NFL fantasy football waiver wire pickups for Week 2

Fantasy Football RB waiver pickups, Week 2

Kenneth Gainwell, Philadelphia Eagles (47 percent rostered)

It turns out that the offseason buzz surrounding Gainwell proved to be true (at least for one week). Eagles beat reporters continued to announce that Gainwell was going to enter the season as the unquestioned starting running back of this backfield, but fantasy managers chose to ignore that information and continued drafting the likes of D’Andre Swift and Rashaad Penny. The Eagles have been so impressed by Gainwell that they elected to make Penny a healthy scratch in Week 1.

Gainwell logged 62 percent of the Eagles' offensive snaps in Week 1, earning 18 total touches and gaining 74 yards. His usage as a receiver was encouraging – he saw five targets, hauling in four of them for 20 yards. Eagles reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer Jeff McLane reported that Gainwell suffered a rib injury in the team’s Week 1 win over the Patriots, so be sure to monitor the injury report. The Eagles will host the Vikings on Thursday Night Football this week, who surrendered 124.2 rushing yards per game to opponents last season.

Barring the rib injury limiting Gainwell’s workload, he is set up to continue pacing the Eagles' running backs in snaps and usage.

Gus Edwards/Justice Hill, Baltimore Ravens (21 and 4 percent rostered)

Both Edwards and Hill should be viable fantasy options following the news that Ravens running back JK Dobbins suffered a season-ending Achilles injury. The two nearly split snaps once Dobbins was removed from the game, but it was Hill who got the goal line work and passing down usage. Hill had eight carries for nine yards and two touchdowns while playing over half the snaps on what we expect to be a high-scoring offense, making Hill a worthy flier.

Despite Hill receiving the bulk of the work last week, Edwards has typically been the Ravens’ go-to backup option in recent years. Per ESPN’s Eric Moody, Gus Edwards has averaged 12.5 fantasy points per game in the 11 games he has received 15-plus rushing attempts. It may be difficult to predict which Ravens running back handles the majority of the workload every week, but both players will be fantasy-relevant.

Joshua Kelley, Los Angeles Chargers (7 percent rostered)

Austin Ekeler has been vocal about his desire to see a reduced workload with the hopes of keeping his body as fresh as possible later in the season. Unfortunately for him, no one has been able to step up to the point that the Chargers feel comfortable ceding carries to another running back.

However, Chargers head coach Brandon Staley announced that Ekeler suffered an ankle injury in the team’s Week 1 loss to the Dolphins, putting his status for Week 2 in jeopardy. In comes Joshua Kelley, who received 16 carries for 91 and a touchdown against the Dolphins. Kelley operated as the clear No. 2 option behind Ekeler and could push for 20-plus touches if Ekeler were forced to miss any time. Regardless, he seems to be locked into a sizeable role as Ekeler’s change-of-pace back.