Fantasy Football FAAB Advice Week 2 How much should you bid on top waiver pickups free agents
Posted: Fri Aug 30, 2024 9:08 pm
It's never too early to look at fantasy football roster help on the waiver wire, but heading into what's sure to be an active Week 2, it's important to know how much of your FAAB budget to bid on projected top pickups, such as Kenneth Gainwell, Kyren Williams, Justice Hill, Gus Edwards, Puka Nacua, and Romeo Doubs, among many others.Sporting News Fantasy is here to provide advice on pickups all season long in 2023. With some key injuries already hitting in Week 1, plus the usual dose of early surprises and disappointments, here's an early ranking and projected FAAB bid for all of the key free agents going into Week 2:WEEK 2 WAIVER WIRE: 1. Jordan Love, Packers (Yahoo! league availability: 70%). Love didn't have Christian Watson (hamstring) to start, but he had Aaron Jones, Romeo Doubs, Luke Musgrave, and Jayden Reed. He deployed the diverse weapons well in Matt LaFleur's scheme right away. His clean 245 yards and three TDs came against a shaky Bears' pa s defense, but he looks to be in total command of a smooth offense on the youthful uptick. He has juicy long-term starting value.Projected FAAB Bid:3-4% of total budget2. Sam Howell, Commanders (Yahoo! league availability: 77 Cam Ward Men Jersey %). Howell was a little shaky in the cake matchup with the Cardinals, but in the end, he got it done as a QB2 with some pop with a pa sing and rushing TD. There should be higher volume days ahead as Washington won't be playing from ahead often. The Broncos are in an OK spot in Week 2 after disappointing against Jimmy G.Projected FAAB Bid:2-3% of total budget3. Brock Purdy, 49ers (Yahoo! league availability: 45%). Purdy looks sharp again with a high floor leading this high-powered offense, but his ceiling might be limited by Christian McCaffrey's rushing production and the defensive domination. He's a good bet for multiple TDs in more weeks than not, but don't expect many big yardage totals. The Rams are up in a sweet spot next.Projected FAAB Bid: 1% of total budget4. Baker Mayfield, Buccaneers (Yahoo! league availability: 90 percent). Mayfield was wildly ugly with 172 yards to go with his two TDs in Minnesota, but he did show a budding connection with Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. Like the Commanders, negative game scripts are coming, too. He has some cheap, deep-league streaming appeal vs. those Bears next.Projected FAAB Bid: Le s than 1% of total budget1. Tyler Allgeier, Falcons (Yahoo! league availability: 44%). Allgeier was being drafted as a premium handcuff for Bijan Robinson, but his scoring as a power and red-zone threat in Week 1 has him looking more like a legit 1B with the rookie. Allgeier will continue to have flex appeal, if not RB2 value in some spots given this awesome, run-heavy offense.Projected FAAB Bid: 13-15% of total FAAB budget2. Kenneth Gainwell, Eagles (Yahoo! league availability: 54%). Gainwell is living up to his last name while Rashaad Penny is inactive and D'Andre Swift is an afterthought. Gainwell turned 14 carries and four catches into 74 scorele s yards vs. the Patriots. Swift and Boston Scott combined for four touches. For now, Gainwell is the hot hand and favorite of the coaches in the quest to be the next Miles Sanders playing off Jalen Hurts.Projected FAAB Bid: 10-12% of total FAAB budget(Update:Gainwell didn't practice on Monday or Tuesday because of a rib injury, slightly dimming both his short-term and long-term appeal.)3. Joshua Kelley, Chargers (Yahoo! league availability: 94%). Kelley looked great as the power complement to Austin Ekeler against the Dolphins, and now Ekeler is dealing with an ankle injury that puts his status in doubt for the Titans in Week 2. Kelley has quickly proved to be a premium handcuff with some flex potential in the right matchups when Ekeler is healthy.Projected FAAB Bid: 10-12% of total FAAB budget4. Justice Hill, Ravens (Yahoo! league availability: 96%). JK Dobbins went down again with another major injury (torn Achilles) before he could complete a ma sive game on the ground vs. the Texans. Hill took over the high-leverage touches and scored twice. He's had a great camp and preseason to earn more work in the offense after being a special teams staple. Justice could be served often going forward in what should be a higher-scoring offense.Projected FAAB Bid:8% of total FAAB budget5. Gus Edwards, Ravens (Yahoo! league availability: 81%). Hill did look good with his goal-line usage, vulturing Lamar Jackson, but there's also reason to get back on the Gus Bus, who turned in eight