The 2024 fantasy football season kicks off this week!
While most teams are probably content with the players they drafted — for now — there are free agents out there who can help your teams.
Let’s take a look at the top Week 1 waiver wire targets and pickups that fantasy managers should consider adding to their rosters.
All players are rostered in less than 50% of Yahoo or ESPN leagues.
Who To Target on This Week’s Waiver Wire
Matthew Stafford, QB, Los Angeles Rams
The Los Angeles Rams passing game features two WRs regularly being drafted within the first four rounds of fantasy drafts, but it doesn’t see the quarterback selected within the first 15 at the position. This is because Matthew Stafford is an older pocket passer.
Stafford will start the season against his former team (Detroit Lions) against whom he dropped 367 passing yards and two scores in the Rams’ 24-23 loss in last year’s postseason matchup.
Quite frankly, not much has changed with this roster outside of Tyler Higbee starting the year on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list. Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp are still one of the best receiver tandems in the league and should see plenty of success against this secondary that gave up an average of 32.4 fantasy points per game to opposing receivers — the fourth-highest mark in the league in 2023.
The Lions’ additions of Terrion Arnold and Carlton Davis III could help this secondary a bit, yet I see the Lions’ offense turning this one into a high-scoring affair at Ford Field, which makes Stafford a quality streaming option for Week 1.
– Derek Tate, Fantasy Football Analyst
Baker Mayfield, QB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
When looking to get out ahead of who we think may be the hot Week 1 waiver wire pickups, quarterbacks aren’t usually highly featured. Baker Mayfield is more of a look-ahead streamer than anything else.
Mayfield averaged a very respectable 16.7 fantasy points per game last season. He posted seven games of 19+ fantasy points. We can work with that.
In Week 2, the Bucs travel to Detroit to take on the Lions. It will be a weather-free game in a dome against a very good offense that will likely force the Bucs to throw.
Mayfield posted 25.3 fantasy points in the Bucs’ postseason loss to the Lions. If you find yourself needing a streamer, Mayfield is your guy.
Justin Fields, QB, Pittsburgh Steelers
I’ve got a plan for everyone on Justin Fields. It’s actually quite simple.
We know Russell Wilson is starting Week 1. We know he’s not going to get benched after just one game, no matter how bad he plays. But I’m supremely confident he will get benched at some point.
So, here’s the plan: Every week, as late as you reasonably can, if you have the roster spot, stick Fields on your bench. If Wilson plays well and stays healthy, drop Fields after the Steelers play if you need to. If not, hang onto him and hope this is the week.
When Fields starts, he will be a top-12 QB. It doesn’t matter if he’s a good quarterback — he runs. That’s all it takes to be a QB1.
Fields will be a priority pickup the moment Mike Tomlin makes the swap, whether by choice or by force. Ideally, Fields will already be on your roster when that happens.
Rico Dowdle, RB, Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys’ backfield is one of the biggest mysteries heading into the season. It’s very easy to poke holes in all three of Ezekiel Elliott, Dalvin Cook, and Rico Dowdle.
At the same time, the lead back is going to have value. This is one of the best offenses in football. Dowdle was reasonably effective in limited opportunity last season. The issue is he’s a 26-year-old former UDFA who has 96 career carries since entering the league in 2020.
Nevertheless, Dowdle could easily be the most valuable member of this backfield. We saw what Cook looked like last season. The once-elite running back has absolutely nothing left.
As for Elliott, he has a little more juice, but only barely. However, he could still be the guy who falls into the end zone.
The point is there’s a lot of uncertainty here. Embrace it. What if Dowdle gets 15 touches on Sunday? He will be one of the top waiver wire adds. Grab him now.
Zach Charbonnet, RB, Seattle Seahawks
The split we saw last year from Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet feels like a narrative that changed drastically via coach speak this offseason compared to the usage and efficiency we saw from these two backs last year.
Walker had the more encouraging fantasy moments, a higher volume of touches, and dominated the goal-line work — this logically makes him the leading candidate to pace this backfield again in 2024. Yet, when you take a closer look at the numbers, these two players don’t have a very big gap between their levels of play on a per-touch basis.
Charbonnet was slightly better than Walker per touch last year, with 4.8 yards to Walker’s 4.7. Charbonnet also had a slightly higher yards-after-contact-per-attempt mark (1.9) than Walker (1.5) last year.
Another factor that I don’t want to ignore is Charbonnet’s expanded role around the season’s midpoint. From Week 8 through the rest of the season, he saw north of 40% of the offensive snaps in every game. He failed to hit that 40% threshold in four of his first five games of the year, which hints that he could potentially get more work in his sophomore campaign.
Fortunately for both players, they are set to face off against a Denver Broncos defense that surrendered an average of 24.7 fantasy points per game to opposing running backs last season — the second-highest mark in the league.
Both players will be involved against the Broncos, which makes Charbonnet a reasonable option this week if you need a streaming option at running back in Week 1.
– Derek Tate, Fantasy Football Analyst
Tyler Allgeier, RB, Atlanta Falcons
I will keep this short and sweet: When it comes to handcuffs, we often don’t know who the likely handcuff is or whether he is capable of producing if the starter goes down. With Tyler Allgeier, we know definitively that he is both of these things.
