Week 1 of the 2026 College Fantasy season has officially come and gone, and while some are celebrating their big Week 1 victories and others are licking their wounds from Week 1 losses, we should all be prowling the waiver wire to make our teams better for the coming weeks.
The CFF community did an incredible job finding a large chunk of the players that will be relevant for CFF this season and made sure people had drafted them. Because of that, this might be the hardest Week 1 waiver set I’ve had to come up with yet! The good news is that even though the overall group is shallower, there are still some gems that unearthed themselves in the first round of games.
With all that being said, let’s look at who you could be grabbing off the waiver wire to enhance your playoff runs! All players mentioned are rostered at a sub-30% rate in Fantrax CFF leagues.
Quarterbacks
William “Pop” Watson III – UMass – Ros: 2%
Week 1 started off with a bang as the 2025 winless squad, UMass, took down a Big Ten team in Rutgers. At the center of that major upset was Dylan Lonergan’s 4 turnovers UMass’s QB William “Pop” Watson III. Watson arrives at UMass by way of transferring from Virginia Tech, where he started sporadically and was mostly kept to rushing packages under the previous regime. This year, Watson saw an opportunity to finally get a full-time start with the Minutemen, and his skill set is finally being put to use under UMass OC Max Warner.
Watson’s best known for his rushing, but his arm made the difference in UMass’s win over Rutgers. He diced up the Scarlet Knights to the tune of 197 yards and 3 TDs on 22 pass attempts. He also added 6 rush attempts for 40 yards. That totals 23.88 FPTS, which may not seem like much, but given that Rutgers was the most difficult defense UMass faced on paper this season, that now feels like the floor for Watson.
Watson and UMass have upcoming games against 2 FCS opponents and Sacramento State, as close to a dream upcoming schedule as you can imagine. We could see Watson reach even greater heights once UMass reaches MACtion play, and that makes him a must-add for any QB-needy team this week.
Kalieb Osborne – UConn – Ros: 2%
UMass and UConn, once upon a time, were the forgotten independent afterthoughts of college football. Now, both of their QBs make it onto this Week 1 waiver article, and both are legitimate offensive threats to their schedules. Kalieb Osborne followed his head coach, Jason Candle, over from Toledo. For much of the off-season, it was heavily implied that Tennessee transfer Jake Merklinger was not only competing for this job, but was the favorite. Thus, it was a surprise when Osborne was named the starter, but he silenced all doubt quickly.
Against an outmatched Lafayette team, Osborne lit it up. He passed for 265 yards and 2 TDs on 26 pass attempts and added 90 yards and 2 TDs on 8 rush attempts. Osborne’s legs are easily the most exciting part of him. When Jason Candle had DeQuan Finn as his QB at Toledo, he was more than happy to use Finn’s legs, which led to multiple top-36 finishes in CFF for Finn on a per-game basis over multiple seasons. It’s very easy to imagine Osborne doing something similar, especially with his schedule being very manageable outside of his week 2 matchup against Maryland.
Gio Lopez – Wake Forest – Ros: 25%
Lopez’s transition to the Power 4 and ACC last season at North Carolina was anything but graceful. You can’t really blame the guy; if one of the greatest coaches of all time called me up and told me he wanted me to play QB for him, I’d have a hard time saying “no” to. But Lopez never quite fit what Bellicheck wanted at UNC (what he wants is still pretty unclear). As such, Lopez left UNC but stayed in-state and reunited with his old OC from South Alabama, Rob Ezell, at Wake Forest. The early returns on this reunion are clearly positive.
Against Akron, Lopez had one of the best games in his college career. Much like Watson and Osborne, Lopez surprised with his arm. His rushing was there, with 7 rushing attempts for 39 yards. His passing was excellent, tho. He had 350 yards and 3 TDs on 32 attempts. I’m not expecting that every week, clearly, as he won’t get to play Akron every week.
However, Lopez is clearly very comfortable with his receiving corps of Hernandez, Shanks, and Meeks and should continue to get help from them this season, even if Hernandez’s health is questionable right now. At the end of the day, he’s a dual-threat QB in the ACC with tons of hero-ball potential in shootouts. That should always be rostered in CFF.
Honorable Mentions
- Nick Poulos – Ohio – 5%
- Deuce Bailey – Coastal Carolina – 5%
- Isaiah Marshall – Kansas – 5%
Running Backs
Jaylin Carter – Memphis – Ros: 21%
Truly goes to show how much following a head coach can matter for your opportunities in CFF. Carter followed Charles Huff from Southern Miss to Memphis, and many feared he’d be stuck behind the likes of Dallan Hayden. Turns out those fears were completely unfounded. We caught a glimpse of what Jaylin Carter could be in his Week 0 matchup against UNLV, where he saw 15 carries for 97 yards and a TD. While a nice performance, many still feared he wasn’t breaking far enough away from his tandem counterpart, Manny Covey. Week 1’s game against Arkansas State made sure any doubt about Carter is gone.
Against the Red Wolves, Carter trounced his Week 0 performance and finished with an insane 183 yards and 4 TDs on 19 attempts, nearly 10 yards a touch. He still saw a heavy split with Manny Covey, but given how much Memphis is running the ball and how successful they are doing it, we just need to set those worries aside. Talent is winning here. Carter is the best back on this team. He’s getting 15-20 touches a game even in a split role. He’s still finding ways to produce in that role. He’s a must-grab off waivers and could end up being a league winner down the stretch if this continues.
Steven Robinson – Southern Miss – Ros: 0%
There are many reasons why I love College Fantasy Football. One of those reasons is that no matter how much research we as a community do, no matter how hard we look. There’s always going to be somebody who comes out of absolute nowhere. Rostered in nearly 0% of leagues, Steven Robinson is our first major candidate for this in CFF this year. Robinson flew under the radar. His production at JuCo wasn’t anything eye-popping, as he only rushed for 598 yards and 6 TDs on 127 carries. Clearly, Blake Anderson saw something in him, as in his first game for the Eagles, Robinson assumed a heavy workload we don’t usually see from Blake Anderson backs.
Anderson toted the rock 23 times for 123 yards and 3 TDs in Southern Miss’s win over Alcorn State. The usage was very reminiscent of what Blake Anderson did with Jeffrey Pittman last year. Anderson seems to prefer a workhorse back over splitting carries, as he did in the past. If so, then Robinson could be huge going forward, outside of his Week 2 date at Auburn. Robinson doesn’t have much explosiveness, as he had zero breakaway runs in this game despite his high yardage total, which likely caps his ceiling. However, his apparent high volume and steady production could make him a solid floor play at the position week in and week out.
Jabari Bates – San Jose State – 3%
A few days before the season started, I happened across a tweet from a freelance beat reporter, Andrew Hartley, who had a bold take that Jabari Bates would be a 1,000-yard back for San Jose State. Admittedly, I scoffed. Craig Stutzmann hadn’t had much desire in the last couple of years to truly establish the ground game for the Spartans, let alone develop a workhorse. Then week 0 came. Bates didn’t have a great game (11 rushes for 37 yards), but I couldn’t help but notice that at the start of the game he got a lot of run before game script and fear of injury took him out. I knew that the Week 1 matchup against Eastern Michigan would hold a lot of answers. Boy, did they.
Bates finished the game against Eastern Michigan with 20 carries for 119 yards. He also had four targets in the passing game. The message is crystal clear, and Mr. Hartley was onto something. Bates will be the workhorse back for the Spartans, despite his smaller stature at 5’7″, 180lbs. He’s had 83.8% of running back carries. for SJSU and 51.7% of all rush attempts. So long as games aren’t lopsided, Bates will get work each week, and while TDs haven’t come yet, they feel inevitable, especially in the upcoming matchup against Cal Poly.
Honorable Mentions
- Jamal Rule – Nebraska – 29%
- Yasin Willis – Kansas – 23%
- James Jones – New Mexico State – 6%
- Elijah Faulkner – UMass – 0%
- Fame Ijeboi – Purdue – 24%
Wide Receivers
Umari Hatcher – Syracuse – Ros: 4%
I kept saying the same thing over and over again this off-season – If we’re going to project Steve Angeli as a legit CFF option as a pocket passing QB with high volume, we need to be drafting a WR along with him. After all, it wasn’t that long ago that Trebor Pena and Jackson Meeks were legit CFF options in this system with the right QB. The name I kept reading over the summer was Umari Hatcher, who was returning from a year off from football, recovering from an injury. In a case like that, caution is warranted, but the drumbeat for his return was steady.
