Fantasy Football Waiver Wire: Priority pickups ahead of Week 1

Andy Behrens

Hey, congrats on the great work at your fantasy draft. Nicely done. It was truly a triumph of modern roster-building principles.

Regardless of whatever AI-generated fantasy football draft grade our sinister bots may have given you, please know that your human friends at Yahoo Fantasy think you did a terrific job.

Of course, we also understand you have now been staring at the same collection of names for a few days, so you’re getting a little antsy. As great as your draft may have been, that’s in the past. Let’s maybe freshen up the roster a bit with some opening week waiver wire additions.

In advance of Thursday’s regular-season opener between the Ravens and Chiefs, we are pleased to recommend a full starting lineup’s worth of potential pickups, all (except one) available in a majority of Yahoo leagues…

Friendly reminder that Smith is just one year removed from a season in which he finished as the QB5 overall in fantasy and led the NFL in completion percentage (69.8%). He didn’t quite reach the same level in 2023, although he did manage to lead the league in game-winning drives (5) while earning Pro Bowl recognition. His receiving corps remains loaded and he now finds himself at the controls of a Ryan Grubb offense that should offer greater pace and passing volume.

Geno has definitely passed the eye test in the preseason, for what it’s worth:

Smith has been an afterthought throughout draft season, ranked much closer to the Derek Carr-tier than he belongs. This is a competent QB in a potentially fun system, surrounded by talent.

The Chargers have been consistently telling us that Dobbins and Gus Edwards are basically co-starters, a balanced two-man running back committee entering the season. That’s the way the team’s depth chart presents the situation, too. But for whatever reason, we have been drafting Edwards almost universally and Dobbins only sporadically.

No one is promising you a vintage pre-injury version of Dobbins, of course, but he remains a near-lock for significant touches in a Greg Roman backfield. He certainly deserves a spot on someone’s roster, even in shallower fantasy formats. He’s in the opening week flex conversation.

Wright is a pure flier, but he’s the sort of high-ceiling lottery ticket you should be targeting. He’s a blisteringly fast back (4.38) coming off a promising preseason and an impressive collegiate career; he rushed for over 1,000 yards while averaging 7.4 YPC in the SEC last year, which is no simple feat. Miami’s backfield produced a pair of exceptional fantasy running backs last season, so there’s no question Wright is attached to the right offense.

We can’t yet say with any certainty what Wright’s early season usage might look like, but we definitely know his long-range upside is as high as almost anyone’s. He belongs on a roster in any league with 12 or more teams.

The only thing preventing a Wicks breakout this season is the ludicrous depth in Green Bay’s receiving room. Talent certainly isn’t an issue for the second-year wideout. Wicks caught 67.2% of his targets last season, averaged 14.6 yards per catch and routinely embarrassed DBs at the line of scrimmage:

If he sees a serious uptick in volume at any point, he absolutely has the potential to emerge as a star. Wicks is a priority bench stash.

Hill is eligible at tight end for fantasy purposes, yet he might actually be his team’s No. 2 running back and preferred goal-line rushing option. He’s like a glitch in the game, basically. It seems clear that he’ll see significant usage in a variety of roles. No one is promising a smooth fantasy ride, but his best games should be matchup-winners.

Hill might be an imposter tight end, but the points will count just the same. He should be rostered everywhere.

Mitchell has good size (6-foot-2) and crazy athleticism (4.34 speed, 39.5-inch vertical) and he saw plenty of run with Anthony Richardson in the preseason, with a TD catch included. He’s lined up in the slot on nearly 70% of his passing snaps according to PFF, which should mean more layup opportunities than we might have originally expected. Josh Downs suffered a high-ankle sprain in early August, giving Mitchell a path to meaningful playing time.

We won’t make a habit of recommending kickers in this feature under normal circumstances, but we also realize many of you wait until the last possible moment to pluck one from the free agent pool, post-draft. Bates is a reformed soccer player and a UFL legend who happens to possess a weapons-grade right leg:

He’s now kicking for a team that averaged 27.1 points per game last year, so he’s an obvious candidate to finish among the league’s scoring leaders. Bates is an absolute gift to those who chose to go kicker-less on draft night.

The Saints are curiously under-rostered at the moment, following a season in which they finished fourth in the NFL in takeaways (29) and tied for third in interceptions (18). This defense has plenty of talent up front and in the secondary, plus they open with a home matchup against Bryce Young and the Panthers.

They should be an easy and obvious opening week start, yet this D/ST remains widely available.

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