We're entering single-digit days until actual real NFL football. Roster cuts did a ton to illuminate potential valuable waiver options before the start of the 2026 campaign, but there's still time to buy low on situations that won't be resolved until the end of Week 1.
Hopefully you took advantage of last week's article as MarShawn Lloyd, Tyler Allgeier and Greg Dulcich saw their roster rates skyrocket. I won't repeat the same names (well all right, one, but his situation has changed dramatically), but I do think it's worth viewing this as cumulative waiver-wire exercise.
During the season, this waiver-wire column will address both shallow and deep leagues each week. The goal is to get you as prepared as possible to tackle the waiver wire each week, no matter the league format.
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.
QUARTERBACK
ALL LEAGUES
Jordan Love, Packers - Sunday's news that Josh Jacobs would be placed on the Commissioner's Exempt List created a significant fantasy ripple. MarShawn Lloyd (see below) will take a dramatic jump up from a fantasy perspective, but I suspect the more consequential response will be an offense focused significantly more on the passing game. A three-year starter,
We're entering single-digit days until actual real NFL football. Roster cuts did a ton to illuminate potential valuable waiver options before the start of the 2026 campaign, but there's still time to buy low on situations that won't be resolved until the end of Week 1.
Hopefully you took advantage of last week's article as MarShawn Lloyd, Tyler Allgeier and Greg Dulcich saw their roster rates skyrocket. I won't repeat the same names (well all right, one, but his situation has changed dramatically), but I do think it's worth viewing this as cumulative waiver-wire exercise.
During the season, this waiver-wire column will address both shallow and deep leagues each week. The goal is to get you as prepared as possible to tackle the waiver wire each week, no matter the league format.
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.
QUARTERBACK
ALL LEAGUES
Jordan Love, Packers - Sunday's news that Josh Jacobs would be placed on the Commissioner's Exempt List created a significant fantasy ripple. MarShawn Lloyd (see below) will take a dramatic jump up from a fantasy perspective, but I suspect the more consequential response will be an offense focused significantly more on the passing game. A three-year starter, Love already has a top-10 fantasy season, in 2023, but his production has been severely handicapped by a run-first offense that attempted the sixth-fewest passes in 2025 and third-fewest in 2024. Even the most optimistic Lloyd/Kaleb Johnson supporter would tell you that offensive philosophy will have to change if Green Bay has any postseason aspirations, and I suspect that more "love" to the passing game will protect a dramatically inexperienced rushing duo if/when Jacobs returns. Love is only rostered in 35 percent of ESPN leagues, but he easily has a chance to be a weekly fantasy starter. FAAB: 7 percent of budget
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RUNNING BACK
ALL LEAGUES
MarShawn Lloyd, Packers - Lloyd was immediately thrust into the RB1 role for the Packers after the Jacobs news hit Sunday. Yes, the third-year back made my list last week, but it's worth mentioning again given the circumstances have changed. The 2024 third-round pick has played in just one game the last two years due to an assortment of injuries, mostly hamstring related. It's unfair to say what Lloyd would be like when healthy since he never has been in his professional career, but most of the pre-draft analysis was centered around his big-play ability both as a runner and pass catcher. Considering that profile, you'd think USC would have featured Lloyd more, but he never had a collegiate season with more than 116 carries, in large part due to a worrisome fumbling history (10). Lloyd, if available, probably needs upward of a 75 percent FAAB commitment to have him on your roster. FAAB: 75 percent of budget
Kaleb Johnson, Packers - The Packers acquired Kaleb Johnson from the Steelers for a 2028 seventh-round pick Sunday in what many assume is meant to add depth to a backfield that was uncomfortably thin even prior to Sunday's legal situation, but he could have much more value than that. Johnson posted a dreadful 2.5 yards per carry on 28 carries in an unquestionably dismal rookie campaign and seemingly never found his way out of the doghouse after an egregious Week 2 special teams error. There's something to be said regarding how Pittsburgh deployed Johnson; namely poorly. In his last five games, Johnson tallied 13 carries on his 20 total snaps. It clearly became a tell as to how the Iowa product would be deployed , and, at minimum, that has to be figured into the lack of production. At 6-foot-1, 224, Johnson profiles as much more of a bruiser and should in theory execute the between-the-tackle carries that are so vital in the Matt LaFleur offensive scheme. He did so with tremendous success at Iowa (240-1537-21) his junior year after all. It would be incredibly uncharacteristic of a notoriously risk-adverse franchise like Green Bay to give Lloyd, a major fumbler dating back to college — notably the last time he ever played — upward of 70 percent of the workload immediately, and that's not accounting for the worst-case franchise scenario where Jacobs is out the entire season, necessitating Lloyd remaining durable and fresh for the stretch run. Johnson should be rostered in most formats, but you can get by with using much less FAAB to scoop him up as opposed to Lloyd. FAAB: 5 percent of budget
DEEP LEAGUES
Emmett Johnson, Chiefs - I was intrigued by Johnson during the Combine process, but once the fifth-round pick landed in Kansas City I figured all bets were effectively off. After all, Kenneth Walker signed a monster deal this offseason to be the team's featured back and the team has typically valued the certainty of a veteran in subsequent depth, so I presumed another move would be coming in the dog days of training camp. No such veteran ever signed and the team actually released Emari Demercado at cutdown, paving the way for Johnson to sit just one injury away from a significant workload. The 22-year-old doesn't have attractive workout metrics (4.56 40-yard dash, 7.32 cone drill), but he's next up after Walker, who dealt with a foot injury in training camp and has played just one full season in his four-year career — last season when he shared the Seattle backfield with Zach Charbonnet. FAAB: 0 percent of budget