That drumbeat built into a crescendo this past Saturday. Even though Syracuse passed the ball only 32 times, it didn’t matter. Hatcher was clearly the top option for the Orange, earning 10 targets, turning those into 8 catches for 147 yards and 2 TDs. For what it’s worth, he also got an extra touch and 11 yards on a rush attempt. If Syracuse’s passing attack gets revved up in volume for closer matchups, the volume Hatcher could see is insane. He had 31.3% of targets this past weekend. I’m not sure that will hold up, but if he clears 25% target share every week, he will be a CFF asset all season.
Ashton Hollins – Georgia Southern – Ros: 2%
When we research college fantasy during the off-season, we always look for value in who is replacing the legends of yesterday. Camden Brown was WR5 for CFF last season at Georgia Southern and left behind a major void to fill. Sometimes, the next man up is crystal clear. Sometimes, it’s clear as mud. Georgia Southern’s WR room was decidedly the latter. Many drafted Josh Dallas, as he had the most experience in the room, despite playing in the slot. However, after Week 1, it looks as though Illinois transfer Ashton Hollins will fill Brown’s role.
Hollins, much in the same way as Brown, arrived at Georgia Southern with little stats to his name. That is no longer the case after this weekend. Hollins led the Eagles in targets with 11, which he used to catch all 8 times and generate 106 yards and 1 TD. Because of the role he seems to be filling, Hollins is a must-add in leagues.
Even better for him is that Max Johnson will be starting at QB for the Eagles. I can see some of you rolling your eyes at that, but Johnson gives this Eagles offense the ability to truly become an air-raid again, unlike its version under JC French. If that is the case, then Hollins’ volume could skyrocket even more in more even games. That won’t come immediately tho, as two of Georgia Southern’s next three games are Clemson and Houston, neither of which are ideal matchups. However, afterward, he’s golden.
Riley Neer – Ohio – Ros: 0%
Much like Hollins and Georgia Southern, we in the CFF community knew we wanted to target the Ohio slot wide receiver, but there was so little information to go off of. Many, including myself, settled on Preston Bowman, the Kentucky transfer 3-star WR. However, when the first depth chart was released, Riley Neer won the job over Bowman. Many were skeptical about how long this would last and if Bowman would take over quickly. There are no more doubts now.
In his first start, Neer was targeted early and often. He finished the day with 12 targets, 104 yards, and a touchdown against a solid Big Ten defense in Nebraska. His debut performance matches a pattern for the last few Ohio WRs who went on to be their target hogs. Both Chase Hendricks and Coleman Owen saw 100+ yards and 10+ targets in their team’s Game 1 matchups against Power 4 opponents. This staff is never shy about letting us know early who their #1 guy is, and I say we take them at their word. For Neer to be a top-tier CFF option, we need Nick Poulos to improve, but for now, because of the role he fills, Neer is a must-grab.
Honorable Mentions
- Gavin Freeman – Baylor – 13%
- Matthew Coleman – Sacramento State – 11%
- Kelby Valsin – Florida Atlantic – 1%
- Mario Sanders – Southern Miss – 2%
- Donovan Olugbode – Missouri – 26%
Tight Ends
Jeremiah Scoby – Bowling Green – Ros: 0%
The second coming of Harold Fannin Jr?
I kid, I kid…Unless…
In all seriousness, this is another player who is just gonna come out of nowhere and potentially play a major part in CFF this season. While Bowling Green didn’t do well against Tarleton State, Scoby had a game of his own. He led all tight ends on the weekend in targets with 11. He caught 10 of those for 103 yards. He didn’t find the end zone, but with that volume and production, you’d expect it to be fixed in future contests. What’s also extremely exciting about Scoby is that ~59% of his snaps came out of the slot, which indicates he will continue to see a primarily receiving role on this offense, not much blocking. The scoring worries me because with this loss to Tarleton State, I’m concerned Bowling Green is bad, bad. However, especially in a PPR league, Scoby is a no-brainer and easily the best TE option on the waiver wire this week.
Honorable Mentions
- Benjamin Blackburn – Stanford – 10%
- Caden Jensen – Louisiana – 4%
- Matt Wagner – Boise State – 13%
