College Fantasy Football Waiver Wire: Players to Pick Up Week 2

College Fantasy Football Waiver Wire: Players to Pick Up Week 2

This article is part of our CFB Waiver Wire series.

Welcome back to the waiver wire watch. Throughout the college football season, I'll pick two guys from every conference who either caught my eye in the previous week or have a favorable match-up in the near future. As always, I'll get to any questions or comments you have in the comments section below.

First though, here are the guys who came through last week and may still be available in your leagues;

USF QB Byrum Brown (38.6 Points)
Penn State WR KeAndre Lambert-Smith (31.3 Points)
Hawaii QB Brayden Schager (27.8 Points)
Oklahoma D/ST (22.5 Points) *2nd Highest Performing Defense
Liberty QB Kaidon Salter (21.9 Points)
ULM WR Tyrone Howell (21.7 Points)
Eastern Michigan WR Tanner Knue (21.3 Points)
Akron RB Lorenzo Lingard (17.1 Points)
Virginia Tech WR Jaylin Lane (16.9 Points)
Air Force D/ST (13.0 Points)

70+ Club in Upcoming Slate: Here are the college games that have opened up with an over/under around the 70-point mark which means a plethora of fantasy points. Enjoy these barnburners and roster some players in these games if you can.

70.5 - SMU at Oklahoma
69.5 - Stanford at USC
67.5 - Oregon at Texas Tech
66.5 - Tulsa at Washington

*Fantasy Points referenced in article are DK format.
**To qualify for recommendations, players must be rostered in less than 50 percent of Fantrax Leagues

AAC Waiver Wire Pickups

Jacob Zeno, QB, UAB (2 Percent Rostered)

Zeno was nearly perfect in the season opener while completing 92.7 percent (38-for-41) of his passes

Welcome back to the waiver wire watch. Throughout the college football season, I'll pick two guys from every conference who either caught my eye in the previous week or have a favorable match-up in the near future. As always, I'll get to any questions or comments you have in the comments section below.

First though, here are the guys who came through last week and may still be available in your leagues;

USF QB Byrum Brown (38.6 Points)
Penn State WR KeAndre Lambert-Smith (31.3 Points)
Hawaii QB Brayden Schager (27.8 Points)
Oklahoma D/ST (22.5 Points) *2nd Highest Performing Defense
Liberty QB Kaidon Salter (21.9 Points)
ULM WR Tyrone Howell (21.7 Points)
Eastern Michigan WR Tanner Knue (21.3 Points)
Akron RB Lorenzo Lingard (17.1 Points)
Virginia Tech WR Jaylin Lane (16.9 Points)
Air Force D/ST (13.0 Points)

70+ Club in Upcoming Slate: Here are the college games that have opened up with an over/under around the 70-point mark which means a plethora of fantasy points. Enjoy these barnburners and roster some players in these games if you can.

70.5 - SMU at Oklahoma
69.5 - Stanford at USC
67.5 - Oregon at Texas Tech
66.5 - Tulsa at Washington

*Fantasy Points referenced in article are DK format.
**To qualify for recommendations, players must be rostered in less than 50 percent of Fantrax Leagues

AAC Waiver Wire Pickups

Jacob Zeno, QB, UAB (2 Percent Rostered)

Zeno was nearly perfect in the season opener while completing 92.7 percent (38-for-41) of his passes for 291 yards and three touchdowns with 31 yards on the ground. Working with new HC Trent Dilfer must be really paying off because Zeno has not shown anything like that in his 11 career games at UAB and Baylor. Dilfer is known as a quarterback expert as he spent a lot of his time away from the NFL working with young NFL prospects on the West Coast. Zeno could be a sneaky good add for your fantasy team.

Larry McCammon, RB, Florida Atlantic (28 Percent Rostered)

McCammon is one of the best running backs in the conference and is still available in 72 percent of leagues. He was a 1,000-yard rusher with eight total touchdowns last year. Those who didn't draft him paid the price in Week 1 as he had 30.4 fantasy points with 184 total yards on just 17 touches. He should be able to have another big week against Ohio in Week 2 but should be added for the entire season in all leagues.

