NFL Week 1 Waiver Wire Gems

Now that draft season is pretty much completed, we have turned our attention to our regular season matchups and the setting of our various lineups. The reality of fantasy football season is that there is always a set of players that slip through the cracks of all the sleeper projections and simply remain unclaimed on the waiver wire.  It is a growing trend in recent seasons that the players that get drafted late or not drafted at all are the ones who lead teams to championships.I have my list of three players that may be still available out on your waiver wire that you may wish to go grab before it is possibly too late.

• Ka’Deem Carey (RB-CHI)

Carey is currently just a backup running back on the Bears roster listed as Jeremy Langford’s primary backup, but the fantasy football world is drafting rookie Jordan Howard much more prominently than Carey. Looking at Carey’s stat lines last season, they are certainly unimpressive, but 1 thing that gets overlooked by fantasy owners when evaluating running backs, is that their pass protection capabilities will determine their overall playing time.  Howard being just a rookie whereas Carey being in his 3rd season may allow Carey to get the 1st opportunity to rise if Langford falters simply due to the coaching staff’s confidence Carey may be able to protect the QB on plays not involving him. Yes, those plays themselves may not involve Carey, but that added confidence may allow Carey on to the field for more opportunities.  The greater the opportunities allowed will allow for the greater the potential success.  Jeremy Langford had a problem last season catching passes as his drops were well noted.  Carey in his final 2 seasons with the Arizona Wildcats ran for 3,814 yards scoring 42 touchdowns on the ground while also catching 62 passes for 476 yards and 2 more touchdowns.  Those are video game stats and if he gains the opportunity, the potential for a breakout stud to carry your team may have been found.

• Adam Humphries (WR-TB)

Humphries’ name recognition has risen over the course of the preseason as he has won the 3rd WR position for the Bucs, but if you drafted before this success, he may still be available for you to pick up. Humphries will also be returning kicks this year, so if your league rewards return yardage or scoring, he may be a nice addition to your team.  He is currently behind Mike Evans and Vincent Jackson on the depth chart and Doug Martin will catch his own share of passes out of the backfield.  Humphries may benefit from his teammate’s dropping of passes over the season and if that happens, Jameis Winston may look for his sure hands on critical plays late in games for both 3rd down conversion attempts as well as some end zone targets if his teammates are covered.  His college career at Clemson was not a stat junkie’s dream by any means, but proved himself to be a consistent contributor to a Clemson offense as he caught 127 passes over his career and returned 69 punts. Among his list of accomplishments as a WR, he caught the last pass of the game twice to set up game winning FGs for Clemson that were made by Chandler Catanzaro. Humphries is definitely a flier selection at this point, and for me to suggest that he will be a superstar in 2016 will be ludicrous, but he could prove to be a satisfactory bye week filler when those bye weeks do sneak up on us as they always do.

• Jermaine Kearse (WR-SEA)

Kearse is the name no one mentions in the Seattle offense as we hear of Russell Wilson at QB to go along with Doug Baldwin & Tyler Lockett at the WR position. We also hear more about Christine Michael as a 3rd RB option behind Thomas Rawls and C.J. Prosise than we ever hear of Jermaine Kearse.  Kearse is in his 5th season and is a local favorite amongst the Seattle fan base as he played for the University of Washington and made the team as an undrafted free agent  in 2012.  Despite such sentimentality, Kearse has proven himself to be a consistent fixture in the Seahawks offense as he has steadily improved each season with the team. In 2013, he had 22 catches for 346 yards as he started just 5 games scoring 4 touchdowns. In 2014, Kearse started 14 games catching 38 passes for 537 yards and 1 touchdown. In 2015, Kearse started all 16 games catching 5 touchdowns accumulating 685 yards over 49 total catches. Yet, in most leagues, he is going undrafted. If he is out there on the waiver wire and you are short on WR options, go get him as he may be a true diamond in the rough.

There will be plenty of players that we will come across this year that we will kick ourselves for not drafting in the first place and when you come across such players, please be sure to reply back with your suggestions of those players.  Let’s get these guys added to our teams before they do break out and may we reap the benefits they will provide our teams on the path to victory.