Week 1 Waiver Claims to Make a Week Early

Week 1 of the 2024 NFL season has nearly arrived, and as is our annual tradition, we’re going to give you some early waiver wire pickups to know before the rest of your league.

This article will get ahead of the game by helping you make some early waiver claims before the season even starts. It should go without saying (but I’ll say it anyway) that these are speculative waiver adds. But it’s better to be early than miss the boat entirely.

Here are six players to claim for before Week 1 even starts (all players rostered in fewer than 50% of Yahoo leagues).

Week 1 Waiver Claims to Make Ahead of Time

Mike Williams, WR, New York Jets

Mike Williams is the forgotten new man in New York. All eyes are on Aaron Rodgers, Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall, which has caused Williams to go overlooked. (Well, that and the fact he was injured all offseason — stop me if you’ve heard that before.)

But Williams is primed to lock down the WR2 role in New York, and outside of the players mentioned above, there’s no real competition for targets. Williams is big, athletic, and not quite over the hill. He’s expected to play Week 1, and if he snags a TD pass in primetime, you can bet he’ll be a hot waiver add this time next week.

Jerry Jeudy, WR, Cleveland Browns

Will Jeudy find a new life in Cleveland? He’s not quite a bust, but things have obviously not panned out for the once-heralded prospect. However, he now joins easily the best team he’s ever been on with the best quarterback he’s ever been with.

And the Browns completely believe in Jeudy. They gave him a three-year, $52 million contract. We don’t yet know how big of a role he’ll play in the offense, but if he starts the season strong, you’ll wish you snagged him early. He’s locked into the WR2 role.

Josh Downs, WR, Indianapolis Colts

Downs is viewed by many as the WR3 in Indianapolis. But what if he’s actually the WR1?

Downs is still hurt, though, and he may not even play in Week 1. But when he returns to the field, his rostership in fantasy is going to go through the roof. If he’s ruled out in Week 1, pick him up just to stash him on IR.

Bucky Irving, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

This one is a bit of a shot in the dark. Irving was electric in college but landed behind one of the true workhorses in the NFL last year in Rachaad White. However, many still question White’s ability to be “the guy” for years and years. If this ends up being a 60-40 split as early as Week 1, Irving will become one of the hottest names on the waiver wire.

DeMario Douglas, WR, New England Patriots

Absolutely nobody wants a piece of the Patriots pie, but what if … they are actually not horrible this year? The team reloaded its WR room, revamped its coaching staff, and, most importantly, has a completely new QB room.

In PPR leagues, Douglas will be highly sought after once he’s peppered with eight targets in Week 1.

Samaje Perine, RB, Kansas City Chiefs

Let’s try to get a completely free piece of the Chiefs offense, shall we? Isiah Pacheco is viewed as the dude in KC, but reports are that the Chiefs actually wanted Josh Jacbos during free agency. Maybe they aren’t as sold on Pacheco as the do-everything back — they are just using him as such because he’s much better than all of their other options (RIP CEH).

It’s no shock that the Chiefs insta-scooped up Perine once he hit waivers in real life, but it was a little bit of a shock that the Chiefs almost immediately said he’d be playing in Week 1. Were they really that desperate for backup depth? Apparently so. If Perine is the new Jerick McKinnon, you’ll be kicking yourself for leaving him on waivers when he was just sitting there.