Transcription
It is officially week one, and here are the best 20 stashes for the fantasy football season. Ideally, when you guys are stashing players this time of year, we learn about them quickly. We want to know exactly what we have so that we can churn the waiver wire like all great fantasy players do. So, while I could just sit here and list backup running backs, handcuffs, I want to focus on the guys that you can pick up and stash in case they become the elite pickups in those first couple weeks of the season. And if they don't, you'll pivot to those guys come week two, come week three, come week four that are the better pickups.
So, I will go through a handcuff tier list at the end of this video just to showcase to you guys who some of the best backup running backs are in case you do want to burn a bench spot on one of those guys. But, the best 15 short-term pickups at the wide receiver and running back position. We're going to kick that off right now, and then we'll go through the uh quarterbacks and tight ends. And keep in mind, I'm going in the order in which I would set my waiver claim. So, the first guy I talk about is the one that I believe in the most. Second guy, third guy, so on and so forth. If the first guy is not available or if you don't get him, go down to the next guy in the waiver queue here.
So, we're going to start with the short-term stashes at running back and wide receiver that you guys need. This is 15 of them. I'm going to go in order of how I would set my waiver claims. So, the first guy I talk about is the best one and so on and so forth. If that guy's not available or if you don't get him, move on to the next guy. Let's start with the Browns backfield because we did get a report today from Mary Kay Kat that Quinn Sean Judkins could be back with this team soon, but we don't know if that means he'll be suspended on the exempt list or ready to play. Whatever the case is, Dylan Samson and Jerome Ford are two guys that must be stashed at this point in the season. The Browns do not have him under contract, Quinn Shawn Judkins. Ford will likely start the season as the lead back because he's a veteran, and uh Dylan Samson's a fourth-round rookie. But in weeks 1 to three, Dylan Samson could end up being one of the best waiver pickups of the entire season. So, make sure that you do have him stashed. He could be this year's Bucky Irving legitimately if Quinnon Judkins gets put on the exempt list, they can't get a deal done, whatever the case is. We still do not know what's going to happen with that situation, but Samson is explosive. He can catch passes. He carried a nice workload at the University of Tennessee, and his best prospect model comps there, you guys can see James Cook, Ronald Jones, Jeremy McNichols, and so on. So, he is the absolute must-stash player over everybody in fantasy right now. And Jerome Ford, if you need some running back production, definitely a good stash as well.
Number two must-stash player, we have Christian Kirk, who I talked about in my sleeper video. Top 33 wide receiver or better in four of his last five healthy seasons with 21% target rates or higher in four straight seasons. Played the second most snaps of any Houston Texans wide receiver in the preseason. Jaden Higgins and Jaylen Null, the two rookie wide receivers from Iowa State, have not been overly involved ahead of Christian Kirk. And I do think that Christian Kirk early on in the season could be a high-target PPR pickup early in the year. If you think of guys like Darno Mooney, Jacobe Myers last year, uh players that you could pick up off of the waiver wire that gave you meaningful PPR flex production. I think Christian Kirk could end up being one of those dudes. He is highly rostered right now, but if he's available in your league, definitely go pick him up.
We're staying on the Houston Texans with this one because let's say these younger backs become an option in this backfield. Nick Chubb is slated to be the starter right now while Joe Mixon is starting the season on the PUP. And who knows, maybe he misses most of the season, if not the entire season. Nick Chubb has not looked great the last couple of years. He's been banged up, had a major knee injury, could definitely be washed. Damen Pierce has been involved in the preseason, and who knows, maybe Woody Marks can carve out a big pass-catching role as well. Damen Pierce, the last time he was, you know, healthy and playing at his best, was his rookie season where he was RB 16 in expected fantasy points per game. He was absolutely brutal as a second-year player, but last year he averaged 7.3 yards per carry on just 40 attempts. And of course, they have a new offensive coordinator, Nick Case, coming in. The offense should be a lot better, especially on the ground because the O-line has gone through some changes, and I think the scheme should be better. Of these two guys, Pierce is the shot that I'm taking because I do think you will know quicker if he is going to be a major part of this backfield. If Nick Chubb takes all the carries, then you just drop Damen Pierce and you're on your merry way.
