Fantasy Football 2025 Week 1 Waiver Wire Pickup Advice

It’s only Week 1, so these waiver recommendations are simply extensions of opinions that have been expressed throughout the summer. Still, it’s helpful to see who was ignored in drafts, and when the dust settles, to maybe make some tweaks at the bottom of your roster.

Each week I’ll bring to you the best pickups to make ahead of the waiver deadline. All the players I list will be rostered in fewer than 50 percent of leagues, with the roster percentages coming from Yahoo.com.

Immediately Useful

Jerome Ford, RB, Browns (49% Rostered): Ford is the starting RB for the Cleveland Browns, and it’s odd to see any starting RB, regardless of how bad we believe the offense will be, go rostered in fewer than 50% of leagues. Ford’s not necessarily built for three-down work, but there’s no reason for him to be so unwanted. When given opportunities, Ford has mostly delivered. He turned 204 carries in 2023 into 813 yards and four touchdowns. Last season he averaged more than five yards per carry, and he has caught 35+ passes in consecutive seasons. Quinshon Judkins isn’t going to jail, but he’s not even signed at this point, and rookie Dylan Sampson did not cost the Browns major draft capital.

Rashod Bateman, WR, Ravens (46% Rostered): Bateman’s nine touchdowns seems fluky in comparison to the rest of his NFL career, and maybe it was, but he’s the clear deep threat for the Ravens where Lamar Jackson evolved into his final form as a passer. Outside of DeAndre Hopkins, the Ravens made no significant additions to their pass-catching corps, and Isaiah Likely is missing time to start the season. Bateman’s a bench player in most leagues, but in very deep formats he offers blowup potential in a FLEX spot.

Najee Harris, RB, Chargers (47% Rostered): Harris does appear to be ready to suit up for Week 1, and while missing most of camp sure did set up Omarion Hampton for the lead role, Harris is undoubtedly going to be involved. He’s opened his career with four straight 1,000-yard seasons, and even if that’s not in the cards for 2025, he’ll have enough of a standalone role to be a low-end FLEX option. On top of that, if Hampton gets hurt, Harris is right back in position to be a high-volume RB2. He should be universally rostered.

Jaydon Blue, RB, Cowboys (38% Rostered): Blue isn’t guaranteed anything this season, especially as a fifth-round pick, but the depth chart in Dallas is so beatable it’s shocking that he’s drawn so little interest. Blue has elite speed at the position, and was highly efficient in his last two seasons as a Texas Longhorn. Javonte Williams may be ahead of him on the depth chart, but Williams has been a plodder since returning from a serious knee injury, and Blue is without question the Cowboys’ best big play threat in the backfield. Even if Blue doesn’t assume the lead role, he can do damage with low double-digit touches thanks to his speed. In an offense that should be high-scoring, and might need to be with LB Micah Parsons being traded, he’s a guy I’d want on my bench before he costs a FAAB dump.

Ollie Gordon II, RB, Dolphins (38% Rostered): Like Blue, Ollie Gordon is in a position to potentially earn a fairly big workload. De’Von Achane is one of the best backs in the league in front of him, but he’s currently dealing with a calf strain, and is already undersized for too big of a workload. With Raheem Mostert jettisoned, and Jaylen Wright on the shelf, Gordon is in line for standalone value right out of the gate and he could have the Miami backfield to himself if Achane’s injury is aggravated. Gordon isn’t a burner like Miami tends to use, but he put up over 2,000 yards from scrimmage in 2023 for Oklahoma State with 22 touchdowns. He’s a legit guy, and he has a 285-carry season under his belt.

Speculative/Deep Cuts

Adam Thielen, WR, Vikings (27% Rostered): Thielen’s old, but he is still damn good. His game – elite route running and precision – ages well, and he’s wound up in an offense that really needs him. The Vikings’ WR corps is depleted due to suspension and injury, so he walks immediately into a WR2 role with Justin Jefferson earning all of the opposing defense’s attention. Last season Thielen was averaging 12.8 yards per catch for the Panthers, and worked extremely well with a young and raw QB. He’ll be good for J.J. McCarthy, and contrary to popular belief, I don’t think he simply disappears when Jordan Addison is back.

Cedric Tillman, WR, Browns (25% Rostered): For a brief stretch in 2024 with Jameis Winston, Tillman was going bonkers. Nobody wants Browns players it seems, but they will score points, especially while Joe Flacco is the QB. For a gunslinger like Flacco, the X receiver – which is where Tillman will be – is going to be targeted. From Weeks 7-9 Tillman averaged seven catches and 85 yards while scoring three times. That’s not to say you can expect 85 and a tuddy every week, but he's going to be on the field a ton in games that the Browns will often be losing. He’s not too dissimilar from Jerry Jeudy, who is valued way more.

Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, WR, Chiefs (19% Rostered): I’ve talked a bunch about the value Brown brings this year, but why not briefly highlight him one more time? With Rashee Rice out, most are penciling in Xavier Worthy as the de facto WR1 for Kansas City. The problem with that is it’s an open question whether Worthy is actually a good receiver. Brown’s hype has died down, but at one point he was an unquestioned WR1 for the Ravens, and he’s far more polished than Worthy is. Worthy will score and make big plays, but the Chiefs will have to manufacture a lot of those opportunities. Brown can do it the traditional way, which is running routes, and he can sting defenses deep as well as anyone.

DeMario Douglas, WR, Patriots (16% Rostered): Douglas got a lot of hype during training camp as a standout, but the fantasy community didn’t buy it. There’s a lot of excitement for QB Drake Maye’s development as well, and for that to happen he needs successful pass catchers. Stefon Diggs is back, but you’d be crazy to not be skeptical of a comeback this quickly from a torn ACL.  Douglas is not a player I’d start right away, but there’s a path to a lot of volume for him, which can be very useful when injuries and bye weeks begin to thin a roster out.

Chris Rodriguez, RB, Commanders (8% Rostered): Austin Ekeler is likely the nominal starter for Washington, and Bill Croskey has been the talk of the last several weeks, but Rodriguez is a forgotten man. He performed admirably in limited opportunity last season, and there’s been chatter of him having a goal line role here. That remains to be seen, but if he really is the Commanders’ short yardage back, that’s worth well more than this roster rate. He could be quite expensive on waivers after Week 1, so it might make sense to grab him now.

Harold Fannin Jr., TE, Browns (1% Rostered): Fannin Jr.. is a gut call that I just think might become a very hot waiver add in short order. He’s behind David Njoku right now, but there’s no laws against two-TE sets! Also, an injury to Njoku frees up a clear path to big snap counts. Fannin is a player who put up 1,555 yards and 10 touchdowns last season for Bowling Green. Those are not numbers to brush off, especially as a college TE. This dude can play.

IR Stashes

Tyjae Spears, RB, Titans (36% Rostered)

Jalen Coker, WR, Panthers (9% Rostered)

Handcuffs

Trey Benson, RB, Cardinals (40% Rostered)

Ra\y Davis, RB, Bills (35% Rostered)

Tyler Allgeier, RB, Falcons (34% Rostered)

Rico Dowdle, RB, Panthers (21% Rostered)

Woody Marks, RB, Texans (9% Rostered)

Kyle Monangai, RB, Bears (5% Rostered)