If you like winning, come back every week for under-the-radar fantasy waiver wire pickups to keep you in contention until the final contest. We leave no stone unturned to ensure we give you the BEST chance to win week in and week out. 

We’re back, baby! 

Fall is in the air. The leaves are slowly starting to change; the crisp evening air is getting crisper, and, most importantly, football is back! You’ve likely already conducted the time-honored ceremony of drafting, and now it’s time to buckle up those lineups and get your fantasy football rosters on the road to victory.

Keeping your fantasy football rosters in tip-top shape is no small task; it requires a level of almost psychotic tinkering that only a few in this world are capable of. It can drive some to madness and others to championship glory. We prefer to help you do the latter.

It’s only Week 1, but the fantasy waiver wire pickups you make now can shape your entire season. Let’s get to it with some gems to start you off on the right foot.   

Week 1 Fantasy Waiver Wire Pickups 

QBs To Target

Jacoby Brissett (QB – NE) 

Jacoby Brissett might not be the forever starter for the New England Patriots, but while rookie QB Drake Maye waits for his shot to take the reins, he’s what we’ve got. Brissett isn’t going to win your leagues in 2024, but in Week 1, he draws a favorable match-up against a Cincinnati defense that allowed 18.2 fantasy points per game to QBs, followed by a Week 2 face-off against a Seahawks team that didn’t fare much better (17.7 points per game (PPG) to QBs).

While he isn’t a long-term solution at QB, Brissett has some early-season upside that makes him a nice stash on your bench and a viable QB2 option in Superflex and 2QB leagues. If he plays well enough, he could keep Maye at bay for the 2024 season and be an unexpected long-term option for your squads.  

Brissett is your guy if you have questions about the QB position or feel you could use reliable depth at a reasonable price. At this point in the season, he should be a cheap addition, requiring less than five percent of your free agency acquisition budget (FAAB).  

Sam Darnold (QB – MIN)

When the Vikings signed veteran QB Sam Darnold in March, it was apparent to me that he would likely be the Week 1 starter for head coach Kevin O’Connell and company. How long that would last was up for conversation until rookie QB J.J. McCarthy ended his season before it started with knee surgery. 

Now, Darnold finds himself the unquestioned captain of the ship in Minnesota, with some of the most dangerous weapons he’s ever had in an offense. The last time he had anything similar was in 2021 in Carolina, with D.J. Moore and Christian McCaffery’s services at his disposal. Darnold was dealing through four weeks before injuries to McCaffery, Moore, and then himself derailed a phenomenal start. Darnold was the overall QB5 in that stretch, averaging  24.4 fantasy points per game.

We cannot expect Darnold to be a top 5 fantasy asset at QB in 2024. However, given the situation and weapons at his disposal in The Land of 10,000 Lakes — who wouldn’t be excited about getting paired with Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, Aaron Jones, and eventually T.J Hockenson?), he could provide high-QB2 upside to nearly every week.  Don’t be afraid to spend up to 10 percent of your FAAB if you need a second QB or are unhappy with your current options – I’m looking at you, Daniel Jones managers.  

RBs To Target

Samaje Perine (RB – KC)

Sneaky upside is the name of the game in fantasy football, and newly acquired Kansas City RB Samaje Perine has just that. The veteran ball carrier finds himself thrust into a situation where he will see immediate work. Fellow veteran RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire has found himself on injured reserve (IR), leaving Perine as the RB2 on the Chiefs depth chart heading into Week 1.

Perine is still behind incumbent back Isiah Pacheco, the overall PPR RB15 in 2023. However, Pacheco isn’t a three-down back, and all signs point to Edwards-Helaire getting a significant amount of work alongside the third-year RB. With him now on the sideline, Perine looks to absorb that volume. 

We know what Perine can do when he gets the rock. He is efficient as a runner, averaging more than four yards per carry in five of his seven NFL seasons. He also excels in the passing game, where he caught 50 of his 56 targets for 455 yards in Denver last season and snagged four receiving touchdowns the season before in Cincinnati. 

While he won’t see enough volume to be more than a situational fringe RB2, there will be boom weeks, and if Pacheco gets injured, Perine could be a difference-maker for your fantasy football squads. Get him while he’s cheap to acquire – spend two to three percent of your FAAb and walk away a winner.       

Emanuel Wilson (RB – GB)

Nothing is more frustrating than starting your season with a player you drafted hitting IR. That was the case for many who rostered RBs Elijah Mitchell and A.J. Dillon. Now, those managers are pivoting, as they should. If you’re still looking for a fill-in, you likely missed out on San Francisco RB Jordan Mason. However, not all is lost. 

It’s not a flashy acquisition, but second-year RB Emanuel Wilson is now slotted in as the RB2 on the Packers depth chart. With Dillon done for the season and rookie RB Marshawn Lloyd dealing with a lingering hamstring injury, Wilson will fall into work early this season behind veteran Josh Jacobs.

While Wilson’s NFL resume is pretty thin – 14 carries for 85 yards and four catches for 23 yards – he averaged 6.07 yards per carry in his rookie season. He figures to factor in as a change-of-pace option early on and could also earn additional work. He’s worth an addition and a stash in Week 1 to see how things shake out, and you can spend $1 of FAAB to find out.   

