5 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Stashes to Add Before They Break Out (Ep. 2188)

0:00This is an I Heart Podcast. Guaranteed Human. The entire draft room groans because you just took the guy they wanted. There's no better feeling than crushing your fantasy football league. I'm JJ Zacharyson, host of the award-winning Late Round Podcast. Before your draft, our players to target and players to avoid episodes tell you exactly who to circle and who to cross off. Listen to the Late Round Fantasy Football Podcast on the I Heart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. You know we are back to help make you a smarter fantasy football manager. The manager that stays two to three moves ahead of their leaguemates. The manager that is stashing players off of their waiver wire before they break out. So you have a jump on your leaguemates. I'm Lucas Wandsle here with fantasy pros bringing you my top five waiver wire stashes ahead of week one and next week's waiver run as well. Before we dive on into that list of players though, we've got a special offer going on for you all right now,

1:01where you can get up to six months of fantasy pros premium for free. Just head to fantasypros.com slash premium. Click go premium for free. Choose polymarket or one of our partner sports books, make it a positive and complete your first paid contest. Again, that's fantasypros.com slash premium. New users only terms apply. The first player on our list this week this year is Miami dolphins wider seaver Caleb Douglas who is rostered in 22% of leagues. Yes, the Miami dolphins are going to be largely unwatchable for the majority of their games this year, but their passing game has to exist in some capacity. Even if their wider seaver room is starved for veterans. The 32nd elevator pitch on Caleb Douglas out of Texas tech is this. He's six foot three and a half with four three nine speed and a 79 inch wingspan. He uses every bit of that catch radius on high throws and plugs to ball from defenders and even against zone. He's got good spatial awareness and can find the soft spots in coverage. So in short, a guy with Douglas's combo of frame and speed should be a valuable asset for Malik Willis

2:03as he looks to get settled as the quarterback in whatever this Miami dolphins offense is going to look like this year. Now, you do have fellow rookie Chris Bell in the equation as well, who apparently isn't going to be on a pitch count in week one even after tearing his ACL in November. I certainly think Chris Bell is a good stash as well, but even with modern medicine evolving, the production of these athletes is still impacted the following season after these major knee injuries. Plus when you miss a bulk of training camp as a rookie, you're already playing from behind when you're trying to get acclimated to NFL game speed. So that's primarily why I am more interested in Caleb Douglas because he gives you the potential of both immediate and long term relevance in fantasy leagues. Douglas put together a standout preseason. He should have a defined role in this offense on the perimeter and per Jeff Halfley quote, it's consistency over time. He Douglas made some flash plays and then he's made some plays where he needs to just catch the ball. He showed up every day. The second player on our list is another rookie and it's New York Giants wide receiver Malachi fields who has rostrated in 21% of leagues.

3:04Hype has been trickling out of Giants camp for Malachi fields throughout the preseason and I think there are plenty of context clues that point to it being valid. It all started two to three weeks ago when Jordan Ron on one of the most reputable Giants reporters said that Malachi fields is quote likely to start alongside Malik neighbors and I understood the vision here for this too. Fields is six foot four with a near 79 inch wingspan. The dude's belt like a power forward and he uses that in contested catch scenarios. His body control is wildly good. He attacks the ball at its peak. He refuses to come down without it. Arnell Mooney isn't giving you that at five foot 11 and 177 pounds. Respect to Odell Beckham Jr. But same story right. He can't offer you that at five foot 11 and 33 years old. Those would be the perfect asset out on the perimeter and in the red zone for this New York Giants team led by Jackson Darn. But then the second shoe drops. The Giants cut Darius Slate and at the start of this week eliminating another option to work ahead of Malachi fields on the depth chart. So not only is the vision for the role there, but now the opportunity is starting to present itself as well.

4:05So even though Giants had Darnell Mooney listed as the Widers' either too on their unofficial depth chart earlier this week, Jordan Ron on once again double down on his belief that Malachi fields as the quote real wide receiver to for the Giants. And I'm buying it. The size is appealing for Jackson Darn and the perimeter. He'll be an asset in the red area for high value fantasy points and the viable options are starting to thin out around him. The third player on our list this week is New Orleans Saints, Widers' Seaver Devon Velae who is also rostered in 21% of leagues. I want to start by reminding you that the New Orleans Saints traded a fourth round pick for Devon Velae in August of last season. It's not massive, right? But it is something now that the team is going to be without Jordan Tyson for what could be the first seven games of this season. With how killer more runs this offense, the Saints are designed to be a fantasy friendly group. Last season they ran 2.2 plays per minute that led the league. They only used 20 seconds of the play clock on average. That was the lowest in the league and even in neutral game settings. They were still the lowest at 29 seconds on average.

