Week 1 Waiver Wire Rankings - Fantasy Football Pickups Include Brian Thomas Jr., Rico Dowdle, Jaleel McLaughlin, Bucky Irving, Greg Dortch, Jaylen Wright

Fantasy football waiver wire rankings for Week 1 of the 2024 NFL season. Top free agent options to add off waivers, and our rankings will help you prioritize.

Welcome RotoBallers to the 2024 fantasy football season! Once fantasy football drafts have been completed, it's time to start looking at ways to improve your rosters through the waiver wire. We kick off our series of waiver wire articles with our Week 1 fantasy football waiver wire rankings for 2024 to help you make the right moves this week on the waiver wire.

The Week 1 waiver wire is pretty loaded, as there should be plenty of options to tweak fantasy football rosters. Now is a perfect time to start looking at your league's waiver wire, and we're here to help you analyze the recent news and trends. Will Brian Thomas Jr. break out in his rookie season? Is Rico Dowdle going to receive more touches out of the Cowboys' backfield than Ezekiel Elliott? Which wide receiver from Green Bay is still available in free agency that could potentially lead the Packers in receiving?

Our waiver wire rankings will help answer these questions -- they've been a staple in the fantasy industry for years, providing a quick-hit list of player names that goes deep into the free agent options each week. For those unfamiliar, one of the industry's sharpest fantasy football minds, Nick Mariano, brings you his weekly waiver wire rankings and priority adds for the top 60 potential options.

Editor's Note: Stay on top of your draft prep with RotoBaller’s fantasy football rankings, featuring expert analysis, ADPs, and draft insights for both PPR and non-PPR leagues.

Week 1 Waiver Wire Articles

Before diving into the Week 1 rankings, let's look at some other free waiver wire resources available at RotoBaller, which are coming soon.

Each week, our NFL team puts out a complete array of fantasy football waiver wire articles to compliment our slick new Who Should I Pickup? Waiver wire player comparison tool. Bookmark it!

In addition, be on the lookout for our other waiver wire articles all season long. We will be releasing weekly waiver wire articles for each position, FAAB bidding recommendations, streamers and more. Stay tuned!

Who To Pickup for Fantasy Football Week 1?

Finally, below, you'll see our weekly rankings for the relevant waiver wire pickup options, including how to prioritize them for your league (depending on the league size). Quarterbacks and Defenses (D/ST) are grouped together at the bottom of the list:

Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Outlooks

Some of the top names include Brian Thomas Jr., Rico Dowdle, Jaleel McLaughlin, Bucky Irving, and Greg Dortch. We recap why these players rostered under 55% in Yahoo! leagues should be on your radar when scrolling through the waiver wire for Week 1:

Brian Thomas Jr., WR, Jacksonville Jaguars (60% Rostered)
Week 1 Waiver Wire Rankings: 1

LSU WR Brian Thomas Jr. landed in a potentially great spot with the Jacksonville Jaguars at No. 23 in the 2024 NFL Draft. The team doesn't have a clear-cut alpha WR1 in their offense, and QB Trevor Lawrence still has plenty of untapped superstar potential. The problem out of the gate? The Jaguars offense is currently very crowded for targets with RB Travis Etienne, WR Christian Kirk, WR Gabe Davis, and TE Evan Engram.

Thomas blew the doors off of college football last fall, playing opposite of star WR Malik Nabers. Thomas finished with 60 receptions for 1,079 yards and 15 TDs. He is an athletic freak who showed up at the NFL Combine and has the potential to dominate opposing DBs; however, Thomas is still developing as a route runner and has mostly won in college on go-routes. He is a solid long-term dynasty asset, but expectations should be tempered in Year 1.

Rico Dowdle, RB, Dallas Cowboys (39% Rostered)
Week 1 Waiver Wire Rankings: 3

There was speculation the Dallas Cowboys might roll with Rico Dowdle as their RB1 heading into the 2024 season. However, it seems likely he'll play second fiddle to Ezekiel Elliott with the news that Dallas re-signed Zeke to a one-year deal after his one-year stint with the New England Patriots. Dowdle currently projects as a change-of-pace option in a potent Cowboys offense, which might be a good thing.

He'll have a solid chance to take over the lead role if Elliott falters, and while once a fantasy stalwart, Zeke has seen his production decline in recent years, having yet to clear four yards per carry since 2021. Dowdle's current price – Yahoo RB46, #130 overall – makes him at draft value, especially given RotoBaller's ranking of RB39. At this point in the draft, we're looking for upside, and Dowdle fits nicely into this bucket.

