Waiver Wire Watch: Week 1

Sep 06, 2016

Editor's Note: We're happy to have Brandon Niles on the Waiver Wire Watch this year. He'll work in conjunction with Senior Editor John Paulsen to compile the weekly list of pickups and generate recommended prices for FAAB leagues.

Here is a look at the top waiver wire pickups for Week 1. To be eligible for discussion, the player must be owned in 50% or fewer Yahoo leagues, though we’ll stretch the rules a bit for the RB position, which is usually very thin. We’ll also include suggested bid prices (with a $100 budget) for those leagues that use Free Agent Acquisition Budgets (FAAB). Of course, player value depends on league characteristics and team needs. Players are listed by position in order of importance. For extremely shallow or extremely deep leagues, be sure to review our Rest-of-Season Rankings (updated every Tuesday) to get an idea of how to value players not on this list.

For this first week of the season, there shouldn’t be a lot of action on waivers since we should all be fairly happy with the teams we drafted. However, there are a few names worth looking at as we get ready for the start of the new football year.

Quarterbacks

Robert Griffin III, QB, Cleveland Browns ($3)

RG3 looked uneven in the preseason but showed off a big arm on multiple long-ball connections. He faces a Philadelphia defense that ranked near the bottom in passing yards and touchdowns allowed last year and didn’t do much in the off-season to improve. His subsequent matchups against the Ravens and the Dolphins could work out in his favor as well. If you have the roster space and are a little shaky at the QB position, there’s no reason not to add RG3 as a low-risk upside pickup heading into the season.

Next up: @ Eagles, Ravens, @ Dolphins

Brock Osweiler, QB, Houston Texans ($3)

At this point, you’re probably happy with your quarterbacks, but if you’re one of the poor souls who drafted Tony Romo and Teddy Bridgewater, and then missed out on the flurry of Dak Prescott, you may want to pick up a QB heading into the season. Osweiler didn’t put up great numbers in Denver, but he has great weapons to work with in Houston and starts the year against a Bears defense that gave up 31 touchdown passes to opposing passers last year. Osweiler is a risk, but he’s the best combination of matchup and upside available on the waivers, and if he blows up, he’ll cost a lot more a week from now. Editor's Note: Last year, the Texans quarterbacks (Brian Hoyer, Ryan Mallett, T.J. Yates and Brandon Weeden) combined to post 4079 yards, 29 touchdowns and just 12 interceptions. Throwing in their rushing numbers, Houston quarterbacks tallied 274.4 fantasy points, which is more than what Jameis Winston scored as last year’s #13 QB.

Next up: Bears, Chiefs, @ Patriots

Dak Prescott, QB, Dallas Cowboys ($3)

Prescott is an interesting option because he plays behind an elite offensive line, will be assisted by a potential star in the running game in rookie Zeke Elliott, and has a top-shelf WR to throw to in Dez Bryant. Prescott is a rookie, but he's expected to start for Dallas while Tony Romo remains out with a broken back. If you have space to roster him now, you should be willing to do so. If he comes out and kills it against the Giants on opening day, he's going to cost a lot more next week. He has some long-term risk because he's only the starter until Romo comes back, but with Romo out possibly up to 10 weeks or longer, it wouldn't be surprising at all to see Prescott end up starting all 16 games this year.

Next up: Giants, @ Redskins, Bears