Welcome to the real start of the fantasy season! Week 1 has come and gone and we have some additional pieces of the puzzle for this fantasy season in our hands. Today, we are going to look at GitM’s top 5 waiver adds this week. To be considered, players need to be rostered in less than 50% of ESPN leagues. Watch for this info from GitM every week to try and stay on top of your league. 

Week 2 is arguably the most important week of waivers in the fantasy season, and to start out, we will want to add Jordan Mason wherever possible. Mason stepped in huge when McCaffrey was ruled out late on Monday night, racking up 28 rushes for 147 yards and a touchdown on the ground, on top of 1 catch on 1 target for 5 yards. Because of how late the McCaffrey news broke, Mason is still only rostered in 37% of ESPN leagues, but while he may not get the CMC role in the passing game, the rush attempts for the 49ers broke down like this:

Mason: 28

Deebo: 8

Purdy: 1

Mason is worth a roster spot even if you don’t have CMC, as he appears to be the only other back on the roster with the trust of the coaching staff to effectively handle the ground game for the Niners in CMC’s absence, however long that may extend for.

Next, we have Isaiah Likely. Likely absolutely exploded on the opening TNF game against the Chiefs, racking up 9 catches on 12 targets for 111 yards and a touchdown, and nearly missed a second TD at the end of the game. Critics will say that Likely had an outlier performance and that the TE1 in Baltimore will still undoubtedly be Mark Andrews going forward. This may even be true, with Andrews ranking 7th in tight end snaps in Week 1, but Likely still managed to rank 11th in TE snaps, indicating that Baltimore is going to primarily run out of two tight end sets going forward. This aligns with reports out of Baltimore camp from the preseason, and will very likely indicate that Likely is going to have a role of his own regardless of what Andrews does, and may well be the more explosive player at this point in his career. With David Njoku and Jake Ferguson going down with injuries during Week 1, Likely is going to be worth an add if you are seeking help at tight end.

As our third best pickup of the week, we have Bucky Irving. All last year the Buccaneers coaching staff rode with Rachaad White, but it seems as though the 4th round draft pick out of Oregon is going to seriously contend for some carries in Tampa Bay. Irving finished with 9 rushes and 3 targets in what was a relatively positive game script against Washington, and showed some relative efficiency turning those into 62 rushing yards and 14 receiving yards. We always want to bet on the young guy, and with White posting relatively bad efficiency numbers last year, the job could be Irving’s to snatch down the stretch.

Next, we are going to go to New York and take a look at Allen Lazard. Aaron Rodgers is a relatively predictable football player, in that he finds guys that he likes, and he throws them the ball. After migrating from Green Bay to New York with Rodgers, Lazard is certainly one of the guys that Rodgers likes, posting 6 catches on 9 targets for 89 yards and two touchdowns against San Francisco on Monday night. This isn’t to be expected every week, but Lazard is certainly worth an add as he seems to have separated himself from the pack for the Jets’ wide receiver two job, and having shown us the ceiling outcome potential that he has against the Niners. 

The last guy that we would look to prioritize here at GitM as a week 2 add is Demarcus Robinson of the Rams. Puka Nacua has officially hit IR after being unable to finish the game on Sunday night, and the Rams offense is super condensed, so targets will need to open up somewhere. The answer, seemingly, is Demarcus Robinsons, who had 4 catches on 7 targets against the Rams on Sunday night. Robinson has been around the league, but a major opportunity for him to become fantasy relevant has opened again in LA, and should remain open until Nacua returns from the IR, which he isn’t eligible to do until week 5. 

Check back next week to make sure you can stay on top of your league and that you’re getting the most out of your waiver selections, and your fantasy season. Let’s Go GitM. 

1- Jordan Mason

2- Isaiah Likely

3- Allen Lazard

4- Bucky Irving

5- Jaleel McLaughlin