With Elliott’s skill set regressing, it would be no surprise to see Dowdle take on more work than expected, and when given the opportunity in 2023, he proved to be an explosive playmaker. Now, with the Tennessee Titans, Tony Pollard had his best seasons as the former backup to Elliot, and Dowdle certainly profiles like the former.

Jaleel McLaughlin, RB, Denver Broncos (23% Rostered)
Week 1 Waiver Wire Rankings: 13

As a rookie, Jaleel McLaughlin totaled 570 yards on just 107 touches. His efficiency metrics were off the charts. Per PlayerProfiler, he ranked 4th among running backs in true yards per carry (5.1), 6th in juke rate (25.2%), and 6th in yards created per touch (4.42). His 0.95 fantasy points per opportunity ranked 9th among running backs. When the undrafted rookie out of Youngstown State touched the ball, he was electric.

However, even in games Javonte Williams didn't play or left early, McLaughlin averaged just 11.5 opportunities on a 33% snap share. He produced 18.7 PPR points per game in those two games, though, as he found paydirt in both games. Again, he's got the ability to put up fantasy points in a hurry, but he never played more than 28% of the snaps in games. Williams was a full-go. At just 5'7", 187 lbs, McLaughlin may never be more than a change-of-pace type back.

That feels even more likely now that the Broncos took Notre Dame running back Audric Estime in the 5th round of the 2024 NFL Draft. At 5'11", 227 lbs, Estime is built more like Javonte Williams and could be called upon to shoulder the load should anything happen to Williams.

In that case, McLaughlin would continue as that change-of-pace back in Sean Payton's offense. However, just like in 2023, he could have some spike weeks. Because of his hyper-efficiency, he's one of those running backs you'll want to have stashed on your roster just in case.

Bucky Irving, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9% Rostered)
Week 1 Waiver Wire Rankings: 22

Bucky Irving went to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft after a disappointing NFL Combine lowered expectations. He posted particularly poor vertical and broad jump metrics, but his body of collegiate work and fit within Tampa's scheme provide hope. Not only did Irving top 1,000 rushing yards in both of his Oregon years after transferring from Minnesota, but he also caught a whopping 56 passes in 2023 alone.

The Bucs saw Rachaad White tally 50 or more receptions in back-to-back seasons, though he's yet to average over 3.7 yards per carry in a year. Some of that is on the O-Line, but results matter. Meanwhile, Irving had a 6.8 YPC in 2022 and a 6.3 mark in '23. The NFL will demand more of Irving's power and elusiveness but the environment is there for a versatile back by proving more efficient than White, whose value is built on volume. Irving is RotoBaller's RB54 in half-PPR ranks and the No. 55 RB in early half-PPR ADP, making him a healthy sleeper option in the late rounds.

Greg Dortch, WR, Arizona Cardinals (3% Rostered)
Week 1 Waiver Wire Rankings: 14

Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Greg Dortch barely played in the first half of the 2023 season but saw his snap counts rise toward 75% from Week 11 on. The opportunity arose due to Michael Wilson (shoulder) and Marquise Brown (heel) missing time, which saw Dortch top 11 PPR points in four games between Weeks 11-17.

Kyler Murray returned from his torn ACL in Week 10 and showed chemistry with Dortch, who also had over 13 PPR points in four games out of five where he exceeded a 70% snap share in 2022. But he was mostly pushed to the bench in favor of Rondale Moore, who is now in Atlanta.

Dortch has performed well when given starting reps and has a leg up on the slot role entering this season. But Marvin Harrison Jr. and Trey McBride are likely target alphas so volume is no sure thing, but Dortch's RotoBaller rank and PPR ADP are around WR67, making him a low-cost late dart in deeper drafts, especially with the five-game suspension of Zay Jones.

Running Backs - Week 1 Waiver Wire Rankings

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Wide Receivers - Week 1 Waiver Wire Rankings

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Tight Ends - Week 1 Waiver Wire Rankings

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Quarterbacks - Week 1 Waiver Wire Rankings

Pickups are in priority order, with emphasis on Week 1:

Defenses (D/ST) - Week 1 Waiver Wire Rankings

Pickups are in priority order, with emphasis on Week 1:

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