The first week of the 2026 NFL season did not go as expected for fantasy football owners.
Wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase with the Cincinnati Bengals did a lot of nothing in their season opening win while one of the top tight end prospects of the season, Colston Loveland with the Chicago Bears, never caught a pass. Multiple players went down with injury, including quarterbacks Sam Darnold and Kyler Murray, creating holes in fantasy rosters early in the season.
Monitoring the waiver wire is key to success in fantasy football. Here are five players you should pick up off the wire heading into Week 2.
WR Jalen Coker, Panthers
Rostered in 50.7% of ESPN leagues
The Carolina Panthers have a clear No. 2 wide receiver in Jalen Coker, who went off against the Chicago Bears in the season
opener. Coker was targeted nine times with eight receptions for 138 yards and two touchdowns. Coker also finished last season on a high note with a touchdown in three of the last five games of the regular season. In his playoff debut, he had nine receptions for 134 yards and a touchdown. He is available in about half of ESPN leagues and would be a really smart pickup if he is available on the waiver wire.
QB Tyler Shough, Saints
Rostered in 46.6% of ESPN leagues
New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough throws the ball a lot. He had multiple games last season with at least 40 pass attempts and had a career-high of 56 pass attempts in New Orleans’ season opener against the Detroit Lions. Shough also had a career-high in touchdown passes in the opener with three. The Saints offense is going to rely on the pass game and the sheer volume of pass attempts Shough has makes him a decent start in fantasy, especially if you had Darnold or Murray on your roster without a good backup.
TE Dalton Schultz, Texans
Rostered in 19.8% of ESPN leagues
There was a little bit of a question who would be the top pass catcher on the Houston Texans behind wide receiver Nico Collins. Schultz answered that question in the season opener with eight targets. While those targets only resulted in four receptions for 35 yards, 7.5 points in a full PPR league is still not bad. Also, having that many targets is bound to turn into production sooner or later. Schultz was also a popular target for quarterback C.J. Stroud last season as he was targeted a career-high 106 times. Particularly for people who are temporarily left without a tight end after Brock Bowers’ injury news or fantasy owners who are not sure about their tight end situation going forward, Schultz could be a really decent pickup.
TE Pat Freiermuth, Steelers
Rostered in 14.6% of ESPN leagues
An alternative at tight end is Pittsburgh Steelers leading tight end Pat Freiermuth, who caught all five of his targets in the season opener against the Atlanta Falcons for 46 yards and a touchdown. Last season was a bit of a down year for Freiermuth who only had 41 receptions and four touchdowns. However, in deep leagues where you are really in need of a tight end (and Schultz is not available), Freiermuth could at least get you some points.
WR Devaughn Vele, Saints
Rostered in 12.8% of ESPN leagues
Tyler Shough throws the ball a lot and besides Chris Olave, his favorite target in the opener was Devaughn Vele who was targeted nine times. Shough targeted Vele a decent amount last season before an injury forced Vele to miss the last three games of the season, but he could be a deep sleeper option for fantasy players in really deep leagues. However, I would recommend keeping him on the bench for Week 2 against the Baltimore Ravens, who stifled the Indianapolis Colts’ passing attack in Week 1. Vele could be start-worthy in Week 3 against the Las Vegas Raiders though.
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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: 5 waiver wire pickups in fantasy football in Week 2
