Football is a morally reprehensible sport, and fantasy football is a morbid game where people like me hop on their laptops after horrific, life-altering injuries and tell you how you can potentially make the most of it. Like the stock market, the entire American business sector and the entire history of politics, fantasy football is often won and lost by capitalizing on the misfortune of people you've never met.
It's important to remember that even though fantasy football is a game, we must not abandon our human decency; you may never root for an injury nor celebrate one, no matter how advantageous it is for your fantasy team, your parlay or your real-life NFL team. These are real people, and while the ensuing column will make many references to how to capitalize on Week 2 injuries via the waiver wire, this is cold, rational logic. Remember Brad Pitt to his young stock-shorting protégés in The Big Short after making stock market gambles that, if correct, would cost people their homes and lives: "just don't f---ing dance."
Disclaimer: As with all fantasy analysis I do, I’m using ESPN roster percentages and only recommending players available in more than 50 percent of leagues (though I will mention some guys right on the line). We’re talking standard PPR scoring and assuming a 10-team league, though all of this will probably apply for half-PPR as well and for 12-team leagues, which are the most popular options. (end of copy and pasted disclaimer) Onto Week 2, beginning with a slightly improved running back crop and another wide receiver room I'm actually excited about.
Running back waiver wire targets
Waiver-wire players to add: Jonah Coleman (Broncos), George Holani (Seahawks), Alvin Kamara (Saints), Rachaad White* (Commanders)
It's another thin week at running back, which is going to be a maddening trend throughout the season. The relative scarcity of good options meant most playable running backs were drafted in your league and thus are nowhere to be found; in our FanSided work league, I had to play Devin Singletary this week after R.J. Harvey went down with injury. I ... still won, by a million, thanks to Josh Allen, Dalton Kincaid and Jahmyr Gibbs, but I was annoyed about the Devin Singletary aspect of my lineup.
I actually wrote about Jonah Coleman during training camp, and referred to him as "the latest in a long and triumphant list of later-round running backs that pop up out of nowhere and make you rethink your fantasy football draft strategy in late July/early August." But I wasn't anywhere near Coleman as a deep sleeper in any of my pre-fantasy draft analyses because he needed too many injuries in front of him to get real run. Well? R.J. Harvey and J.K. Dobbins were both hurt for some or all of Week 2, and are both unclear for Week 3. Coleman will be in for a big spot if both are out, though he's worth a pickup anyway; it seems like the Broncos are determined to craft him a role in the offense. He looked great.
Beyond Coleman, we're chasing injury fill-ins with George Holani as Jadarian Price's status remains unclear, and looking at Alvin Kamara as a washed-up PPR merchant still very much capable of PPR merchanting. Rachaad White* was the best running back for the Commanders by far on Sunday, though he's rostered in a few too many leagues for me to recommend without an asterisk. Still, if he's available in your league, go snag him right away.
Wide receiver waiver wire targets
Waiver-wire players to add: Rashod Bateman (Ravens), Tre Tucker (Raiders), Adonai Mitchell (Jets), Keon Coleman (Bills)
Two excellent options and two intriguing concepts for you this week. First and foremost, go get Rashod Bateman, who benefited greatly from Zay Flowers' absence for one of the best games of his career. He's been a constant Siren in fantasy, with only-somewhat-deniable talent but never the production to back it up. Tre Tucker is someone I got burned by last year a million times, always feeling like he had the volume to do something for your flex spot but never quite doing it; both are missing their number one target competition, and so long as that's the case they're worth a start. Very good pickups either way, though, since neither will disappear from the offense once Brock Bowers and Flowers return. Bowers and Flowers ... sounds like a poem.
The other two I'm watching are Adonai Mitchell and Keon Coleman, who I wouldn't go out and drop someone good for, but if you are rostering someone you don't mind cutting loose? These are two tantalizing talents — Coleman figures to see more action if DJ Moore misses time after he exited Thursday night, and Mitchell got 12 yes that is 12 targets on Sunday. Geno Smith can, if nothing else, throw a high volume of passes, and he's been solid this year on a Jets team that should see plenty of pass-heavy game scripts
Tight end waiver wire targets
Waiver-wire players to add: Dalton Schultz (Texans), Oronde Gadsden (Chargers)
I tried to tell everyone last week that Dalton Schultz was your guy, and hopefully someone listened to me because he had 12 catches for 140 yards!! That is not something I'd expect to continue, but the Houston Texans somehow had C.J. Stroud throwing 55 passes in the loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. If Nico Collins misses another week, which it feels like he will, Schultz is in for more crazy volume. Go pick up and start Dalton Schultz!
Oronde Gadsden, on the other hand, is not necessarily someone I'd recommend picking up and starting next week, but there's a non-zero chance he becomes the primary pass-catching tight end for the sputtering Chargers offense. David Njoku was carted off with a knee injury, and the only other tight end on the roster, Charlie Kolar, also left the game; even if Kolar is healthy, he's mostly a blocker who has 33 total catches in his five-year NFL career. Gadsden could hold major rest-of-season value if he suddenly has no snap competition.
Quarterback waiver wire targets
Waiver-wire players to add: Bryce Young (Panthers), Tyler Shough (Saints)
So far, Bryce Young has taken advantage of shoddy defensive units of the Chicago Bears and Atlanta Falcons to put up major stats to the delight of his five total fantasy managers. But he's averaging 27.8 fantasy points per game, and you could do significantly worse at QB than Young, especially in deeper leagues. That offense really moves.
With QB, I just have to intuit who is probably available in your league, since QB-hoarding or two-QB leagues skew the heck out of the percentages. Tyler Shough officially leads the NFL in passing, because of course he does. As much as we joked about him getting drafted ahead of Shedeur Sanders and his last name being pronounced "shuck," there's a chance he's just legitimately good, and that the Saints offense, while healthy, can sustain a number of fantasy options; go get their QB as a depth option or an emergency starter if you're in some sicko league where everyone rosters three QBs.
Defense streaming advice
Like I said last week, I'm not some kind of defense-streaming guru; I just submit a claim for the units with the highest projected points because ... bro, you cannot predict when some lunatic strip sack scoop-and-score will happen (a play worth nine points in standard leagues). If you can get them, pick up the Chiefs defense, ready to feast on the Junior Varsity Miami Dolphins, or the Packers defense, who don't look good at all but are playing the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday Night Football. All-time terrible spot for the Falcons, so get on the other side of it.
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