Waiver wire wonders are becoming more and more necessary by the week.
A few weeks into every season, fantasy managers issue the same refrain—“Is it just me, or are there a lot of injuries this year?” Most seasons, it’s just you—injuries are sadly an annual fact of life in the NFL in fantasy football.
But in 2026 it does rather feel like there have been a lot of fantasy-relevant players felled over the first couple of weeks.
Over the span of a couple of hours on Sunday, two quarterbacks drafted as fantasy starters suffered injuries: Washington’s Jayden Daniels, which was likely significant, and Chicago’s Caleb Williams, which may not have been as bad as initially feared. Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley appeared to dodge a bullet, but Denver’s J.K. Dobbins and Seattle’s Jadarian Price are in question for Week 3.
At wide receiver, Alec Pierce of the Colts was carted off the field on Sunday night, joining a list of injured wideouts that already included Houston’s Nico Collins and Baltimore’s Zay Flowers. Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert suffered a knee injury Sunday, and while Atlanta’s Kyle Pitts Sr. isn’t hurt, he’s apparently in the Witness Protection Program—because he has vanished from the face of the Earth.
It’s been madness. One step beyond that, even.
There are any number of fantasy managers who are already in scramble mode. Frantically trying to keep the entire season from coming off the rails before the calendar even hits October. We’re here to help keep the season on the tracks—with the Week 3 edition of Waiver Wire Wonders here at Footballguys.
Each week during the 2026 season, we will be building a "lineup" (1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 1 FLEX) consisting of players who are available in over 50 percent of ESPN fantasy leagues. Will those players single-handedly win you a matchup? Probably not.
But desperate times call for desperate measures.
Week 2 Waiver Wire Wonders
QB Bryce Young, Carolina (34.3 Percent Rostered)
Yep, we’re going back to this well.
Young is off to easily the best start to a season he’s ever had—after 361 passing yards and three touchdowns against the Chicago Bears in Week 1, Young followed that up with three more touchdown passes in a blowout win over the Atlanta Falcons. Per Matt Okada of NFL.com, there isn’t a hotter pickup on the wire at quarterback than Young in Week 3.
“On the one hand, Young typically goes off against the Falcons, like he did on Sunday,” Okada said. “On the other hand, Young's 8.9 yards per attempt, 8.0% completion rate over expected, 113.3 passer rating and several other numbers through two weeks are elite, or borderline elite. If your starting QB is struggling or injured, Young might be the best available pickup and a viable starter until further notice.”
Young has posted 20-plus fantasy points in both games this season—you can count the number of other signal-callers who have accomplished the feat on one hand. His rostered percentage jumped by over 20 percent over the past week, but Young is still rostered in just one of three leagues.
That number needs to jump again.
RB Jonah Coleman, Denver (21.2 Percent Rostered)
Might as well use Coleman this week—because that rostered percentage is about to go bangpowzoom!
The Denver Broncos were already without R.J. Harvey (hamstring) in Week 2, and then JK Dobbins (stunner) went down with a hamstring injury of his own. That thrust Coleman into the lead role in the backfield for the Broncos, and he told reporters after the game that he was ready for the moment.
"J.K. [Dobbins] always preached to me, 'Be ready for your opportunity,'" Coleman said. "'Be ready for your moment and take full advantage of it. You never know when your number is going to be called.' It felt great to ultimately put the team up and be able to take the lead and just let the defense go out there and rush, because that's what we do. So, it was great to do that."
Coleman finished the game with 13 touches for 58 yards and found the end zone for the first time in his career. Dobbins’ injury isn’t believed to be serious, but this is JK Dobbins we’re talking about, and more than a few fantasy pundits appear to believe that Dobbins is about to be Wally Pipp’d into fantasy obscurity by the rookie from Washington.