5 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Stashes to Add NOW Before Week 2 (Ep. 2205)
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
14 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Sep 19, 2026
Published
Sat, September 19, 2026
5
Player insights
5
Players mentioned
Topics
Antonio WilliamsDemarcus RobinsonDemond ClaiborneMack HollinsTerrance Ferguson
Player analysis
Player insights
Antonio Williams
PositiveSleeper0:57
Despite limited Week 1 usage (11 routes, 38 dropbacks), Williams was highly efficient, catching all four targets for 64 yards and a score. He was targeted on 36% of his routes, the ninth-highest rate among wide receivers with at least 10 routes. The source views him as a savvy route technician and a long-term stash who could earn a full-time role as the season progresses.
Insight pageDemarcus Robinson
PositiveRole8:19
Following Deshaun Stribling's 10-week injury, Robinson is the 49ers' WR3. He recorded a 77% route share after Stribling exited in Week 1. The source highlights his potential to become the de facto WR2 if Mike Evans or Deebo Samuel miss time, noting his history of production in high-powered offenses.
Insight pageDemond Claiborne
PositiveSleeper10:45
With Jordan Mason on IR, Claiborne is a high-upside stash in a thin Vikings backfield. The source notes concerns about Aaron Jones' durability and workload, suggesting Claiborne could emerge as the primary backup or a change-of-pace option. Claiborne is preferred over DJ Dallas due to his 4.37 speed and contact balance.
Insight pageMack Hollins
PositiveRole5:04
With AJ Brown on IR, Hollins is a viable stash. In Week 1, he led all Patriots wide receivers with 50 snaps. The source notes that Hollins has a proven track record of being a full-time player, citing his 19% target share and top-25 air yards ranking during a nine-game stretch last season.
Insight pageTerrance Ferguson
PositiveBreakout15:00
Despite a Week 1 goose egg, Ferguson is a recommended stash due to his 73% first-half route share and the Rams' heavy usage of 13 personnel. The source emphasizes his potential as a downfield threat, noting his 18.3 aDOT last season was the highest for any tight end with 25+ targets in recorded history.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
0:00This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human. Call 1-800-GRANGER, click Grainger.com or stop by.
0:04Grainger, for the ones who get it done. Yes, we are back to make sure you are the smartest fantasy football manager in your league.
0:12The one that stays two to three moves ahead of their league mates on the waiver wire.
0:18Last week in this very video, we talked about Caleb Douglas, Devon Vele, and now they became top waiver wire ads at the start of Week 2.
0:26I'm Lucas Wentzel here at Fantasy Pros, bringing you my top five waiver wire stashes ahead of Week 2 and next week's waiver run as well.
0:35Before we dive on into this week's players though, we've got a special deal going on for you all, where you can
0:42get up to six months of FantasyPros Premium for free.
0:45Just head to FantasyPros.com slash premium, click Go Premium for free, choose Polymarket or one of our partner sportsbooks, make a deposit, and complete your first paid contest.
0:54Again, that's FantasyPros.com slash premium, new users only, terms apply.
0:57The first player on our list this week is Washington Commanders wide receiver Antonio Williams, who is rostered in 21% of leagues.
1:04Williams was the highest scoring Commanders wide receiver in Week 1, catching all four of his targets for 64 yards and a score.
1:11What's important to consider here though, is that his 16.4 fantasy points came on the fourth fewest snaps of Commanders wide receivers
1:18and only running 11 routes on 38 dropbacks. Amy Brown actually played 12 more snaps and ran 11 more routes than Williams
1:25did on Sunday, but that's a narrative I actually think starts to flip relatively quickly.
1:30Now, 11 targets or 11 routes, excuse me, and four targets don't sound like compelling numbers for Williams, but the other route
1:37reality you do have to consider here is that those numbers mean Williams was targeted on 36% of his routes of all
1:44wide receivers who ran at least 10 routes in Week 1.
1:48That was the ninth highest rate on the week.
1:51He also gained a first down on all four of his receptions, and it's actually remarkable stuff on limited participation for Williams in Week 1.
1:59Before the Stefan Diggs signing, Antonio Williams was a player I thought could actually make some noise in fantasy football for the Commanders this year.
2:07His skill set fit perfectly into what they needed, right?
2:10He's a savvy route technician. He's great at working over the middle of the field and finding holes in zone coverage.
