Week 2 Waiver Claims

Quarterback #1: Joe Burrow

Burrow has the most important factor needed in a breakout QB – rushing upside. With 46 rushing yards & a rushing TD in the first game (the fantasy equivalent of an extra 250 passing yards), the sky might really be the limit for him when he’s on as a passer. Even in 1QB leagues, Burrow is worth the stash.

Quarterback #2: Jared Goff

How is last year’s passing attempts leader owned in less than 50% of ESPN leagues?

Quarterback #3: Gardner Minshew

19 completion on 20 passing attempts!! What more is it gonna take before people start taking Minshew seriously? Not only is he a legit passer with an improved WR corps, but – like Burrow – he provides underrated rushing value as a fantasy asset. Adding 20 rushing yards to a QB’s total might not seem like a whole lot, but it’s the equivalent of going from a 250-yard passing game to a 300-yard passing game. Adding that sort of boost to what’s becoming an increasingly impressive passing profile gives Minshew legitimate top-12 upside.

Running Back #1: Nyheim Hines

Congrats to those of you who stashed Hines before Week 1! Before Marlon Mack even got injured, Hines had already scored Indy’s first TD. He was hyped as a receiving-threat in training camp & with Philip Rivers under center the Austin Ekeler comparisons are going to be inevitable – and they aren’t unwarranted, not with Rivers targeting Mack, JT, & Hines 17 times for 37% of his total attempts in Week 1. Now, Mack’s out of the picture with a torn Achilles. You don’t even have to do the math to see the upside here.

Running Back #2: James Robinson

After a highly productive career at Illinois State (165/933/12 as a sophomore, 205/1290/12 as a junior, & 363/1917/18 as a senior) & a stand-out performance at the East-West shrine game (136 total yards, 80 rushing, 56 receiving, & the longest TD in the history of the game – 63 yards), Robinson somehow went undrafted. Since signing with the Jags as an UDFA, he’s impressed their coaching staff so much that they cited his play as one of the main reasons they were comfortable moving on from Leonard Fournette. They then gave Robinson every single RB rushing attempt in Week 1 & got him involved with a 28-yard reception as well, giving him 34 snaps & 17 touches to Chris Thompson’s 12 snaps & 2 touches… The ceiling is limited without a true receiving role, but don’t count on Armstead or Ozigbo ever factoring in. Go get Robinson if he’s somehow still available. He’s got a bit of an early-career Chris Carson feel to him, don’t you think?

Running Back #3: Jerick McKinnon

Let’s be real, Jerick McKinnon was always the ideal Raheem Mostert complement in San Fran. His 3^rd down & receiving skillset diversifies the offense and adds another element on top of the ground & pound game. The ability to flex McKinnon out wide (as he was 3 times in Week 1) is especially useful with Deebo set to miss at least the first 3 games & Brandon Aiyuk dealing with an injury himself. I know the narrative around Tevin Coleman is that he was limited due to air quality conditions, but the fact of the matter is, over the past two years, Coleman just hasn’t been able to create anything for himself, with only 1.8 & 1.4 yards after contact per-attempt the last two years. There’s not really a whole lot of incentive for SF to play him over McKinnon going forward.

Running Back #4: Malcolm Brown

Malcolm Brown popped off Week 1 last year (11/53 & 2 TD’s) and then burnt fantasy players who took a shot on him by never surpassing 11 carries, 53 yards, or 1TD in any of the remaining 15 games… so it’s hard to blame those hesitant to re-invest in him. But could this year be different? He started with an even bigger performance (18/79/2 & 3/31 receiving) & with Cam Akers having to earn playing time as a rookie, Brown’s got a chance at continuing to start. Even if he eventually loses the lead gig to Akers, Brown could force McVay into a committee approach, or at the least be able to possibly stack a few more solid games over the next few weeks and become a useful early-season trade chip for you to unload before Akers takes over. Most importantly, if Akers ever went down… Brown possesses the upside in a high-scoring Rams offense that we should prioritize with our early-season claims.

Wide Receiver #1: Jalen Reagor

1 catch for 55 yards & he’s my number one WR claim? I’m not sure how I feel about it, but the upside is just so tantalizing. Mike Williams seeing 9 targets against a weak Bengals secondary is nice, but he pretty much is what he is at this point. Reagor has the most upside & his floor should start to stabilize as his catch rate (caught just 1 of 4 targets) & targets rise.

Wide Receiver #2: Laviska Shenault

I’m a little riskier than most listing two rookies as my top post-Week 1 WR claims, but I’m willing to go down with upside. Any WR you add post-Week 1 is probably your 4^th or even 5^th WR, so why take the safe thing in Mike Williams when you could shoot for a potential Deebo Samuel clone (who happened to be a top-15 fantasy WR the second-half of his rookie year) who might be his team’s RB2.

Wide Receiver #3: Parris Campbell

It’s time to fully buy-in on Campbell as a post-hype sleeper. Equipped with 4.31 speed & a 40-inch vertical, Campbell led the Colts’ WR’s in snaps Week 1. Seeing 58 of his 61 snaps from the slot should help him maintain his high catch-rate (caught 6 of 7 targets) & it doesn’t hurt that he could have a role in the run-game too (1 carry for 9 yards).

Wide Receiver #4: Mike Williams

Ok, at a certain point, Mike Williams needs to be added too. It’s not sexy & you’re not gonna feel great about it, but there’s a legitimate chance that Williams meshes with Tyrod & Herbert better than he ever did with Rivers. He was one of 8 players to post at least a 30% target share in Week 1 (the others being D-Hop, Davante, Crowder, Edelman, Fuller, Thielen, & N’Keal Harry).

Tight End #1: Dallas Goedert

How in the world is Dallas Goedert only rostered in 27% of ESPN leagues?! He has 7+ fantasy points in 13 straight games dating back to last year… He was always the ideal TE2-target because of his league-winning upside if Zach Ertz were to ever go down. From the looks of Week 1, it might not even take an injury for Goedert to become the No. 1 receiving option in Philly… For those without Kelce, Kittle, or Andrews, Goedert absolutely needs to be prioritized as the No. 1 claim this week. His value is going to continue to rise & if he continues to outperform Zach Ertz the next two games against the Rams & Bengals, he could quite possibly be looked at as fantasy’s TE4 as soon as Week 4… It’s legitimately within the range of outcomes & if Goedert hits anywhere close to that, it’s going to be worth a RB on the trade market more valuable than any of the RB’s you could pick up this week. I do NOT recommend prioritizing likely RB3’s over what could potentially be this year’s Mark Andrews. The only RB I’d even consider prioritizing over Goedert is Hines – and I can’t justify that either.

Tight End #2: Chris Herndon

Herndon could fly under the waiver radar a bit this week. His 39 yards & a fumble against the Jets look poor on the surface, but the Bills were the 3^rd toughest fantasy matchup for TE’s last year. What’s important here is that Chris Herndon had a 20% market share of the targets (with 7) & had the second most receptions (6) on the team behind Jamison Crowder – oh, and he finished the game healthy… I think?

Tight End #3: Logan Thomas