Injuries are the worst part of fantasy football. Just when you thought you absolutely nailed your fantasy football draft, you open your roster and see Christian McCaffrey, Isiah Pacheco, Cooper Kupp, Puka Nacua or Deebo Samuel staring at you with whatever injury icon your app of choice uses.

That said, injuries are, for better or worse, the lifeblood of the in-season waiver wire. After the first run of waivers, there aren’t many screaming values like J.K. Dobbins, last week’s silver medalist pickup who produced another RB1 week. Guys like that are an adjustment to misapplied preseason expectations. For the rest of the season, our edge will be gained by making calculated bets primarily on players assuming increased roles due to medium-to-long-term injuries.

Quick reminder: I’m primarily going to discuss players with below 50% ownership on Yahoo, with possible exceptions if the number is very close.  There will be a section for players closer to 75-80% owned later in the article, which will include names to make sure aren’t owned in your league, but those names likely won’t be available in most cases.

One additional note: My FAAB suggestions will be reduced across the board this week. That’s a product of the first waiver run before Week 2 being the most important of the season. In Week 1, I like to take big swings at guys like Dobbins and Isaiah Likely to cover off some of what preseason consensus got wrong, and basically every other week is dependent on circumstances. Thus, without a true golden waiver opportunity this week, you’re going to see smaller numbers. Also, the numbers are still out of your original budget, not whatever you have remaining, because of the impossibility of approximating hundreds of different remaining budgets.

The Podium

Gold Medal: Rams WR Demarcus Robinson (42% rostered):

Here’s what I wrote about Robinson last week, when he was 6% rostered on Yahoo: “Robinson is my clear WR1 on the waiver wire this week. Puka Nacua’s knee injury is going to be a problem for most (if not all) of the season, and while that helps Cooper Kupp more than anyone, Robinson looked great as the No. 2 option for an excellent Matthew Stafford. Robinson has legit WR2 upside in the McVay offense with Nacua going on IR.”

Well, now Cooper Kupp is probably going on IR too, so I hope you listened. It’s going to be tougher sledding for the Rams offense without a truly elite weapon for Matthew Stafford, but the Rams aren’t just going to roll over, so Robinson is the guy to own as the top weapon for an elite veteran passer. Admittedly, my optimism is slightly tempered by the fact that Robinson hasn’t been super productive yet, but let’s see what it looks like when the Rams don’t have to adjust to losing an elite weapon on the fly.

With both Nacua and Kupp likely out for the next month, Robinson has a clear production window that’s worth paying up for. He’s a 25-30% FAAB guy who could potentially be a rest of season starter.

Silver Medal: Chiefs RB Carson Steele (5% rostered):

Pacheco’s injury has created a massive void in the backfield for the back-to-back champs for the next two months that would normally be the slam dunk No. 1 waiver pickup of the week. Unfortunately, the Kansas City backfield situation is extremely complicated and difficult to diagnose. Acknowledging that Samaje Perine, Clyde Edwards-Helaire and maybe even Kareem Hunt are involved here, I’m going to recommend Steele, who is the only one of those three players to handle a carry so far this year.

It seems like Perine’s role is predictable, and maybe it grows into more full-fledged Jerick McKinnon-style usage, in which case he could end up being the better bet than Steele. It’s also possible that Hunt signs, looks like his old self and dominates this backfield. But with the evidence we have in front of us, I have to go with Steele. If you have a huge need and want to make a swing, I would be fine with spending up to 40% of your budget on Steele. Because of the riskiness with this situation, Steele doesn’t win the gold medal.

Bronze Medal: Browns WR Jerry Jeudy (41% rostered):

There’s a big drop off after the top two for me this week, but Jeudy’s rostership percentage caught me off guard. He seems like the rare post-Week 1 guy who went in the double-digit rounds that should’ve gone in the middle rounds instead, and that hasn’t been accounted for yet. The Browns passing offense, despite Deshaun Watson’s inconsistency, actually is sneaky stable because of the presence of a pass-happy backup in Jameis Winston. Jeudy hasn’t wowed yet, but he’s been steady enough that if he’s still out there, he’s worth a 15-20% FAAB bid.

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