{"id":127079,"date":"2025-09-08T05:26:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T05:26:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/127079\/"},"modified":"2025-09-08T05:26:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T05:26:08","slug":"fantasy-football-waiver-wire-pickups-nfl-week-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/127079\/","title":{"rendered":"Fantasy football waiver wire pickups: NFL Week 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> scored 34 points in Week 1: Their high-scoring offense produced two top waiver-wire targets \u2014\u00a0running back Kenneth Gainwell and wide receiver Calvin Austin III.<\/p>\n

A youth movement at tight end: Rookies Harold Fannin Jr. and Mason Taylor played significant roles in their NFL debuts.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The first week of the 2025 NFL season is nearly in the books, and the fantasy landscape is already shifting. This week\u2019s waiver-wire pickups include high-upside stashes, plug-and-play starters and a few traps you\u2019ll want to avoid. <\/p>\n

From shallow leagues to deeper formats, these are the players worth your attention heading into Week 2.<\/p>\n

Jump to a Position:<\/p>\n

QB<\/a> | RB<\/a> | WR<\/a> | TE<\/a><\/p>\n

QUARTERBACKS<\/p>\n

Michael Penix Jr.<\/a>, Atlanta Falcons<\/a> (Rostered in 20.1% of leagues on ESPN)<\/p>\n

Michael Penix Jr. was one of my top sleeper <\/a>q<\/a>uarterbacks<\/a> heading into the season, and his Week 1 performance backed that up. While his raw numbers from three late-season starts last year were modest, his underlying metrics told a different story. He earned an 87.6 passing grade, fueled by an elite big-time throw rate and the lowest turnover-worthy play rate in the league. Among quarterbacks with at least 100 pass attempts, Penix led in positive-grade rate \u2014 edging out Lamar Jackson \u2014 and topped Josh Allen in big-time throw rate.<\/p>\n

In Week 1, Penix threw for 298 yards and a touchdown despite playing without one of his top two receivers. He also added value on the ground, rushing six times for 21 yards and a go-ahead touchdown late in the game, good for one of the top fantasy outings among quarterbacks.<\/p>\n

While Penix isn\u2019t an ideal streaming option for Week 2, he draws favorable matchups in Weeks 3 and 4 against the Panthers and Commanders. His second-half schedule is even better, making him a strong stash candidate in leagues with deeper benches.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Trevor Lawrence<\/a>, <\/a>Jacksonville Jaguars<\/a> (39.6%)<\/p>\n

Trevor Lawrence was one of my favorite quarterback targets<\/a> this draft season, especially in two-QB or best-ball formats, where pairing cheap upside options makes sense. He\u2019s learning a new system under head coach Liam Coen, and there\u2019s reason to be optimistic. Coen\u2019s 2023 offense helped Baker Mayfield jump from a 72.8 to an 82.4 passing grade, with his fantasy production rising from 16.7 to 22.5 points per game. Lawrence already runs more than Mayfield, so the ceiling is even higher.<\/p>\n

Under Doug Pederson, Lawrence\u2019s time to throw was consistently low while his average depth of target spiked, hurting his efficiency. He ranked in the bottom quartile in deep-ball accuracy over the past three years but was among the league\u2019s best on short throws. Coen\u2019s offense should lean on that short-area strength, creating a more stable fantasy floor.<\/p>\n

Lawrence was just average in Week 1, completing 19-of-31 passes for 178 yards, one touchdown and one interception against the Panthers. But the game script played a role, as the Jaguars led throughout and leaned on the run. Week 2 brings a much better setup against the Bengals, who gave up the sixth-most fantasy points to quarterbacks last season and just allowed 290 passing yards to Joe Flacco. <\/p>\n

If you\u2019re streaming this week, Lawrence is your best option, and he still has long-term upside if the Jaguars start clicking offensively.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Daniel Jones<\/a>, <\/a>Indianapolis Colts<\/a> (14.8%)<\/p>\n

Jones was a top-10 fantasy quarterback in 2022, thanks largely to his rushing production. He reminded us of that in Week 1. He ran for two touchdowns and added 272 yards and a score through the air, completing 22 of 29 passes. His top targets were wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. and tight end Tyler Warren, helping him post 29.5 fantasy points.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s a sit next week against the Denver Broncos, but strong matchups in Weeks 4 and 5 against the Rams and Raiders make him a viable streaming option moving forward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pittsburgh Steelers scored 34 points in Week 1: Their high-scoring offense produced two top waiver-wire targets \u2014\u00a0running…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":127080,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[64,63,593,85],"class_list":["post-127079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127079\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}