Wide Receiver Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 2: Top Free Agent Adds Include Puka Nacua, Kendrick Bourne, Romeo Doubs, Rashid Shaheed, more

September 12, 2023

Justin Carter's fantasy football wide receiver waiver wire pickups for Week 2 of the 2023 NFL season. His free agent WRs to add, stream and stash off waivers.

Week 1 sure was fun, wasn't it? Specifically, I'm thinking about the Dolphins/Chargers game. 215 receiving yards from Tyreek Hill??? Wild stuff. Now, you can't add Hill off the waiver wire since he's 100% rostered, but there are some wideouts who you can add this week. Let's talk about some of those options.

Below, you'll find some wide receivers that you should be targeting on the fantasy football waiver wire ahead of Week 2. Not all of these waiver wire options are the same. Some players may be better in PPR or deeper leagues, so it’s not a one-size-fits-all comparison. Use your best judgment when deciding which of these players is the right fit for your roster.

Be sure to also check out our Waiver Wire Adds for Week 2 for help at all the skill positions. All players on this list are around 50% rostered or below.

Wide Receiver Waiver Wire Pickups For Week 2

Puka Nacua, Los Angeles Rams - 4% rostered

Yep, I'm putting a guy who's on the waiver wire in 96% of leagues as my top priority add in all leagues this week. That's what happens a team has a clear hole in the No. 1 receiver role and then a player goes out and gets targeted 15 times. That's a whole lot of times.

In theory, Cooper Kupp will be back in a few weeks, but I'm not sold on that theory actually being a reality. Even if Kupp is back soon, Nacua has immense short-term value. He was impressive in his NFL debut, catching 10 passes for 119 yards as Matthew Stafford's top option. Stafford's still a good quarterback and he's going to keep this offense running, so rostering his top weapon is a smart move. Even if Kupp's back soon, Nacua should be on your roster.

Nico Collins, Houston Texans - 55% rostered

Heading into this week, one of the big questions I had was how much the Texans would pass the ball with rookie C.J. Stroud at quarterback. Well, Stroud threw 44 passes in Week 1, so I think we have our answer. Houston will play from behind a lot, leading to plenty of targets for the team's top receivers.

One of those top receivers is Nico Collins. He saw a team-high 11 targets, catching six of them for 80 yards. With no Texans player other than Collins and Robert Woods seeing more than four targets, it looks like this should be a pretty straightforward situation here. Collins is the top receiver and a solid WR3 play.

Jakobi Meyers, Las Vegas Raiders - 50% rostered

This is one of the toughest adds to write about. Jakobi Meyers was really, really good in Week 1. The former Patriot finished with nine receptions for 81 yards and a pair of touchdowns. With Davante Adams drawing coverage across the field, Meyers was able to eat.

The problem? Meyers exited the game in the fourth quarter and is being evaluated for a concussion. At the time I'm writing this, we just don't really know if he'll be cleared for next week or not. That makes it tough to really know how aggressive to be in targeting this week. Still, this week showed that when healthy, he'll have a key role in this Raiders offense.

Zay Jones, Jacksonville Jaguars - 30% rostered

Calvin Ridley went OFF in his Jaguars debut, catching eight passes for 101 yards and a touchdown. Zay Jones still carved out a pretty good role of his own, as he brought in five of his seven targets for 55 yards and a score. More importantly, he was a lot more involved than Christian Kirk, who was targeted three times and caught just one pass. It's too early to make some declarative statement about Jones surpassing Kirk, but it's something worth keeping an eye on. Consider Jones a solid WR4.

Romeo Doubs, Green Bay Packers - 30% rostered

With Christian Watson out, Romeo Doubs was in a good spot here. The result was...confusing. On the bright side, Doubs caught two of quarterback Jordan Love's three touchdown passes. The bad news is that he only finished with 26 receiving yards, catching four of his five targets. Love spread the ball around a lot, targeting eight different players. His end zone usage is encouraging, but with Watson likely back soon, the usage isn't there for Doubs to be too high in the waiver priority.

Darnell Mooney, Chicago Bears - 39% rostered

Darnell Mooney is one of those boring plays that you add because you want someone with a decent floor. He tied for the Bears' lead in targets this week, but only had seven of them, with Roschon Johnson and Cole Kmet equaling him. He brought in four of those for 53 yards and a touchdown. He's a solid player if you need a guy who can catch four passes for 53 yards and potentially find the end zone, but if you need to make a huge swing on the wire this week, he's probably not your guy.

Wide Receiver Deeper League Pickups For Week 2

Kendrick Bourne, New England Patriots - 1% rostered

Maybe I'm too high on Kendrick Bourne here. But if I'm in a league with 14 or 16 teams and I need to grab a wide receiver off the wire, I want to go with someone with a high ceiling, even if there's a lot of risk with his low floor. For me, Kendrick Bourne fits that.

JuJu Smith-Schuster just didn't look good in his Patriots debut. DeVante Parker (knee) is hurt. Bourne's found himself being the default top receiver for the team and he responded with a big game. Targeted a team-high 11 times, Bourne finished with six catches for 64 yards and two touchdowns. The fact that this is his seventh NFL season and this was the most he's ever been targeted in a game is worrisome, but later-career breakouts aren't impossible.

Rashid Shaheed, New Orleans Saints - 16% rostered

I'm not sure the Saints and quarterback Derek Carr can sustain three fantasy-relevant wide receivers, but Rashid Shaheed's Week 1 performance and the injury concerns that always accompany Michael Thomas mean that Shaheed should be on your radar.

Shaheed was targeted six times this week, catching five of those for 89 yards and a touchdown. He also had two touches in the run game, gaining 11 yards. After a solid rookie year, Shaheed is someone who could break out later in the season if he gets elevated to an even larger role.

Tutu Atwell, Los Angeles Rams - 3% rostered

Puka Nacua was the main beneficiary of Cooper Kupp being out, but Tutu Atwell had a big game as well. While his eight targets were seven fewer than Nacua, the two finished with the same amount of yards (119), with Atwell's coming on six catches instead of Nacua's 10. The reason I'm lower on Atwell rest-of-season is that his volume's lower than Nacua. Plus once Kupp is back, Atwell's role will be pretty tough to predict. Still, he can be a short-term fix if you need a receiver with upside.

Robert Woods, Houston Texans - 4% rostered

I wrote above about why I'm so high on Nico Collins. It might be surprising, then, that I'm not nearly as high on Robert Woods, whose 10 targets were just one fewer than Collins. Woods finished with six catches for 57 yards in Week 1 but he doesn't have the big-play upside of Collins, and it just feels like being Houston's second receiver isn't nearly as safe as being Houston's top receiver, you know? Still, the volume was there, so there are definitely worse places to look in a deep league.

Allen Robinson II, Pittsburgh Steelers - 2% rostered

I really didn't think I'd be writing about Allen Robinson, but here we are. Diontae Johnson exited in the third quarter with a hamstring injury and didn't return. If his availability is in question going forward, Robinson has intrigue as someone you can plug into your lineup in a deep league.

In his Steelers debut, the veteran wideout led the team in targets with eight, catching five of those for 64 yards. The yardage was also a team-high.

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