Pick up number four is Olly Gordon, who absolutely must be stashed right now because Devon Achane is banged up with a calf injury. Feels like a bet against Devon Achane to pick up Olly Gordon, reaggravating that injury, and that makes me sad and really uncomfy as a Devon Achane bag holder right now. But Gordon was a solid prospect. 2023 he won the Doak Walker Award. Brutal 2024 college football season. We don't know exactly what happened there. It was offense, motivation, attitude, injuries. A lot of things factored into Ollie Gordon having a bad 2024 year. But going into the 2024 season, he was thought of to be a top three running back in the class along with like Amari and Hampton and Judkins and Gibbs and those guys. Ollie Gordon was right up there with them. In fact, I had him ranked ahead of Hampton and Judkins going into that season. The Dolphins run scheme can definitely elevate players. And I do think even a 30-year-old Raheem Mostert, we saw him finish top 12 in points per game just two years ago, could have a standalone role in this backfield even if Devon Achane doesn't go down. And at the very least, he's a high-priority handcuff to stash right now in case we get some bad news about Devon Achane. It's, it's not out of the range of outcomes that he reaggravates that injury as much as that would hurt me as an Achane bag holder.
Let's talk about Xavier Legette because Xavier Legette is the number five stash right now. He was a raw prospect coming out of South Carolina last year, but in year two, he could take a step because Jaylen Coker is on IR now with an injury. Adam Thielen was traded to the Minnesota Vikings. Other than Team Ake, Te'Dero McMillan, there are no other established pass catchers in this offense. And Xavier Legette, as a former first-round pick, could be a top two wide receiver on this team. And I do think that Bryce Young could have a breakout season, especially if he plays like he did at the end of 2024. Legette will absolutely be relevant if that's the case. Did not post great reception perception numbers as a rookie. Just a 35th percentile win rate against man, 26th percentile win rate against zone. But again, year one to year two, I could see a big jump out of Legette. I did actually like his prospect profile a lot more than most, but I do recognize that he is a little bit riskier. But again, you'll know what you have right away in Xavier Legette. You'll be able to drop him pretty quickly if he's nothing for you.
Number six must-stash player is Troy Franklin. Uh, second-year wide receiver out of the University of Oregon for the Denver Broncos. Troy Franklin is actually the best day three prospect in the model's history. Going back to 2016, our prospect model, if you guys are not dynasty players, we've talked about this all offseason. He was young, he was raw, he was undersized, but he was hyperproductive as an early declare coming out of the University of Oregon. In the preseason, he played the third most snaps of any wide receiver with the first-team offense. The Broncos traded away Jerry Jeudy. Marvin Mims has not been a reliable every-down outside wide receiver. And outside of Courtland Sutton, we do have the shower narrative here that Bo Nix and Troy Franklin played together in college. They teamed up for 2200 yards and 23 touchdowns at the University of Oregon in those two years. Teams have been hyping Troy Franklin up. Apparently, he's added some size because he was really undersized last year. Jerry Jeudy has been traded. Troy Franklin supposedly going to be the team's starting slot receiver. Him and Jeudy were apparently vying for that job. And that would be huge for Franklin knowing that with Bo Nix's accuracy over the middle and the fact that he's a little bit of a conservative quarterback, you definitely would love to see Franklin be able to stretch the field vertically and that kind of thing. We saw him in the preseason catch two, two nice big touchdowns in preseason week two. So I feel pretty confident that Troy Franklin could take a step forward this year, be very fantasy relevant, and could be one of the biggest adds of the first couple weeks of the season.
