Fantasy Football Waiver Wire: Pickups for Week 2 - Thursday Update

While the opening two games of the 2026 NFL season were a mashup of worst-case scenarios for fantasy managers in terms of injuries, the rest of the Week 1 slate was relatively injury free. Still, there's tons of actionable situations to dive into following a chaotic and high-scoring season opener. 

During the season, this waiver-wire column will address both shallow and deep leagues. The goal is to get you as prepared as possible to tackle the waiver wire each week, no matter the league format. And don't worry, I'll update this article each day reacting to any pesky injuries that crop up during the week and ways to rank the available players.

With every player writeup, we'll list a free-agent acquisition budget (FAAB) suggestion. Rather than a specific dollar value, it will be a percentage of your FAAB budget to make it easily applicable to every league no matter if you use, for example, $100 or $1,000.

Got questions on players? Let me know in the comments. 

TUESDAY UPDATE - DeMario Douglas, Kalif Raymond, Noah Fant

WEDNESDAY UPDATE - Michael Penix, Demond Claiborne, Antonio Williams 

THURSDAY UPDATE - All Texans pass catchers (Xavier Hutchinson, Jaylin Noel, Dalton Schultz), Roman Wilson

QUARTERBACK

ALL LEAGUES

Geno Smith, Jets - I'm not entirely convinced New York did anything other than whoop up on the worst team in football in their Week 1 win over the Titans, but acknowledging competency even in that facet is important for this franchise. More important, Smith and Garrett Wilson go against a Packers defense this week that saw the refs gave up 22 points in the fourth quarter without much resistance to backup quarterback Carson Wentz. Expect a run-heavy approach for the Jets, but Smith won't hurt you turnover-wise against a toothless Packers defense. FAAB: 0 percent of budget

Michael Penix, Falcons - It's unclear if the third-year quarterback will be cleared to play in the Week 2 contest against the Panthers, but Cooper Rush's struggles I think might accelerate the timeline somewhat. Tua Tagovailoa didn't practice Wednesday due to the oblique issue he suffered late last week, which effectively makes Penix the last man standing in an Atlanta QB room that felt like it was brimming with ho-hum options just two weeks prior. Even if Penix isn't available this week, he would be worth considering come Week 3 against a Packers defense that allowed third-string QB Carson Wentz to maneuver up and down the field. FAAB: 0 percent of budget 

DEEP LEAGUES

Drew Lock, Seahawks - We're still awaiting the exact timeframe of return regarding Sam Darnold's busted hip, but it seems safe to speculate it'll be weeks, not days until his return. I'm not entirely sure where I rank Lock in terms of NFL backup QBs, but he's certainly not the worst and he benefits from one of the best WRs in football in Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Seattle plays the Cardinals and Commanders the next two weeks, two defenses that impressed in Week 1 but that I had largely projected to be poor entering the season. In superflex formats all it takes is a quarterback to have a pulse to warrant fantasy value, but I think Lock could be potentially better than that throughout September. FAAB: 8 percent of budget

For up-to-the-minute updates on injuries, news and everything going on around the NFL, head to RotoWire's NFL Fantasy Football News Today or follow @RotoWireNFL on X.

RUNNING BACK

ALL LEAGUES

Kaelon Black, 49ers - While the Rams slept walk through their Week 1 game against their division rival, San Fran absolutely came in with an offensive attack that was almost unsettling given the lack of Christian McCaffrey carries (10 for 68). The All-Pro back was his usual destructive force as a pass catcher, but that the rookie third-round pick led the team in carries (14) and that the work was interspersed throughout the first half, and not in what became a laugher in the second, is notable. Coach Kyle Shanahan is one of the best run-game schemers in the league and much in the same way Bears coach Ben Johnson gets the most out of D'Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai, getting a share of the Shanahan rushing attack for effectively free is valuable to me. FAAB: 8 percent of budget

