The Week 2 waiver wire is often one of the busiest as fantasy football managers react to what we saw in the first week of the season. With new roles being identified and scenarios playing out in real as opposed to on a spreadsheet, there is plenty of opportunity to take action to change the shape of your fantasy team.
However, it’s also a balance to avoid overreacting to a very small sample size based on a game plan for a specific opponent. Threading that needle can be tough, so our Week 2 waiver wire advice at the RB position examines the candidacy of players such as J.K. Dobbins, Justice Hill, and Alexander Mattison.
Week 2 Waiver Wire Targets: QB | WR | TE
Which Running Backs Should You Target on the Week 2 Waiver Wire?
Players are rostered in less than 50% of Yahoo leagues.
J.K. Dobbins, RB, Los Angeles Chargers (49%)
Just barely meeting the threshold to appear in this column, Dobbins clearly looked like the Chargers’ best running back. He only carried the ball 10 times but ran for 135 yards and a touchdown.
Dobbins out-snapped Gus Edwards 57% to 42%, and if fully healthy, the talent gap between the two isn’t close.
Dobbins didn’t quite look fully back, as evidenced by him getting run down on what should’ve been a breakaway TD run. Nevertheless, he did look infinitely better than Edwards and needs to be added.
Justice Hill, RB, Baltimore Ravens (3%)
Before the season, head coach John Harbaugh said Hill would play a lot, despite the team installing Derrick Henry as the clear lead back. Those words proved true when Hill got on the field on the game’s second play.
Hill is going to be very game-script-dependent. With the Ravens trailing for the entire second half, he actually out-snapped Henry in this one. That won’t always be the case, as there will be plenty of games where the Ravens have the lead and are able to lean on Henry.
Even in this game script, Hill only handled one carry. What encourages me the most, though, are the eight targets. Again, that won’t be the case every week, but two things are clear.
First, Hill will play enough to be startable every week, at least as a desperation Flex. Second, he’s the clear handcuff to Henry.
I wouldn’t go nuts because Hill’s upside is low, but he certainly needs to be on more rosters by Wednesday morning.
Tank Bigsby, RB, Jacksonville Jaguars (5%)
Make no mistake about it, Travis Etienne Jr. is Jacksonville’s starter and primary goal-line back. But Tank Bigsby is not the same guy who was pretty awful last season. He’s clearly an improved runner, and it shows.
Bigsby ripped off 73 yards on 12 carries against a good Dolphins run defense and was more efficient than Etienne. While I don’t see a world where Bigsby can carve out standalone value, he’s clearly the handcuff and has shown enough to make us believe he could produce RB2 numbers if Etienne missed time.
Alexander Mattison, RB, Las Vegas Raiders (4%)
So much for Zamir White as the clear lead back.
In Week 1, Mattison out-snapped White 60%-38% and scored the Raiders’ lone touchdown. He also ran 24 routes to White’s 10.
It sure looks like Mattison is the back to roster. Yet, despite his presumed handcuff status entering the season, he’s only rostered in 4% of leagues. However, that should increase drastically come Wednesday morning.
Mattison is not the most exciting addition, as he’s still with the Raiders, but any starting running back needs to be rostered.
Zach Charbonnet, RB, Seattle Seahawks (47%)
Kenneth Walker III’s injury notwithstanding, Zach Charbonnet should be on more rosters. At worst, he’s one of the few backup RBs we know would be the lead back if the starter got hurt and is capable of producing near his level.
Walker said after the game that his abdominal injury isn’t a big deal and that he’s all right. I believe him and expect him to play next week.
But let this be a reminder that Charbonnet is perilously close to being a weekly RB2, at worst. Even playing alongside Walker, he handled 10 touches, totaling 41 yards and a touchdown. Those are numbers you can work with as a desperation Flex alongside Walker.
Bucky Irving, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (21%)
Out of all the rookie running backs who entered the season as potentially their team’s RB2, Bucky Irving looked the best. Rachaad White is still Tampa Bay’s lead back, but I think it’s possible Irving can take that job without an injury.
Irving is a vastly superior runner to White and ran for 62 yards on nine carries in Week 1. White remains a superb receiver, as evidenced by his six catches for 75 yards. Unfortunately, he remains one of the worst runners in the NFL, managing a paltry 31 yards on 15 carries.
The ideal setup in the Bucs’ backfield is for it to look like the Chargers used to with Melvin Gordon and Austin Ekeler. Irving should play around 60% of the snaps and handle the bulk of the carries. White should be the satellite back handling 6-8 carries and dominating passing-down work.
Get ahead of this possibility by grabbing Irving now.