As could be Alec Inman, wide receiver of the Tennessee Titans, the rookie wide receiver from um Alberta. Shout out to Canada. Inman has quickly ascended up the depth chart according to most beat reporters and the usage. He is clearly the number two receiver in that usage behind Calvin Ridley. He was a solid prospect even though he fell to the fourth round. That had a lot to do with medicals because he tore his ACL his sophomore season. If I might remind you, if you guys don't follow college football, he put up a 285-yard game on Travis Hunter in Colorado just two seasons ago, one year removed from that torn ACL. And his best prospect model comp is actually Amon-Ra St. Brown. So, he has a chance to be a really, really solid option. I had him ranked as a top seven wide receiver in the 2025 NFL draft, and he appears to be a great candidate to be one of the biggest pickups in fantasy football come weeks 1 to three. And he's available right now in basically 80% of leagues.
Tory Horton, wide receiver of the Seattle Seahawks. I don't want to alarm anyone, but his prospect model comp is actually Puka Nacua, which, um, again, I'm not going to say he's going to be the next Puka Nacua here, but he was hyperproductive at Colorado State. And in his first camp, not only did he win the number three job outright, he actually got Marquez Valdes-Scantling cut. He has speed, he has athleticism, he has production, and his primary competition for targets outside of Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who's obviously great, is a washed-up Cooper Kupp.
Must-stash player number nine, we have Adam Thielen now of the Minnesota Vikings. Again, pretty simple explanation here. Jordan Addison is suspended for the first three games of the season. Adam Thielen could be a productive flex for you, especially if you guys drafted like Rashee Rice or Jordan Addison himself or, you know, Brandon Aiyuk, somebody that you needed to stash on your IR, stash away on your bench. I think Adam Thielen could be a reasonable flex for the first couple weeks of the season. Maybe after weeks one to three, when Jordan Addison is coming back, you can flip Adam Thielen in a tear-up type of trade with some of your leaguemates that are not paying attention to the fact that Addison was suspended and that's why Thielen could be productive.
Must-stash player number 10 at wide receiver and running back is Romeo Doubs. Jayden Reed supposedly is about to play through a Jones fracture in his left foot. Now, I love Jayden Reed, but that definitely does not bode well for his ability to probably stay on the field. Most docs are concerned about it on Twitter right now. Matthew Golden is also a rookie. I wouldn't be shocked if Romeo Doubs is a top 36 wide receiver for the first month of the season, and he is in a contract year. So, I actually really like him as an early-season pickup and early-season stash. Again, part of the appeal about hitting on these early-season guys is that you can sell the unknown factor in trades. Like, let's say, for example, you want to tear up at running back. You want to go from Isaiah Pacheco to Kenneth Walker, who's maybe started out slow. You can use a pickup like Romeo Doubs, a pickup like Adam Thielen to maybe get those deals done.
Must-stash number 11, I have the Cowboys backup running backs. Personally for me, I like stashing Miles Sanders, but Jaden Blue, of course, would be a great stash as well. As of now, Javonte Williams looks like he will be the starting running back, but I don't think anybody knows what this workload split is going to look like. On the off chance that we get surprised in week one or week two, if you guys think back a couple years ago, Cam Akers was supposed to be the starter for the Rams, and then Kyren Williams took over that job. Sometimes that happens at the beginning of the season. The definition of you'll know what you'll have in week one is the Cowboys backfield because I think that week one usage, that week two usage will tell you everything you need to know about if you should hold Miles Sanders or if you should hold Jaden Blue. If Javonte Williams is taking all the touches, all the snaps, then you probably just drop those guys and be on your merry way. But on the off chance that Miles Sanders is actually the lead back or the lead ball carrier because he's been banged up throughout camp, I do think he is a great stash because he has been the most productive of the running backs in this backfield in his career.
