The 2021 NFL season is officially underway and so far it has not disappointed. A lot of surprises and some injuries will send us to the waiver wire like always, and there are some interesting names to keep an eye on. Some out nowhere players came in and had great games. It pays to be aggressive early on the waiver wire, but I just don’t see to be overly aggressive this week. These guys can for sure fill holes, but I wouldn’t waste a top waiver claim, or big FAAB bucks here. All of the rostered percentages come from ESPN. Check them out here in Fantasy Football Waiver Wire: Week 2.
Quarterbacks
Teddy Bridgewater, Denver Broncos, 5% rostered
Teddy Bridgewater had a great day against the New York Giants. He was 28/36 for 264 yards and two touchdowns. He also had three carries for 19 yards. Jerry Jeudy has a high ankle sprain and will miss somewhere from 4-8 weeks depending on where you got your latest update from. Either way, expect to be without him for at least a month or so. Tim Patrick was one of his top targets catching all four of the balls thrown his way. Bridgewater gets the Jaguars and Jets the next two weeks and he could be a great streaming option.
Taylor Heinicke, Washington Football Team, 0% rostered
Taylor Heinicke filled in for the injured Ryan Fitzpatrick who was just placed on IR with a hip injury. Heinicke was 11/15 for 122 yards and a touchdown. He also had three rushes for 17 yards. He isn’t a flashy name, but filled in well in last season’s playoffs, and has a home matchup with the Giants next. Cam Newton is always an option for Washington, but I’m sticking with Heinicke here.
Sam Darnold, Carolina Panthers, 6% rostered
Sam Darnold got the win Sunday against his former team. He heavily relied on Christian McCaffrey on check-downs all day. His stat line is a lot better than he played with 24/35 for 279 yards and a touchdown. McCaffrey had nine catches for 89 yards, and it seems Darnold checks his way quite often. With McCaffrey back to his old self, expect Darnold to have some inflated stat lines, which goes well for fantasy. They play the Saints at home this week.
Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers, 1% rostered
This is just something to monitor if you have the space. Aaron Rodgers looked absolutely terrible against the Saints and went to the bench for Jordan Love when the game was well out of hand. He went 5/7 for 68 yards in this time. Rodgers will be fine, but after the offseason he had, who knows what is going on.
Running Backs
Elijah Mitchell, San Francisco 49ers, 1% rostered
Raheem Mostert suffered a knee injury early in the game, and Trey Sermon was a surprising inactive. Insert Elijah Mitchell, the sixth-round rookie. He rushed 19 times for 104 yards and a touchdown. JaMycal Hasty was the backup but did have one carry for three yards and also scored a touchdown. Mostert is expected to miss up to eight weeks.
Depending on Sermon’s status, I would temper expectations on Mitchell and this backfield as the 49ers tend to be a committee. If you need running back I would put the waiver in, but I wouldn’t waste a lot of FAAB here. More than likely this is someone who is going to get heavily bid on in most leagues, but I’m not ready to dump a lot of FAAB. Philadelphia this coming week as the number one back on a team that loves to run the ball. Mitchell is expected to be the top waiver claim this week.
Mark Ingram, Houston Texans, 11% rostered
The big question all week was who is going to lead the charge in Houston. The answer is Mark Ingram so far. He had 26 carries for 85 yards and a touchdown. That was good for the second-most carries for a running back this week behind just Joe Mixon who had 29. Between Phillip Lindsay, Rex Burkhead, and David Johnson, they totaled 15 touches to Ingram’s 26. It’s clear he is not the pass-catching back, and the Texans benefitted by playing the Jaguars, but it looks like Ingram is the guy in Houston and should be a decent RB2 for fantasy purposes. A cause for a little bit of concern going forward is they only saw slightly over 45% of offensive snaps.
Cordarrelle Patterson, Atlanta Falcons, 3% rostered
All offseason we wondered who would be the backup to Mike Davis. Wayne Gallman was a healthy scratch. Insert Cordarelle Patterson. Patterson had seven carries for 54 yards and two receptions for 13 yards. He will act as the change of pace back behind Davis and is worth a flier in the event anything were to happen to Davis.
James White, New England Patriots, 48% rostered
James White did what he usually does. He rushed four times for 12 yards but had six receptions on seven targets for 49 yards. White is a great PPR pass-catching option and showed that on Sunday. With a rookie quarterback, check downs could happen often. Both Damien Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson lost fumbles, so we’ll see how Bill Belichick handles the workload from there. The Patriots play the Jets this coming Sunday who were just torched by Christian McCaffrey.
