College Fantasy Football: Week 2 Waiver Wire Report

As we pour over the box scores and highlight clips from the games this weekend, many of us will take a good hard look at our carefully drafted rosters and try to figure out how they can be improved. 

Finding a few players to bolster your roster isn’t as easy as it seems.  With Week One comes a fair share of “Fool’s Gold” - marginal players who take advantage of a Division II opponents for big stats.  Some of these players will wind up being fantasy factors all season long, while others will completely fall off the map.

The key is to be able to weed out these players, and focus on players that can help you when the rugged conference schedules begin in a few weeks.

With that in mind, we give you our Week One Waiver Wire Report.

PICK ‘EM UP

Quarterbacks

Blaine Gabbert (Missouri)
Exploded in his first start against solid competition.  This bodes very well

Jerrod Johnson (Texas A&M)
Threw early and often.  Didn’t split any snaps with Tannehill, who played some receiver.

Austen Arnaud (Iowa State)
Lived up to our preseason ranking with a nice blend of passing and running stats.

Zac Lee (Nebraska)
Looked pretty good and should thrive in the defense-challenged Big 12.

Ricky Dobbs (Navy)
Really impressive against a top notch defense. We figured he’d put together some nice rushing stats, but passing for 156?  Wow.

Running Backs

Dion Lewis (Pittsburgh)
Looked really good, just beware the competition and keep an eye on Ray Graham.

Undrea Sails (UL-Lafayette)
Great game against a bad team.  Has a few tough matchups, plus a bye week, on the horizon. But should be solid once Sun Belt play begins in a month.

Robert Turbin (Utah State)
Numbers were inflated by a 98-yard TD run.  But they all count, right?

Shane Vereen (Cal)
If something were to happen to Jahvid Best, Vereen would become an instant star.

Mo Plancher (South Florida)
We told you Mo would be a good play in the first few games. 

Alexander Robinson (Iowa State)
Solid outing against bad competition.  We like A-Rob, but think his ceiling is low.

LaMichael James (Oregon)
Should step into the starting role with Blount gone.  Beware the Ducks woeful o-line, though.

Brynn Harvey (UCF)
The focal point of the offense.  Could thrive against C-USA defenses this year.

Daniel Thomas (Kansas State)
23 carries for 104 yards, even against UMass, is a nice start.

Ryan Williams (Virginia Tech)
Ran with passion against a great Tide defense.  David Wilson had zero touches - by design or due to injury?

Christine Michael (Texas A&M)
11 rushes, 93 yards and a score.  Outplayed Cyrus Gray, which could lead to bigger workload soon.

Chris Polk (Washington)
Really impressed against a top SEC defense.  Bodes well for U-Dub fans.

Joe Martinek (Rutgers)
If you didn’t see the game and just looked at the box score, you might be surprised by our recommendation here.  Those who watched the game saw Rutgers trying to rush the ball early and often (before things got out of hand).  Martinek rushed the ball 15 times for 54 yards and a score before Rutgers abandoned the run.  Next up for Martinek are three outstanding matchups in Howard, FIU, and Texas Southern.

Wide Receivers

Greg Salas (Hawaii)
Salas was Greg Alexander’s top target in the opener.

David Reed (Utah)
Exploded in Week One for 10-172-1.

Vincent Brown (San Diego State)
Made a few big plays against UCLA.

Danario Alexander (Missouri)
Caught 10 passes in the opener against Illinois. 

Mike Williams (Syracuse)
Caught a TD in his 10th straight game.

Michael Outlaw (North Texas)
The top UNT receiver against Ball State. 

Tight Ends

Tony Moeaki (Iowa)
Huge game for the oft-injured Hawkeye.  Can he stay healthy?

K. Middleton (Washington)
Looked very sharp against LSU’s stout defense.

WAIT AND SEE

Quarterbacks

Sam Bradford (Oklahoma)
If you’re roster is deep, we recommend you hang on to the OU signal caller for now.  The latest word is that Bradford will be out 2-4 weeks.

Chris Masson (UL-Lafayette)
Had his way against Southern.  Could be an interesting guy to follow once Sun Belt play begins.

Kevin Riley (Cal)
Cal’s QBs have driven fantasy owners crazy over the years.  Wait and see if Riley can string together a couple strong performances before picking him up in All-120 leagues.

Jordan Jefferson (LSU)
JJ could make a nice backup QB in BCS-only formats.

Kelly Page (Ball State)
The Ball State offense was a giant disappointment against lowly North Texas.  If they struggle again in their next game, we’re going to be very concerned.

Russell Wilson (NC State)
Just an awful game by the Wolfpack.  Wilson better get things turned around soon or else Mike Glennon could see more time.

Jacory Harris (Miami)
Harris was on fire on Monday night, passing for 386 yards.  Don’t expect this every week, but Harris is certainly someone to consider if you need QB help.  In BCS-only leagues, he is someone to add right now.  In All-120, you might want to remember about his tough upcoming SOS and wait a bit.

Christian Ponder (Florida State)
Ponder had a strong outing against Miami, adding in a nice chunk of rushing yardage to go along with 294 passing yards.

Running Backs

Ralph Bolden (Purdue)
Fool’s Gold Alert.  Don’t get suckered into thinking Bolden is the next Adrian Peterson.  Purdue still stinks.  And Jaycen Taylor is still in the mix.  Set your expectations accordingly.