Pick up number 12 is Adonai Mitchell of the Indianapolis Colts. He was among the league leaders in separation last year. We'll see how involved he is target-wise, route-wise in the offense the first week or two of the season because last year Adonai Mitchell was wide receiver four on the depth chart behind Michael Pittman, Josh Downs, and mainly Alec Pierce on the outside. With Daniel Jones throwing the football this year, I do believe that somebody can be really valuable in this offense. It'll probably be Downs, Warren, or Pittman, but I do think this is a perfect stash-drop after week one if he plays 35% of the snaps. He is a good wide receiver to stash though in case the Colts suffer some injuries at that position because I do think he can be a big waiver addition as a result of that.
Number 13, I have Malik Washington of the Miami Dolphins. He looked great in the preseason. Tyreek has been a knucklehead all offseason, and without Jonnu Smith in this offense and Darren Waller's there to kind of replace him, I could see Malik Washington be the guy that takes over the Jonnu Smith role of running the drag routes, getting the designed touches. I loved Washington in the draft last year coming out of Virginia. I saw him break ankles and create separation, and he was doing that in the preseason so far. So, I do think he's a decent pickup as well.
Must-stash player number 14, I have the two Raiders wide receivers, Jakobi Meyers and Dante Thornton Jr. Jakobi Meyers was the much better prospect of the two of these guys, but it appears his role is to sit behind Davante Adams and be a long-term solution at that slot kind of, um, move, move the chains type of wide receiver position. Whereas Dante Thornton has gotten buzz because he's a 4.3 speed guy. He can stretch the defense. He can stretch the field. I prefer to hold Meyers long-term, but in the short term, Dante Thornton is probably the better option because he's probably going to start right away, and I'd imagine he's the one that becomes the higher waiver pickup early in the season because he catches a long touchdown or something like that. So, definitely keep an eye on those two Raiders wide receivers.
And then closing out the short-term pickups at wide receiver and running back, I have Jahan Dotson of the New England Patriots. Now, this one might be a shock to some people, but Dotson has been a starting wide receiver for the Patriots in three-wide receiver sets and probably in two-wide receiver sets as well all offseason. Kyle Williams, the rookie third-rounder from Washington State, has not been able to beat this guy out in camp. Dotson was a great athlete. He was a good prospect at some points in time. Sounds like there was some attitude issues, some knuckleheadedness that was a problem for him at LSU in his early time in the NFL, but he has fended off third-round rookie Kyle Williams this entire offseason. And that could mean one of two things. Either one, Kyle Williams isn't that good. Or maybe he just isn't ready to play right away. Or two, it could mean that Jahan Dotson is actually just good and he could end up being a value this year and he's recaptured that freshman and sophomore year form from LSU that got all the hype folks excited about Jahan Dotson. He is only 23 years old. He is the same age as A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Jayden Higgins, and Kyle Williams, the aforementioned receiver in his core. He could end up being a very good value this year because he looked decent in spurts, and we all believe in Drake May, at least on this channel. Um, so I do not mind him as a late-round kind of dart throw if you guys haven't drafted yet or just a late stash at the end of your bench. You'll see what you have with him in week one.
Let's talk about some tight ends and quarterbacks, and then I'll get into the handcuff tier list here. Mason Taylor, rookie tight end for the New York Jets, and Terrance Ferguson, rookie tight end for the Los Angeles Rams. Both of these guys were really solid prospects. Both of them early second-round picks, day one starters potentially at their positions. Mason Taylor could be the number two receiving target in the offense behind Garrett Wilson. And I would say let's see early on in the season, what do the snaps look like for Mason Taylor? What do the snaps look like for Terrance Ferguson? Both of these guys have comps to like George Kittle, Ben Skowronek, Hunter Long, Gerald Everett, Cole Kmet, and others based on their prospect profile. Terrance Ferguson specifically has been reported to be the like number three receiver, movable chess piece in this offense for the Rams, who have been looking for a move tight end for a while. Jordan Rodriguez and others have reported that. So maybe he surprises with a big start to the year. Maybe Mason Taylor surprises with a big start to the year. Keep an eye on these guys. If you did not draft an early tight end, especially, and you're looking for some late-round upside, you could stash these guys at the end of your bench as your second option.