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Carlos Hyde, Jacksonville Jaguars, 15% rostered
James Robinson was a locked-in starter this week for a big week. Right? Thanks, Urban Myer. Insert Carlos Hyde who carried 9 times for 44 yards and added two receptions for 14 yards. He had a touchdown from the three-yard line taken away by a hold but looks like he could steal goal-line touches. James Robinson had 5 carries for 25 yards. Hyde out-touched Robinson, and seemed to be the favorite back. He seems to be filling into the Travis Etienne role.
Kenneth Gainwell, Philadelphia Eagles, 4% rostered
Kenneth Gainwell had a nice day for the Eagles as he had nine carries for 37 yards and a touchdown. He also added two catches for six yards. Boston Scott did not factor in, vaulting Gainwell to the backup role behind Miles Sanders. A tough matchup against San Francisco is next, but Gainwell would be a top add if anything were to happen to Sanders and we did just see both Lions running backs run all over the 49ers.
Tony Jones, New Orleans Saints, 15% rostered
Tony Jones entered the season as the backup to Alvin Kamara after beating out Latavius Murray. Jones had 11 carries for 50 yards and added a reception for three yards. These numbers are by no means are flashy, but double-digit carries is worth checking out. Jones will fill the Latavius Murray/Mark Ingram role in this offense. Jones goes to Carolina this coming week, and is a desperate play if needed at running back, but has potential for season-long value.
Larry Rountree, Los Angeles Chargers, 1% rostered
All summer we tried figuring out who the backup to Austin Ekeler was. Ekeler was battling a hamstring injury but played Sunday. Insert Larry Rountree who saw eight carries for 27 yards. Justin Jackson only had one carry for five yards. It seems Rountree may be the running back to the roster to backup Ekeler with eight carries to back that.
Wide Receivers
Tim Patrick, Denver Broncos, 1% rostered
Jerry Jeudy suffered a high ankle sprain and is expected to miss 4-6 weeks. Tim Patrick had a decent season last year and stepped right up on Sunday. He caught all four of his targets for 39 yards and a touchdown. Expect him to be the starter outside Courtland Sutton until Jeudy comes back mid-season.
Cedric Wilson, Dallas Cowboys, 0% rostered
Michael Gallup is expected to miss 3-5 weeks with an injured calf. Cedric Wilson should step into to the WR3 role in Dallas. Dak Prescott looked very good against a good Tampa Bay defense. Wilson had only three catches for 24 yards but is expected to take on a larger role with Gallup out. Wilson is a nice dart throw who could pop off with CeeDee Lamb and Amari Cooper getting attention on the outside. Gallup saw seven targets on Thursday night, which Wilson could easily step into that role and see those targets.
Zach Pascal, Indianapolis Colts, 2% rostered
Zach Pascal had a nice game against Seattle catching four catches for 43 yards and two touchdowns. With Michael Pittman and Parris Campbell getting the attention as the top two wideouts, Pascal is the one that shined. With TY Hilton on IR, Pascal has a chance to take the spot and run with it. He could be worth a look if he keeps this up in deeper leagues.
Van Jefferson, Los Angeles Rams, 2% rostered
Van Jefferson seems to be in favor of quarterback Matthew Stafford. He brought in two catches on three targets for 80 yards and a touchdown including the first touchdown for Stafford as a Ram on a huge 67-yard touchdown. With Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp being the top two options, Jefferson is battling for the WR3 role against DeSean Jackson, and he did a lot to claim it. I don’t see him as a viable weekly starter, but he’s someone to keep an eye on if he develops more chemistry with Stafford.
Christian Kirk, Arizona Cardinals, 4% rostered
The Arizona Cardinals lead the league in four wide receiver sets They got Christian Kirk involved on Sunday as he caught five catches for 70 yards and two touchdowns. Arizona had a big win fueled by Kirk’s play. I don’t expect this from Kirk every week, but it’s something to monitor as a breakout could finally be real.
Rondale Moore, Arizona Cardinals, 20% rostered
Another Arizona Cardinal wide receiver, Rondale Moore brought in four catches on five targets for 68 yards on Sunday. We’ve been talking Moore up all summer, and he came out and had a decent game. As mentioned with Kirk, the Arizona Cardinals lead the league in four-receiver sets, which means Moore and Kirk should both see the field often. Moore has the breakout potential to pop off on any given occasion.
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Terrace Marshall, Carolina Panthers, 21% rostered
Terrace Marshall did not have a great game on the box score hauling in three catches on six targets for 26 yards, but he was out on the field a lot. Marshall has the potential to have some breakout games. He can probably be had for cheap and is a nice addition as the talent is absolutely there.
