Fantasy Football Week 2 FAAB: Are J.K. Dobbins, Alec Pierce, Isaiah Likely and More Worth Grabbing?

How to treat three popular names at (mostly) every fantasy position in free-agent auction leagues.

We spend so much time focusing on fantasy drafts that it can feel underwhelming once that part of the season is over. Now it’s down to the real work: the week-to-week grind.

Part of that is deciding who to pick up on waivers in preparation for the next week. Players are distributed through the waiver order every Wednesday morning in most leagues, a pretty standard procedure. With free agent bidding, though, every owner gets a chance at every player and is restricted only by their budget and desire to acquire the player in question.

You can read about FAAB leagues here if you’re unfamiliar, but essentially, it’s the same as the auction draft except every owner is given a budget for the whole year to spend on waiver bids. When the waiver period is over, free agents can often be picked up at no cost.

Let’s run through some of the hottest names on the waiver wire to determine if anyone is worth throwing our money at after the first week. This won’t include everyone you’ll consider, but many of the most intriguing names are here, and the lessons on these players will guide my thoughts on others in the same category.

A few notes:

• I’m giving numbers based on a $100 budget, so adjust accordingly.
• I am generally conservative with my estimates. You will find bigger numbers projected elsewhere, but a player is going to come available later in the season that you wish you could acquire, only to remember the $27 you spent on Allen Lazard after a two-touchdown performance.
• I picked up a tip that I really like: Most owners will bid $5, $10, $20, etc. so you can increase your odds of winning by going a dollar higher: We’ll call it the Price is Right technique. By bidding $11, you will beat out those who thought $10 was the right value for a player. If someone went to $15 or $20, it would be higher than you wanted anyway, so the extra dollar is just a way to top those who use round numbers in most situations.
• This is all projection and not specific to any one roster. Though I say picking up J.K. Dobbins is a good-but-not-great move, that would be much different if your starters at the position were Devin Singletary and Chase Brown. Take everything within the context of your roster and what you are looking to accomplish.

Utilize the Fantasy Assistant to get help with Waivers including Expected Waiver Interest and estimated FAAB budgets to make sure you land your guy.

Quarterback

Sam Darnold, Minnesota Vikings

Justin Fields, Pittsburgh Steelers

Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Darnold is entrenched as Minnesota’s starter and was efficient, completing his first 12 pass attempts and finishing 19-24 for 208 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.

Fields got the start after a surprising mid-week report that Russell Wilson was dealing with injury. He threw for just 156 yards but ran for 57, helping (somewhat) save his fantasy day.

Mayfield picked up where he left off at the end of 2023: Roasting bad defenses for around 300 yards. Baker also threw four touchdowns and no interceptions against the Commanders, taking advantage of one of the best QB matchups in the league.

Guys worth bidding

I don’t like the idea of spending anything here. Darnold should be a competent fantasy player many weeks, but that’s not worth breaking into your budget. If Fields secures the full-time job, he could be a good option as a running quarterback, but again, we’re talking Week 2: control yourself.

All three passers here are going to be fine streaming options throughout the season, but they’re not worth putting a bid on this early in the season. Even if you lost Jordan Love, there are more prudent ways to fill the position.

Running Back

Tank Bigsby, Jacksonville Jaguars

J.K. Dobbins, Los Angeles Chargers

Bucky Irving, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Running back is never a bad position to throw at least a dollar at if you have room to upgrade your roster. Everything is relative: Don’t drop Rachaad White to pick up Irving, but it’s a great idea to turn Miles Sanders into a player with upside like the Tampa Bay rookie.

Bigsby is probably going to be the backup to Travis Etienne, but they split carries at 12 apiece in Week 1, and Bigsby was much more productive (73 yards for Bigsby vs. 44 for Etienne). Etienne also caught two passes for 15 yards, but Bigsby made an argument for more work moving forward.

Dobbins has been nothing but potential since entering the league. That sounds positive, but he’s never been able to capitalize because of a run of injuries. Week 1 was great (10 carries for 135 yards and a touchdown, three catches for four yards), but he won’t repeat that efficiency, and Dobbins is a walking injury threat.

While White averaged just 2.1 yards per carry (15 carries for 31 yards), Irving was wildly more efficient, gaining 62 yards on just nine carries. White caught six passes for 75 yards; Irving had just two for 14. White led the team in touches (21 to 11), but Irving showed he can be a part of the rotation, possibly cutting into White’s numbers.

