Waive Goodbye or Say Hello?

Welcome to Waive Goodbye or Say Hello. It’s Week 2, so it is officially time to start tinkering with your fantasy team. You want to proactive, but you also don’t want to overreact. Now before we start picking up any players, you need to evaluate your roster.

Do you have any roster space available? This could be space made available due to injury, or maybe you are carrying a second kicker or D/ST. Examine your league’s free agency rules. Do you use a waiver wire system or FAAB? Do you have an acquisition limit or acquisition fees? Do you like to play the match-ups with your kicker or D/ST? If so, those 2 roster spots will be in constant flux for the rest of the season. Do you have upcoming bye week issues? You generally want to deal with these a week before you actually need to. Do you have any trade options? It’s almost always better to get something of value for a player as opposed to just cutting him. Sometimes it’s worth trading a player just to keep him away from a team with a lot of FAAB or a high waiver priority.

Okay. You’ve checked out your roster. Now if you feel that you don’t have any roster spots, that DOES NOT mean you shouldn’t see who is available on the waiver wire. You may find a player that you like more than a player who is on your current team, even if you don’t want to cut anybody. You want to acquire the most valuable players possible, even if you don’t have an immediate use for them. The players we are looking at should be available in at least 50% of fantasy leagues.

Now, onto Waive Goodbye or Say Hello, Week 2 Edition. (Players listed in no particular order)

QB

CHAD HENNE – Henne looked as good as he ever has in his NFL career on Monday night vs. the Patriots. He’s worth adding in all 2-QB leagues and leagues with 14+ teams. Just don’t throw him into your lineup just yet. CAM NEWTON – Newton is worth adding in all leagues. He obviously won’t pass for 400+ yards every week, but his upside is obvious. Again, don’t go throwing him into your lineups, but he is going have value in fantasy this year. RYAN FITZPATRICK – Fitzpatrick was extremely efficient and threw for 4 TDs. Fitzpatrick should be owned in leagues with 12+ teams and might be worth starting in Week 2 at home vs the Raiders. REX GROSSMAN – Grossman had an excellent game, but he was facing a Giants defense decimated by injury, missing over half of their starters. Grossman is worth adding as a QB2 in leagues with 14+ teams. Grossman should be a decent fantasy starter this week at home against an Arizona defense that got shredded by Cam Newton in Week 1.

RB

BEN TATE – Even if Arian Foster returns in Week 2, Tate should be owned in all leagues. Tate will be one of the most valuable handcuff RB’s and may even have flex value some weeks with Foster healthy. If he’s out there, scoop him up, even if you have to cut somebody you don’t want to. CADILLAC WILLIAMS – Cadillac looked excellent filling in for an injured Steven Jackson, but the Eagles defense will be one of the worst in the league against the run. Jackson owners should add Cadillac, as should owners in leagues with 12+ teams. He should be worth using as a flex option in PPR leagues against the Giants in Week 2. DARREN SPROLES – This is an add for owners in PPR leagues that award points for return yardage. If you are in one of these type of leagues, Sproles should be your #1 waiver claim. He doesn’t carry much value in other formats with Mark Ingram and Pierre Thomas healthy. DEXTER MCCLUSTER – McCluster is especially interesting as he might have WR eligibility in your league. Make sure you know that before picking him up. He looks like he could be the 3rd down back for the Chiefs as well as the handcuff for Jamaal Charles. He’s worth adding in PPR leagues with 12+ teams. DEJI KARIM – Karim is now the handcuff for Maurice Jones-Drew. He produced 14 carries and 3 catches in Week 1. It looks like he will get some work every week in addition to being the handcuff to MJD. He’s worth adding in PPR leagues with 14+ teams.