carries into 32 yards in Week 1. This will likely be a committee, but Edwards has a history of emerging.Projected FAAB Bid:8% of total FAAB budget6. Kyren Williams, Rams (Yahoo! league availability: 96%). The Rams shockingly had a dominant positive game script against the Seahawks, and while David Kampf Men Jersey Cam Akers got 22 carries (for 29 yards, ugh, and a TD), Williams looked much better with 13-for-52 and two TDs rushing. It's unlikely they will have 37 carries to go around every week -- and neither back had a catch -- but given Akers' durability and disappointment history, Williams' key committee role could get a lot bigger soon.Projected FAAB Bid:8% of total budget7. Deon Jackson, Colts (Yahoo! league availability: 52%). Jackson, like he was last season, got the key work replacing Jonathan Taylor in Week 1, totaling 18 touches. It added up to only 28 yards, but it's notable that Indy stuck with him vs. Jake Funk or preseason darling Evan Hull, even in the pa sing game. It's clear that when Zack Mo s (arm) is out, they trust Jackson most to flank and protect Anthony Richardson.Projected FAAB Bid:8% of total budget8. Tank Bigsby, Jaguars (Yahoo! league availability: 54%). Tank looked like his first name with some great power running in the red zone to complement Travis Etienne, who also scored on the Colts. His TD was strong, and he looked solid as the handcuff.Projected FAAB Bid:7% of total budget9. Chuba Hubbard, Panthers(Yahoo! league availability: 85 percent). The Panthers also were run-heavy against the Falcons with Miles Sanders getting 22 touches. Hubbard looked pretty good in half the work with 69 yards in relation to Sanders' 98. He should be at least secured as Sanders' handcuff.Projected FAAB Bid:5% of total budget10. Zack Mo s, Colts (Yahoo! league availability: 93 percent). Mo s was inactive in Week 1 because of his preseason forearm injury, but look for him to get a shot soon as long as Taylor is out if Jackson doesn't provide a little more overall production for Shane Steichen. Projected FAAB Bid:5% of total budget1. Jakobi Meyers, Raiders (Yahoo! league availability: 51%). Meyers should have been drafted in more leagues given his key complementary role to Davante Adams in an offense he knows so well. The former Patriot showed it right away with a team-leading nine catches for 81 yards and a TD vs. the Broncos. There was a head injury scare late, but here's hoping Meyers will be cleared to stay valuable as a WR3 in Week 2.Projected FAAB Bid:12-13% of total budget2. Romeo Doubs, Packers (Yahoo! league availability: 70%). We're in Love with his QB and Doubs himself, as he might be Love's top second-year receiver over hamstrung and hurting Christian Watson. Doubs is a little more complete at this stage, and he's certainly healthier and le s red-zone dependent, so the two scores were sweet to see vs. the Bears.Projected FAAB Bid:12-13% of total budget3. Puka Nacua, Rams (Yahoo! league availability: 96%). Here's evidence that Sean McVay may not be so trustworthy in how he uses his backfield, but he's transparent about his receivers. Nacua was set to have a big role with Cooper Kupp shelved and the buzzy rookie from BYU was treated immediately like a No. 1 with 10 catches for 119 yards. Van Jefferson and Ryan Hartman Jersey Ben Skowronek be damned, here's the non-Kupp wideout to have most in LA.Projected FAAB Bid:12-13% of total budget4. Nico Collins, Texans (Yahoo! league availability: 43%). Collins was as expected the early Texans' leading receiver ahead of Robert Woods and Tank Dell with no John Metchie. The matchup also was good outside vs. the Ravens, and that will be the case again vs. the Colts. This figures to be a different pecking order each week, but Collins is a worthy WR3 play in Week 2 and maybe beyond.Projected FAAB Bid:9-10% of total budget5. Zay Jones, Jaguars (Yahoo! league availability: 70%). So much for Christian Kirk being the odd wideout out with the arrival of shiny new go-to guy Calvin Ridley. Ridley was peppered for his 8-101-1 line, while Kirk disappeared with only one catch for nine yards on three targets. Jones, meanwhile, churned out 5-55-1 on seven targets.Projected FAAB Bid:9-10% of total budget6. Rashid Shaheed, Saints (Yahoo! league availability: 84%). The Saints suddenly have a viable slew of targets, as a healthy Michael Thomas and tight end Juwan Johnson also showed well behind Chris Olave. Shaheed also looked good as a deep threat with Derek Carr, including scoring the winning TD along with five catches for 89 yards. He added 11 yards rushing to push to the century mark. With Thomas likely to get hurt at some point, Shaheed could be