We finally had a full slate of games this week, but along with the dopamine hit of college fantasy football being back often comes the crushing reality that some of your picks in your supplemental drafts didn’t work out quite how you had planned. It is for that reason that the first week of waivers in your league could make or break your season. That’s why I added a lot of Danny Scudero shares last season and rode him into the playoffs in most of my leagues.
Is there a player as impactful as him on the wire this season? That remains to be seen, but there are plenty of solid options that emerged this week, and I am here to break them all down. If you are new to how I do waiver articles, I am going to break down the players into three tiers: players I would add in leagues with limited (six or fewer) waiver claims per season, players I would add in one waiver player per week leagues, and finally those I would add in unlimited waiver add leagues. With that out of the way, let’s get into the players!
Limited Waiver League Adds
Gavin Freeman, WR, Baylor (13% rostered)
Baylor ran an amazing 102 snaps on Saturday night and Freeman was on the field for 101 of them, running an astonishing 56 routes and accumulating 18 targets that he turned into 12 catches for 154 yards and a touchdown. If Baylor is going to run this many plays per game this season, Freeman is the one player available on waivers this week I think could have the upside of Danny Scudero last season.
As a result, I think I’d be comfortable spending up to 50% of my FAAB for the season on him, as I think he can be a real difference maker in this offense.
Jordan Allen, WR, Georgia Tech (7% rostered)
Allen was a target hog for the Yellow Jackets on Thursday night against Colorado, leading the team with nine targets that resulted in eight receptions for 113 yards. While his aDOT of 9.4 wasn’t amazing, his 4.52 yards per route run shows that he is likely going to be an integral piece of this offense moving forward this season and a player that should have a safe weekly floor in your lineups.
I would likely spend 20-25% of my FAAB for the season to get him on my team and shore up my wide receiver room.
Benji Blackburn, TE, Stanford (10% rostered)
I was going to put Blackburn in the weekly waivers section, but upon further reflection, I think his usage warrants him being included here, as he has proven to be a vital piece so far this season and someone Davis Warren looks to target early and often.
So far this season, in two games, he has eight more targets (17) than the next closest receiving option in the room (JonAnthony Hall with 9) and leads the team with 12 receptions for 101 yards. While he hasn’t turned any of those catches into a touchdown, his schedule is about to get much easier, and if you need help at the tight end position, I think he is an elite option, especially in tight end premium leagues.
The one caveat is that he is on bye this week and will have two byes during the fantasy season because the Cardinals played in Week 0, but I think the upside still warrants spending 15-20% of your FAAB on him to lock down a top-10 fantasy tight end this season.
Riley Neer, WR, Ohio (0% rostered)
Neer is another player I went back and forth on whether to include him here or in the weekly waivers section, but the slot wide receiver in this offense eats, so I decided this is where he belongs. Last season, Chase Hendricks turned 108 targets into 71 receptions for 1042 yards and seven touchdowns, playing primarily out of the slot, while the season before, Coleman Owen took 113 targets and amassed 78 receptions for 1246 yards and eight touchdowns.
Simply put, the slot option in this offense has a chance to be a top-20 fantasy wide receiver year in and year out, and while we thought the guy was going to be Preston Bowman, Riley Neer outperformed him in fall camp and took over the job. Neer led the team in targets against Nebraska with 11 and caught six of them for 104 yards and a touchdown. Neer is another player with Scudero-like upside this season, but I think you can get him much cheaper than Gavin Freeman. I think 20-25% of your FAAB should get the job done and land your team a player with sneaky upside for the remainder of the season.
I use a 20% rostered share as the cutoff for my waiver articles, but if running back Jaylin Carter from Memphis (21% owned) is available in your league, he is another player I would consider adding in these types of leagues.