Delone Carter (Syracuse)
Carter and the Cuse offense looked alright in the opener.  Keep an eye on him.

Stephen Simmons (Northwestern)
18-77-0 against Towson?  Not impressed.  But he didn’t have a No. 2 RB threaten him in workload, so he’s someone to watch. 

Richard Samuel (Georgia)
Solid but unspectacular performance against Oklahoma State.  He carried the load, rushing 20 times (next most on team was 3).

Shawnbrey McNeal (SMU)
19-158-1 is a great statline.  And a shocking one coming from the pass happy Mustangs.  We doubt this is going to be a regular occurrence.

D. Lindsay (East Carolina)
15-105-1 against App State is solid.  Lindsay could be someone to consider as a spot starter when the matchup is right.

D. Priest (E. Michigan)
The lone bright spot in EMU’s loss to Army was Priest who carried the ball 19 times for 83 yards and a score.

Channing Trotter (UNLV)
Fool’s Gold alert No. 2?  Trotter came out of nowhere to post a 16-106-3 statline.  He scored on 3 one yard plunges.  We expect UNLV to pass more in future games, but Trotter now has his name on the fantasy radar.

Charles Sims (Houston)
Alright, folks.  We’ve been warning you about this hotshot freshman and how he could be a fantasy factor down the line.  Bryce Beall owners need to hope that Sims’ impressive debut (6-128-1 receiving, 3-2-1 rushing) doesn’t warrant more immediate P.T.

Darius Terry (Wyoming)
Posted 23-99-2 against Weber State.  Not bad.

Montario Hardesty and Bryce Brown (Tennessee)
Both looked good against WKU.  What will they do in the rugged SEC?

DJ Harper (Boise State)
Harper seemed to be part of the Broncos’ 1-2 punch with Jeremy Avery.  He got more goal line carries than Avery, and might make a decent spot starter.

Warren Norman & Zac Stacy (Vanderbilt)
Thie duo combined for 248 rushing yards and 3 TDs against Western Carolina.

Cody Johnson (Texas)
The dude doesn’t get too many carries, but he is a touchdown machine.  If your scoring system is TD-heavy, pick him up now.

Alfred Morris (Florida Atlantic)
We heard very good things about Morris this spring and he did not disappoint on Saturday against a tough Huskers defense, posting 18-85-0.

Jamad Williams (Tulsa)
12-34-0 against Tulane? Yikes.

Edwin Baker, Caulton Ray & Larry Caper (Michigan State)
This situation is a mess right now, but someone will emerge here in the next month.

David Wilson (Virginia Tech)
Wilson didn’t do anything in the game against Alabama.  Was he banged up as per reports?  Or did Ryan Williams and Josh Oglesby earn the workload?

Wide Receivers

Andrew Brewer (Northwestern)
We’re skeptical of Big Ten receivers being long term solutions.

Blair White (Michigan State)
We’ve been burned by quick-starting MSU receivers in the past.  We’d like to see more from Sparty before we jump on White’s bandwagon.

Derek Moye (Penn State)
The lanky sophomore had a breakout game against Akron, including 140+ yards in the first half.

Ryan Tannehill (Texas A&M)
Tannehill was back at WR for the Aggies, registering 3 catches for 40 yards.

Keith Smith (Purdue)
We’re just not buying what the Boilers are selling.  Not yet. But this was certainly a promising start for Mr. Smith.

Jacory Stone (E. Michigan)
His 12 catch, 128 yard performance caught our eye - even though Toledo was playing catch up most of the game.

Briggs Orsbon (Ball State)
Orsbon and company were awful against UNT.  We’ll give him another chance.

Others:
J. Williams (Duke)
O’Neil Chambers (BYU)
Chuck Walker (Marshall)
M. Hamilton (Iowa State)
Tebiarus Gill (Troy)

Tight Ends

Luke Aubrey (UL-Lafayette)

CUT ‘EM LOOSE

Note: we like to wait and see more than we like to completely severe ties after watching only 60 minutes of action.  Therefore, this section is going to look a bit skimpy this week.

Quarterbacks

Stephen Garcia (South Carolina)
What was he doing on your roster in the first place?

Running Backs

LeGarrette Blount (Oregon)
Done for the year.

Jewel Hampton (Iowa)
Done for the year.

Paki O’Meara (Iowa)
Iowa was a mess on Saturday.  O’Meara was supposed to be the spot starter, but only mustered up 16 rushing yards.

Harrison Jeffers (Texas Tech)
Baron Batch played enough to show that his injury isn’t too serious.  Jeffers has no value unless Batch isn’t playing.

Mikell Simpson (Virginia)
11 touches for 60 yards against William & Mary?  No thanks.

Wide Receivers

Josh Jarboe (Troy)
This has nothing to do with Jarboe’s talent.  It has everything to do with patience.  And right now, with the emergence of WR Tebarius Gill (and Jerrel Jernigan), Jarboe is a 3rd WR option at best.  Cut him now, pick up a producer, and keep your eye on Jarboe later down the line.

Tight Ends

Nobody just yet.

Todd DeVries is the founder of CollegeFootballGeek.com, your premier resource for college fantasy football.