Having a good fantasy draft sets a team up really well, but most of the time to win a fantasy football league, acquisitions need to be made during the season. Each week there are several players worth exploring on the waiver wire. Here are fantasy football players to add week 2.
(Note: These are best used for standard scoring leagues. All players are owned in less than 50 percent of ESPN leagues)
The Baltimore Ravens have had some of the worst injury luck this season. J.K. Dobbins was supposed to take over the starting running back role. He went down with an injury. His two backups, Gus Edwards and Justice Hill both went down with injuries too. Ty’Son Williams was the only healthy running back on the roster, so the Ravens had to make some moves in free agency.
Murray, Le’Veon Bell and Devonta Freeman were all added to go with Williams in the backfield. Bell and Freeman are bound to be rusty, as they have been on and off rosters the last few seasons and missed training camp. Murray is the player to roster out of those three, no matter if Williams produces or not. On Monday Night Football, Murray played a lot of snaps and scored a touchdown. The Ravens can support a few roster-able running backs in fantasy so the production should continue. Williams is available in about 55 percent of ESPN leagues.
In the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft, the 49ers selected Mitchell out of Louisiana-Lafayette. He had been a productive back at the college level, but the pick was a bit head-scratching, as the 49ers had already selected Trey Sermon a few rounds earlier. After Raheem Mostert went down with a knee injury, Mitchell got most of the work out of the backfield, as Mostert was a healthy scratch from the lineup.
There is no word on whether Mostert will miss any amount of time, but the 49ers like to use multiple running backs. They also go with the hot hand a lot and Mitchell performed well. He finished the game against the Lions with 19 carries for 104 yards and a touchdown. While he may not be a guy to start every week in fantasy football, he is a guy to roster. He is available in over 98 percent of ESPN leagues.
Hamler figured to get a lot of work in the Broncos’ offense this season as a second-year player. That workload will likely increase now that Jerry Jeudy is expected to miss several weeks with a high ankle sprain. Tim Patrick will also get some more targets, but Hamler should be able to shine more in Jeudy’s absence.
In week 1 against the Giants, Hamler was targeted four times. He caught three of those passes for 41 yards. With more time to prepare over the next few weeks, the Broncos should be able to gameplan how to get Hamler the ball in the slot. He is very quick and can get separation, as well as run after the catch well. There is a big opportunity for him to produce. Hamler is only rostered in 1.8 percent of ESPN leagues.
The Cowboys’ offense looked explosive in week 1 and they almost upset the Buccaneers on the road. It was a hard-fought game and unfortunately, Dallas left with a calf injury to Michael Gallup, who is expected to miss a few weeks. Taking his spot in the lineup was Cedrick Wilson, who will also see a lot of playing time going forward.
Against the Buccaneers, Wilson caught all three targets for 24 yards. The Cowboys’ offense has enough to go around, as Gallup was expected to have a good season along with CeeDee Lamb and Amari Cooper. If Wilson can hang onto the third wide receiver role until Gallup gets back, he is worth picking up and possibly playing some weeks. He is available in 99.9 percent of ESPN leagues.
In the offseason, the Jaguars shocked many by drafting a running back in the first round. They already had James Robinson, who was coming off of an impressive rookie season. When rookie Travis Etienne went down with an injury that will force him to miss the season, Robinson was expected to resume his lead running back role. That’s not exactly how things played out.
The Jaguars lost to the Texans in the opener and to make things worse, Carlos Hyde had nine carries to Robinson’s five. Robinson got some work out of the backfield, but there isn’t really a reason that Hyde should get more carries than Robinson other than he played for Urban Meyer at Ohio State. While Hyde is a 30-year-old veteran who should just be used as a reserve and maybe in goal line situations, Meyer seems to have bigger plans for him. He is worth picking up to see how far Meyer is willing to go with this. He is rostered in just 14.5 percent of ESPN leagues.
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