Beat The Week 1 Waiver Wire

Imagine one week from now you are looking at your fantasy roster and realizing you don't have all the pieces you need to make a run at getting to the championship let alone the playoffs. Or maybe you just don't realize that you could get nice depth on your bench before the season begins or at least keep an eye on some shaky depth charts in week 1 to see how they shake out. I wanted to put together a list of players to either draft late if you haven't drafted your team yet (I still have one draft left) or maybe you auto-picked a second kicker so you want to pick someone up for your bench just in case they hit or because you have no depth at a certain position.

Now here is a disclaimer. I am not saying these guys will hit. I thought Skyy Moore was going to have a mid to late-season hit last year and he did, but it happened in the Super Bowl which did not help in fantasy football. I am solely looking at players who have had injuries happen in front of them already and have a good player profile from the NFL Draft process along with their preseason production. These players could be low-level starters at some point or they could be an anomaly and be a league winner. Let's not delay any longer in no particular order.

Evan Hull - Evan sits 3rd right now on the depth chart for opening day. This could change depending on Zack Moss's health and role this week, but Hull was a running back prospect I liked and he fell in the draft. I like the possible opportunity he could have as early as week 1, but I am expecting more of a role by mid-season. If something happens with Jonathan Taylor mid-season with a trade I think Hull could smash late season because he is an all-around back that is more athletic than Deon Jackson and Zack Moss. I believe he is the way to play this backfield since he is likely to be last drafted.

Kendre Miller - I was not a huge fan of Millers coming into the NFL Draft and I still am not, but opportunity and age ahead of him on the roster could create some chances for him early and throughout the season. He has shown in college and preseason he can be a hammer, but also showed he can catch the ball out of the backfield which the Saints love to do. He would be a nice bench stash and one to just sit on for a few weeks if you can.

Jaylen Warren - Not much of a sleeper now, but I have drafted over 100 teams if you include bestball drafts and he is the highest exposure I have. I trust that the Steelers want to pass more and Najee can do that, however, Warren is more of a threat with his speed. I am not saying it will be a 50/50 split in Pittsburgh, but I could see Warren earning 25-30% snap share to start and if anything were to happen to Harris he could be a league winner. He looks like a round 7-8 pick now when he was a round 10-12 pick in early August.

Ty Chandler - Ty is RB2 by chance with injuries and fumble issues from guys that were threatening his role with the team. He has shown this offseason that he can catch the ball out of the backfield. I doubt this coaching staff wants Mattison to toot the rock 80-90% of the time also. So I think there is a steady role for Chandler right out of the gate. He is one of my favorite last-round picks.

Chase Brown - Chase is strongly the 3rd back on the depth chart right now, but in my opinion, he is the most complete and explosive back on the roster. I think only time will tell and show us that. Him being on one of the most explosive rosters in the league if we see an injury or two ahead of him or some decline in play from either Mixon or Evans he will get plenty of opportunity by mid-season. I like to stash Chase on most rosters if I can because he could be a 3 downback by the time the fantasy playoffs come around.

Tyjae Spears - Spears is an interesting player since he is on a team that will run a lot, but also has the worst line in the NFL. He also has no ACL which doesn't mean he can't be successful, just be prepared to hear that stat all year from the announcers. Spears has a stand-alone role in Tennessee and I don't think it matters what happens with Henry for that role to exist or go away. He is their receiving back that is explosive so he will probably get anywhere from 5-10 touches a game depending on the circumstance.

Trey Palmer - Palmer climbed the depth chart due to an injury ahead of him, but he also showed in the preseason that he can handle the inside and outside routes. He is a fast receiver with crisp routes that were very underrated because of his usage at Nebraska. He is an elite athlete who is a great stash with the other two receivers being a bit older and injury-prone on the roster. The quarterback situation isn't great, but don't let that scare you with the last bench receiver pick-up. He could explode like Allen Robinson back in the day.

Skyy Moore - Moore got the Reid treatment last year as a rookie. There isn't any other consistent receiving threat besides Kelce on the roster and I think with what we saw in the Super Bowl they will trust Moore this year to start handling more target share along with some rushes. I could see Moore explode onto the fantasy scene with 5 - 7 targets per week along with possibly 1-3 carries as he starts to be used more like Tyreek Hill was used in this offense.

Marvin Mims - Tim Patrick went down unfortunately again, Jeudy has a long-term hamstring issue happening right now, and Courtland Sutton doesn't scare me as he is strictly a boundary receiver. Mims is a guy that can play outside but will see most of his work from the slot. Mims will immediately see a large target share now with everything that has happened, not to mention that Sean Peyton traded up to grab him.

Alec Pierce - We finally saw in the first preseason game, minus the drop, that Pierce will be used downfield and could be the number-one receiver for Richardson because they can utilize his arm strength to stretch the field. I think Pierce is nice to pair with Richardson in case this happens. If it doesn't you probably drafted Pierce round 14 anyway so you can easily move on from him. The upside is nice to think about as a bye-week starter or a flex play.

Tank Dell is small, but his separation skills negate the size issue. He reminds me of Desean Jackson. I think he is more of a half or non-PPR play because he may only average 2 catches a game, but he could have 80 yards and a touchdown on those 2 catches. In his rookie year, he is a gamble, but could pay off nicely as a late-round pick or cheap pick-up before the season starts.

Greg Dulcich - See above for depth issues. Almost by default Dulcich should see some work and dropped a lot in drafts because people saw Trautman starting over him. I don't think Peyton will no use an athlete like this. I think it was the Broncos holding their cards close to their chest on what they want to do with him as well as avoid more injuries to playmakers. I think Dulcich could end up being a top-10 tight end with his usage.

Rookie Tight Ends - Some of these will have some early season appeal like Jake Ferguson, Sam LaPorta, and Luke Musgrave because they have shown in the preseason they will get the target share you need and are all starting tight ends for their teams. This gives them a streaming appeal that could hit into a season-long starter. Some others that have appeal to stash because they could hit is Dalton Kincaid, because once he gets comfortable in that offense he could be a huge weapon for Josh Allen, Tucker Kraft, he is the number two tight end in Green Bay, and Darnell Washington, who is the number two in Pittsburgh. Those 3 would be more bench stashes. I think these are all good options to pair with another tight end you draft at some point in the double-digit rounds.

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