10 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Targets Heading Into Week 2

Austin Ekeler, RB, Los Angeles Chargers

Yahoo Ownership Percentage: 16%

Melvin Gordon is still the workhorse for the Los Angeles Chargers, but Austin Ekeler appears poised to seize a Giovani Bernard-like role in this backfield. The undrafted free agent was ascending toward the latter half of last year before breaking his hand, and he hit the ground running in Week 1.

Ekeler earned five carries and five targets this past week. If he can get something close to that workload most weeks, he is a solid option to have as a fill-in in case of bye weeks or injuries. He also comes with the built-in upside of potentially assuming a lead role if Gordon misses any time due to injury.

Ekeler is an intriguing play as soon as next week. The Buffalo Bills allowed 30 touches to the Ravens' backfield committee of Alex Collins, Kenneth Dixon, and Javorius Allen in Week 1. This isn't a small sample size trend, either. Per Rich Hribar's Worksheet, Buffalo allowed a league-high 28.1 fantasy points to opposing backfields last year.