2:16But if you think this is just like a flash in the pan, I would argue players like Antonio Williams are the
2:24players you should be looking to stash this early in the season.
2:27Rookies typically peak over the back half of the season and potentially bring you home fantasy football championships.
2:33Now, you're probably thinking that only applies to guys like Justin Jefferson, Malik neighbors, the elite tier players, but go back and
2:40look at guys like Elijah Moore, who averaged 20 points per game from Week 9 on in his 2021 rookie season.
2:47Both Tank Dell and Jaden Reed averaged 16 plus points per game in 2023 during that same span.
2:53We're not asking Antonio Williams to pay immediate dividends for our fantasy teams.
2:57We're stashing him to see if his impressive week one continues to earn him a full time role so that you could
3:04potentially have a league winner down the stretch. The second player on our list this week is New England Patriots wide receiver
3:11Mac Hollins, who was rostered in 13% of leagues.
3:14And if you just let out a disgruntled sigh or massively rolled your eyes, look, I get it because Mac Hollins is
3:21like that promotional coffee tumbler that you got for free in the back of your cupboard, right?
3:26You never use it on a daily basis, but you can't get rid of it either because eventually it is going to come in handy.
3:34Now that AJ Brown is on IR, that's exactly the case that we're looking at here for Mac Hollins.
3:40Four catches on five targets or 41 yards really isn't that impressive, but it's also not nothing.
3:45His 50 snaps were the most of any Patriots wide receiver in Week 1.
3:50He still out targeted Romeo Dobbs despite running seven less routes than him.
3:54And there's already proof that Hollins can be a full time player moving forward while AJ Brown nurses his high ankle sprain back to health.
4:02Go back to last season, take a look from from Week 7 on.
4:06Mac Hollins played 65% of snaps in all nine contests and played at least 75% of snaps in six of those.
4:13And not only was Hollins on the field, but he was earning targets during that span as well.
4:19He earned a 19% target share while drawing six plus targets in five of those nine games.
4:24He was top 25 in total air yards during that stretch.
4:28He gave you four games with double digit fantasy points as well.
4:31Now I understand you have Romeo Dobbs in the picture now, right?
4:35But keep in mind, both Stefan Diggs and Keishon Boutte were members of the New England Patriots during that nine game stretch last year.
4:43Neither of them are on the team anymore. So based on his Week 1 usage and proof from last season that the
4:50Patriots do find value in utilizing Mac Hollins, I'm tossing him at the end of my bench to see what comes of his Week 2 role and beyond.
4:59Third up on our list this week is San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Demarcus Robinson, who is rostered in 7% of leagues.
5:06It pains me to remind you that everyone's preseason darling Deshaun Stribling is going to miss at least 10 weeks.
5:12But that means the 32 year old vet steps in as the 49ers wide receiver three behind Mike Evans and Debo Samuel.
5:19After Stribling exited against the Rams in Australia, Robinson caught two of his three targets for 50 yards and a score on
5:26route to 13 fantasy points on the week. Now, I understand that's not a monster stat line to any extent, but maybe
5:33the more important metric to track is that per JJ Zacharyson, Demarcus Robinson led the 49ers with a 77% route share after Stribling left the game.
5:42And let's not pretend that the 49ers boast exactly the cleanest bill of health either, right?
5:47They've notoriously been one of the most nicked up teams in recent history.
5:51Mike Evans is dealing with multiple injuries throughout the entire preseason.
5:54Debo Samuel has mostly stayed on the field the last two years, but he hasn't been immune to soft tissue lower body injuries in the past either.
6:03So not only is this stash for an immediate role upgrade in the offense, but there could still be weeks where something
6:10happens to a Mike Evans or a Debo Samuel and all of a sudden, well, now you're looking at Demarcus Robinson as
6:17the de facto wide receiver two in this offense that has turned vets into weekly studs in the past.
6:23Think Juwan Jennings. Obviously you got Kendrick Bourne in 2025.
6:26He posted back-to-back 142 yard games. Shoot. Demarcus Robinson himself last season went for 111 yards and a score on six receptions in the wildcard round.
6:34Plain and simple. You just want pieces of this 49ers pass attack.
6:38They look lethal in week one and Robinson should absolutely be stashed in the majority of leagues with the Sean Stribling out.
6:45The fourth player that comes in on our list this week is Minnesota Vikings running back to Mont Claiborne, who is rostered in 7% of leagues.
6:54Jordan Mason has landed on IR. He'll miss at least the next four games, if not more.
