Dynasty Fantasy Football Waiver Wire: Week One
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In case you are reading this, there is one bit of information to know before you start reading names. Just like last year’s series, we will be utilizing player rostership percentages, courtesy of real dynasty rosters from 1,700 MFL leagues. 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’s covered, let’s dive into the waiver wire before the season kicks off!
Players to double-check availability and immediately add:
- Jacoby Brissett, QB NE
- Jordan Mason, RB SF
- Jalen Tolbert, WR DAL
- Greg Dulcich, TE DEN
Jameis Winston, QB CLE
I’m not going to begin to try to understand what the Browns are doing with Deshaun Watson and his contract, but one thing I do know is that Watson has not been the most impressive, nor the healthiest, quarterback over the past two years. In fact, he has been dealing with a shoulder injury for almost all of training camp, the same injury that he’s been recovering from since having surgery last year.
So if Watson were to get hurt again, or just look terrible in general, Winston could have a solid opportunity to regain a starting role and potentially fight for an actual starting job for 2025. And this is a pretty talented offense in Cleveland. Winston would be throwing to Amari Cooper, Jerry Jeudy, Elijah Moore, and David Njoku, and we know his affinity for chucking the ball around the field can lead to some big play potential for fantasy football. I would not be shocked if Winston became a very viable backup QB who has startable weeks for fantasy this year and could be this year’s Joe Flacco, on the same team no less.
Trey Sermon, RB IND
I’ve been on the Sermon hype train for quite some time now as the direct handcuff to Jonathan Taylor, so you know I have to take the chance to quickly highlight him now. Taylor has struggled to play a full season two years in a row now, missing six games in 2022 and seven games in 2023. We saw how valuable Zack Moss was in this handcuff role last year on what is more or less the same offense, but who’s the clear handcuff for 2024? Trey Sermon.
It’s gross, I understand, but we saw Sermon play in this offense once last year in over 35% of snaps, and in that game he racked up 88 yards on 17 carries. He didn’t catch any passes, but any running back seeing 17 touches is a near must-start for fantasy, especially if it’s mid-season with bye weeks and injuries crushing us. You cannot overlook a valuable handcuff like Sermon if he’s sitting on waivers.
Carson Steele, RB and Samaje Perine, RB KC
Speaking of valuable handcuffs, the Chiefs have been making headlines for the running back room behind Isiah Pacheco recently, with the preseason darling of Carson Steele beating out Deneric Prince, plus the new acquisition of Samaje Perine after he was cut by the Broncos. Now, if you Google the Chiefs depth chart, you might still see Clyde Edwards-Helaire listed as the RB2, but I think we all know that’s just a formality right now, and it really does feel like both parties just need a fresh start away from each other.
So as the season goes on, I would expect that Perine would be taking over as the complement to Isiah Pacheco, possibly taking on some of the Jerick McKinnon role as a pass-catcher. And Steele has made a name for himself that he could be a goal-line back or have an interesting role if Pacheco were to get hurt, so both guys are definitely worth picking up.
D’Onta Foreman, RB and Pierre Strong, RB CLE
Last on the running back list is another intriguing RB2 and RB3 duo from the Cleveland Browns. Originally, Foreman was cut by the team during roster cutdowns, but then was re-signed a day later to add to Pierre Strong as the backups behind Jerome Ford while Nick Chubb is on PUP. Personally, I believe Foreman is the better running back and I would anticipate that he would be the main beneficiary of any Jerome Ford injury prior to Chubb returning, but both are worth a quick add now to see what happens before Chubb comes back.
Dyami Brown, WR and Noah Brown, WR WAS
Moving to the WR position, we have to start with the Washington Commanders receiving corps behind Terry McLaurin after Jahan Dotson was shipped off to Philadelphia. My initial reaction to this was that this was a huge plus for Brown, who had made some really nice catches during the preseason, and that he would be the primary beneficiary, not Olamide Zaccheaus or Luke McCaffrey – and I still think he’s worth a pickup, but I’m less excited now because of the addition of Noah Brown.
If you remember, Noah Brown has actually been a really good fill-in at different points of his career on two different teams. In 2022, he was the WR2 for the Cowboys after Amari Cooper was traded, and he actually posted six double-digit fantasy weeks on the back of seven games with six or more targets. He actually averaged 4.5 receptions for 68.5 receiving yards over the first four weeks of the season. And then last year, Brown filled in for multiple weeks for an injured Nico Collins or Tank Dell and posted three weeks with 80+ yards, two of which were actually over 150 yards, and he caught two touchdowns in those three games.
