2024 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Week 2: Baker Mayfield, Isaiah Likely

Just like most years, your 2024 fantasy football waiver wire adds in Week 2 could determine your fate. Just last year, league-winning players like Puka Nacua, Tank Dell and Kyren Williams were the best waiver wire picks in Week 2 in fantasy football leagues across the nation. This is the first data we have and the biggest movement in rankings we’ll see all year long.

So, it’s our job to make sense of the Week 1 NFL nonsense and figure out who is actually worth a 2024 fantasy football waiver wire Week 2 add or not. The game scripts can be all over the place, the matchups will vary from week to week and today’s targets might not translate to tomorrow, so there is a lot to dig through. Lucky for you, we’ve done all that for you!

2024 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Week 2 Top Targets

If this 2024 fantasy football waiver wire Week 2 article is your first time seeing this series, here is how we do things. Your typical week 2 waiver wire adds piece doesn’t really take into account team needs or build. We take things a step further by breaking it into three articles. Here is the set up

• 2024 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Week 2: This is the current article where we focus on the best waiver wire picks for any format or team needs. Guys that can potentially be started now but also have season long upside
   
• 2024 Fantasy Football Streamers Week 2: These are players that are decent starts for Week 2 but might not have great long-term upside (perhaps it’s just a good matchup or the starter has a short-term injury, for instance)
   
• 2024 Fantasy Football Stashes Week 2: These are players that are very difficult to trust in a lineup right now. But we believe in the talent and the possibility of upside down the stretch. Every year there are certain rookies or backups that get a big opportunity and run with it at some point - like Trey McBride last year.

The 2024 fantasy football waiver wire week 2 article you are currently looking at is free for everyone. The Week 2 waiver wire stashes and Week 2 waiver wire streamers articles are for Fantasy Alarm members only.  

If you aren’t a Fantasy Alarm member yet, you can not only get 40% off your annual membership if you sign up right now or 50% off your first month with promo code LETSGO, but we are offering a 7-day free trial RIGHT NOW! You can check out everything we have to offer this week and decide if it's right for you!

P.S. At the very bottom of this article, I will update my Yin & Yang Tight End chart each week!

NFL Week 2 Waiver Wire Quarterbacks

Baker Mayfield, QB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Yahoo: 33%| ESPN: 30% | Sleeper: 42%

Baker Mayfield was at the top of our Week 1 QB Streamers article but, as it turns out, Baker might be much more than just a streamer or a superflex guy. I mean, he did finish as a top 10 quarterback in fantasy football last year. Not only are Mike Evans and Chris Godwin healthy but rookie Jalen McMillan looked pretty good out there. Rachaad White contributed 75 yards receiving himself.

If my starting quarterback is a guy like Baker Mayfield I always try to keep some contingent upside on my bench, just to see. A Drake Maye even, who could run a lot if/when he starts. But Baker once again has a juicy fantasy football matchup this week with the Detroit Lions so I don’t see why Baker wouldn’t crack some lineups this week. There were some BAD quarterback performances out there.

• Waiver Priority: Low Priority or free add
• FAAB: 5-10% (or more if he starts for you)

Sam Darnold, QB, Minnesota Vikings Yahoo: 10%| ESPN: 4% | Sleeper: 14%

Sam Darnold did not need to do much this week. And that’s mostly because the New York Giants look to be a complete dumpster fire once again. And maybe that matchup is why Darnold looked pretty good. But he did come out this week and complete nearly 80% of his minimal pass attempts while throwing two touchdowns. He had a passer rating of 113.2 and was the second highest graded passer on PFF behind only Derek Carr. 

The concept here is simple. What if Sam Darnold is this year’s Geno Smith or Baker Mayfield? A guy that needed time to develop and deserves a second shot? He has an offense that is, in theory, loaded with weapons (when Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson are healthy). And we know that Kirk Cousins was a stud for fantasy with this team. Is this Russell Wilson leaving and Geno Smith taking over all over again?

