Can you believe that week one of the fantasy football season is here? Now because it's week one, there's not a lot of people that are worried about the waiver wire just yet. But you gotta remember, we want to stay ahead of the curve.
We want to beat our league mates to those league winning waiver wire claims at some point throughout the season. That's why in today's show, I'm giving you a list of players that you need to keep your eye on. Because at some point here in the 2024 season, They all may become potential must-add waiver wire pickups. What is going on, Headliner Nation?
Hopefully everyone is doing well out there today. Let me be the first to welcome you to Week 1 content. The fantasy football season is finally here. Now, typically, I'm going to be on every single Monday morning giving you those must-add players from the waiver wire.
Because anyone who's played fantasy football for any length of time knows that if you want to find a lot of success in this game, you need to be active and accurate when it comes to your waiver wire selections. So I'll be here helping you with that all season long on Mondays. I know this week is a little bit early, but we did it on purpose because there aren't a lot of people out there right now being super active on the waiver wire.
The season hasn't technically started yet. But you got to remember, we want to stay ahead of the curve. We want to beat our league mates to those league winning pickups from the waiver wire.
That's why I put this list together today. These are players that you need to watch very closely in week one. Now everyone we're talking about in today's show should be available in most redraft leagues.
I only went through people with an ownership percentage of under 50% and in fact the guy who's owned the highest is only 41% owned in leagues. So I can guarantee you for the majority of you watching Some of these guys are available right now. So if you're ready to start your 2024 fantasy domination, hit the like button right now because we're about to dive into this list right about now. Malik Washington, wide receiver for the Miami Dolphins, currently only 6% owned in fantasy leagues.
And with Odell Beckham already out with an injury, we can see Malik Washington get a chance in the slot a lot sooner than maybe we expected. to start the 2024 season. This kid led the country in receptions last year at Virginia with 110. He's an absolute burner. Just another weapon in this Miami offense with 4-4 speed.
He was the number one wide receiver last year in college in missed tackles forced. He's ready for this NFL game. He's a great route runner, has great hands.
He was an absolute steal in the NFL draft with Odell Beckham Jr. out. If we can see Malik Washington right around five plus targets or so in week one, he becomes very intriguing very quickly. Mike Gusecki, tight end of the Cincinnati Bengals, currently only owned in 14% of fantasy football leagues.
Now, tight ends in Cincinnati last year were targeted a total of 115 times. Mike Gusecki has always been more of a pass-catching tight end than a blocking tight of tight end. Plus, we've seen a good connection between him and Joe Burrow already in camp. We really need to see, though, how much does Mike Gesicki line up in the slot, if at all, in week one.
If we can see him get a couple targets down the field in the first week of the season, he may be an option to pick up after the first couple weeks for some of you that may have missed out on a high-performing tight end during your fantasy football draft. Jaleel McLaughlin, running back of the Denver Broncos, currently owned 41% of fantasy football leagues, the highest owned guy that we're going to talk about today. And he really showed some flashes in 2023. He had almost 600 total yards and three touchdowns in just 107 touches. Now we know that Samaj P. Ryan is gone and Jaleel McLaughlin is a very capable pass catcher. We already know that Sean Payton likes to utilize his running backs in the...
passing game. I love Javante Williams, but he isn't the most efficient guy on the ground. We need to see how do they split the touches in this backfield in Denver in week one.
If Jaleel McLaughlin can end week one and be anywhere near 12 plus touches a game, he's going to require a little bit more attention. And I say that because if anything were to happen to Javante Williams, Jaleel McLaughlin could be in line for a huge role. if he can produce. Trey Tucker, wide receiver, Las Vegas Raiders, only owned in 5% of fantasy football leagues, and I get it. All of the attention in Las Vegas is around Devontae Adams, Brock Bowers, even Jacoby Myers.
But Trey Tucker has been standing out all offseason long. Great speed, great hands. He can win on the underneath routes. He can beat defenders deep down the field.
But here's one thing that no one else is talking about. Gardner Minshew loves the slot. And I mean, Same. Am I right?
But anyway, he liked to utilize Josh Downs last year out of the slot in Indianapolis quite a bit. Josh Downs had 98 targets despite not even being healthy 100% of the season. I'm really watching how Gardner Minshew distributes the ball in week one.
We know that Devontae Adams is going to get his, but what about after Devontae Adams? I need to wait and find out how big of a role does Trey Tucker have, because if we see him getting targets in week one, He may be a sleeper that not a lot of people talked about in the offseason. Jalen Tolbert, wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys, only owned in 10% of fantasy football leagues, and I've been talking about this guy for weeks.
With Michael Gallup gone, Jalen Tolbert is a starting outside wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys. Opposite of Brandon Cooks, we know that CeeDee Lamb is going to be in the slot, but Jalen Tolbert has only had 39 targets over the first two years of his career. However, is constantly on film, in practice, making ridiculous catches look pretty freaking easy. With Tony Pollard and Gallup gone, that frees up 124 targets in this offense.
We know the running game isn't going to be as powerful as it once was. We got an aging Ezekiel Elliott and Dalvin Cook and Rico Dowdle in the backfield. Not exactly going to be elite.
And if we know anything about the Dallas offense, they like to throw the ball quite a bit. If Jalen Tolbert can get anything over five targets in week one, especially if there looks deeper down the field, he will be somebody that needs to be added ASAP. All right, we've made it through five players. I still got five to go, but if you're enjoying today's video and you haven't subscribed to the channel yet, please consider doing so now.
