Week 1 of the NFL season has come to an end and fortunately, absolutely no one has overreacted yet. (Sarcasm font desperately needed.)
Of course everyone overreacted after opening week. But a lot has happened and the first week of waiver adds can be paramount to your team’s success (remember Puka Nacua and Kyren Williams?). At FTN Fantasy, we have a Waiver Wire Tool that ranks the top waiver adds of the week, while also recommending the amount of FAAB you should use on each player. And every Tuesday, I’ll break down the top five players listed in the tool, giving you the best case for each highly ranked player.
Let’s get you set for waivers.
Fantasy Football Waiver Wire: Week 2
1. J.K. Dobbins, RB, Los Angeles Chargers
Roster percentage: Yahoo! 50%, ESPN 77%
It was awesome to see Dobbins healthy, and after rushing for 135 yards and a score on 10 carries, it seems like even more work could be in his future. Dobbins also got most of the third-down work and is set to face an awful Carolina run defense that just lost Derrick Brown, potentially for the season.
2. Isaiah Likely, TE, Baltimore Ravens
Yahoo! 29%, ESPN 9%
Likely kicked off the 2024 season with a stellar game Thursday, hauling in nine passes for 111 yards and a touchdown. He played just over 70% of the snaps and ran a route on 71.4% of Baltimore’s dropbacks. While this is, ahem, likely his best game of the season, the Ravens have made it abundantly clear that Likely is going to play a large role in this TE-friendly offense.
3. Jordan Mason, RB, San Francisco 49ers
Yahoo! 58%, ESPN 19%
I’m surprised to see Mason not 100% rostered considering Christian McCaffrey is 100% rostered. In a spot start Monday, Mason was stellar, rushing 28 times for 147 yards and a touchdown. McCaffrey is still dealing with a calf injury that could actually sideline him for Week 2 as well. For however long McCaffrey is sidelined, Mason is a top-12 fantasy running back.
4. Rashid Shaheed, WR, New Orleans Saints
Yahoo! 55%, ESPN 45%
The Saints finally did it — they finally used motion and play-action. In their first game with Klint Kubiak, New Orleans posted a 40% play-action dropback rate, way up from Derek Carr’s 2023 play-action dropback rate of 14.8%. They also used pre-snap motion at one of the highest rates in all of football this weekend. It will benefit Shaheed, who hardly left the field and scored a 59-yard touchdown. Now imagine when the Saints aren’t up by 30 points.
5. Brandin Cooks, WR, Dallas Cowboys
Yahoo! 33%, ESPN 30%
Cooks found the end zone in Week 1, while seeing a healthy seven targets. And if tight end Jake Ferguson misses time, Cooks should remain the second option for a high-powered Dallas passing attack.
Check the FTN Waiver Wire Tool for the full Week 2 waiver wire advice.