a nice No. 2 to Olave soon and might already be there in spirit.Projected FAAB Bid:9-10% of total budget7. Kendrick Bourne, Patriots (Yahoo! league availability: 99%) His Meyers-like six catches, 64 yards, and two TDs prove that without Meyers, Bourne is the identity of the Patriots' best wideout for Mac Jones, not newcomer JuJu Smith-Schuster. The fact he delivered in a tough Eagles matchup is promising, too.Projected FAAB Bid:7-8% of total budget8. Josh Reynolds, Lions (Yahoo! league availability: 99%) Reynolds operated well as Jared Goff's clear, familiar No. 2 with downfield juice with no Jameson Williams against the Chiefs.Projected FAAB Bid:7-8% of total budget9. Darnell Mooney, Bears (Yahoo! league availability: 61%). Mooney operates much better as a No. 2 with an alpha such as DJ Moore getting coverage attention, as he did vs. Jaire Alexander and the Packers.Mooney played into his history with Fields for 4-53-1, including a beautiful 20-yard TD connection. He's the best second option in a low-volume pa sing game ahead of Cole Kmet.Projected FAAB Bid:7-8% of total budget10. Rashee Rice, Chiefs (Yahoo! league availability: 74%). Don't go nuts on Rice given the Chiefs spread the ball around and still probably won't declare a true top wideout, which still could be Skyy Moore, as rookie wideouts don't have a great Chris Kunitz Men Jersey history for Andy Reid. But Rice did score and looked confident out there with Patrick Mahomes.Projected FAAB Bid:7-8% of total budget11. Tutu Atwell, Rams (Yahoo! league availability: 97%). He matched Nacua in receiving yards, so once again forget Jefferson and Skowronek. Looks like we've been rope-a-doped into thinking Stafford didn't love throwing to young, exciting players. Projected FAAB Bid:2-3% of total budget12. Allen Robinson, Steelers (Yahoo! league availability: 98%). Diontae Johnson got hamstrung and George Pickens got bottled up downfield, leading to Robinson being the leading receiver (5-for-64) in his Pittsburgh debut. It may not be sustained in a crowd, but he will have key value should Johnson mi s time.Projected FAAB Bid:1-2% of total budget13. Josh Downs, Colts (Yahoo! league availability: 99%). Downs had a modest complementary role behind Michael Pittman Jr. and tight end Kylen Granson for Anthony Richardson vs. the Jaguars so he should get some deep PPR-leaning league consideration.Projected FAAB Bid:1% of total budget1. Hunter Henry, Patriots(Yahoo! league availability: 84%). Henry is back to his old tricks with Mac Jones in a tight end-friendly offense with Bill O'Brien over Mike Gesicki. His 5-56-1 vs. the Eagles was so 2021!Projected FAAB Bid:4-5% of total budget2. Hayden Hurst, Falcons (Yahoo! league availability: 80%). If we could also recommend Triple H, aka Hunter Hearst Helmsley, this week at tight end, we would. Hurst is on yet another team and delivered in his revenge game as a key security blanket target for Bryce Young with 5-41-1.Projected FAAB Bid:4-5% of total budget3. Logan Thomas, Commanders(Yahoo! league availability: 98%). Thomas (eight targets) was involved well for Howell, who also liked finding fellow tight end Cole Turner. Howell might be looking more to his tight ends than you think vs. the wideouts, at least early.Projected FAAB Bid:1-2% of total budget4. Zach Ertz, Cardinals (Yahoo! league availability: 95%). Denis Savard Men Jersey Ertz had just 21 yards on his six catches (10 targets) in Washington, which seems impo sible, and Trey McBride needed only two catches to get 23 yards. Consider Ertz a backup add in deeper leagues.Projected FAAB Bid:1% of total budget1. Giants(Yahoo! league availability: 93%). They get the Cardinals next week and should be eager to make amends for SNF vs. the much tougher Cowboys.2. Chargers (Yahoo! league availability: 91%). The Bolts get to work on Ryan Tannehill, who looks like he doesn't want to start much longer for the Titans.3. Browns (Yahoo! league availability: 90%). There will be a lot of chasing based on what they did to the Bengals given it's the Steelers in Week 2, but just be a little wary since it's on the road.4. Panthers(Yahoo! league availability: 70%). They get the prime-time emotional bump after roughing up Desmond Ridder with some Carr in Carolina.5. Texans (Yahoo! league availability: 99%) They get the rookie Richardson after they caused some i sues for former MVP Lamar Jackson.6. Colts(Yahoo! league availability: 98 percent). They get rookie C.J. Stroud after they caused some i sues for Trevor Lawrence.7. Buccaneers (Yahoo! league availability: 90 percent). The Packers just dropped a huge game on the Bears, but Bucs did cause problems for Kirk Cousins.