Week 1 Rewind; USF QB Byrum Brown (38.6 points - 15/34, 166 YDS, 1 TD, 2 INT, 25 ATT, 160 YDS, 2 TD, 1 FL) & UAB WR Tejhaun Palmer (12.5 points - 4/4 TAR, 35 YDS, 1 TD)

ACC Waiver Wire Pickups

Grant Wells, QB, Virginia Tech (10 Percent Rostered)

The Tech quarterback is well known in college fantasy football circles as he's been playing since his freshman season at Marshall in 2020. The first game of his senior season was a good one as he racked up 30.7 fantasy points with four touchdowns against Old Dominion. Wells gets to go up against a bad Purdue defense that was obliterated by Fresno State in their first game. Moreover, Purdue prefers to play in a quick game, so Wells will have all the opportunities he can handle this next week. His best receivers are also worth considering in Ali Jennings (42 percent rostered) and Jaylin Lane (10 percent rostered).

Cameron Hite, TE, Wake Forest (0 Percent Rostered)

Here's our first zero percent rostered recommendation of the year. Hite is the starting tight end for a Demon Deacons squad that loves to pass the ball. Hite was able to snag four catches (on four targets) for 91 yards and a touchdown in the season opener against Elon. It should be another high-scoring affair when the team plays Vanderbilt this next week.

Week 1 Rewind; Virginia Tech WR Jaylin Lane (16.9 points - 4/6 TAR, 69 YDS, 1 TD) & Clemson RB Phil Mafah (PENDING - MNF)

BIG 12 Waiver Wire Pickups

Emory Jones, QB, Cincinnati (24 Percent Rostered)

Jones was sensational in Week 1 with 50.4 fantasy points on seven total touchdowns. Scott Satterfield is the new HC in Cincinnati, and we probably should have known that he could turn Jones into Malik Cunningham who he coached over the last few years at Louisville. Jones' legs were underutilized at Arizona State last year, so expect huge dual-threat numbers from Jones in the Big 12 this year. He's my top recommendation for the week, so go out and get him.

Drake Dabney, TE, Baylor (2 Percent Rostered)

Lost in Baylor's shocking upset loss to Texas State was Dabney's breakout performance. The senior tight end had 31.1 fantasy points with a pair of touchdowns on a career-high nine targets. If the Bears' defense struggles like it did in the first game, Dabney may become a common target each and every week. Baylor plays a tough Utah team this next week so they'll need to throw the ball once again.

Week 1 Rewind; Baylor RB Dominic Richardson (11.7 points - 16 ATT, 79 YDS, 2/3 TAR, 18 YDS) & Texas Tech WR Drae McCray (9.2 points - 5/6 TAR, 42 YDS)

Big Ten Waiver Wire Pickups

KeAndre Lambert-Smith, WR, Penn State (22 Percent Rostered)

Dating back to last season, Lambert-Smith has 12 catches (on 16 targets) for 330 yards and four touchdowns in his last three games. This guy is an elite receiver (31.3 fantasy points in first game) and now has an elite quarterback. QB Drew Allar (40 percent rostered) is also a recommendation if available as he went off for 28.1 fantasy points in his first start for the Nittany Lions.  

Taulia Tagovailoa, QB, Maryland (38 Percent Rostered)

This guy wasn't drafted in nearly enough leagues as he shouldn't even qualify for this list. Maryland has an excellent offense, which was evident in the opener against Towson as they put up 38 points and Tagovailoa had 31.2 fantasy points with four total touchdowns. The Terps will be sneaky good in the Big Ten this year and should crush some of the lower-end teams.

Week 1 Rewind; Minnesota TE Brevyn Spann-Ford (9.5 points - 5/8 TAR, 45 YDS) & Penn State WR KeAndre Lambert-Smith (31.3 points - 4/7 TAR, 123 YDS, 2 TD)

C-USA Waiver Wire Pickups

Malik Jackson, RB, Jacksonville State (0 Percent Rostered)

Jackson is just one of a handful of players to have double-digit fantasy points in two games since his team played in Week 0. He's averaging 17.6 fantasy points per game and is coming off a 100-yard rushing performance against Eastern Tennessee. The reason for the recommendation is because he has a touchdown in each of the first two games and looks like he could be the best running back on the Gamecocks' roster.

Kaidon Salter, QB, Liberty (18 Percent Rostered)

It's not a great slate in C-USA this week, so I'll stick with Salter who had 19 rushing attempts against Bowling Green this past week. The upcoming game with New Mexico State has one of the best over/unders in the conference (56.5), so there should be some back-and-forth play in that game. There's always a risk of him being benched with Johnathan Bennett (1 percent rostered) in the mix, but I'll take that chance with Salter doing nothing to lose the job in the first game.

