Ted Chmyz | Sun, Sep 7th 2025, 5:11pm EDT

Fantasy Football Waiver Wire: Early Week 2 Pickups to Add (2025)

Football is back, and it feels so good. Although the Sunday afternoon games haven’t finished yet, it’s never too early to start looking at the top waiver wire pickups for the upcoming week. And this is the most important waiver week of the season, as Week 1 always reveals some of the many, many things we as a fantasy industry failed to predict heading into the season.

So far, it doesn’t look like there is a “this year’s Puka Nacua.” Some intriguing players saw more usage than expected, though, while some surprising names had big days and, unfortunately, there a few players who will be benefiting from Week 1 injuries. Let’s break down all the top early fantasy football waiver pickups heading into Week 2.

Early Week 2 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Pickups

Marquise Brown (WR – KC) | 35.2% Rostered

The Chiefs can’t catch a break with friendly-fire injuries to their wide receivers. Just under a year after Patrick Mahomes accidentally took out Rashee Rice‘s knee, Travis Kelce collided with Xavier Worthy on a crossing route, dislocating the second-year receiver’s shoulder.

We don’t know how long he will be sidelined, but Worthy is reportedly set to miss time. With Rice already out for the next five weeks due to a suspension, the Chiefs’ No. 1 WR job is suddenly up for grabs. Marquise “Hollywood” Brown is the top name to fill that void, and he should be added in all formats. He racked up an absurd 16 targets on Friday, catching 10 for 99 yards. Anything near that will lock him in as a WR3 or even WR2 until one of Worthy or Rice returns.

In deeper formats, veteran slot receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster and former Patriots Tyquan Thornton are also worth considering. Smith-Schuster caught all five of his targets for 55 yards, while Thornton caught two passes for 41 yards and just missed on a couple of deep targets.

Quentin Johnston (WR – LAC) | 8.7% Rostered

The former first-round pick played a huge part in the Chargers’ upset over their division rivals, catching five of his seven targets for 79 yards and two touchdowns. He was also Los Angeles’ No. 2 WR in terms of routes, running four more than Keenan Allen.

Quentin Johnston has had big games before, so we shouldn’t overreact to this one performance. But there’s a chance he has finally put things together heading into his third season, which makes him worth considering, especially given that the Chargers have started this season with an aggressive offensive philosophy.

Jonnu Smith (TE – PIT) | 41.3% Rostered

A lot of Jonnu Smith’s production came on a three-yard touchdown that was only technically a pass, which isn’t exactly something we can count on every week. But we still love the fact that Arthur Smith is trying to get the ball in his hands.

We have seen Smith used as a ball-carrier before, and he absolutely ate on designed touches with the Dolphins last year. With that said, initial data has him on just 18 routes on 33 Aaron Rodgers dropbacks, so he’s still more of a deep-league play than anything else.

Harold Fannin Jr. (TE – CLE) | 2.4% Rostered

We know that it’s unlikely for one team to support two fantasy-relevant tight ends. But if it’s going to happen, this is the usage that they’ll have to see, as both David Njoku and Harold Fannin Jr. played plenty of snaps.

Fannin finished with a team-high nine targets, catching seven for 63 yards. The rookie’s production in his final year at Bowling Green was utterly absurd, so he’s worth considering in deeper leagues given this solid outing in his NFL debut.

Trey Benson (RB – ARI) | 48.7% Rostered

Last year, Trey Benson was more of an afterthought behind workhorse James Conner. This year, he seems to have a defined role in the Cardinals’ offense, playing a third of the overall snaps and almost every third down.

In deep leagues, that could be enough for Benson to have standalone value — he finished this game with eight half-PPR points. At the very least, he is clearly the handcuff to roster behind the 30-year-old Conner.

Dylan Sampson (RB – CLE) | 43.4% Rostered

Dylan Sampson’s long-term prospects got worse today as Quinshon Judkins finally signed his contract. But while his fellow rookie gets up to speed (and potentially deals with a suspension), Sampson is arguably the Browns’ No. 1 RB. He played fewer snaps than Jerome Ford but easily outtouched him, finishing with 13.3 fantasy points. He is worth adding in all but the shallowest formats.

Kenneth Gainwell (RB – PIT) | 2.2% Rostered

Maybe we should listen a bit more to what coaches say in preseason. The Steelers said Kenneth Gainwell was going to have an offensive role, and they didn’t lie. He led the team’s backs with 29 snaps, although he managed just 37 yards on 11 carries.

Meanwhile, second-round rookie Kaleb Johnson played a total of two snaps. This might not last all season, but Gainwell deserves consideration as long as it does.

Michael Mayer (TE – LV) | 2% Rostered

Even before Brock Bowers started dealing with a knee injury, Michael Mayer was involved in the Raiders’ offense. If the superstar sophomore is set to miss time, Mayer, who was once an elite tight end prospect in his own right, is worth adding in all formats.

Daniel Jones (QB – IND) | 7.7% Rostered

Is it chasing points to add Daniel Jones after he put up nearly 30 in his Colts debut? Maybe just a bit. But Jones has dual-threat ability, plenty of weapons and a good offensive coach in Shane Steichen. We’ve seen him post a top-10 fantasy season before, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility that he could be usable once again.

Cedric Tillman (WR – CLE) | 34.9% Rostered

The third Brown to feature in this article, Cedric Tillman finished with some solid stats in Week 1 — five catches for 52 yards and a touchdown on one target. This is pretty much picking up where he left off, as he stepped up following the Amari Cooper trade last season before his year ended with a concussion.

Tillman (and the rest of the aforementioned Browns) won’t get to play the Bengals’ defense every week, but he is definitely worth considering as long as Joe Flacco is under center for Cleveland.

Calvin Austin III (WR – PIT) | 4.1% Rostered

Calvin Austin was expected to be the Steelers’ No. 2 WR behind DK Metcalf. What wasn’t expected was how good the Steelers’ offense looked, as they put up 34 points on a good Jets defense. Austin contributed his fair share, catching four of his six targets for 70 yards and a score.

Austin isn’t likely to be a massive talent-based breakout, so he’s not a must-add. But he could ride the potential rising tide of this Steelers offense to fantasy relevance in deeper formats.

Kayshon Boutte (WR – NE) | 2% Rostered

The 2023 sixth-rounder led the Patriots in the following stats on Sunday:

Routes: 44
Targets: 8
Receptions: 6
Yards: 103

That’s not bad. Are we witnessing a third-year breakout? Maybe. He’s worth snagging in deep leagues while we wait to find out.

Ted Chmyz is a fantasy football contributor for FantasyPros.com. Find him on Twitter and Bluesky @Tchmyz for more fantasy content or to ask questions.

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