Each week, as soon as the Sunday smoke clears, we offer a collection of fantasy pickups, priced and prioritized for your convenience. All players mentioned here are available in a majority of Yahoo fantasy leagues and, unless otherwise noted, all are approved for immediate use.
Wide receivers to prioritize
We hyped and re-hyped him in the preseason, then we re-re-hyped him after an exciting opening week performance. And yet here we are. For whatever reason, Moore is still hanging out there un-rostered in nearly 70 percent of Yahoo leagues. It’s tough to imagine any fantasy manager thinking they have enough shares of Arizona’s ridiculous Nintendo offense. Just look at this nonsense…
Moore finished with seven catches for 114 yards and that long score on a team-high eight targets. Basically, the Cardinals found an electric receiver with sub-4.3 speed to absorb Larry Fitzgerald’s old targets. Moore was a monstrously productive player at Purdue when healthy and he’s now opened his NFL career with 11 catches for 182 yards in his first two games. He’s capable of silliness like this.
I don’t really care if you’ve already stacked Kyler Murray with DeAndre Hopkins, you should probably still chase after Moore if he remains available. This will serve as last call. Moore should be heavily rostered after waivers clear on Wednesday.
Waiver offer (assuming $100 budget): $18
Another game, another spike. Patrick has size (6-foot-4) and separation ability, making him a friendly target near the end-zone…
Jerry Jeudy’s absence leaves a bunch of targets up for grabs, and Patrick clearly has the full confidence of his QB. Denver hosts the Jets on Sunday, so it’s definitely in play for Patrick to make a house call in a third straight game. He gave us 742 yards and six TDs with Drew Lock as his quarterback last year; he should meet or exceed those totals this season, assuming good health.
Offer: $6
You can almost forgive Arizona for neglecting to cover Osborn on this long TD…
…because most of us have overlooked him for weeks, believing the No. 3 receiver role in Minnesota to be largely irrelevant. But with two games in the books, Osborn is up to 12 receptions and 167 yards on 15 targets. Game script has certainly been his friend — Kirk Cousins has attempted 81 passes so far — and the good times should continue in Week 3 against Seattle.
Osborn was the leading receiver for the Miami Hurricanes back in 2019, a year when that status meant little. He was a fifth-round draft pick who worked his way into a situation in which he rarely leaves the field; he played 81 percent of the offensive snaps in Minnesota’s opener. Osborn will of course continue to benefit from the attention paid to Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen. Fire him up if you need a deep league PPR flex.
Offer: $6
Additional WRs and TEs of interest: Darius Slayton (he’s seen 13 targets over two games and Atlanta’s generous defense is on deck), Henry Ruggs III (it’s just so easy to talk yourself into this guy when you’re reminded of his weapons-grade speed), Hunter Renfrow (if you’re a deep league PPR player, you should probably care about Renfrow’s 16 targets), Freddie Swain (he caught all five of his targets from Russell Wilson, with a 68-yard TD included), Jared Cook (he’s drawn 13 targets in the opening weeks and had a touchdown negated by penalty on Sunday), Dawson Knox (here’s a cheap share of Buffalo’s passing offense and he spiked in Week 2).
Quarterbacks to consider
Danny Dimes deserved so much better on Thursday night. He deserved a win, for one thing. He also deserved at least one additional passing TD, but Darius Slayton couldn’t haul in a well-thrown deep ball that skipped off the receiver’s hands in the end zone. And then there was Jones’ long rushing TD, wiped out by a holding call.
Still, the third-year quarterback managed to finish with 249 passing yards and one score on Thursday while also rushing for a game-high 95 yards and another touchdown. He’s certainly not the reason the Giants have opened the season 0-2. His rushing upside has been under-appreciated (until recently) and it’s hard not to like his receiving corps. His touchdown pass against Washington was a beautiful ball that Slayton managed to snag…
This week, Jones gets Atlanta’s defense, a group that’s already allowed eight touchdown passes and a zillion yards (approximately). He’s gonna have a tough time not finishing as a top-10 fantasy QB.
Offer: $8
Sam Darnold, Carolina Panthers (15%)
Darnold gets a spotlight game on Thursday night against a Houston defense that just allowed 31 points to Cleveland. Also, he’s the guy who gets to throw darts in the direction of D.J. Moore…
The ghosts seem to have vanished for Darnold. He’s been plenty effective directing two early wins. His receiving corps is excellent and the schedule ahead is a gift: at Hou, at Dal, Phi, Min, at NYG, at Atl. Darnold is a good bet to deliver a few top-12 positional finishes over the next month and a half.
Offer: $6
Various other assorted QBs of interest: Teddy Bridgewater (he’s coming off 328 and two touchdowns, heading into a home matchup with the Jets), Taylor Heinicke (it’s not always a clinic, but he’s coming off a 336-yard game and he gets the Falcons in Week 4), Derek Carr (the man opened his season with a pair of stay-away matchups, yet he’s delivered 817 passing yards and four spikes. Not too shabby.)
Running backs deserving attention
Cordarrelle Patterson, Atlanta Falcons (15%)
Lots of stuff has gone horribly wrong for Atlanta to this point, but Patterson has been a notable success. Wherever he lines up and however his team chooses to use him, he’s simply a weapon.
Patterson converted a dozen touches into 69 scrimmage yards and two touchdowns against the Bucs, once again serving as a rotational back behind Mike Davis. He’s caught seven of his eight targets through two games and he’s averaging 4.6 YPC. It’s not as if the Falcons are overloaded with playmakers, so Patterson is likely to continue handling a meaningful workload. He’s also the rare player who carries WR-RB eligibility; if he eventually steps into an even larger rushing workload, he’ll be like a cheat code for your fantasy roster.
If you drafted your way into reliance on Davis this season, you’re probably dissatisfied with the early results. Let’s just note that Davis continues to dominate backfield snaps and he’s handled 34 touches over two weeks. Disappointment is understandable, but don’t overreact.
Offer: $10
Other RBs worth adding: Sony Michel (Darrell Henderson checked out with a rib injury and Michel ran well in relief; he’s actually 60% rostered, but was among the most dropped players following the opener), Tony Pollard (like Michel, he’s just over the 50% rostered threshold we like to use around here, but he honestly shouldn’t be available anywhere), J.D. McKissic (just when we thought Antonio Gibson had claimed a larger receiving role, JDM catches five balls for 83 yards on six targets), James White (he found the end zone on Sunday and his six receptions led the team), Michael Carter (he’s available in 50% of Yahoo leagues and just handled 13 touches), Zack Moss (he’s clearly behind Devin Singletary at the moment, but he visited the end zone in Buffalo’s blowout win over Miami), Kenneth Gainwell (the rookie is the clear No. 2 in Philly’s backfield, having handled 19 touches over two weeks), Phillip Lindsay (he has a supporting role in Houston, but he’s broken the plane in back-to-back weeks).
One defense for those who stream
Carolina Panthers D/ST (19%)
Carolina’s defense has been awfully frisky in two wins, allowing only 21 total points while dropping opposing quarterbacks 10 times and intercepting three passes. This group completely halted the Jameis Winston revival in Week 2, limiting him to 111 passing yards and picking him off twice. Even if you don’t fully believe the Panthers are legit, you have to like the upcoming matchup with Houston (and possibly rookie Davis Mills) in Week 3.
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