5:07The intent is for this offense to play fast and that could definitely benefit Devon Velae especially in PPR formats. After Rashichi he was traded last year, Velae snaps shot up. The most he played was 51% through the first nine weeks. Then he logged 87, 89, 88 and 93% of snaps from week 10 on before suffering a season ending shoulder injury in week 15. Those snaps did actually turn into opportunity. He caught 20 of 29 targets in that span. He turned into top 10 finish and he was well on his way before getting injured against the Panthers catching 5 passes for 69 yards in week 15. It's not as simple as just seeing old Devon Velae is going to be the de facto second opt-red in this passing attack when you also have Jawan Johnson in the mix. Rookie's Bryce Lance and Barry and Brown will seem to work in too. But who's the guy they traded specifically for last off season? Who's role did they increase after trading Rashichi? It was Devon Velae and again in PPR leagues where there could be some sneaky flex value here. If this Saints offense does improve, I do like him as a stash right away this season.

6:09The fourth player on this list is Green Bay Packers running back Chris Brooks who is rostered in 7% of leagues. Martian Lloyd is the Packers running back that everybody wants to talk about and not without reason. But I also don't want a saluce site of context here either. The amount of soft tissue lower body injuries that Lloyd has sustained at the start of his NFL career has as piled up very, very quickly. Here's the list. In preseason of 2024, he had a hamstring pull. In week two then of 2024, Spray and his ankle went on IR in miss six games. Training camp, a 2025, he had a non-contact growing injury. Then you get into the preseason of 2025. Another hamstring pull that landed him on IR and then in December of 2025, yet another hamstring pull with a calf strain returned to IR and he missed the rest of the season. This is by no means a prediction that Martian Lloyd is going to get injured this year because that's just bogus. It's also not disregarding the effort that he has put into trying to prevent the soft tissue lower body injuries from occurring throughout his NFL career. But as context, we just simply can't ignore when looking at Chris Brooks because who's

7:11next? If something does happen to Martian Lloyd while Josh Jacobs is still on the commissioner's exempl list. I don't think this is only a handcuffed stash either. I wouldn't be surprised if we get Chris Brooks out on the field more than we expect in week one. Last season, PFF graded Chris Brooks as the fourth best running back in past protection. And in week one against the Minnesota Vikings, what does Brian Flores love to do on defense? He loves to blitz. He wants to bring pressure and Chris Brooks is a reliable wider seaver too. He caught 24 of 30 targets with the Green Bay Packers in his two-year stint here. So I do think we're going to see a decent amount of Chris Brooks on the field. An offensive coordinator, Adam Stenevich, has already made the statement that quote, it's going to be a running back by committee for a bit to see where everyone is at. So I'm not promising you the world here with Chris Brooks, but for those of you in deeper leagues, Chris Brooks should certainly be rostered in more than 7% of leagues. And to wrap out our list this week is Tampa Bay Buckeneers' wider seaver Ted Hurst who is rostered in 7% of leagues.

8:11Ted Hurst was one of my favorite wider seaver prospects in the NFL draft this year. Another 6 foot 4 wide out with a 79 inch wingspan. But Hurst is a trifecta in terms of how offences can utilize him. He's a long strider who gets off the line fast with great deepball tracking. He's fantastic in space. He's lethal after the catch and he's a beast in the red zone. It's going 15 touchdowns in 24 collegiate games. The Buck should have so much fun how they can fit Ted Hurst into their offense. And that opportunity might actually come knocking sooner rather than later. As of this recording, Jalen McMillan has been limited at practice leading up to week one with a knee injury that he's sustained over a month ago at the start of August. It seemed like McMillan looked like his usual self but restrictions were still reported on. Things may change by the time this video is posted but both McBaker Mayfield and Todd Bulls have made remarks of how reliable Hurst was in his standout preseason. When Agbukha and McMillan were both out, Hurst was the receiver that shine. He didn't shy away. So even if McMillan does suit up for week one, I'm willing to play the long game here

9:16with Ted Hurst and bet on the possibility that he actually beats out Jalen McMillan for the X-roll in this offense, come even mid season, especially in deeper leagues. 7% roster is just way too low for a player of Ted Hurst's talent and potential upside in this Tampa Bay Buck near his offense. And there you all have it, my top 5 waiver wire stashes ahead of week one. All these players are rostered in less than 30% of league so go smart to your waiver wire like right now, make sure nobody has claimed them so you can claim them for yourself. Before we sign off here though, remember we do have a special deal going on for you all where you can get up to six months of fantasy pros premium for free. Just head to fantasyprose.com slash premium. Click don't premium for free, choose polymarket or one of our partner sportsbooks, make it a posit and complete your first paid contest again that is fantasyprose.com slash premium, new users only terms apply. Thanks for listening to the fantasy pros fantasy football podcast. If you love the show, the best free way to support us is by leaving a positive review on Apple podcasts at fantasyprose.com slash review or on Spotify.

10:19Follow us on X, Instagram and TikTok at fantasyprose and subscribe to our YouTube channel at youtube.com slash fantasyprose. The entire draft room groans because you just took the guy they wanted. There's no better feeling than crushing your fantasy football league. I'm JJ Zacharyson, host of the award winning late round podcasts. Before your draft, our players to target and players to avoid episodes tell you exactly who to circle and who to cross off. Following the late round fantasy football podcast and the iHeart radio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.

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