Wide Receiver Waiver Wire Pickups - Week 1

September 5, 2019

Justin Carter's fantasy football wide receiver waiver wire pickups before Week 1 of the 2019 NFL season. These are free agent fantasy WRs to potentially add and stash.

The NFL season is almost here, as it kicks off on Thursday night when the Packers visit the Bears. For a lot of y'all, you've already finished your draft and you're probably sitting with a roster that you are increasingly unhappy with.

Here's a useful bit of information: You don't have to wait until Week 2 to make changes. In most leagues, you can either freely pick up players right now or you have a waiver run happening Tuesday night. Get the jump on your competitors and grab some guys who can help you win this season.

Not all options are the same. Some players may be better in PPR or deeper leagues, so it’s not a one-size-fits-all comparison. Use your best judgment when deciding which of these players is the right fit for your roster. Check here for a complete list of our Waiver Wire Adds for Week 1 for help at all the skill positions. All players on this list are around 30% owned or below.

WR Waiver Wire - Free Agents To Consider Adding

Kenny Stills, Houston Texans - 25% owned

Stills was traded to Houston on Saturday, which is either a good thing or a lateral move depending on your perspective. The good version: Stills goes from the NFL's worst offense to what should be one of the best. His speed and versatility will let him play inside and outside for Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson, and Stills should add another deep threat for a quarterback who likes to throw deep. Stills upside takes a big jump. The lateral version: Houston has DeAndre Hopkins and Will Fuller, plus they should get Keke Coutee (ankle) back soon. Can an NFL team sustain four fantasy-relevant receivers? Maybe not, but it's worth noting that the Dolphins probably couldn't sustain one, so at worst Stills is basically in the same situation he was already in.

Deebo Samuel, San Francisco 49ers - 20% owned

While Marquise Goodwin and Dante Pettis will get most of the fantasy, but with Jalen Hurd and Trent Taylor injured, we should see Samuel on the field a good amount, though maybe not as much as other number-three receivers, since the Niners used 11 personnel on a league-low 39 percent of plays last year. But Samuel's preseason showed him to be an explosive player with the ability to make major moves when he is on the field, so he's worth a grab if you're got an unexciting, low-upside receiver at the end of your bench.

Adam Humphries, Tennessee Titans - 15% owned

Humphries had a really good year for the Buccaneers last year, but moving to an undefined role with a Titans team that passes a lot less was rightly deemed to be bad for him. But Tennessee just traded Taywan Taylor to Cleveland, opening the slot job to be exclusively Humphries' this year. Maybe he won't have 76 catches for 816 yards and five scores again on a team that won't have as many available targets, but he can be a consistent producer in deeper PPR leagues.

Albert Wilson, Miami Dolphins - 5% owned

The Stills trade should open up more opportunities for Miami's best receiver. Nah, we're not talking about DaVante Parker. It's time to jump on the Albert Wilson hype train, as he'll now be on a field virtually all of the time and will finally get a real chance to shine. In seven games last year, Wilson put up some eye-catching per play numbers, including leading all wide receivers in fantasy points per passing route run and finishing third in yards per target. An increased workload will hurt his efficiency, but he's still the most talented receiver on this team and should be rostered in more than five percent of leagues.

Damion Willis, Cincinnati Bengals - 2% owned

While I'm not necessarily on board with any thinking that Willis is instantly a great option, he will open the year opposite Tyler Boyd as a starting receiver for the Bengals while A.J. Green is out. Because the Bengals have a new offensive-minded head coach for the first time in years in Zac Taylor, a starting wide receiver on the team should have some deep league fantasy value, especially when you consider that A.J. Green...well, do we really think he's going to be back by Week 3?

Jakobi Meyers, New England Patriots - 2% owned

The Patriots put N'Keal Harry on the IR and Demaryius Thomas is arguably over the hill. Josh Gordon is Josh Gordon, and with all these factors in mind, I've become convinced that Meyers is going to play a pretty important role in New England's passing attack. I think the fact that Julian Edelman and Phillip Dorsett are still here makes it tough for me to pick Meyers up in most league sizes, but if I've got a spare spot in a 14-teamer? Oh yeah. Give me the Jakobi Meyers shares.

D.J. Chark, Jacksonville Jaguars - 1% owned

Dede Westbrook is owned in over 90 percent of leagues, while no other Jaguars receiver tops three percent. The one who is at three percent, Marqise Lee, is expected to open the year as the fourth receiver, which leaves either second-year receiver D.J. Chark or former Chief Chris Conley in line to receive a big chunk of the targets in Jacksonville. Take your pick in terms of which one does it, but for now, I'm targeting Chark, who the Jaguars liked enough to spend a second-round pick on last season. Chark's rookie year was notable for just how absent he was from the offense, but expect him to take on a larger role this season.

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