Week 1 Waivers: WRs & RBs Kenneth Gainwell, Justice Hill, Kyren Williams, Puka Nacua, Rashid Shaheed
We finished our first football Sunday and now it's time to hit the waiver wire. This week is usually the most critical waiver wire week of the season. Here we are going to focus on the running backs and wide receivers.
Running Backs
Kenneth Gainwell, Philadelphia Eagles
All offseason we in the fantasy community tried to figure out what the Eagles' running back rotation would look like. In Week 1, the rotation was Gainwell. Gainwell handled 14 carries and caught all four of his targets while Rashaad Penny was a healthy scratch while Boston Scott and D'Andre Swift both saw one carry and caught one pass for a total of 13 yards from scrimmage. Granted this could be completely flipped on its head next week, but we can only go by what we've seen and we just saw Gainwell be the clear-cut RB1 behind the best offensive line in football.
Justice Hill, Baltimore Ravens
Unfortunately, JK Dobbins is expected to miss the entire season with an Achilles injury. Even before Dobbins went down Hill was getting touches. He also managed to punch in two TDs. Gus Edwards is also a waiver option and he got more touches after Dobbins went down. That may be the trend for a few weeks, however, ultimately we believe Hill is the more explosive back at this stage of their careers and he will have a bigger role in the passing attack. Both backs should be rostered, nevertheless, we prefer Hill.
Kyren Williams, Los Angeles Rams
It's incredible that despite decades of data on Achilles injuries fantasy owners still believed that Cam Akers would come out and look like a starting NFL running back. Predictably he instead carried the ball 22 times for 29 yards averaging 1.3 yards per carry. Williams looked so much more explosive and carried the ball 15 times for 52 yards and two TDs. He also saw two targets to Akers's no targets. He's going to take this starting job.
Joshua Kelley, Los Angeles Chargers
Kelley saw just as many carries as Austin Ekeler on Sunday and gashed the Dolphins' defense. He carried the ball 16 times for 91 yards and a TD. You won't see him used a ton in the passing attack because Ekeler is so good in that area, but they didn't hesitate to use him down near the end zone. It looks like he is going to have a significant role in this rushing attack and could emerge as a viable flex option.
Tyler Allgeier, Atlanta Falcons
We don't expect Allgeier to outperform Bijan Robinson on a weekly basis or very often at all. Nonetheless, we do anticipate him having a major role in this offense and this doesn't come as a surprise because we've been saying it all summer. The Falcons want to run the ball as much as any team in the league and Allgeier is going to be a major part of that. Allgeier outscoring Bijan wasn't on a fluke play or something either. He legitimately out-touched Robinson and saw the valuable carries down near the goal line. Allgier carried the ball 15 times for 75 yards and two TDs while Bijan saw 10 carries for 56 yards. Robinson did have a bigger role in the passing attack but only out-targeted Allgeier six to three. Again, we do believe Robinson overtakes him in touches, but Allgeier could be a startable option all season long.
Wide Receivers
Puka Nacua, Los Angeles Rams
No name is going to be hotter on the waiver wire than Nacua this week. At one point in the game, it felt like every target Matthew Stafford threw was heading in his direction. He ultimately ended up seeing 15 targets and caught 10 of them for 119 yards. As we expected, Van Jefferson was not very good. Tutu Atwell also had 119 yards catching six of his eight targets. Still, we much prefer Nacua over Atwell. With Cooper Kupp out for at least three more games, Nacua could be a valuable asset for fantasy teams searching for wideout help. There is also a real chance that Kupp will miss a lot more than just three more games.
Rashid Shaheed, New Orleans Saints
Shaheed is another guy we were very high on heading into the season and he did what he did all of last season. He made big plays and scored long TDs. His final stat line was five receptions for 89 yards on six targets and a TD. That's a 17.8 yards per reception average with a long of 41 yards. He also carried the ball twice for 11 yards. The Saints are going to make an effort to get him the ball and he's proven to be one of the most dynamic big-play threats in the league when they do.
Jakobi Meyers, Las Vegas Raiders
This is a similar situation to Allgeier in Atlanta. We don't expect Meyers to continually outperform Davante Adams, but we also don't expect him to fade away. Meyers is a perfect fit for Jimmy Garoppollo's skill set. On Sunday, he caught nine of his 10 targets for 81 yards and two TDs. Adams finished with nine targets that he turned into six receptions for 66 yards. This may be a bit of an anomaly, but it's not a fluke. Meyers is going to catch a lot of passes this year and have a ton of PPR value.
