Week 1 is finally here, and that means it’s now time to start thinking about Week 2. While your league mates concentrate on the immediate fixtures, you can gain an edge by looking to next week’s fixtures and seeing which fantasy football waiver wire players might be worth picking up ahead of Week 2 to gain an advantage.
Instead of fighting things out on the waiver wire, these players could join your roster for free now. We use rostership levels from Yahoo, which provides a large sample size and tends to be fairly reliable.
We understand you’ll be dying to say ‘he’s not available in my league’ to every suggestion, even those rostered in fewer than 10% of leagues. However, by selecting players typically rostered in 50% of leagues or fewer, we should have a good range of players available in many leagues.
Week 1 is finally here, and that means it’s now time to start thinking about Week 2. While your league mates concentrate on the immediate fixtures, you can gain an edge by looking to next week’s fixtures and seeing which fantasy football waiver wire players might be worth picking up ahead of Week 2 to gain an advantage.
Instead of fighting things out on the waiver wire, these players could join your roster for free now. We use rostership levels from Yahoo, which provides a large sample size and tends to be fairly reliable.
We understand you’ll be dying to say ‘he’s not available in my league’ to every suggestion, even those rostered in fewer than 10% of leagues. However, by selecting players typically rostered in 50% of leagues or fewer, we should have a good range of players available in many leagues.
Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Stashes Ahead of Week 2
It seems wild that Trevor Lawrence has never hit 25 passing touchdowns in a single season of his NFL career, given the lofty expectations that arrived with him. This could just be the year that changes, though. Lawrence opens against the Panthers in Week 1, who ranked 30th in pass defense DVOA (defense-adjusted value over average) last year, before taking on the Bengals, whose defense looks set to be dramatically worse than their Super Bowl-worthy offense.
Both games profile as fun for fantasy purposes, particularly with Lawrence playing under new head coach Liam Coen, who helped Baker Mayfield have career bests in several categories after being left on waivers to start 2024. The parallels run deep, and we shouldn’t be surprised if Lawrence is a hot name on waivers in Week 2.
The Colts’ defense likely isn’t going to stop the Miami Dolphins offense from putting up points in Week 1, and the Patriots’ defense in Week 2 might not be a whole lot better.
There haven’t been many positive vibes around the Dolphins this year, but it’s worth remembering that in the games Tua Tagovailoa played last year, he was third in pass attempts per game (36.3) and had Jaylen Waddle averaging almost five PPR points per game higher than in those he missed.
Likewise, De’Von Achane averaged almost 14 more PPR points per game. The highs were worth chasing, and while Tagovailoa is an uninspiring system quarterback, they still score fantasy points all the same.
The Cleveland Browns face the Ravens on the road in Week 2, which isn’t a particularly friendly game for them, and it’s typically not a place where rookies play well. However, if we play the long game slightly, both Quinshon Judkins and Dylan Sampson (47% rostered) may deserve to be picked up.
Jerome Ford will have his opportunities, but the offseason moves showed that the coaching staff had bigger aspirations, and sooner or later, we’ll likely see the thunder and lightning duo of Judkins and Sampson. Judkins had the higher expectations and draft capital, but he remains unsigned after legal issues disrupted his training camp. Sampson, meanwhile, has earned steady reviews and will be more of a threat in the receiving game.
We’ve already touched on how poor the Panthers’ defense was last year, and it will likely be poor once again this year, struggling not only against the pass but also against the run, where they gave up the most fantasy points to opposing running backs in 2024.
Trey Benson had a fairly quiet rookie campaign, scoring double-digit PPR points on only two occasions, but there has been consistent chatter that he’ll see an expanded role in 2025, including quotes from James Conner on the subject. If Benson comes out this weekend and immediately sees higher usage than in 2024, don’t be surprised if people are clamoring for him ahead of a cupcake matchup with Carolina in Week 2.
The Texans’ offensive line could very well be the worst in the league this year, having ranked 28th in Pro Football Focus (PFF) grades last year and then trading away Laremy Tunsil this offseason. This spells bad news for a Texans team playing the Buccaneers in Week 2, who blitz and bring pressure at one of the highest rates in the league.
One way to mitigate pressure like that is to get the ball out quickly, and that’s an area where Woody Marks can help. Marks averaged over 50 receptions per year in college and has more juice than either Nick Chubb or Dameon Pierce. If, however, Marks was a healthy scratch at game time on Sunday in Week 1, he’s an easy drop for someone with a more immediate role.
In 2024, Rashod Bateman might not have won leagues single-handedly, but he had a career year in the best offense in football, putting up 756 yards, which was more than Deebo Samuel or Jaylen Waddle, and scoring eight touchdowns, more than A.J. Brown, Garrett Wilson and Drake London.
The Ravens have continuity with Todd Monken at offensive coordinator and will be looking to start hot. Bateman should be rostered everywhere.
It’s slightly noteworthy that the Vikings made Adam Thielen take a pay cut to facilitate his trade back to Minnesota, but for the next three games, we can feel assured that Thielen will have a solid role with Jordan Addison suspended.
In Week 2, they play the Falcons before a prime matchup against the Bengals in Week 3. Thielen might not feel fun, but he’s averaged 5.6 receptions per game over the last two seasons, and J.J. McCarthy can benefit from safe and reliable outlets to start his career.
For the ‘not in my league’ folks, let me present Elic Ayomanor, who reportedly beat out Van Jefferson in training camp to earn the No. 2 WR role in this offense.
The Titans likely aren’t the most fantasy-friendly offense, but this whole Titans offense can take a step forward in 2025, having ranked 27th in points scored per game last year and 23rd in plays per game. If those tick up under Cam Ward, there will be room for a second pass-catcher to have relevance behind Calvin Ridley.
If you don’t believe in Elic Ayomanor, perhaps Chig Okonkwo is an easier sell after he played every snap of preseason with Cam Ward this summer.
For two years in a row, Okonkwo has turned it on in the back halves of the season, ranking as the TE11 in 2023 between Weeks 12-17 and then ranking as the TE9 in 2024 over the same timescale. If Ward helps this offense turn the corner, don’t be surprised if Okonkwo is lurking in his shadow.
As we mentioned with Trevor Lawrence, the Jaguars’ Week 2 matchup versus the Bengals’ defense is too good to ignore. Brenton Strange had five games over nine fantasy points in 2024; he no longer has to contend with Evan Engram and has a far more creative head coach. Strange could be the best waiver wire pickup of Week 2.
If you have questions, you can always tag me (Tom Strachan) in the FantasyPros Discord, where I’ll happily help you find a good player available in your league.