Week 1 Rewind; FIU RB Shomari Lawrence (2.6 points - 7 ATT, 26 YDS) & Liberty QB Kaidon Salter (21.9 points - 11/20, 143 YDS, 2 TD, 19 ATT, 82 YDS)

MAC Waiver Wire Pickups

Tanner Koziol, TE, Ball State (26 Percent Rostered)

Only two tight ends in the nation had double-digit targets in the first week and that was Koziol and Stanford's Benjamin Yurosek (88 percent rostered). Koziol had eight catches (on 10 targets) for 66 yards and even missed part of the game against Kentucky due to a concussion scare. He did return to the game showing how important he is to their offense. Although the team plays a scary Georgia defense next week, Koziol could be an important add for the rest of the year.

Gage Larvadain, WR, Miami (OH) (0 Percent Rostered)

We have another zero percent rostered recommendation of the year. Interestingly enough, the two Miami schools played this last weekend and Larvadain, a transfer from Southeastern Louisiana, accounted for 50 percent of his team's targets. He had 16 fantasy points on eight catches for 80 yards with 12 targets. Expect the Redhawks to be throwing the ball a ton this year, so Larvadain could be a high-volume player to keep an eye on. He did post 59 catches for 731 yards at Southeastern Louisiana last season.

Week 1 Rewind; Eastern Michigan WR Tanner Knue (21.3 points - 8/9 TAR, 73 YDS, 1 TD) & Akron RB Lorenzo Lingard (17.1 points - 7 ATT, 24 YDS, 1/1 TAR, 77 YDS, 1 TD)

Mountain West Waiver Wire Pickups

Mikey Keene, QB, Fresno State (12 Percent Rostered)

The Bulldogs pulled off a huge upset at Purdue, and Keene was a big reason why. The UCF transfer completed 70.5 percent of his passes on high volume (44 attempts) for 366 yards and four touchdowns. While Purdue's defense is no good and there will be a ton of opposing quarterbacks who will do that to them this year, it's not like the upcoming schedule for Fresno State is hard. They have Eastern Washington, Arizona State, Kent State, and Nevada over the next four weeks. Keene could start the year as one of CFF's top quarterbacks through the first month of the season. Erik Brooks (5 percent rostered) is also worth consideration, as he had 41.0 fantasy points on 12 targets against Purdue.

Pofele Ashlock, WR, Hawaii (24 Percent Rostered)

This redshirt freshman is the real deal as Ashlock already has 15 catches (on 22 targets) for 241 yards and three touchdowns in two games. He's averaging a ridiculous 31.5 fantasy points per game. While that's certainly not sustainable, he's clearly one of their top receivers and Hawaii is not going to stop throwing the ball. QB Brayden Schager (20 percent rostered) is still a recommendation as well if available.

Week 1 Rewind; Hawaii QB Brayden Schager (27.8 points - 30/53, 355 YDS, 3 TD) & San Diego State TE Mark Redman (1.7 points - 1/1 TAR, 7 YDS)

PAC-12 Waiver Wire Pickups

Dylan Edwards, RB, Colorado (26 Percent Rostered)

Give me any of the offensive stars on this team as Coach Prime is the best motivator in the world. All of the hype was placed on this team's shoulders, and they went out and pulled a shocker at TCU. The true freshman running back was amazing with 46.9 fantasy points in his very first college football game. QB Shedeur Sanders (81 percent rostered) does not qualify for this list, but WR Travis Hunter (49% rostered) does. I couldn't take my eyes off Hunter who essentially played the entire game on both sides of the ball.

DJ Uiagalelei, QB, Oregon State (38 Percent Rostered)

DJ is BACK! There are so many great dual-threat quarterbacks in the nation right now, and if you don't have one or two of them for your fantasy squad, you may be falling behind. Uiagalelei went out and put up 34.6 fantasy points at San Jose State with five total touchdowns, including two on the ground. With Clemson's offensive woes over the last couple of years, this is a much-needed restart for Uiagalelei who could be one of the best in the nation if the Beavers can keep racking up wins.

Week 1 Rewind; USC WR Zachariah Branch (9.2 points - 1/3 TAR, 22 YDS, 1 TD) & Washington RB Dillon Johnson (12.2 points - 7 ATT, 12 YDS, 1 TD, 3/3 TAR, 20 YDS)

SEC Waiver Wire Pickups

Jalen Milroe, QB, Alabama (45 Percent Rostered)

All that talk about a quarterback competition must have been nonsense as Milroe played pretty much the entire game against Middle Tennessee. His 36.6 fantasy points included three touchdowns through the air and two on the ground. That kind of production makes him a must add in all fantasy leagues. Even though they have a tough game against Texas, Milroe is a play ever week due to what he does with his legs.