Kendre Miller, Saints - It should be noted New Orleans was without Alvin Kamara (knee) in this one and theoretical competition for the No. 2 role in Ty Chandler (knee) and Audric Estime (thigh) are both on injured reserve, but that Miller got multiple red-zone touches, converting one for a touchdown in the frantic fourth-quarter comeback, is absolutely something to monitor. Miller played just 26 snaps compared to Travis Etienne's 50, but the larger takeaway to me is the uneven footing Etienne might be on if Kamara comes back and usurps him as a pass catcher. Miller doesn't have longevity as a fantasy asset given the eventual return of Kamara, but if you're in a pinch, Baltimore's defense was gashed by the rushing attack in the season opener and a reliance on the ground game might insulate the Saints' offense to protect from yet another significant fourth-quarter comeback in Week 2. FAAB: 0 percent of budget

DEEP LEAGUES

Chris Brooks, Packers - Brooks played 37 snaps compared to MarShawn Lloyd's 30, but the latter registered 13 carries compared to the former's nine. Neither did a whole lot behind a bad offensive line that forgot how to maintain blocking assignments against the absolute blitzkrieg Brian Flores' defense put on in the second half, but I don't know how that situation is supposed to change for the better this season. Josh Jacobs' imminent legal situation complicates this somewhat, but Brooks' utility as a reliable pass blocker should take precedence if Week 1's shocking fourth-quarter loss is any indication. Volume is king in fantasy, but so too is playing time, and Brooks is going to see more of it in the weeks to come. FAAB: 1 percent of budget

Samaje Perine, Bengals - Week 1 is a useful way to confirm depth charts that could have been considered complicated during preseason. Chase Brown dominated the snap share (48), but Perine saw eight total touches across his 18 snaps and he's quietly developed into a useful pass catcher the last five years (160 receptions for 1,347 receiving yards across 81 games). This pickup is really only useful in deep leagues that have multiple starting flex spots, but Perine seems to have a safe floor that isn't "zero" for a player no one ever thinks about in terms of quality backup RBs. FAAB: 0 percent of budget

Demond Claiborne, Vikings - I'm not entirely sure Claiborne is even the guy that benefits with Jordan Mason now out the next four weeks after undergoing thumb surgery, but it's a conversation that everyone needs to have in deeper formats. I'm a card-carrying Jerome Ford supporter, so that the veteran signed to the team's practice squad also raised my eyebrow, but Claiborne, a 2026 sixth-round pick with 4.37 40-yard speed, theoretically has the explosive capabilities that the offense would want to partner with Aaron Jones in Mason's absence. DeeJay Dallas played over Claiborne in Week 1, but I believe that has much more to do with the latter's capabilities as a special teams player. If you have room to speculate on Claiborne I think it's a fruitful endeavor, but don't be afraid to cut bait if he's barely used over the next month. FAAB: 0 percent of budget

WIDE RECEIVER

ALL LEAGUES

Caleb Douglas, Dolphins - I'm not ready to quit Chris Bell, but Douglas demonstrably won the battle of third-round rookies Week 1 playing 90 percent of the team's offensive snaps en route to 5-7-94 line in his first career game. The ideal version of the 6-foot-4, 205-pound target is to stretch the field deep and allow Malik Willis to pick apart defenses with his legs along with underneath options like Malik Washington and Greg Dulcich, but first defenses need to respect Douglas' speed and capability. I think it's safe to put a check next to that last part and it's why I'm convinced Douglas will lead the Dolphins in snaps when all is said and done. The Texas Tech product looked really raw as a boundary pass catcher, specifically at the point of catch, so there's still holes in his game, but if Miami will be trailing consistently there's just going to be too much volume to ignore. If you need an A.J. Brown or De'Zhaun Stribling fill in, this is the one. FAAB: 11 percent of budget

Devaughn Vele, Saints - Hopefully you scooped up Vele before this week because his price is infinitely higher now. New Orleans won't always be trailing double digits entering the fourth quarter, but I don't think they are a particularly good team, which means game script will funnel targets to the third-year wide receiver. Perhaps it's wrong of me to jump ahead, but my most consequential takeaway from Sunday's near miracle comeback was how potent Jordyn Tyson (hamstring) could be in this offense — he won't be activated off injured reserve until at least early October. That's at least two more usable fantasy weeks with the Ravens, Raiders and Falcons on the docket next. FAAB: 7 percent of budget (waterfall bids off Douglas)

