If you play, you know fantasy roster tinkering doesn’t stop at the draft. Here are our suggested fantasy football Week 1 waiver wire pickups. Or skip straight to the release of our model’s complete opening-week projections.
A lot of fantasy managers are afraid to make a move before Week 1 due to stubbornness or fear of ridicule.
But making a move before games are played isn’t abandoning your draft. It’s getting a head start on the tinkering you’ll have to do all season to become a champion.
Maybe one of your players was hurt at the end of training camp, or someone on the waiver wire’s situation changed, or you just have buyer’s remorse on your last-round pick.
There’s nothing wrong with upgrading your roster this early, especially because there has been new information since your draft (provided you have drafted already).
Armed with that new information, here are the best waiver-wire targets for Week 1.
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RB Dylan Sampson, Cleveland Browns
The Browns aren’t going to be the kind of high-flying offense you’d associate with fantasy success, but they currently have plenty of opportunity in the backfield.
Quinshon Judkins still hasn’t signed his rookie contract and could be suspended by the league, leaving Jerome Ford as the presumed starter for the Browns. Ford is a good pickup as well if he’s available (he’s unavailable in most leagues).
That leaves Sampson, the rookie from Tennessee who was selected in the fourth round, as the RB1 in the offense. Sampson ran for 1,491 yards and 22 touchdowns in his third and final year in the SEC in 2024 and is certainly going to get chances right out of the gate.
He faces the Cincinnati Bengals, a team that allowed the eighth-most rushing yards per game in 2024 and figures to be one of the worst defenses in the league again in 2025. We have them ranked 19th against the run in our preseason team ratings.
If Sampson thrives early in the game, it’s not out of the question that he usurps the starting role from Ford right away. The Browns didn’t want to come into the season with Ford handling this heavy a workload, and, if Sampson shows he can be trusted, it would make sense to give him a lot of rushes and let Ford handle most of the passing-down work.
Sampson ranks as our RB24 in standard scoring and RB29 in PPR.
RB Ollie Gordon II, Miami Dolphins
If you’re searching the waiver wire, you either want a player who you can plug in right away or one who will have some long-term value.
Gordon currently falls into the second group, though he could easily be in the first group by the weekend. He’s projected as the RB40 in PPR, which would only make him worth playing in deeper leagues or by desperate teams who suffer another injury leading up to Week 1.
But it’s worth noting that De’Von Achane is projected as the RB1 in PPR and is dealing with a calf injury. He returned to practice and is set to start, but if he’s forced to miss the game, Gordon would likely see a lot of carries. Even if Achane does play in a reduced role, Gordon would likely be worth a Flex play against a Colts defense that allowed the fourth-most yards on the ground last year.
Long term, Gordon is a worthy pickup now that he’s the clear No. 2 back in Miami. He could work his way into valuable touches in the first few weeks and is a great handcuff in case of further injury complications for Achane.
WR Adam Thielen, Minnesota Vikings
Wide receiver is predictably light on the waiver wire in Week 1, so we’ll go with someone who has a lot of uncertainty surrounding him and hope it pays off.
Thielen, the again-Viking after catching passes from Bryce Young in Carolina in 2024, hasn’t been on his old/new team for very long, but he’s clearly the WR2 for Monday night’s contest against the Chicago Bears.
The Vikings had just two players with more than 500 receiving yards in 2024, and one of them, Jordan Addison, is suspended for the first three games of 2025. The other, Justin Jefferson, is dealing with a hamstring strain.
Jefferson should be fine, but any tweak during the game and the Vikings may opt to use him on fewer snaps.
Enter Thielen, who was brought over to get targets while Addison is sidelined. The Bears are banged up in the secondary with top cornerback Jaylon Johnson missing all of the preseason with a leg injury and top reserve Terrell Smith and rookie Zah Frazier already out for the season.
That means Thielen could find himself in favorable matchups Monday night. He projects as the WR37 in PPR and could be a whiff depending on game script, but desperate times call for desperate measures and the Week 1 WR waiver wire qualifies as desperate times.
As a bonus, Thielen playing Monday night means you can wait out any potential injuries on your roster before deploying him.
TE Zach Ertz, Washington Commanders
Most of what we have to say about Ertz was already said in the preseason, when we ranked him as a great value in fantasy drafts. If no one in your league listened to us (shame on you all), he could still be available on the waiver wire and makes for a solid add if you need a tight end.
Ertz is a safety blanket for quick-hitters in short-yardage situations for Jayden Daniels and might have to be utilized in that role more often against a game-wrecking New York Giants pass rush.
If Daniels doesn’t have time to get the ball down the field, that could benefit Ertz, particularly in PPR formats. He ranks as our TE8 there, making him worthy of a start.
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