Every year impact fantasy football players fall through the cracks on draft day. That’s why you need to be on top of the waiver wire even before Week 1 begins. We have a few options for you to consider adding to your team to start the season.
Winning fantasy football teams are created through the waiver wire.
I know the team you drafted is perfect and can’t get any better, but don’t ignore the waiver wire. Injuries and draft busts are impossible to predict, and you need to be ready for them.
Having a strong bench filled with players that have upside and potential is crucial. Filling the bench with all of the backup players to your starting lineup is a good strategy. Great waiver adds come from finding those secret hidden gems though. The last two spots on every fantasy football team should be filled by players that could breakout and everyone else seemingly overlooked.
To be considered a waiver-wire addition, a player has to be owned in less than 40 percent of leagues. This ensures most of the players on the list will be available to add to your team immediately.
If you don’t add those players now, you are going to regret it later. With that being said, here are a few players you might like to add to your team before Week 1 and the start of the 2017 season.
Austin Hooper (ATL)
Austin Hooper is a player that has to be added before Week 1. Hooper is astonishingly only owned in 29.4 percent of ESPN fantasy leagues. This number makes absolutely no sense and if he isn’t owned in your league, add him immediately.
San Francisco 49ers
The Atlanta Falcons had one of the leagues most explosive passing attacks in the entire NFL last season. Hooper was the backup tight end in his rookie campaign, but he is the starter to begin 2017.
As the backup, Hooper still led the Falcons tight ends in yards and tied for the lead in touchdowns. Now just imagine what he will do this season while playing the majority of the snaps on the offense that returns nearly every key contributor from 2016.
The Atlanta offense has been without a true pass-catching tight end since Tony Gonzalez. Atlanta has also basically ignored the tight end position since. Hooper was drafted in the third round to be their next big tight end, and it starts now.
Hooper is a mismatch against most linebackers and safeties, especially in the red zone. Tight end is a very hard position to find value for in fantasy football, except for this season. Hooper offers that value.
Kendall Wright (CHI)
The Chicago Bears offense isn’t going to offer much for fantasy football players this season. However, Kendall Wright might be the exception. The Bears aren’t going to put up huge numbers on offense, but even bad offenses play in fantasy.
The season-ending injury to Cameron Meredith opens up a ton of opportunity in the Bears offense. Wright is a proven veteran who can step in and eat up those lost receptions that were going to go Meredith’s way in 2017.
Wright is only owned in 13.5 percent of ESPN leagues and could easily catch over 70 passes this season. We have already seen many big-name wide receivers go down to start 2017, and Wright is a great safety net to have on you bench for bye-week plays and in case of injury.
The Bears are going to want to run the ball this season to try to protect rookie quarterback Mitchell Trubisky. When they do throw, it is going to be short passes, which are perfect for Wright’s game. The other wide receiver vying for targets in Chicago is Kevin White. He has barely played in his two seasons in the NFL so far, due to various injuries.
Wright isn’t going to be a stud fantasy contributor, but every fantasy football team needs a player like him. Consistent production out of a player off waivers is rare. Wright needs to be added in more leagues.
Marquise Goodwin (SF)
San Francisco is going to need big plays on offense to win games this year. Marquise Goodwin is a big play waiting to happen. The former Buffalo Bills wide receiver is bringing that across the country this year to the 49er offense. It sounds like a match made in heaven.
If the match sounds so perfect, than why is Goodwin basically going undrafted in fantasy football leagues? He is owned in 1.5 percent of ESPN leagues and is currently listed as a starter in the San Francisco offense.
Goodwin is fast. That fact hasn’t changed. Out of college he ran an incredible 40-yard dash, but was never truly utilized in Buffalo. Hopefully San Francisco watched this video and will realize what a weapon Goodwin can be for them.
Waiver-wire adds can be purely speculative and based on talent mixed with new-found opportunity. This is the case for Marquise Goodwin. San Francisco brings new life to a player drafted with big upside, but never panned out with his first team.
Every play that Goodwin is on the field he has the chance to score. That kind of explosive play ability alone should be reason enough for him to be drafted in more leagues. If one of those explosive plays happens Week 1, it is going to be hard to get him in your league.
That’s why he makes for a good waiver add before this week’s slate of games.
Evan Engram (NYG)
The New York Giants are a team much like the Atlanta Falcons, which have been desperate for a viable receiving option at tight end for years. This year they drafted Evan Engram out of Ole Miss to try to fill that hole.
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Engram is the type of tight end quarterbacks fall in love with in the red zone. Eli Manning should be looking to him often this season. Red-zone targets are fantasy football gold, and Engram has a chance to be a steady supply this year.
Engram is owned in 18.5 percent of ESPN leagues and, for a rookie tight end of his potential, that is very low. The Giants offense has a ton of weapons. This means man coverage for a big, fast, athletic Engram against linebackers who will not stand a chance.
The only issue for Engram will be impressing the coaching staff enough to gain regular playing time. Right now he is listed as the backup tight end on ESPN behind Rhett Ellison. Ellison is also new to the offense, so Engram has just as much of a chance to secure a starting role as Ellison does to start the season.
Engram is a rookie with unknown ability in the NFL. He has enough talent to thrive, but New York is full of receiving threats. If Engram can carve out a role on the offense, he is definitely worth an add to the end of your fantasy football team’s bench.
Mohamed Sanu/Taylor Gabriel (ATL)
Just like with Austin Hooper, the Atlanta Falcons receivers are being severely underestimated this season. Julio Jones is of course going to be owned in all leagues, but the two and three receivers are almost forgotten.
Mohamed Sanu and Taylor Gabriel spent last year in the Atlanta offense, and it led to some of the best production in their respective careers. Sanu had 59 catches for 653 yards and Gabriel had 35 catches for 579 yards.
This year they come into the season with a year of experience learning the offense, and that can only help their numbers in 2017. With Atlanta returning basically their entire offensive unit, there is no reason why Sanu and Gabriel can’t build on a solid 2016 seasons.
Sanu is only owned in 17 percent of ESPN leagues, while Gabriel is owned in just below nine percent of leagues. With Julio Jones demanding a double team every time he touches the field, Sanu and Gabriel are going to get chances for big plays.
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Waiver claims on these two wide receivers are going to go up once injuries happen. Preemptive adds could save you the heartbreak of missing out on these two later when those injuries inevitably occur.
The waiver wire is open now. Take advantage of it before anyone else in your league. Bench players are important too. Good luck in Week 1!