Weekly Waiver League Adds
Deuce Bailey, QB, Coastal Carolina (5% rostered)
Bailey looked impressive Sunday, keeping the Chanticleers competitive in their game against West Virginia, throwing for 373 yards and three touchdowns while adding 19 yards on the ground. This should be the most competitive game on Coastal’s schedule as it is their only P4 opponent of the season, so I think even brighter days could be ahead for Bailey.
Bailey also has three more years of eligibility after this season, as he was a true freshman last season at Missouri State, so if he can lock down this room, he can be a long-term asset at the position for your fantasy teams. I wouldn’t break the bank to add him, but if I needed another option in the quarterback room to replace someone like McCae Hillstead, who looked pretty rough this week, I’d be willing to spend 10-15% of my FAAB to add him.
Braden Atkinson, QB, Oregon State (5% rostered)
Atkinson was perhaps one of the quarterbacks I was most impressed watching this week. He had one of the most live arms that I saw on the slate and kept the Beavers competitive in a road matchup against Houston despite having mostly unheralded weapons around him. He completed 29 of his 48 attempts for 376 yards and a touchdown, and while you certainly won’t want to start him this week against Texas Tech, if you add him, the schedule gets much easier after that once the Beavers get into Pac-12 play.
I think he could be an intriguing option to add to your quarterback rooms, and I would feel comfortable spending 10-15% of my FAAB to get it done.
Legend Glasker, WR, BYU (12% rostered)
Glasker is a tough nut to crack because, while he caught all three of his targets for 65 yards and two touchdowns and also turned two carries into 16 yards and another score, he was still third in snaps behind Kyler Kasper and Jojo Phillips with just 23 snaps. On the other hand, he did have the most slot snaps, and the receiver that ran the most slot routes for the team last season (Parker Kingston) led the team with 67 receptions for 928 yards and five touchdowns.
While I think I would pump the brakes a little on the hype, Glasker still did all this as a true freshman, and I think he has a bright future ahead of him in this offense. I think I might wait to see him back up this performance again before inserting him into my lineup, but I would certainly feel comfortable adding him to my fantasy squad and would likely drop a bid of 25-30% of my FAAB to try and get it done.
Jesse Legree, WR, Oregon State (1% rostered)
Legree is a player who was getting a ton of hype this offseason for the Beavers and lived up to the hype on Saturday, turning eight targets into five receptions for 136 yards and a touchdown and making some highlight-reel-worthy grabs along the way. Legree, a true freshman, was the primary beneficiary of Braden Atkinson’s rocket arm, and his impressive aDOT of 21.3 shows the Beavers plan to use him down the field, which could lead to some big games this season.
Legree likely wouldn’t be at the top of my waivers list this week, but he is definitely an intriguing option that I’d be comfortable dropping 5-10% of my FAAB on.
Deuce Lawrence, RB, Wake Forest (2% rostered)
While it seems like most were focused on Kyndall McCaleb when looking for a freshman sleeper on this team, Lawrence is the one who earned the trust of the coaching staff and has emerged as the clear second option in this offense. Lawrence led the team Thursday against Akron with 13 carries for 52 rushing yards.
Ty Clark is still the leader in the running back room, and it’s hard to tell, given the score of the game, how things will shake up when things are a bit more competitive, but Lawrence was getting carries early in this game, and I think he has a chance to eat into Clark’s workload. In addition, if Clark gets injured, this is an offense that produced a 900-yard rusher in Demond Claiborne last season, so Lawrence is someone I’d be looking to stash on my bench as an intriguing freshman option at the position, and I’d be comfortable dropping 3-5% of my FAAB to land him.
Unlimited Waiver Adds
Keveun Mason, RB, Temple (0% rostered)
While everyone was slotting Sam Brown into their lineups as the starting running back for Temple, Mason came out of nowhere to carry the ball 20 times for 158 yards and two touchdowns while adding two receptions for 34 yards. If I knew 100% that Mason was going to be the workhorse this season, I would have put him in the section above, but Sam Brown missed this game due to injury, and it’s unclear once he returns if he is going to be the starter or if the job is Mason’s to lose.