So now, I actually believe that Noah Brown is the second best receiver on this Commanders team and I think has a great opportunity to be a deep threat for Jayden Daniels. I still think Dyami Brown is well worth an add, but I am just personally more excited for Noah Brown in this role.
Van Jefferson, WR PIT
The next team WR2 I need to highlight is Jefferson, now with the Pittsburgh Steelers. And this is a very similar argument as Noah Brown, a journeyman wide receiver who’s actually been a really solid injury replacement, now has an opportunity to be a full-time starter on a new team – that’s precisely what Jefferson is this year. He is the clear-cut WR2 for the Steelers, especially with Roman Wilson being sidelined by injury, but even when Wilson returns, I believe Van Jefferson is just a better player.
Over his four-year career, Jefferson has averaged 11.5 fantasy points per game in games where he’s seen at least six targets. That is more than enough to warrant a stash at the backend of your bench for the start of the season, just to see the type of target share Jefferson can have as the WR2.
Greg Dortch, WR ARI
But speaking of: “here’s his averages in games with X amount of targets or more”, the poster child for that stat all summer long is Dortch. I was actually very surprised by how available Dortch still is as it seems like he’s been the late-round darling for bestball players all year long and has been highlighted on nearly every dynasty stash video and article this year too, but here he is, available in hundreds of leagues out there right now.
The interesting thing about Dortch is his locked-in role as the WR3 for Arizona, especially with Zay Jones getting suspended for five games. Dortch has also been lighting up training camp with clips all over my timeline, and he is a very good route runner and just overall receiver. So if he’s available in your leagues, please add him.
Malik Washington, WR MIA, Jacob Cowing, WR SF and Jordan Whittington, WR LAR
To cap off the wide receivers, I wanted to rapid-fire some already highly rostered players, but just reinforce my enthusiasm for adding each of them:
- Malik Washington is currently one of technically five Dolphins receivers on the active roster and his only competition for slot receiver snaps is Braxton Berrios. Washington was my favorite late round receiver in the entire 2024 class because he’s just so insanely talented. He was uber-productive in college in 2023, forced the most missed tackles in all of college football, and was the number two ranked rookie by Pro Football Focus grade behind only Malik Nabers. And now he’s on the Dolphins in a Mike McDaniel offense… yeah.
- Jacob Cowing was another of my favorite late-round guys and has been massively underrated all year long (he’s 100% better than Ladd McConkey, I said it). Cowing has been another preseason darling and has made the most of his opportunity with Brandon Aiyuk sitting out and Ricky Pearsall being hurt all summer. And again, Cowing also finds himself in a Shanahan offense on one of the best teams in the league.
- Jordan Whittington has seemingly come out of nowhere as another preseason darling this year, but of course he was found by Sean McVay as the second coming of Puka Nacua. Ok, maybe he’s not at that level, but he’s certainly become an interesting name to stash with Nacua already dealing with an injury and Cooper Kupp dealing with injuries for two years in a row. Oh, and did I mention that Whittington is in a McVay offense on one of the best teams in the league?
Gerald Everett, TE CHI and Zach Ertz, TE WAS
And lastly, to touch on two tight end adds, I am intrigued by the potential opportunities for both Everett and Ertz in 2024. Everett has actually been out-snapping and out-targeting Cole Kmet during the preseason, *on snaps that Caleb Williams and the first-team offense have played* I might add. So if this usage continues into the regular season, Everett could be a sneaky streaming option or at least a touchdown-dependent flier to throw into your starting lineup if you’re desperate for a tight end starter.
As for Ertz, he has once again found himself playing alongside a way more excited, potential breakout, young tight end, but that hasn’t stopped him before and I don’t know if it will stop him in 2024. This Commanders’ offense is desperate for pass-catchers, as there are just a lot of names there with no extensive histories of production, except Terry McLaurin and Ertz. I don’t expect Ertz to hold onto the TE1 role for long as I do think Ben Sinnott will force his way onto the field, but until that happens, Ertz could have sneaky every-week starter appeal, like he did on the Cardinals last year before getting hurt, and he’s worth an add if he’s still available.
And if you’re curious about potential players to cut, I just recently wrote that article that you can find here!
- Dynasty Fantasy Football Waiver Wire: Week 16 - December 16, 2024
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