The traditional waiver wire is a crapshoot. Even Bill from HR can beat you to Jerome Ford and Isaiah Likely if he has a higher waiver claim or FAAB budget and saw that Nick Chubb and Mark Andrews were hurt as he flipped past the sports section to find his horoscope. If you want to guarantee you’ll grab your preferred potential league-winner, you need to be a week early.
And the Waiver Wire Watchlist can help. Each week this season, I will identify players whose short-term matchups make them compelling streamers and whose workload and efficiency trends have them poised for fantasy breakouts. And I will aim to identify them before Bill has ever heard their names.
Roster percentages are for ESPN/Yahoo, and players must be less than 50% rostered in one of those platforms to be considered.
Baker Mayfield, QB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
30%/33%
Reason: Opponent schedule
Time Frame: Weeks 1-2
Mayfield enjoyed a career passing season in his first year in Tampa in 2023 and will likely eventually see regression with his outlier efficiency on third downs. But that regression may not come in Weeks 1 and 2 when the veteran faces the Commanders and Lions. Both teams were top four boosters of passing fantasy points at an estimated 6.0 and 2.1 extra points per game last season. The Commanders were 32nd in pass defense DVOA — FTN’s comprehensive and opponent-adjusted measure of defensive efficiency. And the Lions were 16th in pass defense but 1st in run defense, a skew that spurred their opponents to pass more than normal.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. "Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt. Neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem.