Fantasy Football 2026 Waiver Wire Pickup Advice

Is your fantasy team in need of new blood? 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

Deebo Samuel Sr., WR, 49ers (49% Rostered): Samuel had himself a nice game in his return to the 49ers, stinging the Rams for six receptions, 48 yards and a touchdown while logging 41.5% of the offensive snaps. Samuel is no longer a player we can count on as a low-end WR1 or WR2, but he’s not past usefulness. Samuel has clear weaknesses, but he also still has strengths, particularly vs. zone and as a rushing threat. The 49ers know Samuel’s skill set intimately, and with injuries already plaguing their WR room he’s going to be featured every week. Samuel can absolutely provide quality depth for fantasy managers, and fill in immediately in Week 2 against Miami.

Tyler Shough, QB, Saints (40% Rostered): Chances are most managers have their QB already, or aren’t ready to cut bait on who they picked after just one week. If you struggled with Drake Maye or Matthew Stafford, you’re giving them a bit more rope. But if you do want to make a change, Shough looks like he may be the goods for fantasy. He stunk it up in the first half on Sunday only to finish the game with 410 yards and three touchdowns. New Orleans’ defense seems like it might get them into shootouts, and Shough clearly is happy to oblige. He also isn’t afraid to get his on the ground as well, even though we didn’t see that against Detroit in Week 1. If you’re unsure about your QB, scoop him up and give yourself options.

Malik Willis, QB, Dolphins (40% Rostered): Willis genuinely didn’t look bad on Sunday. The Dolphins are terrible and will be terrible all season, but Willis, despite extremely pedestrian passing numbers – 220 yards, no touchdowns, one interception – played under control and did not make any egregious mistakes. His WR corps is not good, but it is extremely young. There’s talent there, and room for improvement. While those players develop, Willis does have an elite pass-catching RB (De’Von Achane) and, more importantly, he runs. Willis rushed six times for 39 yards and a touchdown, and with Achane as the lead back, Willis is probably the preferred goal line rushing option. Willis will be a dud in games where he doesn’t rack up rushing stats, and his passing upside is limited enough that it’s still not exciting even with a high rushing floor. But Willis will run every week, and if he does develop rapport with these young pups at receiver he could be a steal.

Brenton Strange, TE, Jaguars (31% Rostered): Strange didn’t do a whole lot despite Jacksonville’s offensive eruption, but he did find the end zone. That’s really all you can reasonably ask of a TE, especially one you drafted as late as Strange. This was one of my best values this offseason, and even without target share in this one he contributed positively. The Jaguars confirmed out beliefs that the offense should be high-scoring, and despite the many mouths to feed, Lawrence kept everyone fed! Strange was on the field for nearly 70% of snaps, and he’s bound to have games with more targets than this.

Speculative/Deep Cuts

C.J. Stroud, QB, Texans (29% Rostered): Stroud looked much more like his rookie self in Week 1 vs. Buffalo. With the Bills forcing the pace and racking up points, Houston had to throw to keep up and Stroud did his thing. He threw the ball 38 times, and put up 274 yards and two touchdowns without any interceptions. Nico Collins allows Stroud to take chances down the field, and even though Jaylin Noel wasn’t heavily involved he made a big play. The Texans have talent here, David Montgomery has stabilized their running game, and the Texans’ O-line mostly kept Stroud upright.

Denzel Boston, WR, Browns (28% Rostered): It is certainly tough to get excited about any Browns after the dismal offensive display in Week 1 with Deshaun Watson at QB, but Watson’s lone highlight was a strike to Boston for a long TD, which is precisely what he brings to the table. Now, I’m not highlighting him because I think long bomb TDs are the norm, but he was on the field for 92.2% of Cleveland’s snaps. He is the X receiver, and there’s no question about his role. Should the Browns passing situation improve a little, whether that means Watson gets benched or his play simply improves, Boston is in line for a pretty heavy target share. Realizing that this offense will be bottom of the barrel, it does cap Boston’s ceiling in 2026, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be a fantasy factor.

Dontayvion Wicks, WR, Eagles (16% Rostered): Wicks is pretty interesting, and not just because he caught a touchdown pass in Week 1. Wicks is a very talented player who struggled to earn trust in Green Bay due to injuries, drops and mental lapses. His talent hasn’t ever been a problem. Two catches isn’t anything special. 73 yards and a touchdown is very, very nice, but not sustainable. 90.9% of the offensive snaps caught my eye. Wicks had buzz that he’d be the No. 2 receiver for this team, which should be a pretty high-scoring outfit, and that snap share tells us that for now he’s their guy. Just because Wicks is on the field, it doesn’t mean he’s turning into a target hound. He saw just four in Week 1, and the Eagles do have a lot of talent. But being on the field that much is promising, and he’s not an old guy even if it feels he’s been around forever.

Bryce Young, QB, Panthers (14% Rostered): Young went off in a Week 1 loss to the Bears, and while the score might lead one to believe his 361 yards and three touchdown passes were the product of playing catch up that assumption would be wrong. The Bears defense might be Swiss cheese, but even still, Young still had to do the work. He was pretty well protected in this one, and he has some real deal weapons now in Tetairoa McMillan and the ascendant Jalen Coker. Those are two big, fast players that are hard to deal with, and Chuba Hubbard was healthy and helpful out of the backfield. Young also continues to be a deceptive rusher despite his size as he chipped in a rushing score. We’ll know soon enough if this was a Bears defense-induced mirage, but Young is a former No. 1 overall pick who was known for pocket poise and accuracy. That was all on display in Week 1.

Kenyon Sadiq, TE, Jets (14% Rostered): Sadiq only put up three catches for 21 yards, with his real fantasy damage coming on a three-yard rushing score. But that’s kind of the point. The Jets drafted a bit of a physical freak at TE in Sadiq, and unfortunately injuries derailed his training camp and left him playing catch up. His 41.8% snap share shows that he’s not fully up to speed, but credit to the Jets for recognizing they can’t leave this Ferrari in the garage and dialing up plays to get him the rock. Even on limited snaps, Sadiq can do damage if he’s guaranteed some touches. Based on this game, it does seem like getting him the ball a few times is a priority for Gang Green, and we’ve seen TEs be very relevant on scant snap counts. Look no further than Dalton Kincaid in 2025.

Malik Washington, WR, Dolphins (14% Rostered): Washington is basically the elder statesman of the Dolphins WRs, which is sad. He drew a team-high eight targets, finishing with three catches and 53 yards. It’s all uphill for this passing game in 2026, but if he can count on this level of target share every week he might be worth a bench spot for emergency use. His 98.2% snap share indicates the Dolphins clearly view him as the leading man.

Caleb Douglas, WR, Dolphins (12% Rostered): Douglas is the receiver who actually turned heads this summer, and he caught five passes for 94 yards while looking more impressive than Washington. It’s trite and cliched, but also true; someone’s going to catch passes in this offense. Washington and Douglas look very much like a pair of WRs who are going to be on the field a whole lot, and we noted that Willis didn’t look like a chump. These guys will be able to contribute this season, and Douglas in particular has some upside.

Devaughn Vele, WR, Saints (7% Rostered): Vele’s stock picked up steam late in the summer with Jordyn Tyson being put on IR, and Week 1 rewarded that chatter. He caught seven balls for 69 yards and a score in a ridiculously pass-happy game. It’s good to know in this kind of game script Vele will be involved. He was on the field all game long, so if you’re in a deep league and need to round out the roster with guys who can just plug in and probably not goose you…Vele makes sense.

Kaytron Allen, RB, Commanders (2% Rostered): Allen only logged four carries for 16 yards in this one, but it was notable that in the fourth quarter he was getting high-leverage work directly after a Jacory Croskey-Merritt fumble. Croskey-Merritt looked good in Week 1, but the fumble was almost very costly. Second, we saw Croskey-Merritt lose hold on the lead role in 2025 to Chris Rodriguez, and Allen is a very similar kind of back. Croskey-Merritt likes trying to hit home runs, and Rachaad White is probably just not an every down back. Allen is the best bet in this backfield to consistently achieve positive gains and will rarely get less than is blocked. It’s obviously way too early to say Allen’s got the RB1 job now, especially when Croskey-Merritt really looked quite good against a tough defense, but stashing Allen now is wise.

Jack Bech, WR, Raiders (1% Rostered): Bech is a guy I have high hopes for in Las Vegas. Even though the QB situation is murky, the path to playing time is free and clear. Bech failed to crack 40% of snaps, which isn’t great, but he did catch three of his four targets for 23 yards and a touchdown. Baby steps! With Brock Bowers currently out, Bech is a strong option for work over the middle and in the intermediate areas.

Handcuffs

Woody Marks, RB, Texans (49% Rostered)

Kaelon Black, RB, 49ers (27% Rostered)

Brian Robinson, RB, Falcons (25% Rostered)

Emmett Johnson, RB, Chiefs (20% Rostered)