Rashod Bateman, Ravens - Both Zay Flowers (hamstring) and Ja'Kobi Lane (broken wrist) left Sunday's win with injuries. Flowers seems like he might have avoided disaster, but Lane will be out at minimum a month, which opens the door for Bateman to reclaim his role as the preferred boundary wide receiver in Baltimore. The 2021 first-round pick played 51 snaps, far more than anyone not named Flowers, but he saw just one target as the Ravens leaned on Derrick Henry to salt away the game. Devontez Walker, who was inactive Sunday due to a groin injury, could push for playing time when healthy, but Bateman by default might just be in too cushy of a spot to ignore so long as Lane is out. FAAB: 0 percent of budget

Antonio Williams, Commanders - Credit to the RotoWire X supporters who prompted this conversation somewhat earlier this week.

I'd rather have Antonio Williams

— what_about_bob (@bobaroundtheway) September 16, 2026

It's frustrating because for awhile during the summer, it felt like I was the only Antonio Williams supporter from a redraft perspective at the company. I could send screenshots of some of the bestball conversations that I had with John McKechnie, but there was a time early in bestball drafts where I had close to 70 percent exposure on DraftKings to the late-round dart throw. Then the Stefon Diggs speculation ramped up, the veteran ultimately signed with the Commanders and any hope of Williams emerging as the No. 2 pass catcher seemingly vanished over the final weeks of training camp. I think the 2026 third-round pick is extremely talented and if you're aggressively adding him as a free agent I will not argue against the notion that doing so is a bet against the health of the older wide receivers like Diggs or Terry McLaurin. But if you're betting on 37 percent of the offensive snaps just translating week to week into double-digit PPR points like what happened Week 1, that feels premature to me. QB Jayden Daniels has thrown more than 34 pass attempts just seven times in the 25 games he's played thus far in his young career. If you're betting on Williams to be a consistent part of Washington's offense, you're also betting on Daniels being a different type of quarterback than what he's been in his career. I'm open to that idea being true in the David Blough system, but make sure you independently come to that conclusion lest you just chase a box score that might not be there in the future in terms of the rookie. FAAB: 0 percent of budget

Xavier Hutchinson and Jaylin Noel, Texans - My condolensces for whoever selected early in drafts. While Jahmyr Gibbs and Bijan Robinson had week-winning performances, all the options available at the Round 2-3 turn have seemingly self combusted with Nico Collins (hamstring) joining that list Wednesday. The Pro Bowl wide receiver hasn't practiced this week, and while the team doesn't believe the injury to be serious, all the language from Houston beat reporters seems to be suggesting he'll be unavailable in this contest. Hutchinson will be the name everyone races out to pick up in the event Collins is ruled inactive Sunday, but I think Noel is probably the more useful choice. Hutchinson has just two games in 50 career contests with five or more receptions, a number that Noel has nearly surpassed in his rookie season alone. To be fair to Hutchinson, he's only ever been asked to be a larger piece of Houston's offense last year, but the team has been desperate for a boundary wide receiver to emerge opposite Collins for almost the entirety of his career, so why does that change now? It's why they selected two wide receivers last year! Realistically I think Houston wins this contest just sitting on the ball as much as possible, but if the Bengals force C.J. Stroud to pass, I'm playing Noel with the assumption he'll see more fruitful looks in the slot. FAAB: 0 percent of budget

Roman Wilson, Steelers - Michael Pittman appeared on Wednesday's injury report due to a foot injury, then took a step backward Thursday with an official DNP. It feels a bit early in the NFL campaign for "Dudesday" where NFL teams deliberately list veterans with various ailments so they don't need to practice, but it's worth monitoring regardless. Wilson quietly was near the league lead in unrealized air yards following the Week 1 win and would be asked to be more prominently involved in the event Pittman can't play. Wilson doesn't occupy the same role within the offense as the aforementioned veteran so you're betting on Aaron Rodgers leveraging the third-year wideout in a different way than he's been utilized at any point in his career, but yards could be at a premium against a Patriots defense that will once to bounce back after the Week 1 loss to the Seahawks.

