Another weird, crazy week, but unlike Week 1, some of those studs you drafted early (Calvin Johnson, Dez Bryant, Marshawn Lynch) decided to show up for your team. Feels good, right?
But hey, enough patting yourself on the back. You gotta turn the page, son! It's time to focus on Week 3, and the six must have waiver pickups for your team.
DeAndre Hopkins
Finally! Finally, finally, finally. After years of suffering under the despotic reign of Kevin Walter, the Texans finally have an WR2 to line up opposite Andre Johnson.
DeAndre Hopkins is basically everything Walter isn't and never was; quick, athletic, and the kind of downfield threat that opponents have to account for. He's going to be inconsistent like any rookie will be, but his upside is WR3 when he's on and borderline Flex even when he's off.
Eddie Royal
Let it be known that I'm still very, very suspicious of him. The Eagles D is straight out of the Big 12 and Eddie Royal has been the epitome of boom-bust since his salad days back in Denver.
With that disclaimer said, the Chargers are playing some inspired ball - much, much better than anyone including myself expected - and with Malcom Floyd likely out for an extended period, Royal wins targets in SD simply by attrition. He'll be crazy inconsistent but if you get him in a good matchup, he's definitely startable.
Martellus Bennett
This sure is the year of the TE, isn't it? It used to be that if you didn't have a top-5 option at the position, you were better off just playing matchups on the waiver wire but that certainly is no longer the case. Even mid-tier guys like Brandon Myers and Owen Daniels are making strong arguments for holding bench spots as TE2 backups; unheard of just a few years ago.
Alshon Jeffrey hasn't panned out in Chicago as of yet and while it's true that Matt Forte is essentially their WR2, Jay Cutler clearly has some comfort with Bennett. He's athletic enough to be a difficult cover and if teams choose to double on Brandon Marshall - which they should - Bennett would certainly benefit from their largesse.
Carson Palmer
Okay. I'll admit it. I wrote this guy off of dead years ago.
His phoenix-like ascendance - see what I did there - has been impressive. Bruce Arians' offense plays directly to his talents, and with All-World Larry Fitzgerald and the underrated Michael Floyd on the bus as well, Palmer has more weapons in his arsenal than ever before, T.J. Houshmanzadeh not withstanding. I'm not a huge fan of carrying backup QBs, but in shootouts and in the right matchup, Carson Palmer could put up some serious points. All hail the return of Palmer, the once and future King of Garbage Time. (Although that's really now Eli's title, isn't it?)
Danny Woodhead
Now I'm writing this under the hope that you're in a competent league. Here's how you can tell: is Bernard Pierce available? Bryce Brown? Ben Tate? If they are, ignore the next paragraph and go pick them up instead.
Assuming your league is competent, Danny Woodhead is likely one of the few regularly-playing RBs still available on waivers. He's not startable right now and he won't be until Ryan Mathews gets injured, but it's worth taking notice of what Danny is bringing to the table in San Diego. He's the same guy he was under Belichick's offense - with roughly the same production, too - and he has very real value as a futures play and in big (>0.5) PPR leagues. Get him, stash him, and wait for Mathews to pull his Mr. Glass routine.
Note: you should also closely monitor Eddie Lacy. If he's out for any significant amount of time, get on James Starks for the week or two that he's the #1 in Green Bay.
Chris Givens
Hard to make sense of the Rams right now. Tavon Austin was likely the one that people drafted under the assumption that he'd be the WR1, but it's Chris Givens and Jared Cook who have been the top two targets for Sam Bradford through the first two weeks. With Daryl Richardson performing well and Sam Bradford slowing growing into something closer to league-average, the Rams are somewhat dynamic and provide some interesting options on the waiver wire.
Givens is worth a look as a long-term stash, particularly if you need a boom-bust player who is capable of going off with some deep balls. He's got a very favorable matchup two out of the next three weeks - Dallas and Jacksonville - and could also be used a buy-low, sell-high flip if some injuries befall WR on other rosters.
Maybe next week: James Starks, Sam Bradford, Kendall Wright, Nate Burleson
Better luck tomorrow: Charles Clay, Austin Pettis, Jason Snelling, Clay Harbor, Garrett Graham, Robert Woods