Tre Harris, WR, Ole Miss (42 Percent Rostered)

With Zakhari Franklin (94 percent rostered) missing the first game with an undisclosed injury, it was clear that Harris was Jaxson Dart's (34 percent rostered) favorite target. His four touchdowns propelled him to 46.3 fantasy points on the day. With upcoming games against Tulane, Georgia Tech, and Alabama, Harris should continue to see those targets pour in.

Week 1 Rewind; LSU TE Mason Taylor (7.9 points - 4/4 TAR, 39 YDS) & Alabama WR Ja'Corey Brooks (0 points - 0/1 TAR)

Sun Belt Waiver Wire Pickups

TJ Finley, QB, Texas State (5 Percent Rostered)

Finley and the Bobcats pulled the largest upset of the night with Texas State taking down Baylor in their house. A team projected to finish near the bottom of the Sun Belt Conference has a new HC in G.J. Kinne who coached at Incarnate Word last year. Incarnate Word's offense was insane with 52 points and 581 yards per game during the 2022 season. Finley could be an interesting add if Texas State's offense does take off during conference play.

Sam Pinckney, WR, Coastal Carolina (46 Percent Rostered)

Pinckney was a monster in a losing effort at UCLA with nine catches (on 16 targets) for 139 yards and a touchdown. He dominated the team's target share with 39 percent. With a stellar quarterback in Grayson McCall (67 percent rostered), this could be the year Pinckney goes for over 1,000 yards as he fell just short with 996 yards in the 2022 season.

Week 1 Rewind; Coastal Carolina WR Jared Brown (10.6 points - 6/9 TAR, 31 YDS, 2 ATT, 15 YDS) & ULM WR Tyrone Howell (21.7 points - 9/14 TAR, 67 YDS, 1 TD)

INDEPENDENTS

Victor Rosa, RB, Connecticut (16 Percent Rostered)

Connecticut caught my attention this past Thursday Night as they surprisingly stuck close with NC State. Their sophomore running back was particularly impressive with 24.7 fantasy points, including two rushing scores and a pair of catches. A road trip to Georgia State will likely result in more points than the 14 they had in the debut, and Rosa could emerge as their top scoring option.

Week 1 Rewind; Notre Dame WR Jaden Greathouse (5.0 points - 2/2 TAR, 30 YDS) & Notre Dame WR Jayden Thomas (10.2 points - 4/4 TAR, 62 YDS)

DEFENSE RECOMMENDATIONS

Syracuse (vs. Western Michigan) - Available in 88 percent of leagues, Syracuse was the top-performing defense last week with 25.5 fantasy points. Great spot to take a chance against a lower-level MAC team this week.

Kentucky (vs. Eastern Kentucky) - Available in 94 percent of leagues and had two touchdowns in the opener against Ball State. They should have no problems getting to double digits this week.

BYU (vs. Southern Utah) - Spoiled Sam Houston's FBS debut with a shut-out last week. Available in 99 percent of leagues and forced three turnovers in their first game.

Week 1 Rewind; Air Force vs. Robert Morris (13.0 points - 7 PA, 2 SK, 2 TA), Oklahoma vs. Arkansas State (22.5 points - 0 PA, 1 SK, 1 TA, 1 TD), & San Diego State vs. Idaho State (6 points - 13 PA, 2 SK, 3 TA)

SUMMARY & TOP RECOMMENDATIONS

Utilizing the two players for each conference above, here are my top recommendations for the week by position:

QB: Cincinnati Emory Jones, Alabama Jalen Milroe, Oregon State DJ Uiagalelei

RB: FAU Larry McCammon, Colorado Dylan Edwards, Jacksonville State Malik Jackson

WR: Penn State KeAndre Lambert-Smith, Hawaii Pofele Ashlock, Ole Miss Tre Harris

TE: Ball State Tanner Koziol, Baylor Drake Dabney, Wake Forest Cameron Hite

D/ST: BYU (vs. Southern Utah), Kentucky (vs. Eastern Kentucky), & Syracuse (vs. Western Michigan)

Be sure to check out our college football custom rankings and our player rankings cheat sheet for up-to-date season-long rankings, as well as our college football weekly rankings to help guide your lineup decisions. During the season, our college football DFS optimizer and value report are powerful tools to help build DFS lineups on DraftKings and FanDuel. 

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nick Grays
Grays covers college football for RotoWire by night and is a Financial Analyst by day.
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