Many a fantasy football championship has been won with the waiver wire. Following Week 1 action, these are the names that should be on owners' radars going forward. And fear not if your waiver priority is low-we have some sneaky pickups for you as well.
Ownership percentages are courtesy of Yahoo.
Top 3 Stashes for Two-QB Leagues
Quarterbacks
Andy Dalton, Bengals (29% Owned): Dalton has started off 2015 with a bang, tossing five touchdowns against no interceptions, and completing 68 percent of his passes. At 29 percent ownership, it’s almost a given he’s on your waiver wire as long as you’re not in a two-QB league. Dalton’s wide receivers are finally healthy, and TE Tyler Eifert is emerging as a real threat. With Jeremy Hill and Gio Bernard at running back the Bengals’ skill positions are loaded. Go get him.
DEEP OPTION-Kirk Cousins, Redskins (9% Owned): Cousins’ yardage hasn’t been there, but for the second straight week Washington’s offense looked passable. Cousins has thrown two touchdowns and two interceptions so far against the Dolphins and Rams, two respected defenses. This week Cousins gets the Giants’ Swiss cheese secondary, so he may have a big game in him.
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Running Backs
Dion Lewis, Patriots (33% Owned): You’ll probably need a nice waiver priority to snag Lewis, who continues to do most of his damage in the passing game. Lewis doesn’t look like much, but in two games he has 10 catches and 149 yards -- those look like Julian Edelman numbers. He was targeted nine times in the passing game, and recorded seven carries; for now, LeGarrette Blount is not much for fantasy owners, and Lewis is who you want.
David Johnson, Cardinals (34% Owned): At this point it would just be stubborn for the Cardinals to deny him the ball. Johnson opened the game with a long kickoff return TD, and then later on scored a rushing touchdown. He ran just five times for 42 yards, an average of 8.4 yards per attempt. His competition right now is veteran Chris Johnson and fragile Andre Ellington. While Ellington is still very talented, he profiles as a high-end third-down back, not as a bell cow.
Matt Jones, Redskins (22% Owned): Jones looked way better than Alfred Morris yesterday, and while this won’t signal a sudden power shift in Washington backfield, it will mean that Jones gets more work. The more big runs Jones has, the more the Redskins will be sure he is their future. They’ll keep grooming him to assume the role next year when Morris is a free agent, so now’s the time to snag him.
DEEP OPTION -- Karlos Williams, Bills (21% Owned): LeSean McCoy owners should have had him already, but clearly they have missed the boat for the most part. Williams is emerging as a true thorn in McCoy’s side around the goal line. His usage may be a product of McCoy’s untrustworthy hamstring, but those injuries are known to linger so Williams will remain a problem. Right now he is not a bad play as an emergency FLEX, even if McCoy is on the field.
Wide Receivers
Travis Benjamin, Browns (13% Owned): Benjamin has scored in two straight weeks, and looks like he’s developed a rapport with second-year QB Johnny Manziel. Head coach Mike Pettine hasn’t ruled out leaving Manziel in as the starter – and that’s not surprising after they took it to the Titans – so if Manziel can keep the gig, Benjamin might be a must-start. 204 yards and three touchdowns are hard to argue with.
Doug Baldwin, Seahawks (29% Owned): It’s surprising that more people aren’t on the Baldwin train. He’s the No. 1 receiver in Seattle –Jimmy Graham just hasn’t been the force we wanted him to be so far – and he can tear up secondaries with enough targets. He caught seven of the eight passes that came his way Sunday night for 92 yards and a touchdown.
DEEP OPTION -- Rishard Matthews, Dolphins (1%): The Dolphins are turning into a high-volume passing offense, much to the chagrin of Lamar Miller owners. Matthews, and not Kenny Stills or rookie DaVante Parker, has turned into the No. 2 option behind Jarvis Landry. At one percent ownership, and with other players rising as more obviously urgent pickups, Matthews will be a very good FLEX option.
Tight Ends
Eric Ebron, Lions (15% Owned): After two weeks, it’s clear Ebron is now a part of the Lions offense. Maybe he’s still not Jimmy Graham, but an athletic marvel like him getting 10 targets cannot be ignored. Ebron scored a touchdown for the second consecutive game, and there’s no reason to think he won’t threaten double-digit scores at this rate.
DEEP OPTION -- Larry Donnell, Giants (38% Owned): Donnell is going to receive three to five targets per week and be touchdown-dependent. The Giants throw the ball a lot though, so he has as good a chance as a lot of tight ends to do okay.
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