Week 1 Waiver Wire Rankings (2025) - Ollie Gordon, Joshua Palmer, Romeo Doubs, Woody Marks, Luther Burden, Chris Rodriguez, Dont'e Thornton, more

September 2, 2025

Fantasy football waiver wire rankings for Week 1 of the 2025 NFL season. Top free agent options to add off waivers, and our rankings will help you prioritize.

The 2025 fantasy football season is almost here RotoBallers! It's an exciting time, and after your drafts are completed it's always time to check the waiver wire for pickups. Below you'll find our first waiver wire article of the season -- our Week 1 fantasy football waiver wire rankings for 2025 to help guide you through the waiver wire and make sure you pickup the right players.

There are several players who still have low ownership percentages, and could make immediate fantasy impacts in 2025. Will Joshua Palmer (17%) make an impact in his first year on the Bills, and emerge as a primary receiving option? Will Ollie Gordon (14%) get enough touches to make him viable, and is he a must-stash with De'Von Achane nursing an injury? Will Chris Rodriguez be utilized enough in the rushing rotation to be a viable bench stash or FLEX option?

Our Week 1 fantasy football waiver wire rankings will help answer these questions and many more -- they've been a staple on RotoBaller for years, bringing readers a quick-hit list of the top 75 fantasy football player names to consider as free agent pickups. For those new to this articles series, RotoBaller's lead NFL analyst Nick Mariano brings you these waiver wire rankings in priority order. Good luck on waivers!

Who To Pickup for Fantasy Football Week 1?

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 Ollie Gordon, Joshua Palmer, Romeo Doubs, Woody Marks, Luther Burden, Chris Rodriguez, and Dont'e Thornton. We recap why these players rostered under 55% in Yahoo! leagues should be on your waiver wire radar for Week 1:

Joshua Palmer, WR, Buffalo Bills
Week 1 Waiver Wire Rankings: 12

After spending the first four years of his NFL career with the Los Angeles Chargers, Joshua Palmer signed a three-year, $36 million contract with the Buffalo Bills this offseason. Palmer's best year with Los Angeles was a 72-769-3 effort he put together during his sophomore season in 2022. Every other year, he failed to eclipse 40 receptions or 600 receiving yards.

Palmer now enters a very crowded Buffalo receiving room where he'll compete for targets with Khalil Shakir, Keon Coleman, and Dalton Kincaid. The Buffalo passing game adopted a "spread the wealth" approach last year. This is likely to continue in 2025 and probably means Palmer doesn't carry much fantasy value outside of being a bye-week filler. However, the team saw something in Palmer that they liked and made an investment in him during free agency. He also gets the luxury of playing alongside reigning NFL MVP Josh Allen.

If injuries strike the depth chart, Palmer could emerge as a viable WR3 or flex play. For now, though, fantasy gamers should feel comfortable leaving Palmer go undrafted in standard 12-team leagues. He's a good name to monitor during the first few weeks of the 2025 season.

Romeo Doubs, WR, Green Bay Packers
Week 1 Waiver Wire Rankings: 24

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Romeo Doubs dealt with concussions and an internal team suspension in 2024, ending the season with 46 receptions for 601 yards and four touchdowns. Doubs ranks 23rd in touchdown catches out of all receivers over the past three seasons, his first three in the league.

There is no question that he is a great red zone target for quarterback Jordan Love. Competition for targets will not look much different than it has in the past. The Packers drafted Matthew Golden in the first round, but Christian Watson (knee) will likely miss most of, if not all of, the 2025 season.

Doubs should remain the go-to target in the red zone, making him a viable fantasy option even if not the most consistent. Doubs currently goes off the board as WR70, basically free in drafts. His upside is worth taking a stab at the low cost.

Woody Marks, RB, Houston Texans
Week 1 Waiver Wire Rankings: 21

Houston Texans running back Woody Marks was selected in the fourth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, which is valuable enough draft capital to put him on the fantasy football radar as a rookie. Marks spent four seasons at Mississippi State before one season in Los Angeles with USC. He hauled in a whopping 261 receptions in 57 career games and had a career-high 83 catches in 2021.

His receiving skills give reason for optimism in PPR setups, but he was more than just a scat-back at the collegiate level. He accumulated 1,883 rushing yards overall and averaged 5.0 yards per carry, finding the end zone 22 times on the ground. Chubb is likely to be a shell of his former self after multiple major injuries. The 28-year-old Mixon, who is injured now, and missed three games last year, is highly likely to miss at least a few contests in 2025.

Whether Marks carves out a receiving role that gives him standalone value, or Mixon misses time, there is a clear path to fantasy relevance in 2025. Fantasy managers in deeper leagues should consider stashing Marks, and he's a solid best ball dart throw for potential spike weeks.

Luther Burden, WR, Chicago Bears
Week 1 Waiver Wire Rankings: 34

The Chicago Bears selected former Missouri wide receiver Luther Burden III with the 39th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Once considered a first-round talent, Burden's junior season was disappointing as he only recorded 676 receiving yards and six touchdowns.

His sophomore season was much more promising, as he went for 1,212 yards and nine touchdowns through the air. Burden is often compared to Washington Commanders receiver Deebo Samuel, and could take on an Amon-Ra St. Brown-esque role in first-year head coach Ben Johnson's offense.

However, Burden has to compete for touches with Rome Odunze and DJ Moore. He has also missed a significant amount of time in summer camps with a soft tissue injury, although he is expected to be ready for training camp. Burden is rightfully priced as the WR53, and could either boom or bust this season.

Running Backs - Week 1 Waiver Wire Rankings

Pickups are in priority order:

Wide Receivers - Week 1 Waiver Wire Rankings

Pickups are in priority order:

Tight Ends - Week 1 Waiver Wire Rankings

Pickups are in priority order:

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:

Week 1 Waiver Wire Articles

After diving into the Week 1 rankings, read about 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 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!

More Fantasy Football Analysis

Download Our Free News & Alerts Mobile App

Like what you see? Download our updated fantasy football app for iPhone and Android with 24x7 player news, injury alerts, rankings, starts/sits & more. All free!