• Waiver Priority: Low Priority or free add
• FAAB: 5-10% (or more if he starts for you)

NFL Week 2 Waiver Wire Running Back

J.K. Dobbins - Los Angeles Chargers, Yahoo: 45%| ESPN: 77% | Sleeper: 59%

J.K. Dobbins was the standout of our best waiver wire picks in this article last week so hopefully you already stashed him on your roster where he was available. On some platforms he’s clearly more heavily rostered than others so it’s really a shallow league add - but most of us do have family leagues. He broke off some big chunk plays, was the obvious option on pass downs and clearly has more juice than Gus Edwards right now. So you could potentially plug him right in. 

• Waiver Priority: Top priority
• FAAB: $20-25

Alexander Mattison - Las Vegas Raiders, Yahoo: 4%| ESPN: 10% | Sleeper: 11%

Dobbins is probably rostered but, in the 4-11% range, Alexander Mattison is likely only held in deeper dynasty leagues right now. There was a lot of talk about rookie Dylan Laube carving out the pass-catching role with this team but apparently that role belongs to Alexander Mattison. And it could be a decent idea given the right game scripts.

Zamir White was the clear lead back - he started and carried the ball 13 times. But White has never been much of a pass catcher, so Mattison took those duties which included two-minute drills, per Pro Football Focus. That led Mattison to run 24 routes to 10 for White and out-target him 6 to 2. When the Raiders are playing from behind, Mattison could see a lot of time. And the Raiders aren’t exactly frontrunners. 

• Waiver Priority: Free Add or Late Priority
• FAAB: 0-5%

Bucky Irving, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Yahoo: 21%| ESPN: 21% | Sleeper: 25%

Just before the season started, Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles used the infamous “hot hand” comment saying that the running back rotation would be determined on a game-by-game basis. That is never a good thing for the guy we were drafting earlier - in this case, Rachaad White. You want the starter to be the starter, you don’t want to be dealing with this “hot hand” guessing game. Kyle Shanahan used to do that too before he acquired Christian McCaffrey.

Well, Rachaad White got the start which included more carries and more pass downs. But Bucky Irving made the most of his opportunities with 6.9 yards per carry to 2.1 for White. Bucky also was one of the better pass-catching backs in college so there are two ways he may be able to claw work away on this team, if his hand stays hot. 

• Waiver Priority: Free Add
• FAAB: 0%

NFL Week 2 Waiver Wire Wide Receiver

Rashid Shaheed - New Orleans Saints, Yahoo: 54%| ESPN: 42% | Sleeper: 44%

We mentioned Shaheed’s name last week but he was 54% owned on Yahoo so technically outside of our benchmark. This week we want to make sure he is rostered as he’s floating around 50% on some platforms and seems woefully under-owned on Sleeper.

We honestly don’t even care about the big play - we care about the underlying info. And this week confirmed two huge pieces of info for us. One, Shaheed is an every down WR in this offense. He actually played more snaps and ran more routes than Chris Olave. Two, Klint Kubiak IS using the fullback. Adam Prentice played 24 snaps. That often highly consolidates targets among the top two players. 

• Waiver Priority: First
• FAAB: 20-25%

Brandin Cooks - Dallas Cowboys, Yahoo: 32%| ESPN: 30% | Sleeper: 40%

Brandin Cooks was one of our best waiver wire picks in last week’s article so, hopefully, you already have him. The concept was pretty simple - he was not healthy for stretches of last season so we only got fleeting glimpses of what he could be. The Cowboys didn’t add major weapons this offseason so that path was once again there for him to be the second target behind CeeDee Lamb.

Depending on the extent of the knee injury for Jake Ferguson, that path could be clearer than ever. Luckily, early tests confirmed that it’s not a torn ACL and, per Ian Rappaport, today’s tests suggest it is a sprained MCL. So, he’ll miss some time, but he should be back in the mix. Even with Ferguson out there, Cooks actually led the team in routes run with 30 (Lamb ran 29) and he was second in targets with 7 to Lamb’s 10. They even gave him a carry. Cooks looks solid.

• Waiver Priority: Free or low priority
• FAAB: 5-10% (more if you would start him right away, see Streamers article)

Romeo Doubs - Green Bay Packers, Yahoo: 53%| ESPN: 34% | Sleeper: 71%

Another guy that’s not going to be there in deep leagues but that we need to mention. We have the Streamers and Stashes articles for the real deep league sickos anyway. Doubs led this team in snaps, routes run and targets. It doesn’t get better than that. Hopefully Jordan Love gets healthy soon and this offense gets back to flying high. 