No one is rooting for Bijan Robinson to get hurt, but if he does, Allgeier would be worth a huge chunk of FAAB. Stash him before then.
Jaleel McLaughlin, RB, Denver Broncos
This is an awfully low roster percentage for a guy who may actually have standalone RB3 value alongside Javonte Williams. Jaleel McLaughlin won the Broncos RB2 role, resulting in the team cutting Samaje Perine.
Last season, McLaughlin was quite impressive, finishing inside the top 10 in yards per touch and evade tackles per touch rate. If Williams were to go down, McLaughlin would not suddenly be a lead back, but he would stand to see an uptick in touches.
The main reason to add him, though, is because he simply might touch the ball enough to be startable.
Dontayvion Wicks, WR, Green Bay Packers
The most likely scenario is which Packer(s) are startable changes week-to-week and is entirely unpredictable. But it’s football. What if Dontayvion Wicks is too good to deny? What if Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, or Jayden Reed gets hurt, consolidating this WR corps?
There are multiple paths to Wicks going from waiver wire fodder to every week WR3. Right now, there is a lot we don’t know. Use that to your advantage and stash Wicks ahead of time.
Adonai Mitchell, WR, Indianapolis Colts
I have gone on record saying I don’t think Adonai Mitchell is a particularly good prospect. I have little hope for him succeeding at a high level. But I’ve been wrong before. For 73% of you, the cost to gamble is literally nothing.
With Josh Downs dealing with a high ankle sprain, Mitchell projects to start opposite Michael Pittman Jr. in two-receiver sets.
What if he’s better than I thought? Throw Mitchell on your bench and see what happens.
Jalen McMillan, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
This is for you deep-leaguers. Trey Palmer is not a bad player. Yet, Jalen McMillan was able to win the WR3 job as a rookie. That says something about his talent profile.
McMillan certainly isn’t likely to be a fantasy factor playing behind Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. However, what if one of them gets hurt? What if McMillan makes a huge play in Week 1?
It’s very easy to see the path to McMillan being a coveted waiver wire pickup. Bet on talent here.
Taysom Hill, TE, New Orleans Saints
Taysom Hill is close to the threshold where he may not be available in your league. But if he is, and if you don’t have a reliable TE, we know what Hill can do.
He will probably need to score to be worth starting, but Hill may very well be the primary goal-line option for the Saints. Hill scored six touchdowns last season. The Saints don’t have a clear goal-line back, with Alvin Kamara nowhere near as good as he was in his prime.
Additionally, Hill could be in for a larger role overall. Kamara and Jamaal Williams are both 29 years old and have very clearly declined in their abilities as runners. That opens the door for Hill to see more carries.
Furthermore, the Saints severely lack quality pass-catchers behind Chris Olave. We’ve seen Hill have multi-reception games.
If he can put together even just 1-2 receptions for 20 yards and another 20 yards on the ground, that’s passable as a desperation start. If he scores, he’ll be a TE1.
Colby Parkinson, TE, Los Angeles Rams (5%)
I’ve been drafting way too much of Colby Parkinson. I play in deep leagues and sometimes I completely punt TE. But there’s a method to the madness.
Parkinson doesn’t have any history of production to point to. But he’s a decent athlete and a massive human at 6’7″, 252 pounds. Most important, though, is the role he occupies.
Tyler Higbee was never a special player, but he’s had stretches of elite TE1 production. With Higbee recovering from his torn ACL, Parkinson now occupies that role.
The Rams have always run a consolidated offense. They also run a ton of 11-personnel. We are going to see formations with Puka Nacua, Cooper Kupp, Demarcus Robinson, and Parkinson as the four primary options for Matthew Stafford on the majority of pass plays.
I think there’s a real chance we’re talking about Parkinson as a weekly startable option by the end of September. Grab him and have your leaguemates flummoxed when they search his name on Tuesday, only to realize he’s already rostered.
Zach Ertz, TE, Washington Commanders
Streaming options at the tight end position aren’t always going to be very sexy options, but if you simply need to survive for a couple of weeks while waiting for T.J. Hockenson to enter your starting lineup, you can afford to take this on a week to week basis for a bit.
I’ll start by asking a simple question: Who is the No. 2 receiver in Washington?
Luke McCaffrey? Dyami Brown? Noah Brown? If you feel strongly about the fantasy outlook of any of these players, then I commend you for having a finger on the pulse of this unsettled receiver room behind Terry McLaurin. However, this is the part where I make the boring recommendation for Zach Ertz in Week 1.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ secondary struggled mightily against opposing tight ends last year — giving up the second-highest amount of fantasy points per game to the position at 12.4.
For those unfamiliar with Todd Bowles’ defensive scheme, he loves to heat up opposing quarterbacks by bringing extra defenders with the third-highest blitz rate (40.1%) in the league last year.
This aggressive style led to teams gobbling up yards after the catch (YAC) against this unit with 2,373 YAC last year — dead last in the NFL.
Ertz should have the snap count advantage over rookie TE Ben Sinnott early in the year, which means he’ll have the best opportunity to produce a solid stat line as a safety blanket for Jayden Daniels against a favorable secondary matchup. Meanwhile, the WR pecking order will get ironed out through the first month of the season with a rookie quarterback under center.
– Derek Tate, Fantasy Football Analyst