WR

ERIC DECKER, JACOBY JONES & RANDALL COBB – These players should be added in PPR leagues with 12+ teams that award points for return yardage. They will struggle to maintain fantasy value in other formats. Both players have WR’s above them on the depth chart ahead of them with injury issues right now. That could give Decker, Jones & Cobb a short-term boost in value over the next couple of games. BRANDON GIBSON, MIKE SIMS-WALKER & GREG SALAS – Danny Amendola may have dodged a season-ending injury, but he still should be out until at least Week 5. Nobody really knows exactly who is going to take on Amendola’s role of being Sam Bradford’s favorite target. My money is on Brandon Gibson, but Mike Sims-Walker might get the first shot. Salas is worth an add in leagues with 14+ teams where Gibson and Sims-Walker are already owned. EARLY DOUCET – He got lucky racking up over 100 yards and a TD on only 3 targets. He’s not worth adding unless you’re in a very deep league and have a roster spot to burn. JABAR GAFFNEY – Here we go again. Gaffney will probably not amount to more than a WR4 at best in PPR leagues. But he’s pry worth adding in deeper PPR leagues if you need some depth at WR. He could prove to be a decent bye week fill-in. NATE BURLESON – Burleson has vacillated between being underrated and overrated throughout his career. It looks like it’s an underrated year this season. Burleson could be a PPR WR3 in the mold of Davone Bess and should be owned in PPR leagues with 12+ teams. At least as long as Matthew Stafford is healthy. DEVERY HENDERSON – We’re always cautious on Henderson because he is a notorious “Boom or Bust” player. And Week 1 was a “Boom” week. But Marques Colston is out for at least a month and Lance Moore could be out for Week 2 and even longer. As long as that is the case, Henderson is worth starting in deeper fantasy leagues, especially those that award points for long-yardage plays or TD’s. MOHAMED MASSAQUOI – Yep, him again. It’s just as hard to get excited about Massaquoi as it is to spell his name. But he’s the lead WR for the Browns and should be owned in leagues with 14+ teams. He’s still an excellent deep threat, it’s just a matter of Colt McCoy being able to get the ball to him down-field.

TE

AARON HERNANDEZ – How is this guy available in so many leagues? Even if you can’t play him (say you own Gates, Witten, etc) you need to pick him up. Especially if you can trade in your league. He’s either Tom Brady’s #2 or #3 target. Either way, you want him on your team and not somebody else’s. SCOTT CHANDLER – Yeah, we’re pretty sure that Week 1 was a fluke. But you never know. In leagues with 14+ teams and deep benches, Chandler might be worth a roster stash if you have the space. FRED DAVIS – We’ve all known that Davis was a good fantasy TE for a long time. He’s thrived whenever he’s replaced Chris Cooley. The Redskins used a 2-TE set on 80% of their offensive plays in Week 1 and have indicated that they intend to continue to do so. If Davis is on the field that much, he could post low-end TE1 numbers, even with Cooley healthy. That makes him worth adding in any league where you need some depth at TE with decent upside. DUSTIN KELLER – Sure he was on a milk carton for the 2nd half of last season. But he’s Mark Sanchez’s safety blanket and he sees a decent amount of red-zone targets. He’s not an every-week starter right now. But he could very well finish as a top-12 TE. He’s worth adding in most leagues in you need depth at TE or even a spot starter. JERMAINE GRESHAM – Gresham is another high draft pick that everybody knows has talent. In Week 1 Gresham looked to be no worse than the #2 option in the Bengals passing game. That’s not very sexy, but it should provide him with some nice fantasy numbers, especially in PPR leagues. He’s another guy worth adding if you have any needs at the TE position.

D/ST (One Week Adds For Week 2)

DALLAS COWBOYS (@ 49ERS) NEW YORK GIANTS (vs RAMS) WASHINGTON REDSKINS (vs CARDINALS) OAKLAND RAIDERS (@ BILLS) HOUSTON TEXANS (@ DOLPHINS)

K (One Week Adds For Week 2)

JON KASAY ROBBIE GOULD MATT BRYANT SHAUN SUISHAM JASON HANSON

Now I’m sure that I missed somebody in your league. Sorry, that’s the deal with fantasy football. Almost every league is different. If you know of somebody I missed, call me out on the Twitter. I’m already aware of all of the stuff I’ve already screwed up, but feel free to remind me. Good luck to all.


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