6:59And I think at least one other Vikings running back will get opportunity behind Aaron Jones because here's the reality.
7:05All off season, the beat reporters out of Minnesota were murmuring that Aaron Jones just hits a wall after 150 touches at this point in his career.
7:14And you can't ignore the fact that Aaron Jones has missed at least five games in two of his past three seasons.
7:21So there's two lines of thought here about how we get value out of the Mont Claiborne.
7:26First, Aaron Jones gets, you know, 15 to 18 touches per game, let's say.
7:31And then Mont Claiborne and DJ Dallas fight for who is the next man up behind him.
7:36I would personally pick the Mont Claiborne between the two, right?
7:40The rookie out of Wake Forest. He's got clear 437 breakaway speed.
7:44He's got a great feel for his own blocking.
7:47He's got solid contact balance as well. Now, DJ Dallas, well, he's on his fourth team in the last three seasons, probably for a reason.
7:55And this is a good opportunity to see what the Vikings actually have in their rookie running back without making him the feature back, right?
8:02The second path forward, though, is let's say KOC does decide to run the brakes off of Aaron Jones at 31 years old.
8:10My guess is that Aaron Jones won't make it a full season if they burn 80 to 90 of his 150 touches
8:17over the next four to six weeks, let's say.
8:20So once Jordan Mason is back, he operates as a lead back, and then you can still get some squeeze out of
8:27DeMond Claiborne as a change of pace back filtering him into the receiving game as well, assuming Aaron Jones would miss some time down the stretch.
8:35Then all I'm trying to say here is that you can find the upside for DeMond Claiborne in a multitude of ways.
8:42And I didn't even mention the possibility of Aaron Jones getting hurt while Jordan Mason is out because that would then really
8:49boost the value of DeMond Claiborne in what is a very, very thin Vikings backfield right now.
8:54So get DeMond Claiborne stashed now, especially if he is out there in your deeper leagues.
9:00And the last player on our list this week is Los Angeles Rams tight end Terrence Ferguson, who was rostered in 13% of leagues.
9:07I'm not throwing in the towel yet after a goose egg from Terrence Ferguson week one, because I don't want to overreact
9:14to an offense that clearly looked like they took a 16 hour, 7,500 mile flight less than two days before kickoff.
9:21So here's the positives we can at least pull away for Terrence Ferguson after week one.
9:26He had a 73% route share in the first half and ran more routes than any other Rams tight end.
9:32The Rams still ran a ton of 13 personnel in week one, 36% of the time they were in 13 personnel.
9:39The bills actually topped them at 40%, but no other team in the league lined up in 13 personnel more than 18%
9:46of the time, three tight ends on the field.
9:49And you did see T Ferg actually occasionally as a solo tight end in 11 personnel as well.
9:55Now, because I do also care about transparency. I fully realize his route share plummeted to 22% in the second half.
10:01That's not great, but the Rams passing attack also didn't look great in the second half, which is why I'm still willing
10:08to exercise a bit more patience here on the potential Terrence Ferguson breakout.
10:13All the buzz this off season, right? Is that Terrence Ferguson's route tree was going to expand.
10:18He was going to operate as more of a pseudo wide receiver for this team as their potential downfield option.
10:24His average depth of target last season, 18.3 yards per fantasy points data.
10:29That's the highest of any tight end with 25 plus targets in their recorded history.
10:33So with how starved we are as fantasy football managers, uh, for tight end options, I'm willing to chase the potential ceiling
10:40here for Ferguson, because if he does hit in the Rams offense, nobody, nobody will be able to shut up about him
10:47and it'll be too late at that point to snag them off the waiver wire.
10:52So if you roster him now, the breakout happens, everyone's going to be looking at you as the smartest fantasy manager later.
10:59And there you have it. My top five waiver wire stashes ahead of week to go sprint to your waiver wire right now.
11:06Quick, just to make sure that none of these guys are still available.
11:11They're all rostered in less than 30% of leagues.
11:13So there's a good chance you may be able to find a few of them on your waiver wire.
11:20But before we sign off here, remember we do have a special deal going on for you all where you can get
11:27up to six months of fantasy pros premium for free.
11:30Just head to fantasy pros.com slash premium, click go premium for free, choose Polymarket or one of our partner sports books, make
11:37a deposit and complete your first paid contest. Again, that's fantasy pros.com slash premium new users only terms apply.
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