It greatly helps out the channel and it allows me to keep my job, which I am forever grateful for. But all right. Now we're going back into the list with more players.
Tyrone Tracy Jr., running back of the New York Giants, currently owned in 21% of leagues. And listen, I'm not going to sit here and act like the New York Giants have some high-quality running game. Even Saquon Barkley struggled there for years.
But when you're looking for late-round depth or depth on your bench at the running back position, you're trying to find guys that have a chance at winning a role. Now, Devin Singletary is number one on the depth chart here in New York, but he isn't some elite option that's going to eat up every single touch in this backfield. Tyrone Tracy has looked good in camp.
He can run between the tackles. He can catch the ball out of the backfield, and he's a lot closer to a larger role than a lot of other handcuffs out there available on the waiver wire. Dontavian Wicks, wide receiver of the Green Bay Packers, currently owned in only 40% of fantasy football leagues, and... He may be one of my off-season darlings, right?
I don't know if I talked about anybody else more than Dontavian Wicks. He showed in 2023 that he could get open. He could make defenders miss, and he could do something with the ball in his hand. From Week 11 on last season, he averaged five targets, four catches, 57 yards and a half a touchdown per game. Over a 17-game season, that'd be almost 1,000 yards and eight touchdowns.
Christian Watson has proven. that he cannot stay healthy and on the field for an entire season. We've already seen Jordan Love look the way of Dontavion Wicks quite a bit, even in camp here this offseason.
Steve Smith, former wide receiver, came out and says, you know what, Dontavion Wicks reminds me a lot of a younger Devontae Adams, and now all of a sudden people are starting to see more and more of him as the preseason went on. If this dude comes out in week one and has anywhere near the target share of Christian Watson. or Romeo Dobbs, he needs massive attention in fantasy football.
Bucky Irving, running back Tampa Bay Buccaneers, currently owned in 26% of fantasy football leagues, but they already have Rashad White, and he's a great pass catcher. Why did they go out and draft Bucky Irving? Honestly, it's a pretty easy answer. Insurance and depth. There's almost 90 vacated touches in this backfield from Chase Edmonds and Keyshawn Vaughn no longer being there.
But where things get really interesting, Bucky Irving has drawn some comparisons to Kyron Williams. Why does that matter? Well, the new offensive coordinator in Tampa Bay is Liam Cohen, who has coached under Sean McVay before.
Now, don't get me wrong. Rashad White, this is his backfield for sure. But Bucky Irving is going to have a role on this offense.
He is great in pass protection, and he's going to earn himself some touches. But can you imagine what his potential could be if something were to happen to Rashad White? this kid could be fantasy gold.
If he can go out there and with a healthy Rashad White in week one, get anywhere near 10 touches or so, he's definitely a name we need to watch closely. Michael Wilson, wide receiver, Arizona Cardinals, only owned in 21% of fantasy football leagues. And everyone out there is talking about Marvin Harrison Jr. and Trey McBride, even Greg Dortch, but very few people are paying attention to second year wide receiver Michael Wilson.
We talked about this kid's potential a ton last year. All he needs is some targets, some volume in this offense, and he's going to pop. Well, we know his teammate Zay Jones has already been suspended. We know the Cardinals are going to be throwing the ball a lot in 2024. Defensive attention, they're going to be focused on Marvin Harrison Jr. and Trey McBride.
Michael Wilson averaged almost 50. 15 yards per reception last season. He had 565 yards and three touchdowns and only played more than 50% of the snaps in 12 games last season. Here in week one, I'm really paying attention to the target share between Michael Wilson and Greg Dortch. If for any reason we see Michael Wilson utilized more in this offense than Greg Dortch to start the season, He needs to be somebody that's added to a watch list immediately on your waiver wire. Lastly, it's Jordan Mason, running back of the San Francisco 49ers, currently owned in 21% of fantasy football leagues.
And we've talked about him a lot here over the last couple weeks of the offseason. And sometimes you just need to play the odds in fantasy football. When anyone is out there talking about Christian McCaffrey, it is impossible to have a conversation without bringing up either his current injury or his injury history. But look at the depth chart here.
Behind CMC, we had Elijah Mitchell, but he's already been ruled out. Then they drafted Isaac Garendo in the fourth round, and people absolutely loved him. He's dealing with a hamstring strain. So now that brings us to Jordan Mason, who is currently number two on the depth chart in San Francisco.
Now, he's only had a total of 86 career touches, but has averaged 5.8 yards per touch and scored a touchdown every 20 touches. He's 5'11". 223 pounds. He has all the tools needed to be successful in this offense. If Christian McCaffrey is limited at all or just doesn't look 100% healthy in week one, Jordan Mason is going to be an absolute priority ad in week two. It's the San Francisco offense. It doesn't matter what running back you plug in, they're going to find success. It's the entire reason we even know who Elijah Mitchell is or Raheem Mostert in the past or Jeff Wilson. They have a system in San Francisco that just makes running back successful. So if you get touches there, those are fantasy assets. All right, there you have it. 10 players that we need to keep a close eye on here heading into week one of the fantasy football season. Now, like I said, just a reminder, I'm going to be here every single Monday throughout the fantasy football season, giving you the best waiver wire advice that I possibly can. Now, if you have questions about any of the players we talked about here today, leave me a comment down below in the comment section. I really try to answer as many comments as I possibly can, but I'm just looking forward to another great season here with Headliner Nation, and hopefully you are as well. Now, I'm going to go ahead and get out of here for the day. I got a crap ton of football stuff to research. Hopefully you enjoy the rest of your day, and then most importantly, do your part to make the world a better place.