Fantasy football: top 10 waiver wire Week 1 pickups

1. Paul Richardson

The Seattle Seahawks traded away Jermaine Kearse to the New York Jets, then released preseason playmaker Kasen Williams, and both of those moves have left Richardson as the clear outside starter opposite Doug Baldwin. Tyler Lockett is returning from injury and will be used heavily as a slot wideout, while third round draft pick Amara Darboh has a very quiet camp and preseason period. Who else is there? I’m expecting a huge year from Jimmy Graham, but there will be plenty of fantasy production to go around.

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Richardson, a second round pick from 2014, has been injury-riddled so far in his NFL career (that’s an understatement). He had a slow start as a rookie, and went down in the 2014-15 playoffs with a torn ACL. Heartbreakingly, he only had one reception in 2015 as he caught a 40-yard bomb after returning from injury, and subsequently hurt his hamstring in the process.

In last year’s playoffs, we finally saw a glimpse of what he can do as he pulled off some big plays including a terrific one-handed touchdown catch. He attacks the ball, has speed and Russell Wilson isn’t afraid to look his way. We can expect big things from Richardson, and he’ll get started straight away with a matchup against the Green Bay Packers.