Throughout the fantasy season, I’ll give my top waiver wire pickups at each position along with suggested blind bid values customized for Apex Fantasy Leagues. Because we are focusing on Apex leagues, which have very deep rosters, a lot of the top waiver wire pickups from across the industry won’t be featured here, as the popular top pickups are unlikely to be available. Instead, I’ll dig a little deeper and try to highlight players that should be on the waiver wire in most Apex leagues.
When applicable, I will highlight a player at each position to ignore – someone that is likely to be a hot waiver wire pickup but will probably be very expensive and not worth their blind bid price tag.
If you’re relatively new to the blind bid waiver system, be sure to check out my piece on strategy for blind bid waivers.
After a week full of injuries and suspensions, and un-suspensions (dictionary check?), it is especially important to have a plan before hitting the waiver wires in Week 3. Teams that are panicking are likely to overspend, but teams that have been lucky enough to avoid losing any of their star players should still be actively looking to build their team depth.
Quarterbacks
Pay For – Kirk Cousins ($25)
As I’ve mentioned before, quarterback is easily replaceable, even in deep leagues, so spending more than 5% of your free agent budget is usually unwise. With Cousins it’s worth pushing that limit, especially if you are weak at the position. I don’t expect Cousins to become an ever week plug and play option, but he’s a great match up play, and in the NFC East he will have a lot of good match ups.
Running Backs
Pay For – Khiry Robinson ($30)
Mark Ingram is likely out for a month with a broken hand and Khiry Robinson can easily see 10+ touches per game in Ingram’s absence. Pierre Thomas will still be the main pass catching back in New Orleans, and we will likely only get about a month’s worth of consistent production out of Robinson, so I wouldn’t break the bank, but he could be a useful commodity, especially since bye weeks are right around the corner.
Ignore – Darrel Young
Young has two touchdowns in two weeks, and if you look for the top scoring backs available in Apex leagues, Young is likely to top the list. Although the Washington fullback saw his snaps almost triple from Week 1 to Week 2, he still only had 2 touches on the day and is the clear third back behind Alfred Morris and Roy Helu. Young is too far down the depth chart for fantasy owners to hope for a goal line score every game, and a back injury in the second half against the Jaguars means Young could miss some time.
Wide Receivers
Pay For – James Jones ($45)
James Jones isn’t a good wide receiver. The Raiders don’t have a good offense. In fantasy football, though, we pay for opportunity and points, not talent, and it looks like James Jones is going to be Derek Carr’s default number one. Rod Streater suffered a hip injury that could keep him out for multiple weeks and it looks like the Raiders will have no running game to speak of this year. Oakland will be behind early and often, and Jones could be 2014’s garbage time hero. As was the case last week with Brian Quick, it’s worth spending close to 10% of your free agent budget for any teams number one wide receiver with most of the season left.
Ignore – Mohamed Sanu
The Bengals number three wide receiver is being thrust into the number one role, but that duty won’t last long, as AJ Green is only expected to miss one game since Cincinnati has a bye in Week 4. Even as the lead wide out this week, Sanu’s contribution may be limited. The Bengals made it a point of emphasis to get both of their running backs work in Week 2, and Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard combined for 49 touches on 71 offensive plays.
Tight Ends
Ignore – Niles Paul
There are no tight ends worth paying up for in Week 2, although Jermaine Gresham is a good value for just a couple percentage points of your free agent budget. Every owner should put in a bid for Niles Paul, but the 15-20% that he may go for is not worth the investment. Even if Paul remains the starter all season, we likely just saw his two best games of the year. The fact, is that Jordan Reed may return as early as this week. Paul may retain a role in the offense, but a backup tight end on a mediocre offense isn’t worth $70+.
