It is said in fantasy football circles that you cannot predict injuries. As much as that statement is true, it can also be said you can predict there will be injuries but what kind and to what extent is out of our abilities. The key is to use your bench to insulate your team as much as possible since you know injuries will happen. There is no need to roster two kickers or two defenses when you know damn well you can stream those at any time. What you need are insurance policies on your bench for days just like yesterday.
For context, let’s review the list of names of players that were either ruled out late in the week or were injured during Week 2: A.J. Brown, Tee Higgins, Justin Jefferson, Isiah Pacheco (seen on crutches in a walking boot after the game), Joe Mixon (returned to the game), Amon-Ra St. Brown (returned then left again late), Cooper Kupp (seen in walking boot after the game), Justin Herbert, Tank Bigsby, and others. Add Tua Tagovailoa to the list and you have a Pro-Bowl roster injured after two weeks.
Now what? Well, we step back, take a deep breath, and prepare for Week 3. While we prepare for the current week, it is important to remember the bye weeks start two weeks from now in Week 5. If you walked away from Week 2 unscathed, then you should start to prep for the Week 5 byes (Lions, Chargers, Eagles, Titans).
Do not forget the @Razzball NFL team of writers will be hosting our Sunday Morning Start/Sit podcast every week starting three hours before kickoff all the way up to the official start of the early games. Bobby – @BobbyLaMarco, Sky – @SkyGuasco, Derek – @Derek_Favret, and me/Matt – @stiles08, will be answering all your questions to help you win your weekly matchups. Come for the analysis and stay for the laughs!
WAIVERS:
ADD OF THE WEEK = Carson Steele – 2% rostered: Word out of Kansas City is Isiah Pacheco suffered a fractured fibula in the Chiefs Week 2 victory. Next man up in KC appears to be Carson Steele who led the Chiefs in carries (7) after the Pacheco injury. Veteran Samaje Perine is lurking the weeds for now, but only received one carry after the injury even after Steele lost a fumble. All of that tells me Steele is the player to own in the KC backfield. There is an outside chance the Chiefs bring in Jerrick McKinnon, so watch the news leading up to your waiver wire processing.
QB: Derek Carr – 19% rostered: After a solid Week 1 performance, Carr doubled down and lit up the vaunted Dallas defense. Carr has a 5-1 TD-INT ratio with almost 450 passing yards. If you lost Tua, Love, or roster a dinged Herbert, Carr lines up against a less than tough Eagles defense in Week 3 and can carry you into the bye weeks with decent matchups. Do I love Carr long term? No, I do not but sometimes you have to ride the hot hand, and the Saints have scored on 14 of their drives through two weeks. I’d say that is a scorching hot hand!
Honorable Mention/Cheaper Options:
Sam Darnold – 13% rostered: Do not use a waiver move to grab Darnold. Wait until he is free if you need to stash a QB. With Justin Jefferson appearing to be good to go for Week 3, Darnold should have short term value.
Gardner Minshew II – 5% rostered: Fun fact…there is no Gardner Minshew Sr., only Garner Minshew II. Where Minshew lacks in TD (only 2), he is making up for in yards (533). After two tough road games to start the season, Minshew is in a smash Week 3 home game against the atrocious Carolina Panthers. If there is ever a spot start, this is it.
RB: I was shocked to see Braelon Allen only 10% rostered. As the primary handcuff to consensus Top 3 RB pick, Breece Hall, he should be on more than 10% of rosters. After a quiet Week 1, Allen posted 7 rushes for 33 yards and a TD while reeling in 2 passes (4 targets) for 23 yards and a second TD. Certainly, this is not an overwhelming number of touches, but it shows me there is a path to stand alone value for Allen especially as bye weeks approach.
Honorable Mention/Cheaper Options:
Bucky Irving – 34% rostered: Rachaad White got a little dinged up on Sunday but probably miss any time. Irving is averaging 8 carries per week and is worth a look in deeper leagues. Irving is not a must add right now but could find himself in a nice RBBC position if White does improve on his YPC (currently under 2 YPC).