Sterling Shepard, New York Giants, 25% rostered
Sterling Shepard had a monster game for the Giants. He caught seven of nine targets for 113 yards and a touchdown. He led the Giants in receptions and targets on Sunday as well. With Kenny Golladay, Darius Slayton, and the rookie Kadarius Toney in line, the major question is, can he keep this production up?
K.J. Osborn, Minnesota Vikings, 0% Rostered
KJ Osborn has cemented himself as the WR3 in Minnesota outside Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen after an impressive Week 1 performance. He caught seven of nine targets for 76 yards. Osborn isn’t someone I’d start in a shallow league, but he’s someone to keep an eye on for deeper leagues if he can maintain this pace. The second-year player impressed on Sunday and with Chris Herndon receiving no catches on two targets, Osborn may now be the third or fourth target in Minnesota.
Danny Amendola, Houston Texans, 0% rostered
The Houston Texans had a great week this Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Texans going forward are expected to be down a lot in games and will be passing a lot. Danny Amendola brought in all five targets for 34 yards and a touchdown and ran as the slot receiver. Anthony Miller was inactive due to a shoulder injury, so it’ll be interesting to see if he can maintain that role.
KJ Hamler, Denver Broncos, 2% rostered
The stat line doesn’t show it, but KJ Hamler could have had a bigger game. He caught three of his four targets for 41 yards but dropped a wide-open touchdown, which could have made this a great game for him. With Jeudy out, Hamler has a chance to carve a role for the first half of the season.
Nelson Agholor, New England Patriots, 30% rostered
Nelson Agholor brought in five catches on seven targets for 72 yards and a touchdown on Sunday against the Miami Dolphins. He showed good chemistry with rookie Mac Jones and was tied for second on the Patriots with seven targets. Jones looked his way often, and Agholor showed he can make an impact. He is the top receiver in New England at the moment.
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Tight Ends
Juwan Johnson, New Orleans Saints, 1% rostered
I discussed all offseason about how Jameis Winston loves to target his tight ends. In Tampa Bay, Winston threw 40 touchdowns to Cameron Brate and OJ Howard over five seasons. Johnson had a nice red zone day and caught all three of his targets for 21 yards, with two touchdowns to go with it. Winston targeted tight ends nine times out of his 20 passes. Nearly half of his attempts. Saints tight ends are a good streaming option each week it seems.
Adam Trautman, New Orleans Saints, 5% rostered
As I mentioned with Johnson, Adam Trautman is a tight end for the Saints that Winston likes. Trautman was the most targeted Saints player this Sunday. as he caught three of his six targets for 18 yards. The stat line isn’t great but the target share was. Winston proved in Tampa he can play with two tight-end sets, and it seems that is what he is doing here.
Jared Cook, Los Angeles Chargers, 23% rostered
Jared Cook has been on my sleeper articles all summer and we just saw why. He caught five of his eight targets for 56 yards. He was targeted often by Justin Herbert and is a nice flier at tight ends if you didn’t grab one of the elite tight ends at the top of all draft boards. Cook fills the Hunter Henry role, and the Chargers historically love to use their tight ends.
Pharaoh Brown, Houston Texans, 0% rostered
A deep-league target here, Pharaoh Brown seems to have beaten Brevin Jordan for the starting tight end nod in Houston and caught four of his five targets for 67 yards. I wouldn’t add him unless it’s a deep league, but Brown showed he has the ability to get targets and yards. If you’re streaming tight ends, 10 points is not a bad day.
James O’Shaughnessy, Jacksonville Jaguars, 0% rostered
James O’Shaughnessy stepped right up and put up double-digit points in PPR leagues. He caught six of eight targets for 48 yards from rookie Trevor Lawrence. Rookie quarterbacks tend to favor their tight ends, so this may be a nice flier in deep leagues.
Tyler Kroft, New York Jets, 1% rostered
The New York Jets traded Chris Herndon to the Minnesota Vikings, basically giving Tyler Kroft the starting tight end role. The Jets did not add anyone, and Kroft acted as the starter on Sunday. Rookie Zach Wilson found him three times on five targets for 26 yards. Not a great stat line, but he was out there for 66% of the Jets’ offensive snaps. Wilson got better as the game went on, and I can see Kroft being a red zone target for this offense. Ryan Griffin added three catches for 22 yards and is another name to monitor in this offense.
For more options, or questions about these options, please check me out on Twitter @NMimi. I can be found on Stack Attack Fantasy Sports and right here with The FF Faceoff!
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