Transcription
Hitting big on the waiver wire before the season even begins can be the difference between you finishing dead last in your league or being crowned league champion. In 2018, James Connor. In 2020, James Robinson. In 2023, Kairen Williams and Puka. These were all free adds off the waiver wire. You didn't have to draft them, and they won you your fantasy league.
We're going to talk about 10 names that you should be picking up for free because they've got league-winning upside. All right, we're going to start off with some of the more obvious names here for smaller leagues. Then we're going to dive into the deeper names. And at the end, I'm going to give you streaming options for kickers and defenses in week one as well, so you're prepared from every angle. That's what she said.
All right, jumping into the obvious names. JJ McCarthy, he should be rostered in most leagues. The reality is J.J. McCarthy is in a system with Kevin O'Connell, the quarterback whisperer. He's got Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, I know three-game suspension, uh, T.J. Hockenson, Aaron Jones. He should be set up to succeed. Drake May showed a lot of promise as a rookie with literally no options. He's got a much better supporting cast around him, and he has a lot of rushing upside.
Breece Hall. Could this be this year's Bucky? A guy that a lot of people aren't thinking about. You know, a crowded backfield, but the talent could shine in the Liam Cohen offense.
Bijan Robinson. I think everybody is talking about this name, so I was going to talk about him earlier, but there's just no point. Everybody knows JCM. He should be rostered with the situation in Washington. Clearly, they love him. He's going to be a part of their offense. Um, Ray Davis, Jerome Ford are really good handcuffs. Jerome Ford could have standalone value. And Keenan Allen is being disrespected a lot in drafts, but he could have a serious role in Los Angeles.
All right, let's jump into the running backs that I think you should be picking up for free off the waiver wire right now. Starting off with Woody Marks, and then we'll get to wide receivers, tight ends, you know, we'll go through the list, okay? You can check out the pin, uh, the time codes. Okay.
Woody Marks. Clearly, very clearly, this team saw a need in their backfield this offseason. I'm curious how early on they knew Joe Mixon's severity of his injury, but they traded away a future third-round pick to move into the fourth round of this year's draft to draft Woody Marks. So, a future third. They sent that away to get Woody Marks. And even though he was a fourth-round pick, technically they invested third-round capital. Third-round running backs have a 50% hit rate historically in the last 11 years compared to a 24% hit rate for round four running backs.
But let's be real right now. The Texans backfield has got to be the most unclear backfield in the entire NFL at this moment. Joe Mixon ongoing foot injury, getting different reports every week, every couple days. It changes. Nick Chubb, all reports are that he could be the starter for the this team to start the season, but also all reports are that he still looks completely washed. He's got no juice. Dameon Pierce has never made an impact on this team past his rookie season. So, Woody Marks could have a role in this offense earlier than anyone is anticipating, and I do believe he'll have a role out of the backfield as a receiving threat from day one. If this is a team that is not going to have a good offensive line, is not going to have a bunch of weapons they can trust outside of Nico Collins, then why wouldn't they try and emulate the run game through the ground to pass to the running backs?
Woody Marks was one of the best receiving running backs in college football over the past five years. In fact, he is the Mississippi State record holder for receptions. Not, not just for running backs, for any player ever. Wide receivers, too. 214 receptions in his career at Mississippi State. Over 1,250 receiving yards by a running back and the holder for consecutive games with a catch at 45. And his career stats are just insane. 257 career receptions, over 1,500 yards. I mean, the kid ran a receiving route on 84.8% of his snaps in 2024 at USC. And after the draft, according to Jonathan Alexander, who's a Houston beat reporter, Coach Ryans agreed that he loves his ability, his flexibility, his utilization out of the backfield.
And let's be real, last year, think about it. When this team didn't have, uh, Joe Mixon, when Joe Mixon wasn't on the field, when he wasn't available, who were they using in their backfield? It wasn't a big bruiser like Dameon Pierce. They were preferring to use the satellite back like the Darell Williams. Darell had a higher utilization rate last year than the Dameon Pierces. So, Woody Marks could be set up for success in Houston, and he might be a freebie that could be starting for the Texans earlier than later.
All right, let's go to Chicago. Talking about Kyle Manongi. Clearly, we're all on the same page. This is DeAndre Swift's backfield to start the season. However, DeAndre Swift, it has to be said, was awful in recent years. Last year, for example, there were 46 running backs in the league with 100 rushing attempts. He ranked 39th in PFF grade, 39th in yards per attempt, 44th in yards after contact per attempt, uh, 42nd in elusive rating.