Guys worth bidding

Dobbins is worth a roster spot, it’s just a question of how much to spend. Going up to $11 is probably too much unless you really, really believe in his ability to stay healthy; I’d say $6 is my max for Dobbins. He has no track record of health and productivity; you’re probably getting a flex-level player who will be good some weeks but will also miss at least a few games with injury.

While Dobbins can be looked at as the possible starter on his team, Bigsby and Irving are backing up young(-ish) guys who have had success. I like Irving more and would be OK going to $6. That number might be beat, but it’s tough to go higher on such an unknown entity. Bigsby is more of a $3-4 guy, though someone may go as high as $10 in your league.

Wide Receiver

Brandin Cooks, Dallas Cowboys

Alec Pierce, Indianapolis Colts

Rashid Shaheed, New Orleans Saints

Receiver is often the easiest position at which to find low-end contributors. It’s usually best to resist the temptation to spend big money on a guy because of one big game (or one big catch, in some instances). Like at running back, the importance of the position means it’s never a bad idea to spend $1 on a player you believe in who has a role.

Cooks had four catches for 40 yards and a touchdown. Rather than just his stats from one game, though, it’s about Cooks’ status as WR2 on a good offense. He only reached both four catches and 40 yards in four games last season.

Pierce’s Week 1 was massive (three catches, 125 yards and a touchdown), but it was also lucky. Most of his yards and the touchdown came on two long plays that required Anthony Richardson to escape pressure and whip the ball downfield. It’s not that Pierce isn’t fast or that Richardson doesn’t have a strong arm, but those connections aren’t going to happen every week.

Shaheed gained 59 of his 73 yards on one reception, a long touchdown. Like Pierce, Shahid is a boom-or-bust player; he is reliant on long shots down the field for production rather than volume or higher-percentage passes.

Guys worth bidding

None of these three are likely to produce consistently during the season. It’s OK to take a cheap flier if you’re feeling one of them, but no one really stands out as a must-have player.

Cooks, 31 before the end of September, is more of a streamer than someone to spend money on because he scored in the opening week. Shaheed won’t get to face the Panthers every week, a hit to his fantasy value.

Pierce has the most intrigue as a third-year player with his new quarterback fully healthy and ready to do his thing. The most likely outcome is that the big plays don’t come that often and Michael Pittman is the one making the biggest impact; Pierce’s career says he’s more of a bit player.

Tight End

Isaiah Likely, Baltimore Ravens

Luke Schoonmaker, Dallas Cowboys

Likely was THE breakout player of Week 1. Not just his production, but the way Likely outplayed teammate Mark Andrews showed he could be the top option in a Baltimore offense without a true top receiver (though Zay Flowers makes a case).

Schoonmaker is one of the first guys this year to possibly benefit from an injury to a player in front of him. Jake Ferguson sustained an injury on Sunday, and though the team said he could possibly play through the injury, his status is questionable.

Guys worth bidding

Schoonmaker is a possible $1 guy if you’re without a tight end or were counting on Ferguson. Without knowing the starter’s status, though, Schoonmaker might not be a fantasy option even for one week.

Likely is the most intriguing name in this entire article after his star-making performance Thursday night against the Chiefs. Anyone without a tight end should consider a move, but I’m hesitant to go above a few dollars.

It was a great game…ONE great game. Andrews is still around and could seize the top tight end role to the point of squeezing Likely mostly out of the lineup. The younger player could also blossom into a true star, and we’ll see this as his first game of greatness.

It comes down to how much you’re willing to spend to find out: With tight end a more volatile position, I’m limiting that to $1-2. If you’re desperate at the position, reaching the $3-4 range is OK, even if a little rich.

Monday Night Special

RB Jordan Mason, San Francisco 49ers

This article was mostly formed before Mason threw a monkey wrench into everything by gaining 152 total yards and scoring a touchdown. It was a surprise to find out several hours before kickoff that Christian McCaffrey would miss the game against the Jets, and Mason took full advantage of one of the sweetest situations in football to have the game of his life.

The problem with Mason as a fantasy option is that he will lose 98% of his workload when McCaffrey returns. The star back has as big a role in his team’s offense as any skill player in the league. Mason is nothing more than maybe the best handcuff in the league.

What’s that worth? If McCaffrey is healthy, Mason has no fantasy relevance. If McCaffrey were to miss an extended period, Mason would be one of the top players in fantasy. His ceiling and floor are literally that far apart. I trust the star more than the upstart.

There’s nothing wrong with bidding $1 to see if you can stash Mason on your bench in case things work in his favor, but I’m resisting the urge to treat him like a potential star. Mason was simply the right guy in the right place to excel.

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