Isaiah Likely, same thing. I mean, he probably won't play week one, maybe not week two or week three either. So, maybe he's not the best option for the stash part of this. But, if you can put out players into your IR spot, he makes a lot of sense because what we know about the Ravens is this: they want to use a two-tight end set. And what we also know about the Ravens is that they love Isaiah Likely. And if Mark Andrews were to ever get injured, this dude would be a 100% type of FAB addition to your fantasy roster if anything happens to Andrews. So stashing him in case he's an early-season play or in case Mark Andrews gets banged up right away, he could end up being one of the biggest league winners in fantasy.
And then Elijah Okunola is the last guy that I have here, the rookie tight end for the Seattle Seahawks from the University of Miami. I was not a huge fan of the profile admittedly, but he may start from day one in Seattle. And there's a role to be had there because like I said with Tory Horton, other than JSN, Cooper Kupp is a question mark. Horton himself is a question mark. It's possible Elijah Okunola carves out a role for himself as well.
And then some quarterbacks in case you want to stash some of these dudes. We have Bryce Young, Daniel Jones, and Cam Ward. All three of these guys have mobile upside. We saw Bryce Young towards the end of the season, running the football quite a bit. Daniel Jones, the last time he was a starter and healthy in 2022, was a top 12 quarterback because of what he could do with his legs and now has better weapons. And then Cam Ward, the rookie quarterback, always just a mystery box. Let's see what the rookie can do. So, those three guys, if you're looking for a stash late-round quarterback, let's say you drafted Jared Goff or somebody a little bit safer and you just want to throw somebody at the end of your bench in case they turn into something, either of those three guys makes sense for you to do that.
And then long-term stashes, pivoting kind of into what the handcuff tier list looks like this year because I know that a lot of you guys will probably want to earmark a spot or two of your bench to just stash the best handcuff available because you never know the starter ahead of them goes down. You might have an RB1 on your hands, an RB2 on your hands, whatever the case may be. So the handcuff tier list this year, I have it set by four different categories. Guys who would have RB1 upside if the starter ahead of them went down. Guys that would be high-end RB2s kind of in my weekly rankings if the starter ahead of them went down. Guys who would be more volume plays but maybe would split some touches with another guy. And then guys that would probably be in running back by committees, although they would maybe be more valuable if the starter ahead of them went down.
So RB1 upside handcuffs, again, if any of the guys available in this tier are available in your league and you just want to stash them at the end of your bench. These are some of the best handcuffs in fantasy in the scenario in which the starter ahead of them goes down. How elite would they be for fantasy football? We saw this play out last year with a guy like Jordan Mason, who is also in this tier, because if Aaron Jones went down, he would end up being an absolute elite league winner. Same goes for Chuba Hubbard and Miles Sanders, who are two of the best handcuffs in fantasy. Rachaad White, who's been an RB1 before. If Bucky Irving went down, he has the pass-catching upside and he can carry a big workload to be an awesome option as well. Tyler Allgeier, of course, we know if Bijan goes down, he is a great thousand-yard rusher in his past as well.
High-end RB2 upside handcuffs, these guys will probably be more widely available. Trey Benson, if anything happens to James Conner, he would be great. Ray Davis, same thing. James Cook goes down, he would be great. Brian Robinson, knowing that Christian McCaffrey is banged up, um, normally, and he's an older running back with a lot of injury in his past. Brian Robinson could end up being a league winner. Ollie Gordon, who I talked about already, Braelon Allen, if anything happens to Breece Hall. Tyjae Spears, who is currently on the IR right now, but once he comes back, would be a great handcuff to Tony Pollard.
