Each week during the fantasy football season I’ll be bringing you my top three waiver wire adds for the upcoming week. These are guys who are not highly rostered and exceeded expectations during the previous week with a likelihood of continuing solid production. Without further ado, let’s jump into the week 1 waiver wire adds!
Elijah Mitchell
First up we have 49ers running back Elijah Mitchell. While we wait to hear the details on Raheem Mostert’s knee injury, the number one pickup of the week is 49ers running back Elijah Mitchell. Mitchell was a sixth-round pick in the 2021 draft and was thought to be the second fiddle to a potential Mostert/Sermon backfield. However, when Mostert went down, Mitchell ran the ball 19 times for 104 yards; the next closest running back had 2 carries. The 49ers are generally a running back by committee team or will go with the runner with the “hot hand”, but Mitchell is someone who has gained the trust of the team with a monster week one game. With Trey Sermon as a surprise inactive Sunday, Mitchell seems like the running back most likely to benefit if Mostert misses any additional time.
Mark Ingram
The second waiver add of the week is Houston Texans running back Mark Ingram. We were warned all offseason to stay away from the Houston Texans backfield, for good reason. They added several veteran running backs on short-term deals and it was anyone’s guess who would emerge from the pack. On Sunday, it was Ingram that emerged to the tune of 26 carries for 85 yards and a touchdown. The next closest running back had 8 carries for 25 yards. Now, the yards per carry isn’t what you’d hope for with Ingram only netting 3.3 ypc, but he seems like the number one candidate for touches in that muddled backfield. Many had left Ingram for dead hearing that he was on the roster bubble before the start of the season. However, he came out with a bang, putting up the most carries he has had in a game since week six of the 2014 season. Ingram has shown that he is ready to carry a large workload. While the Texans may not have too many games where they’re ahead to the extent they were this weekend, he may be the top dog in that offense.
Christian Kirk
Lastly, it may be time to pick up the perennial underperforming Arizona Cardinals wide-out Christian Kirk. Kirk came out of the gate strong this season, catching all five of his targets for 70 yards and two touchdowns. The five targets amounted to a 15.6% target share, slightly less than his teammates DeAndre Hopkins and A.J. Green. Green, however, had six targets and was only able to bring in two balls for 25 yards. Kirk appears to have built some connection with Kyler Murray in his fourth season and could continue that throughout the remainder of the year. There are a lot of mouths to feed in the Arizona offense. However, Kirk is a name to remember, as this has the potential to be one of the highest-scoring offenses in the league.
I’ll be around all season to give you the top waiver wire players to target week in and week out. Let me know your waiver wire adds on Twitter @DFF_Ztrain.
