Week 1 is here! And while it seems all sunshine and rainbows as we embark on another Championship winning, fantasy football season, some of us are less fortunate. The injury bug has hit hard already, leaving many of us out in the rain when looking to replace pieces and start off our seasons with a W. In this piece, I’ll highlight some waiver wire adds to start in week one from every position.

*All rosters percentages drawn from Yahoo Fantasy Football.

Fantasy Football Quarterback

Tyrod Taylor vs. JAC – 3% Rostered in Yahoo Leagues

Jacksonville will be a defense to target in most streaming situations this year, and week 1 is no exception.

Sure, you wouldn’t have seen him in our 2021 Must Have piece, but Tyrod Taylor has been anointed as the starting quarterback for the Houston Texans. Sure, it ain’t pretty, but he will be a serviceable spot start for gamers in week 1. Two of the main things we covet for Quarterbacks in fantasy football are ball security, and rushing floor and Tyrod provides that.

In 43 games started for the Buffalo Bills from 2015-2017, Taylor averaged just over 5 interceptions per season and averaged almost 40 yards rushing per game. Now with a Houston Texans team bereft of playmakers, Taylor will need these traits to be on full display for this team to realize any success.

In those 43 starts with Buffalo Tyrod finished as a top 12 QB option in 19 games and only finished outside the top 24 on 6 occasions, so if you’re feeling down and out, the safety of Tyrod is what it’s all about. Start him with confidence to kickoff your fantasy season right!

Honourable Mention: Sam Darnold vs. NYJ – 14% Rostered

 

Fantasy Football Running Back

Carlos Hyde @ HOU – 17% Rostered in Yahoo Leagues

Gone are the days of Carlos Hyde being a questionable RB2 in fantasy circles, but now is the time, maybe the only time, when you can get a spot start out of the journeyman Running Back.

James Robinson is the clear-cut starter for the Jaguars after Travis Etienne’s season-ending injury, but we can’t lose sight of the fact that there will be second fiddle in this run game. Former college coach Urban Meyer brought Hyde in as the trusted veteran for a young Jacksonville squad, and while the signing of Duke Johnson is a bit worrisome down the road, I would still pencil Hyde in as the aforementioned second fiddle at this point.

The upside here only amounts to about 8-12 carries, but in what we expect to be a very run-heavy offense with a rookie Quarterback, that kind of volume should be a given with anything more acting as the cherry on top. Against a putrid Houston defense who gave up rushing work like it was going out of style in 2020, I think there’s a good chance Hyde punches in a touchdown this week and fulfills this spot start prophecy.

Honourable Mention: Malcolm Brown @ NE – 13% Rostered

Fantasy Football Wide Receiver

Desean Jackson vs. CHI – 3% Rostered

Jackson’s return to California, where he grew up and played college ball, is less a farewell tour than it is a potential firework show. Unless Van Jefferson and Tutu Atwell become perimeter Receivers overnight, Jackson should get every chance to provide the element of explosion this Rams offense is searching for. The old man can still flash that patented speed and get open behind a defense, and when you factor that into a Sean McVay offense with Matt Stafford’s arm throwing the ball, we could very well see the boom/bust production of yore for D-Jax.

Against a Chicago defense that’s experienced some churn in the defensive backfield vs. the group they fielded last year, there should be some deep shots dialed up. For a free asset that only needs one such deep shot to produce for fantasy, you could do worse than DeSean Jackson as a spot start.

Honourable Mention: Sammy Watkins  @ LV – 9% Rostered

Fantasy Football Tight End

Tyler Kroft @ CAR – 1% Rostered

Sometimes dart throws can be fun. We stake claim to a less ballyhooed player and watch it play out as our JAG turns to a gem. This is not one of those instances. What this is, is an educated guesstimation that a player could see adequate volume at a position where the bar for adequate volume is very low. The faceless man Chris Herndon was recently traded to the Minnesota Vikings, opening up the starting Tight End job in New York for little-known Tyler Kroft.

New faces are aplenty in this Jets offense. None more important than Offensive coordinator Mike Lafleur. Lafleur has seen Tight End production at each of his previous stops, most recently in San Francisco under the tutelage of Kyle Shanahan. What that means for Tyler Kroft is that there is potential for creativity in a scheme that should result in some spiked weeks throughout the season. With the rest of the new faces in town, this team will be looking to define roles at every level of the offense, and most importantly for Kroft, they’ll be searching for a big-bodied safety blanket who can soak up some red-zone targets. While he is by no means a sexy option, Kroft has the ability to be a backend TE1 in any given week and if you’re diving this far into the depths to look for a replacement, he just might be the best of the bunch.

Honourable Mention: Jack Doyle vs. SEA – 1% Rostered