WRs To Target

Greg Dortch (WR – ARI)

Sometimes, you look to acquire players just to get a share of an exciting offense. The Arizona Cardinals are one such offense, and WR Greg Dortch is one of those players. 

In his sixth NFL season, Dortch has been labeled a “break-out” candidate for three seasons. In an offense built to sling the ball, it makes sense that a sneaky, slight slot receiver would garner some attention and expectations. The closest Dortch came was in 2022, catching 52 passes for 467 and two touchdowns. 

Despite inconsistent production, the flashes from Dortch have been enough to keep up hope. With WRs Rondale Moore and Marquise Brown now out of the picture, Dortch finds himself with a more realistic path to fantasy-relevant volume. While he is listed as the team’s WR3, all signs indicate he will return to primarily working out of the slot, where he took 428 of his 625 snaps in 2022. 

If you’re looking for a waiver wire bargain, Dortch isn’t it. But the potential upside he provides in an explosive offense is worth the risk. Spend 10 to 15 percent of your FAAB budget and enjoy the ride.     

Josh Reynolds (WR – DEN)

No one has been even remotely excited about the Denver Broncos offense heading into this season, and I am no different. However, when it comes to fantasy football, there are always values you can’t pass up, and WR Josh Reynolds is one of those. 

The veteran journeyman landed in the Mile High City this offseason after three seasons in Detroit. While Reynolds was always serviceable, his fantasy impact was minimal at best. His best fantasy finish came last season, with Reynolds catching 40 passes for 608 yards and five touchdowns on his way to a WR55 finish. 

To be fair, those numbers aren’t exactly titillating. However, Reynolds now finds himself as the WR3 in an offense devoid of receiving depth, unlike his previous stips in Detroit and Los Angeles. His primary competition for work will be veteran WR Courtland Sutton and TE Greg Dulcich, with fellow WR Marvin Mims likely playing a gadget/deep ball receiver role. 

It’s not likely Reynolds is more than a flex option in fantasy football this season. However, when it comes to early-season waiver wire additions, you could do much worse for the price. Thanks to the skepticism behind Payton and the Bo Nix-led Broncos offense, he isn’t a hot ticket item. Depending on your league landscape, you might get away with Reynolds for free, if not for just a few of your FAAB dollars.  

TEs To Target

Josh Oliver (TE – MIN)

In recent years, the scarcity of production at the TE position has led fantasy football managers to dig deep to find points from bookends around the league. Paying close attention to situations that could lead to increased opportunity is the name of the game. Vikings TE Josh Oliver is just that type of asset.

As far as TEs go, Oliver isn’t exactly a household name. He is entering his sixth NFL season and has 48 catches and four touchdowns to show for it. 2023 was his most productive campaign, with 22 catches for 213 yards and two of his four touchdowns, most of which came playing second-fiddle to TE T.J. Hockenson. 

Now, Oliver finds himself as the TE1 in Minnesota while Hockenson heals up from a brutal knee injury suffered in Week 16 last season. He won’t be an option for the entirety of the season, but early on, it stands to reason that he will be involved in a pass-heavy offense. In 2023, Minnesota threw the ball on 63.31 percent of offensive snaps – 71.68 percent in their final three games – and there is no sign of that changing soon.

Much like Reynolds, Oliver isn’t a player on the radar for many managers, and as such, you should be able to roster him at a discount. If you’re not desperate to fill a hole for Week 1, try a low FAAB bid – think three percent or less. If you need help now – maybe you drafted Hockenson hoping a miracle would get him on the field to start the season – don’t be afraid to go for the gold and drop up to seven percent of your FAAB budget. 

Greg Dulcich (TE – DEN)

Sometimes, when you are settled into streaming a position in fantasy football, the unexpected happens: you find your ride-or-die player you can roll with through the entire season. While I’m not guaranteeing anything here – because this is fantasy football, and anything can happen – Broncos TE Greg Dulcich feels like a fantasy waiver wire pickup that could be one of those players.

Over the last two seasons, there have been times when it’s felt like Dulcich was never going to realize his full potential. Thanks to injuries, his rookie season saw him miss seven games, and his sophomore campaign was even worse, with him missing all but two games. 

The good news is that all signs point to a healthy Dulcich for the 2024 season. He will be a welcome outlet for rookie QB Bo Nix in an offense void of elite weapons. In his healthy ten-game stretch in his rookie season, Dulcich was the overall PPR TE10, averaging 8.6 fantasy points per game. If he can stay healthy, there’s no reason to believe he cannot produce similar numbers in an offense where Nix will rely on him as a safety net.

It’s not a home run, but if you’re one of the many fantasy football managers feeling sick looking at their TE room, Dulcich is an A+ waiver wire option. We should know quickly if he will be involved in the Broncos passing attack in any significant fashion. It’s worth five percent or less of your FAAB to find out. 

Nate Polvogt is a Co-Founder and the lead senior analyst for Optimus Fantasy Football. Find more from Nate on X (formerly Twitter) @NatePolvogt and right here on Optimus Fantasy.