Now, look, just because DeAndre Swift was bad last year and a bad offense, that doesn't mean Kyle Manongi is automatically going to be better. But if this offense, which by the way, we've already seen Ben Johnson move on from DeAndre Swift once, if they want to move on from him again, Kyongi is one of those running backs that is the shiny new rookie that is a little bit of an unknown mystery box. We've all, uh, you know, talked about how good running backs are with Ben Johnson, but did you know he's had two running backs finish top 24 in each of the last three seasons in Detroit? Now, it doesn't mean it's copy and paste from one, you know, city to the next, but in 2022 it was Jamaal Williams, DeAndre Swift, and then in 2023 and 2024 it was Gibbs and Montgomery. Why can't Kyle Manonga get on that action if they run a split backfield? I mean, he had some pretty damn good years in a Big Ten, uh, you know, environment at Rutgers. We saw back-to-back years over 1,500 rushing yards on five yards per carry. Back-to-back years averaging 97-plus rushing yards per game. Why can't Kyle get in there in an ambiguous backfield that might be a better offense, better offensive line?
Okay, one more running back before we jump to wide receivers here is Olly Gordon. I want to be completely transparent on this channel at every moment I possibly can. I was not a big fan of Olly Gordon coming out of college. I just, I, I really wasn't. However, Jaylen Wright is leaving the door wide open for the running back two spot in Miami. We know how valuable that running back spot in Miami has been with Mike McDaniel. But Jaylen Wright this preseason, 13 touches, 19 yards. Meanwhile, Olly Gordon, 21 touches, 131 yards. And by the way, that's not just the preseason. All last year as a backup running back, Jaylen Wright was awful. He was 63rd in yards per carry as a backup running back as a refreshing, you know, supposed to be fresh legs type of guy. And after Devin Achane, there's very little depth in Miami. Like there's no more Raheem Mostert on this team. There's no more Jeff Wilson. And right now, we're already dealing with a Devin Achane injury. If his injury gets worse or more injuries occur, why can't Olly Gordon be the guy to back up Devin Achane? You could pick him up for free right now.
Ollie Gordon had a really special year at Oklahoma State back in 2023. So why can't he be the backup, uh, for Devin Achane? 1,700 yards that year, six yards per carry, completely fell off the next season, but I don't want to completely discount him, uh, as a potential RB2 in a what could be a valuable backfield.
Okay, so we're going to jump to wide receivers, but just before we do, uh, a lot of you guys may have already finished your drafts. Some of you might be jumping into them, but I don't want you to raw dog your drafts. All right? I want you to be prepared for your fantasy football season. And there's no better way to prepare than with the 2025 Season Pass on the Flock Fantasy website. It is $34 for the entire year. That's about $180 per week for the rest of the NFL season. You're going to get season-long access to my in-season weekly rankings, rest of season rankings, all the premium tools on the on the Flock site. You're going to get vouchers where you can ask me questions on our live streams. You're going to get access to my draft guide and the ability to enter live land community leagues. So definitely check out the pin comment so you're ready to go this fantasy season.
Okay, let's jump into wide receivers here. I gotta be honest with you guys. The first name we're going to talk about here at wide receiver, this is probably my favorite free pickup in fantasy football right now. And the upside is truly there. Let me convince you. A.J. Brown. Now, my video editor is going to love this. He's a big A.J. Brown guy, but A.J. has shown some real flashes to begin his Titans career. I know it's only the preseason, and that doesn't really always mean that much, but here's the deal. Preseason week two, no Calvin Ridley or Treylon Burks, fair enough, right? But he was dominant, and Cam Ward was the starting quarterback for the team, uh, first team in week two preseason. In that span, A.J. Brown, first-team action, 92% snap percentage, 88% routes run, and a 57% target share, four out of seven targets from Cam Ward in the first team in preseason week two. That doesn't mean that that's going to carry on into the season, but it is a great sign that early on in his career, they're giving him a little, and he's doing a lot.
And let's be real, this wide receiver room, guys, in Tennessee is primed for someone to step up. They are begging someone to step up in Tennessee. Calvin Ridley is the obvious wide receiver one. After that, 32-year-old Tyler Lockett, Van Jefferson, and a bunch of unproven names, a bunch of guys that could be working at your local Walmart. All right. And there's nothing wrong with working at your local Walmart, by the way. But if Cam Ward is going to be the next great quarterback, the next great rookie quarterback, this year's Jalen Daniels, Bo Nix, then betting on A.J. Brown for free could be a very good idea. What if you pick up A.J. Brown? He's the guy right with Calvin. Cam Ward is great, and that gives you flexibility to make trades with your roster. So, go pick him up for free. Don't overthink it.
Okay. I have been hesitant to acknowledge how valuable this player could be this year. He's one of the gross values, but is available in a lot of your leagues. Christian Kirk. He's not the hot young sexy name. And I will preface this take by saying I am a very big Jaxon Smith-Njigba guy. However, it's obvious at this point of the season that Christian Kirk is going to be the starting slot wide receiver for the Houston Texans. It's just fairly obvious when you look at the options they have in that wide receiver room, the way preseason has gone, joint practices, and the good news for Christian Kirk as Jaxon Smith-Njigba, but yes, Christian Kirk, uh, is that there are plenty, plenty of opportunities available for wide receivers in Houston.
