaming option in Week 3 against the New Orleans Saints. If you miss out on Dissly, turn your attention to Tyler Eifert and Jason Witten, who both scored touchdowns in Week 2. If it turns out that Tyler Higbee’s injury is serious, Gerald Everett would be the last tight end standing for the Los Angeles Rams.
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For those who like to stream defenses on a weekly basis, please make sure to check if the Cowboys are available as they’re facing the winless Miami Dolphins. On the rest of the schedule, I’m looking at the Titans (at JAX), Bills (vs. CIN), and the Packers (vs. DEN).
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This column was provided to The Associated Press by SportsGrid Inc., www.sportsgrid.com
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