Given this performance, I would think Mason would have a leg up on keeping the job, but given the uncertainty, I think I’d only be adding him in unlimited waiver leagues with more roster flexibility should Brown come back and claim the job himself. I’d still likely drop 8-10% of my FAAB on Mason as I think he can be a solid fantasy running back if he can hold off Brown and lead this room.
Reginald “RJ” Vick, WR, Colorado State (0% rostered)
Given what Jim Mora did last year at UConn with Skyler Bell – 101 catches for 1,278 yards and 13 touchdowns – I was trying to target Ram wide receivers in supplemental drafts this offseason, often choosing between Jordan Mosley, a transfer who was getting spring buzz, and Tommy Maher, the leading returning wide receiver from last season.
However, Mosley appears to be having trouble with his eligibility, and Maher only played 14 snaps in this game, while Vick led all wideouts with 51 snaps that turned into a team-high eight targets, six receptions, and 79 yards for three touchdowns. While I am skeptical that Vick can reach the heights Bell did last season, the leading wide receiver in this offense has a chance to be a weekly starter in your fantasy lineups, especially given that Hauss Hejny looked solid as the starting quarterback against Wyoming Saturday. As a result, I’d be comfortable spending 5-7% of my FAAB on Vick in the hopes he can maintain his status as the target hog in this offense.
Umari Hatcher, WR, Syracuse (5% rostered)
Steve Angeli returned this weekend from his Achilles tear last season, and with it the receiving room instantly became viable again for your fantasy rosters. This room has produced some fantasy-relevant wideouts over the past few seasons, and Hatcher looks like he might be the next man up. He led the room with 48 snaps and got twice as many targets (10) as the next wide receiver (Cole Weaver with 5) and turned those into eight receptions for 147 yards and two touchdowns.
The competition wasn’t amazing, but with Angeli back, this is a room to target, and if Hatcher is going to be the alpha in the room, I’d be looking to drop 5-7% of my FAAB budget on him, as I think he has a good chance to surpass 1,000 receiving yards this season as long as Angeli can stay healthy.
Connor Walendzak, RB, Toledo (0% rostered)
CJ Miller was the running back that most were targeting from Toledo, but Walendzak outsnapped him 25 to 18 on Saturday and put up much better numbers, rushing seven times for 76 yards and a touchdown compared to eight carries for 22 yards for Miller.
As someone mentioned in the Discord, Walendzak has a little Cam Skattebo to his game, and one of his comps in the athletic tool is actually Rex Burkhead as well. I think Walendzak could be an intriguing option once conference play kicks off, and if he ends up stealing the role we imagined for Miller, he could be a valuable asset in your running back room this season. I think a bid of 1-2% of your FAAB budget could likely land him, and you can stash him and see how things shake out in the weeks ahead.
Buyer Beware
The following two players put up big games on Saturday, but given snap counts, I think it was more of a mirage than something you can count on moving forward, and as such, I wouldn’t be rushing to add them off the waiver wire this week.
Jamill Williams, WR, Jacksonville State (0% rostered)
Williams only caught two passes for five yards in week zero against North Dakota State but exploded this week for seven catches for 144 yards and four touchdowns in a much easier matchup. However, in week zero he played only 17 of 56 snaps, and that didn’t improve much in week one against Eastern Kentucky, as he saw the field for 20 of 63 snaps, which was fourth for wide receivers. He just made the most of his opportunities in this game, and I wouldn’t count on him for production in the weeks ahead, at least not at this point.
Shavane Anderson, RB, Syracuse (0% rostered)
Anderson led the team with 102 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns, but he was a clear second fiddle to Tylik Hall, who played 46 snaps compared to just 18 for Anderson. Much like Williams, Anderson made the most of his opportunities in this game against an overmatched opponent, and while I might add him to my watch list to see if he cuts on Hall’s workload moving forward, he is not someone I would be adding at this time because I think his production was more of a fluke than an indicator of future success.
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