So, look, if you look at our draft guide, you know, you become a season pass member with the promo code LAND and you jump into our draft guide, you see the vacated targets tool that we have. You won't see the Houston Texans top 10 for the wide receivers. However, you have to keep in mind that the vacated targets don't include Tank Dell's injury. He had 81 targets last year, uh, on just 14 games, and he's probably not going to play in 2025. So, in reality, if you add those 81 targets to the Texans' vacated targets, they have 175 vacated targets to wide receivers, which would be third best in the NFL. Plenty of room for Christian Kirk to come in there, have a role, to eat up some fantasy value. And remember, guys, this is the same team that last year, this time last year, everyone wanted one of the three Texans wide receivers in fantasy drafts because of C.J. Stroud. All of those guys, uh, Collins, Diggs, and Dell were being drafted as top 30 wide receivers, all off the board in round six or earlier. This year, it's Nico Collins as a first-round pick, then Higgins as wide receiver 53, and Kirk as wide receiver 55. So, I say that to say there could be value. Probably is with Kirk. It's not sexy, but it's there, and he could be a real flex for you. And I know that's crazy, but it's true.
All right, another wide receiver here. And this is all about the drum beat for Pop Douglas, DeMario Douglas, cuz the drum beat is loud. In fact, as I'm recording this video, I can hear from across the world. I can hear the drum beat for DeMario Douglas. Uh, okay, check it out. So, he's gotten love in joint practices, you know, the Patriots and Commanders joint practices. He's getting love from everyone on Twitter. He's also constantly getting love from his quarterback. Interviewed by K. Adams, The Dime, uh, you know, as we call her on this channel. Uh, and she told K. Adams, "You can't guard Pop Douglas in a phone booth," and talks about how he could be the next great breakout, uh, there in New England. And then even beats are high in New England on Pop Douglas. Taylor Kyles is the most recent one who said, "Pop Douglas has been the Patriots' best pass catcher, and it isn't close. He looks more comfortable than ever under Josh McDaniels, consistently getting open, catching everything thrown his way, and quickly becoming Drake May's top target." So again, if there is a Drake May breakout, if you think he could break out in year two, which we see a lot of great prospects do, uh, Pop Douglas could be a very relevant player. And let's be real, there's been a ton of slot wide receivers that have been great in New England over the years.
Okay, let's jump into tight end. I did draft this tight end in the Flock League, but it was my very last pick, and I think in a lot of your leagues, he's going to be completely free based off of ADP. That is Brenton Strange. Uh, here's the deal. The Jags have three incredible matchups in the first five weeks of their season. They have the Panthers in week one, the Bengals in week two, and the Chiefs in week five. Those matchups were incredible for tight ends in 2024. Of course, it doesn't always carry over from one season to the next because teams change. But, you know, Brenton Strange, the point is he could break out earlier than anticipated. Like, adding Brenton Strange right now, you'll probably find out pretty soon how important he is to this offense, and he's already shown flashes before as a startable tight end in fantasy football. In the last two seasons, without Evan Engram in the lineup, he averaged almost nine points per game. And one of those years he was a rookie, by the way, which is very rare you see these guys contribute outside the Laporta and the Bowers.
But here's the deal. In this offense in Jacksonville, there's a much bigger piece of the pie available. I know they brought in Travis Etienne, but both Evan Engram and Christian Kirk are gone from this offense. Evan is in Denver. Kirk is in Houston. Evan Engram was second on this team in targets, only played nine games, averaging 7.1 targets per game. Christian Kirk was sixth on the targets, only played eight games. He averaged about six targets per game. There could be a big role available for a tight end in what could be a very improved offense under Liam Cohen, who, by the way, last year Dalton Kincaid was a very, very relevant fantasy tight end, uh, for portions of the season. So, why not add Strange for free if he went late tight end and see what he could do after the first couple weeks?
Another tight end we want to talk about here, Mason Taylor. This shouldn't be a surprise if you guys have been watching my channel. We've been very much team Mason Taylor as like one of the last picks or a free pickup off the waiver wire this year. It's a pretty simple take. Aaron Glenn, he was a defensive coordinator for Detroit when Sam LaPorta had his, you know, historic rookie season. Finished as a tight end one as a rookie. But check this out. Jets new offensive coordinator, Tanner Engstrom. He also came from Detroit. In fact, he was crucial, uh, for the deployment of the passing game in Detroit. He was their, uh, tight ends coach and passing coordinator in 2022. And in 2023 and 2024, they're passing game coordinator, excuse me. So, he was very important in the small details like how do we get Sam LaPorta involved? And if you look at the depth chart in, uh, in New York with the Jets, I mean, they got to target someone outside of Garrett Wilson. And I know it's Justin Fields, but you could see Mason Taylor have an important role from day one. And if it adds to the hype, well, one of the greatest coaches of all time, Nick Saban, said it was their biggest mistake, uh, recruiting Alabama, not getting that guy.
