Week 1 Waiver Wire

Gio Lopez

Wake Forest

What a difference a year makes. Lopez looked completely at ease against Akron, completing 21 of 32 passes for 350 yards and three touchdowns in the blowout victory. Reuniting with offensive coordinator Rob Ezell, who coached Lopez during their time together at South Alabama, already appears to be paying major dividends. A matchup with Miami looms in two weeks, but outside of that potential speed bump, Lopez looks like a viable weekly starter.

Lincoln Kienholz

Louisville

After watching the first half vs. Ole Miss, I said to myself Kienholz is getting benched at some point this season for Davin Wydner. Complete 180 in the second half as Kienholz wound up throwing for 307 yards and two scores, while adding 69 yards and a TD on the ground. There’s differing opinions on social media about Kienholz’ performance Sunday, but 37 fantasy points against an SEC opponent is a heck of a way to start a season. We’re always going to be interested in a Jeff Brohm quarterback, especially one that has wheels like Kienholz does.

Luke Weaver

San Jose State

31 fantasy points scored in back-to-back games for Weaver, this time leading the Spartans to an impressive road victory instead of just compiling garbage time stats against backups. SJSU remains pass-happy on offense, but the difference between Weaver and last year’s starter Walker Eget is the ground usage, now with 18 carries in two starts.

Jaylin Carter

Memphis

I guess folks were not convinced on adding Carter after Week 0 as he still sits at just 21% ownership. That’s going to increase drastically after rushing for four touchdowns in the win over Arkansas State. We’re expecting Memphis to continue to ride Carter and this running game moving forward will Marcus Stokes and the passing attack tries to find its footing. Tough matchup this week against Boise State, but it’s smooth sailing the rest of the way.

Jamal Rule

Nebraska

Insert the Vince Carter “it’s over GIF.” We predicted that Nebraska would not have another Emmett Johnson this season and that it’d be more of a committee approach between Rule, Isaiah Mozee and Mekhi Nelson. While that’s still technically a possibility, Rule showed why he should be the starter on Saturday with 100+ yards on the ground and three total TDs in the win over Ohio. Next two games are appealing for Rule with Bowling Green and North Dakota, prior to a soft opening schedule in the B1G with Michigan State and Maryland.

Rodney Fields

Kansas State

Shield your eyes Joe Jackson drafters. Rodney Fields started the opener, and did not disappoint, running for 101 yards and a touchdown vs. Nicholls. Checked a few Kansas State sites to see observations from the team beat writers in case this was just a situation where the box score potentially deceived us. Nope, both On3 and 247 are suggesting that Fields is the starter moving forward.

Gavin Freeman

Baylor

Freeman is likely to be the most added player in CFF this week after reeling in 12 receptions for 154 yards and a touchdown on 18 targets in the loss to Baylor. Credit to the 247 Sports Baylor beat writer who predicted last week that Freeman would lead the team in receptions in 2026. Louis Brown IV and Jadon Porter also deserve some waiver wire consideration after combining for 139 yards on 18 targets. It does not appear Dre’Lon Miller will be much of a factor this year.

Adjatay Dabbs

Toledo

Dabbs is just over the 30% roster ownership mark on Fantrax, and likely already on your roster if you’ve been following along this offseason, but we’re giving him a mention here because that’ll skyrocket after his 101-yard, two touchdown performance against Michigan State on Friday. No surprise that Dabbs is off to a fast start given his connection with the coaching staff and playbook coming over from Mercer with head coach Mike Jacobs where he was the leading receiver in 2025 with 856 yards and eight TDs.

Riley Neer

Ohio

Sam Wiglusz, Coleman Owen, Chase Hendricks…. Riley Neer? The 5-foot-11 sophomore was a surprise listing as the starting slot receiver on the game week depth chart, and he was the clear top target for the Ohio offense on Saturday with 104 yards and a touchdown on 11 targets. The upside of the starting slot receiver in this Ohio offensive scheme is why Neer is a must-add for this week.

Umari Hatcher

Syracuse

Hatcher arguably had his best performance in six seasons with the Orange, hauling in eight receptions for 147 yards and two scores vs. New Hampshire. With some of the limited Syracuse reporting and multiple injuries to the WR room this offseason, there was the question as to who would be the next WR1 in the pass-happy Syracuse offense and Hatcher might’ve ended that debate already. There’s top 20 CFF potential at the wide receiver position for Hatcher with the frequency at which Syracuse will throw the ball with a healthy Steve Angeli at quarterback.

Ashton Hollins

Georgia Southern

Phil Steele for the win again. Hollins was listed on the 4th-team all-Sun Belt by Steele in his preseason magazine, and the Illinois transfer made good on that prediction for a week with 101 yards and a touchdown on a team-best 11 targets. Georgia Southern’s offense looks in the molds of what it was a few years back with the likes of Kyle Vantrease and Davis Brin that threw the football 450+ times. The Eagles attempted 45 passes on Saturday despite winning 31-0.

Winston Watkins

LSU

No surprise that Watkins was the team leader in all receiving categories on Saturday as he’s the LSU receiver amongst a host of transfers that has the most experience in Lane Kiffin’s offensive system. Notable that Watkins also doesn’t have much competition in the slot, as Jackson Harris, Jayce Brown and Eugene Wilson all played the majority of their reps outside vs. Clemson.

Jeremiah Scoby

Bowling Green

Has Bowling Green unearthed another Harold Fannin? The Falcons were forced to the air more than anticipated against Tarleton State – averaging just 2.6 yards per carry and playing from behind will have that effect – but the increased passing volume worked in Scoby’s favor, as he hauled in 10 of 11 targets for 103 yards. Challenging schedule again with a few P4 opponents coming up, but Scoby is a must-add for those that punted the TE spot in drafts.

Joshua Long

Eastern Michigan

We had Long as a top 25 fantasy tight end in the preseason, so he may be on your roster already, but he’s off to a solid start with 11 receptions on 13 targets in two games. Target volume that high is tough to find at the TE position, but the slight concern is that everything is around the line of scrimmage. Long is averaging just 7.1 yards per catch with an aDOT of only 4.2 yards.

Toby Payne

Marshall

Sadly for me, Adrian Norton was nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, Payne was targeted a team-high nine times with eight receptions in the loss to Penn State. Easier matchups await as there is not another P4 team remaining on Marshall’s schedule.