And then you have some of the volume plays here. As I talked about some of these guys in the video, Dylan Samson, Damen Pierce, and so on. Those guys are, there's a chance that they could be more than just a handcuff. But as of right now, assuming that, for example, Judkins is back, Dylan Samson probably just a handcuff, or maybe Jerome Ford starts the season, Dylan Samson, just the handcuff. And then again, same with Damen Pierce. Right now, he's the handcuff to Nick Chubb. But once Joe Mixon is back, he probably becomes less valuable. And even if Damen Pierce were the starter, I think Woody Marks would be heavily involved. I think even if Samson were the starter, I think that Jerome Ford would be involved. And same goes for pretty much everybody in this territory. But all of these guys are decent contingent upside plays if you're just rostering a second defense or if you're just rostering a, a who cares tight end or quarterback that you can put on the waivers and then just stream later.
And then the likely running back by committees. These guys are a lot less interesting. Only in deeper leagues would I be stashing them. Roschon Johnson/Khalil Herbert, Devin Singletary, Keaton Mitchell, Raheem Mostert, Miles Sanders, and Jaden Blue. Like I said, if they end up being options for you, that's great. But for the most part, you're going to want to stash those higher-end handcuffs, especially early on in the season, because they could end up being league-winning pickups early on in the year. And we don't want to be tethering, tethering ourselves to stashing a bunch of handcuffs when there's going to be good pickups at the beginning of the season, especially.
So, so, as I was editing this video, I realized I should probably talk about some kickers and defenses as well. I don't do a whole lot of kicker and defense analysis. I basically just stream matchups. So, if you guys want, you can check out DraftSharks.com. They have a great adjusted fantasy points allowed tool. If you're looking for some of the best kicker pickups, you see Buffalo's kicker Tyler Bass, uh, New England's kicker, Tampa Bay's kicker, Chase McLaughlin, um, Houston's kicker Ka'imi Fairbairn. A lot of good options here based on the first like three weeks of the season. And then when we pivot over to defenses, you can see some of the easier schedules there. Pittsburgh's defense has a nice opening schedule. I like the Rams as a great pass rush. They have Houston with a bad offensive line. Tennessee with a rookie quarterback the first two games of the season. Of course, Denver's defense is going to be rostered. The Cowboys defense, no longer without Parsons there. Um, so probably not a great option, but the 49ers defense is decent. Patriots defense, some of the best defensive streamers and kicker streamers that you guys can pick up.
Those were the must-stash players for 2025 week one. We are underway, fellas. I'm very excited about it. We are finally done talking about hypothetical situations and upside and all this kind of stuff. We just get to see the games get played. Head on over to FlockFantasy.com if you guys want to get our season pass. That will have you covered from everything from weekly rankings to help you with start/sits, rest of season rankings to help you with trades. Use our trade calculator, use our my teams feature to determine the holes on your roster, how to patch those holes, and so on and so forth. You do also get all of our draft guides if you do still have drafts coming up today, tomorrow, or Wednesday. So, head on over to FlockFantasy.com, use that promo code FSE to sign up for the season pass. Just 34 bucks and you get all the bonus content of all your favorite creators in the Flock League. Head on down to the link in the pinned comment to check that out and check out the brand new Saquon Barkley Pick 'Em special that Underdog has going right now. If you guys want to get into the Pick 'Ems this year, head on over to UnderdogFantasy.com. Use the promo code FSE when you sign up. Get up to a 50% deposit match on your first deposit up to $1,000. And when you make your first play of $5, you also get $50 in bonus funds to go along with it. And make sure you're following us over on TikTok, Instagram, and those places because we will be doing a ton of pickups for every Thursday night game, Friday night game, Saturday game, Sunday night game, Monday night game, all of that stuff. We will cover you guys for pickups for that. So, make sure to check out Underdog. Sign up using the promo code FSE. Like I said, both of those will be linked down below in the pinned comment. But with that being said, peace out and I'll talk to you soon.