Okay, let's jump into some streamers here. So, uh, let's say you already did your draft. In the Flock League, for example, we didn't make you draft a kicker or a defense, but you have to pick one up before week one. So, if you're looking to stream week one, uh, kickers and defenses, let's start with my favorite streaming kickers.
Starting off with Will himself, Will Lutz. He plays the Tennessee Titans. Last year, the Titans gave up 8.7 points per game, uh, to kickers, but Will Lutz is a part of a very good offense. That's what you really want to look for, uh, for a kicker. Be attached to a good offense, a lot of projected points, and ideally in a dome, but it doesn't have to be. Uh, Denver is facing Tennessee. They should be the favorites in that game with Bo Nix in that year, too. And Will Lutz could have a great, great game.
Second favorite streamer that week, Chase McLaughlin is in Atlanta, so it's in a dome. That's great. The Falcons gave up the sixth most points per game to kickers last year. And let's be honest, that NFC South, we're always seeing like these kickers have pretty big games. Uh, third favorite option for kickers, uh, in week one is Matt Gay versus the New York Giants. Matt Gay is a starting kicker for the Washington Commanders. So, it's a great offense that you're going to be a part of there. Uh, an elite offense, a lot would say, a lot of people would say, and anyone who played kicker for the Commanders last year was instantly like a top five stream every single week. So, I don't think many people are going to be prioritizing Matt Gay in drafts. You can pick him up for free.
All right, let's talk defenses. Uh, Cardinals are one of my favorite streamers in week one. They go to New Orleans. And the reality is the New Orleans offense is just a little bit shady right now. I think you can trust Alvin Kamara, but it's going to be a young quarterback starting for them. Is it, you know, Tyler Shough? Uh, you know, at the time of recording, they haven't announced it, but maybe it's Shough, maybe it's Rattler, but it could be a nightmare, and that could be great for Arizona's defense in week one.
My second favorite streamer, the Bengals at Cleveland. Last year, the Browns gave up the most points per game to defenses. Now, to be fair, that was with, uh, you know, Jameis Winston, but Joe Flacco is, is a, you know, a gunslinger. He's not afraid to throw the interception if he wants to make a throw. So, don't sleep on the Bengals defense. That's a great matchup. And then the Commanders versus the Giants. Again, we're going to target that matchup. The Giants gave up the third most points per game to defenses last year. That doesn't really mean anything. It's, it's not guaranteed to transfer from one year to the next, but the Commanders are a pretty good defense, and I think they could be improved with the draft picks in the offseason that they had there in, uh, Washington.
Now, look, uh, the season hasn't begun just yet. You can still draft if you've already finished your drafts. Like I finished a lot of mine, but I still got some to go. I'm filling a lot of my time with baseball, and I'm drafting on Fast Draft. Uh, in my latest best draft, I took some sleepers late like Dylan Samson and Jalen Blue just for some fun. I'm drafting on Fast Draft. Like I said, the Rabbit 15 rounds, start eight tournament, $10 entry, $50,000 prize pool. Uh, download the Fast Draft app. Use the promo code LAND. We're going to match your deposit up to $50. You're going to get $50 for free to play around with. And then when you finish your first contest, I'm going to send you my 2025 cheat sheet in case you haven't finished any drafts yet, you'll have my rankings to go out there and dominate your drafts.
But, you know, baseball, it's not going to replace your home league. All you've got to do is draft and let it ride. There's no commitment in season. So, if you love drafting like me, then download the app and then DM me if you do on Discord. I'd love to add you to a group chat, uh, where we're drafting together. But guys, I appreciate you watching the video. Do me a favor, hit that like button and show some love. Subscribe if you like the content. And I'm going to see you guys in the next video. Let me know if you like this content.
All right, last thing I'll say. Let me know if you like this content. Do you want to see more, uh, before week one type of content like, you know, trade ideas, waiver wire pickups, etc. Um, you know, 'cause I feel like a lot of us are kind of getting into the draft season. So, I want to prepare you for week one. Let me know what you're looking for, and I'll see you in the next video. Nothing but love.
Draft with me every night this offseason on the Fast Draft app where there are over $250,000 in prizes waiting to be won. Getting started is easy. Download the Fast Draft app. Use the promo code LAND at signup to get your deposit match up to $50. That is 10 free drafts on us. And when you finish your first real money contest, I'll send you my 2025 rookie report and season rankings completely free. Check out the link in the pin comment to start drafting today.