An RB that probably should be added this week is Ty Chandler – 29% rostered. I do not see an Aaron Jones injury in the notes. Maybe we are in for more of a timeshare than what was originally assumed in Minnesota? Chandler had 11 rushes for 82 yards (almost 7.5 YPC) while not being targeted in the passing game. Option 1 for the Vikings will always be Justin Jefferson. Option 2, with TJ Hockenson down and Jordan Addison missing time, may turn out to be a RBBC/timeshare between Chandler and Jones. Chandler is worth a look, but do not break the bank adding him.
D’Onta Foreman – 1% rostered: Do not get excited. The 14 carries may be a one-week aberration. For some reason, that does not appear to be injury related, Jerome Ford saw his carries decrease from 12 to 7 and his targets drop from 7 to 2. Maybe the Jacksonville front is for real? Maybe Foreman “looked” better to the HC/OC. For whatever reason, Foreman garnered twice as many carries as Ford. Foreman is nothing more than a speculative add as I believe Ford is still the lead dog in Cleveland.
WR: A long Week 1 TD did not move the needle for me, but a second TD in two weeks has me at least paying attention to Alec Pierce – 28% rostered. Though Anthony Richardson has stated he want to be a pocket passer first and running QB second, he still has a lot of work to do to become a true QB1 for fantasy. The nice part for Pierce is that Richardson appears to love throwing him the ball. Pierce has 8 catches to Michael Pittman Jr.’s 7 though Pierce has 5 less targets (10 to Pittman’s 15). Either way, Pierce is making the most of his targets with his back-to-back weeks with a TD. Adonai Mitchell has not been consistent, and Josh Downs has not seen the field due to injury, so now might be the cheapest you can grab Pierce.
Honorable Mention/Cheaper Options:
Quentin Johnston – 7% rostered looked like a legit professional WR in Week 2. He hauled in 5 passes for 51 yards and 2 TDs. I will happily take that from a guy we thought might be washed in 2023. He is not dropping passes like he did in 2023 and training camp. Sure, this was against the brutal Carolina defense and the Chargers are clearly run-first. I do not think Johnston will light the league on fire, but if you lost a WR this weekend, you have needs to fill and I am (somewhat) comfortable recommending Johnston as an add. NOTE: Keep an eye on the Justin Herbert injury updates.
Los Angeles Rams WRs – Demarcus Robinson (42% rostered), Tyler Johnson (11% rostered), Jordan Whittington (2% rostered): What a mess for the Rams. Such high hopes for Matthew Stafford to have Puka and Kupp to throw too, only to have the sophomore out for 4-6 weeks and now the veteran removed from the game and in a walking boot after the Week 2 blowout loss to the Cardinals. I still have Robinson as the top option, but he does not appear to be WR1 pedigree just yet. I hope Kupp is back sooner versus later, while also being here to provide advice. Add LAR WRs as you see fit based on the injuries sustained this past weekend.
TE: This position has been trash to start the 2024 season. I will not go into great detail as you already know who is not putting up numbers and who is hurt. The two best names on your waiver wire at TE are Hunter Henry – 24% rostered (went over 100 yards on 8 catches in Week 2) and Mike Gesicki – 5% rostered (posted 91 yards on 7 catches). Both easy, cheap adds that are providing positive results at a position that leaves a lot to be desired in early 2024.
As mentioned above, it has only been two weeks, so if you lost, got blown out even, or had an early rash of injuries, relax. It will be OK. There is no need to rush to drop any specific player.
Follow me @stiles08 on X and send questions comments at the bottom of this article. Make sure you jump around the Razzball site for all your fantasy football needs. We have a ton of free content to include our Slot Versus Wide tool, our Win Versus Loss tool, and many more.
-Stiles-
