Each week, TSN.ca breaks down the potential best additions in fantasy football ahead of the Tuesday night Waiver Wire deadline.

Quarterbacks

Fantasy footballers on the lookout for an upgrade at quarterback could include Russell Wilson owners, who will try to wait out an early-season ankle injury that limited the Seahawks QB to just 12 points in Week 1; and Tyrod Taylor owners, who saw the preseason from hell in Buffalo culminate in a five-point effort for their QB in Week 1.

Embedded ImageTwo young QBs in Jameis Winston and Derek Carr deserve the attention of their waiver dollars. Winston may already be owned in your league after entering the year with a solid QB2 rating, but Carr, by virtue of his preposterous QB3 rating, should still be available.

Carr finished as the 14th ranked QB last season despite missing the majority of the season opener to injury. The third-year QB went shot for shot with Drew Brees down the stretch of Oakland’s Week 1 win and should once again finish on the QB1 bubble.

Meanwhile Winston continued his ascension into stardom with a four-touchdown effort against the Falcons in Week 1. He’s currently fourth in QB scoring and should stay in the Top 10 the duration of the year.

Other QBs worth consideration include two veterans in Matthew Stafford and Matt Ryan, hoping strong Week 1 performances set the tone for bounce back years.  

Stafford proved Calvin Johnson’s retirement won’t negate him of big weeks with the fifth-highest point total at QB for Week 1, and showed more fire yelling at his receivers during the Lions’ game-winning drive than he had his entire career prior to that.

And Ryan made use of new target Mohamed Sanu to propel him to the sixth-highest point total at the position.

Stafford should struggle to maintain his torrid start once the Lions face a tougher secondary than the Colts, but Ryan figures to hover around QB1 status all year.

Running backs

The Rams’ anemic offence should worry Todd Gurley owners while Adrian Peterson owners must have similar fears with the Vikings’ offence, albeit to a lesser extent.

This isn’t to suggest Gurley or Peterson are in danger of getting dropped, but if they’re not the bell cows they were expected to be, owners should be scouring the waiver wire for depth at the position while the getting is good.

No injuries at the position means we’ll have to wait at least another week for a workhorse back to be available on the waiver wire, but there are at least a couple intriguing committee backs.

Embedded ImageOne of the league’s top receiving backs, Theo Riddick, finished as the fourth-highest scoring running back after a two touchdown performance and should be available in your league. Riddick can’t be counted on for two scores every week but he should be good for 80 yards combined running and receiving each week, good enough for flex consideration.

Riddick’s backfield partner Ameer Abdullah could be available as well. Abdullah will get more carries than Riddick but should lose the combined yardage race. Both Lions’ backs are in for another favourable matchup next week against the Titans before yards and scores figure to be harder to come by for the Lions the rest of the way.

Danny Woodhead is another solid receiving back and is a decent boom-or-bust flex play, but expectations should be tempered after Melvin Gordon’s impressive season debut in San Diego.

The league’s most overrated back, Devonta Freeman, proved to be just that Week 1, providing an opportunity for backup Tevin Coleman. Coleman outscored Freeman in Week 1 but Freeman doesn’t figure to lose his job based off just one bad week. Coleman is more a bench stash at this point.

And TJ Yeldon could be a strong add with the sophomore back figuring to get most of the workload in Jacksonville until Chris Ivory’s mysterious medical situation is behind him.

Wide receivers

Two major injuries should lead to an active waiver market at wide receiver. After losing half the season to injury last year, the Chargers’ Keenan Allen was lost for the whole year in Week 1 to a torn ACL. Meanwhile, turns out Sammy Watkins isn’t fully recovered from foot surgery and could miss extended time for the Bills. Add in worries over Demaryius Thomas by virtue of his quarterback, Trevor Siemian, and free agent receivers should be flying off the shelf Wednesday morning.

Embedded ImageLeading the way should be preseason darling Willie Snead. We won’t totally know how targets will shake out in New Orleans until rookie Michael Thomas is fully healthy, but it appears certain there will be more than enough to go around. Snead’s nine targets matched that of leading receiver Brandin Cooks and while the Saints won’t always face as porous a secondary as the Raiders, they figure to be in a number of shootouts this year.

Rookie Will Fuller could be worth a flyer in Houston but with a couple qualifiers. Fuller had a solid Week 1 and figures to get work as opponents focus more on DeAndre Hopkins, but had an awful 45 percent catch rate and will only go as far as first-year starting QB Brock Osweiler takes him, an answer we don’t yet have.

Mohamed Sanu could also be worth a look in what figures to be a much better Falcons’ offence this year.

Tight ends

Rob Gronkowski’s status remains week-to-week so owners of the best tight end ever will need a backup plan for at least another game; and Gary Barnidge is on his way to proving he’s a one-year wonder, although Josh McCown’s return behind centre offers a glimmer of hope.

Embedded ImageIf you’re not willing to wait on a Browns player, there were a couple of young TEs who are hoping their big Week 1 performances were the first step to finally figuring it out. The 10th overall pick in the 2014 draft, Eric Ebron caught all five of his targets for 46 yards and a score for the Lions. While the 38th overall pick of that draft, Austin Sefarian-Jenkins, hauled in just one target but it was for a highlight reel score.

Ebron is the safer pick and figures to get more work, but Sefarian-Jenkins is in the better offence and has the better QB, so he gets the nod as the better boom-or-bust pick, at the most boom-or-bust position.

The Cowboys offence isn’t the same without Tony Romo, but Dak Prescott was at least serviceable in Week 1 and young QBs are always good news for safety valve tight ends, which makes veteran Jason Witten worth a look.

And the Giants’ Larry Donnell, who had his name pop up on a few Waiver Wire articles last year, is getting his first mention in Week 1 this year, if you’re desperate.