Dynasty Waiver Wire: Week Two
I had an introduction to this article written out in advance after the Thursday night game about my struggles writing introductions. Then, Sunday happened. In what might have been the “bloodiest” week in football I have ever seen, many players on both sides of the ball left games early due to injury, including some big names. I apologize in advance for how long this article might be, given the sheer volume of players worth rostering now after a devastating week two.
As a reminder from last week, new to this year’s series and the DLF site is player rostership percentages, courtesy of dynasty rosters from SafeLeagues and the great Scott Fish. Using that data, I developed an app to view rostership data from over 400 SafeLeagues dynasty leagues, all using the same format and scoring (2 PPR tight end premium). While this may not be entirely accurate for every individual league, it is very reflective of how managers view who is worthy or not of a roster spot. Now that that is covered, let’s dive into the waiver wire after week two!
Players to double-check availability and immediately add:
- James Robinson, RB JAC
- Randall Cobb, WR HOU
- Russell Gage, WR ATL
- Allen Lazard, WR GB
- Marquez Valdes-Scantling, WR GB
- Logan Thomas, TE WAS
Players from last week who I am more confident in adding:
- Myles Gaskin, RB MIA
- Keelan Cole, WR JAC
- Jordan Akins, TE HOU
Jeff Driskel, QB DEN
This one is for all you superflexers out there, so if you are in a 1QB league, pay no attention here. Drew Lock left the game early against the Steelers with an injury to his right throwing shoulder. It was later announced by Adam Schefter that Lock suffered a sprained AC joint and is expected to miss two-six weeks, which is a very broad range. This would seem to lock Driskel in a starting role for at least the immediate future and he did well in this game, posting 256 passing yards, two touchdowns, and one pick, while almost leading the Broncos to an upset victory over Pittsburgh.
Driskel is no stranger to spot starting for an injured starter, having done so each of the past two seasons for Andy Dalton in 2018 and Matthew Stafford in 2019. In eight career games started, Driskel has finished as a top-20 QB in seven of those games, including two QB1 performances last year with Detroit. He even showed off some sneaky rushing ability with the Lions, totaling 151 rushing yards and a touchdown in his three games for Stafford.
On an offense as talented as Denver’s, I would expect Driskel to continue posting low-end QB2 weeks, so he’s worth an add for not only those who lost Lock, but other managers as bye weeks begin in October.
Dion Lewis, RB NYG
Football fans and dynasty players everywhere were mourning the loss of Saquon Barkley, who, at the time of writing this, is feared to have torn his ACL. Not only is this loss detrimental to fantasy managers by losing a cornerstone piece of their teams, but this backfield was also one with a murky backup situation, with no clear lead runner, evident by Lewis’ 61% rostership percentage in SafeLeagues.
After Barkley’s injury, however, Lewis was the only running back to receive touches, totaling ten carries and four receptions in a little over three quarters. Another note on Lewis is the foot injury to Sterling Shepard, who also left the game early. If Shepard were to miss any time, Lewis could see more work in the receiving game, where we know he excels.
Mike Davis, RB CAR
I do not have much to say on Davis, other than he would be my primary pickup for Christian McCaffrey, should he miss any time. McCaffrey has been one of the most durable backs in his three-year career, and I do not expect him to miss games from his ankle injury at the end of the Buccaneers game. However, Mike Davis caught all eight of his targets for 74 yards this past week behind McCaffrey. Incorporating a decent rushing workload on top of that is certainly worth looking at on a low-key talented offense.
Braxton Berrios, WR NYJ and Chris Hogan, WR NYJ
After more injuries to the New York Jets receiving corps, we have now found ourselves looking at Berrios and Hogan as the team’s current top two wide receivers. I am grouping both together because I really see no difference between the two.
They both saw eight targets from Sam Darnold and while Hogan did slightly more with those targets in terms of yards, Berrios was the one to find the end zone. I am no injury expert and have no definitive timeline for return on Jamison Crowder, Le’Veon Bell, Breshad Perriman, or even rookie Denzel Mims. This is where we are with the Jets and I know it’s disgusting, but someone is going to have to catch passes from Darnold in brilliant offensive-minded head coach Adam Gase’s offense.
Drew Sample, TE CIN
Sample looked good Thursday night against the Browns, hauling in seven of his nine targets for 45 yards. Although most of that came after CJ Uzomah’s Achilles injury, it’s encouraging to see the 2019 second rounder actively involved in the passing game. Burrow has shown an affinity for targeting the tight end position already through two games, peppering them with over 20% of his passes.
With Uzomah out for the season, Sample has a great opportunity to see significant volume on an offense that can be game-scripted heavily toward the pass. If you missed out on Logan Thomas last week, opportunity is knocking again for a waiver wire tight end.
Mo Alie-Cox, TE IND
Death, taxes, and Philip Rivers targeting his tight ends. Cox tied rookie Michael Pittman in leading the Colts with six targets this week and boy did he shred the Vikings, totaling 111 yards on five receptions. He was also two yards away from finishing a long touchdown catch that would have made his day even sweeter.
Cox found himself atop the tight end depth chart this week after teammate Jack Doyle was announced out with an injury on Friday. He joins a laundry list of other tight ends who could be useful in spot start situations, especially if more injuries occur over the coming weeks (knock on wood).
Jordan Reed, TE SF
2020 has been the year for a lot of things, so seeing Reed post a 7-50-2 line in a spot start for George Kittle really does not surprise me at this point. I would not be quick to jump on Reed on waivers this week, since I expect Kittle to return next week, I just wanted an excuse to write about him on here. At least for me, it was fun to see Reed back in action at his best again, even if it was just one week.
Other players to keep an eye on:
- Nick Mullens, QB SF
- Jerick McKinnon, RB SF
- Darnell Mooney, WR CHI
- Demarcus Robinson, WR KC
- Dalton Schultz, TE DAL
Deep stashes:
- Zach Pascal, WR IND
- Mike Thomas, WR CIN
- Harrison Bryant, TE CLE
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