DEEP LEAGUES

Kendrick Bourne, Cardinals - I pride myself on making this article so comprehensive each week that theoretically you should know every player who's worth a darn two weeks before they do anything. Not once during preseason did I mention Bourne. To be fair, I don't think anyone could have seen the 31-year-old catch all eight of his targets for 75 yards in the season opener, but when you look at some of the options behind him on the depth chart (Jalen Brooks, Devin Duvernay, Simi Fehoko), it makes sense. I don't really know why Bourne's role would change either, as this production came with the Cardinals surprisingly leading for much of the game. The veteran has scored exactly one touchdown since Nov. 5, 2023, so understand rostering Bourne is entirely PPR-driven, but I will put in plenty of cheap waiver bids in leagues that have tons of starting roster spots. FAAB: 1 percent of budget

DeMario Douglas, Patriots - With A.J. Brown out due to the high-ankle sprain, a receiver in New England needs to elevate to a larger role. Presumably that would be the highly paid offseason acquisition Romeo Doubs, but the former Packer was dismal last Wednesday, and it's fair to be worried about the organization losing some confidence in him. More important, Douglas was incredibly useful for the Drake Maye offense even before the Brown injury and has a rapport with the Pro Bowl QB. While the slot receiver probably plays exclusively in passing formations, New England could face more of those with a daunting opening month on tap. FAAB: 0 percent of budget

Kalif Raymond, Bears - I don't know how much I care that the 32-year-old Raymond ended up having a better fantasy day than the highly drafted fantasy trio of Rome Odunze, Luther Burden and Colston Loveland, but it's at least something to monitor in future weeks. Chicago's defense feels like its already hemorrhaging due to a number of injuries, so while I wouldn't expect the Bears to score 60 each week, I do think the usage of a slot-only target is a worthwhile mark to make in this article. Raymond is comfortably at the bottom of this rather deep WR list, but in deep leagues he's a flex play following his 5-8-84 outing Sunday. FAAB: 0 percent of budget

TIGHT END

ALL LEAGUES

Michael Mayer, Raiders - This is just to document in the event roster additions were already locked after Las Vegas announced Brock Bowers would be out following meniscus-trimming surgery. The timeframe as to when the Pro Bowl TE will return is murky, but I estimate it'll be at least another two weeks. Mayer led the Raiders in targets in Bowers' absence and should be a reliable checkdown for Kirk Cousins so long as the two are paired together. That's not worth breaking the FAAB bank for, however, so be cautious on how you want to approach your post-Bowers roster builds in the immediate days. FAAB: 2 percent of budget

Pat Freiermuth, Steelers - The veteran tight end tied for the team lead in targets and also accounted for nearly a fourth of Aaron Rodgers' passing yards despite a script that favored Pittsburgh sitting on the running game most of the game. I would be a bit surprised if there's enough volume in this passing attack week to week to say Freiermuth can be this year's Juwan Johnson, but there's always a discounted TE on a bad offense that ends up being a reliable option early for fantasy managers if you're able to identify it. Count me among the 'Muth backers in that regard. FAAB: 1 percent of budget

Dalton Schultz, Texans - Long-time readers of this column likely know I have a hang up with Schultz. Other fantasy analysts value Schultz for his consistency, even if his ceiling seems perpetually lower than other available options. If Nico Collins is out due to a hamstring injury that popped up during practice this week, I'm willing to change my tune however. Cincinnati has been perpetually bad at defending tight ends over the past half decade, but more importantly I think Schultz is a perfectly reasonable safety net for C.J. Stroud as a big-bodied target that can present positive down-to-down sequences. I don't know what Schultz would really do with heavy volume, but I'm comfortable projecting he'll see enough targets to justify low-end TE1 consideration if Collins is unable to play.

DEEP LEAGUES

Noah Fant, Saints - Until Jordyn Tyson (hamstring) comes back, New Orleans is woefully thin in terms of dynamic pass catchers. Devaughn Vele and Bryce Lance have their place, but Tyler Shough is uniquely good at pinning the ball on big-bodied targets like Juwan Johnson and Fant, who ended up seeing eight targets in the near come-from-behind victory. The 2019 first-round pick only played 42 percent of the offensive snaps, but if he's only used as a mercenary boundary target when New Orleans needs some juice, I think there's enough down-to-down practicality to that worth mentioning. And if anything were to happen to Johnson's status, Fant would immediately see the type of workload that would make him low-end TE1 consideration. It's a speculative play, but one that I'd monitor in deep formats. FAAB: 0 percent of budget