• Waiver Priority: Free or low priority
• FAAB: 5-10%

Wan'Dale Robinson - New York Giants, Yahoo: 10%| ESPN: 7% | Sleeper: 19%

Wan’Dale didn’t QUITE get the usage we want to see. We like our guys to play slot for three WR sets then stay on the field for two WR sets. That’s the role that guys like Chris Godwin or Cooper Kupp play. Wan’Dale did play a ton of slot but stayed out there for bigger personnel packages. But, perhaps he should.

Wan’Dale is clearly a favorite of Brian Daboll and Daniel Jones. They might not be holding down those roles for very long following this past week but, as long as those are the guys, Robinson should be heavily involved. It’s not often a guy comes out and gets 12 targets on a 28.5% target share then goes right back into the bottle. In full PPR especially, Robinson is interesting. 

• Waiver Priority: Free Add
• FAAB: $0

NFL Week 2 Waiver Tight End + Yin & Yang TE

Isaiah Likely - Baltimore Ravens, Yahoo: 28%| ESPN: 10% | Sleeper: 44%

The Ravens hinted at Isaiah Likely having a much bigger role in this offense. But I’m not sure they envisioned it being as big as it was on Thursday night. Likely played 53 snaps and ran 35 routes which was just behind Mark Andrews at 59 and 38. Zay Flowers ran 48 routes and Rashod Bateman ran 45 so those are your primary pass-catchers as Nelson Agholor only played 30 of 50 snaps.

Mark Andrews may have just been rusty after not practicing following a car accident. They did bracket him fairly heavily as well. But he may also be dealing with some long-term issues relating to surgery on a high ankle sprain. Regardless, it’s no longer just Andrews and Zay Flowers at the top of this pecking order. It’s looking like Andrews, Flowers and Likely at the very least. If you lost a tight end like Jake Ferguson or David Njoku, you might have to spring for him. We aren’t going to go crazy spending up to add him ourselves, but we’ll throw our hat in the ring. 

• Waiver Priority: Mid to late priority
• FAAB: 5-10%

Hunter Henry - New England Patriots, Yahoo: 25%| ESPN: 12% | Sleeper: 24%

It didn’t quite feel like watching the game at the time but Henry actually had decent deployment here. His 54 snaps out of 64 actually led all pass catchers on the team. He led the team in routes run as well with 24 and only blocked on 2 pass plays. Henry was also running fairly high aDot routes at 11.3 yards. Austin Hooper had a couple of catches but only ran 14 routes on the day.

Henry hadn’t practiced much this month after dealing with an injury but returned just in time for the game. If he can get healthy here and up to game speed, that usage could develop into more consistent targets. We’d rather not start him as of now, but he remains a pretty decent TE2 given the lack of obvious leaders in that receiving group. 

• Waiver Priority: Free Add
• FAAB: $0

Greg Dulcich - Denver Broncos, Yahoo: 2%| ESPN: 1% | Sleeper: 7%

There was a lot of talk (including from Sean Payton himself) about Lucas Krull being a guy for Denver. But then he was a healthy scratch. Though Adam Trautman remained the “TE1” on the depth chart, he only played 24 snaps to 46 for Dulcich. Dulcich also ran 35 routes to only 8 for Trautman. Trautman is an extra offensive lineman.

The only problem is that Dulcich didn’t really garner many targets. So, he can’t really be trusted in your lineup right now. He’s a classic stash as part of the Yin & Yang tight end strategy. If you need someone who is a little more “boring” but reliable to start for you this week, I’d pop on over to the Week 2 Streamers article. 

• Waiver Priority: Free Add
• FAAB: $0

Week 2 Yin & Yang Tight End

As promised, here are our updated Yin & Yang Tight End rankings going into Week 2. If you are not familiar with this strategy, the full write-up on it is available in our 2024 Fantasy Football Draft Guide. The short and sweet is that, if you don’t get an elite tight end, you roster two – someone “safe” to start early on (Yin) and the highest risk, highest reward option on the bench (Yang). 

As you can see, we separate who we consider a Standalone tight end option where we only care about their bye week vs. the situations where you should roster two. You can use your own judgment on that based on your league size and you can also go with the riskier Yang-Yang pairing if you dare. We’ll be updating this throughout the season.