Malik Davis, Cowboys - Jaydon Blue was released as part of Dallas' roster cutdown this weekend and Emari Demercado subsequently signed earlier Monday, but Davis unquestionably becomes the biggest winner of the slew of transactions. Javonte Williams has a bad injury history but has played in all but two games the last three years, so there might be little immediate payoff for Davis. However, a clearly defined handcuff in an offense that is projected to be one of the league's best always has some merit. Davis' career rushing average is 4.6 yards (on 90 carries), and he was particularly impressive in the Week 17 win over the Commanders last year when he rushed 20 times for 103 yards. Lesser players like Tank Bigsby and Najee Harris are getting drafted, why not claim a backup share of the Dallas backfield? FAAB: 0 percent of budget
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WIDE RECEIVER
DEEP LEAGUES
Ted Hurst, Buccaneers - Emeka Egbuka is dealing with a turf toe injury that "hopefully" will have him ready for Week 1. No. 3 wideout Jalen McMillan has been limited through the majority of training camp with a knee injury that could also impact his availability for the season opener. Enter Hurst, the 2026 third-round pick, who wowed at various points of training camp with acrobatic sideline receptions and flashed impressive burst (4.42 40-yard dash) for his 6-3 frame. If the Buccaneers only ask Hurst to be a lanky field-stretching boundary receiver who can win contested catches they'll be a better offense for it, but that's a hard role to project week to week in terms of fantasy impact. Among this tier of deep waiver-wire pickups I'd look first to Hurst just given the potential, but there's no reason to be aggressive if he's available. FAAB: 0 percent of budget
Chris Bell, Dolphins - Last week I recommended Caleb Douglas, a 2026 Miami third-round pick, as a speculative addition. But the heart wants what the heart wants, and that was always going to be the latter of the two third-round WR selections, Chris Bell, for me. The Louisville product was considered a potential first-round target prior to tearing his ACL in November and he immediately made a splash during the Dolphins' final preseason game (five targets, 22 yards) after being fully cleared to play. There's no definitive pecking order in the Frankenstein mashup of castoff veterans and rookie dice rolls in the Miami pass-catching corps, so I default to the presumably most talented of the bunch. Bell is going to be given every opportunity to assert his value as a pass catcher for a team that's widely expected to trail much of the year. Don't overthink this one if you have an empty bench spot. FAAB: 0 percent of budget
Jahan Dotson, Falcons - Realistically the answer to the question "who is the second Atlanta wide receiver to roster in fantasy" should be "no one," but there was some ambiguity to that query before training camp and that was resoundingly resolved during August. Dotson, who signed a two-year, $15 million deal with the Falcons this offseason, played in every one of the team's starters reps during preseason, definitively seeing snaps ahead of Olamide Zaccheaus and 2026 third-round pick Zachariah Branch. The wet-noodle quarterback competition between Tua Tagovailoa and Michael Penix doesn't really jazz up a passing attack that is seemingly entirely dependent on Drake London and Kyle Pitts, but Dotson's emergence as the next most obvious guy in terms of playing time is noteworthy. FAAB: 0 percent of budget
Devaughn Vele, Saints - 2026 first-round pick Jordyn Tyson (hamstring) was predictably placed on injured reserve Sunday, officially clearing the way for Vele to operate as New Orleans' No. 2 option behind Chris Olave throughout September. At 28, the third-year wideout feels maxed out in terms of what he can offer, but Vele is familiar with the offense (16 receptions for 202 yards and a touchdown Week 13-16 last year), which is more than can be said about 2026 fourth-round pick Bryce Lance and 2026 sixth-round pick Barion Brown who are right below Vele on the depth chart. I don't know the scenario where anyone is eager to roster an older wideout without much experience for an offense that I'm not convinced is all that good, but Vele is in the deep recommendations for a reason. FAAB: 0 percent of budget
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TIGHT END
Terrance Ferguson, Rams - No tight end has gotten more of a glow up during training camp than Ferguson, who was lumped into being yet another second-round disaster in GM Les Snead's long line of comically bad scheme selections for coach Sean McVay, to suddenly becoming the most versatile weapon on the entire Rams offense and one who will capably be the team's "wideout" in multi-tight end personnel sets. I think the realistic outcome for Ferguson is he'll be a valuable piece for an offense we know loves to use heavy personnel, but the consequential targets will be sporadic as McVay plays chess through a regular season that should just amount to warm ups for the prohibitive Super Bowl favorites. I would rather roster Isaiah Likely, Chig Okonkwo and maybe even Juwan Johnson before Ferguson because I'm risk-averse, but projecting a TE will have weekly starting upside in an offense that features Colby Parkinson, Tyler Higbee and 2026 second-round pick Max Klare, not to mention red-zone weapons like Davante Adams, is a bit too aggressive for me. FAAB: 7 percent of budget
Mason Taylor, Jets - This is just a reminder that 16th overall pick Kenyon Sadiq injured his hernia and missed almost the entirety of training camp. While coach Aaron Glenn suspects the rookie will be available for the season opener, Taylor has more than enough pedigree as a prospect to be a capable option as Sadiq gets his feet wet in the NFL. If you're in a deep format that has multiple flex spots, the second-year product out of LSU might be of consideration. FAAB: 0 percent of budget
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