Waiver Wire Week 1: Highlighting Top Pickups from 2019 Preseason

While 2019's NFL preseason games might not have been the most eventful, the league's surrounding roster movement hubbub certainly picked up the slack. With trades, releases and acquisitions in mind, as well as certain summer performances, we'll break down the top pickups likely available from the 2019 preseason period. 

Since these players are probably available in the majority of leagues, some are deeper sleepers that may not become start-worthy until later in the season. We're basing these off of standard, non-PPR leagues (1 QB, 2 WR, 2 RB, 2 Flex, 1 K, 1 D) with four points per passing touchdown. Ownership percentages are based on Yahoo Fantasy and we'll only include players who are owned in under 40 percent of leagues.

Running Back

• Carlos Hyde (33% owned)

• Justin Jackson (29% owned)

• Alexander Mattison (24% owned)

• Dare Ogunbowale (5% owned)

With LeSean McCoy, Tony Pollard and Devin Singletary all owned in over 60 percent of leagues, they're not widely available enough to get picked up this near to the season's kickoff. Instead, these players can provide value to owners as the season progresses. 

With his acquisition by the Houston Texans, Hyde, who had five touchdowns in five games for the Cleveland Browns last season, has a chance to carve out a role complementing Duke Johnson Jr. as the early-down and goal-line back. Given the stall in Melvin Gordon's holdout, Jackson has a chance to earn a body of work alongside Austin Ekeler in the typically potent Los Angeles Chargers offense. Conversely, Dalvin Cook's injury history (he has played just 15 games over the past two seasons) means Mattison has a chance to come into a valuable starting role with the Minnesota Vikings. 

Finally, Ogunbowale is a deeper sleeper as the bonafide backfield receiving threat and summer standout in a pass-happy Bruce Arians offense of which the seemingly inept Peyton Barber and Ronald Jones don't seem likely to take advantage.

Wide Receiver

• Kenny Stills (26% owned)

• Devante Parker (12% owned)

• Albert Wilson (5% owned)

With Stills' trade to the Texans, he joins a potent offense and leaves behind a bevy of targets for the gunslinger Ryan Fitzpatrick in Miami. While Houston's top passing option is obviously DeAndre Hopkins, who has only missed one game over the past six seasons, the next two receivers have been much less reliable. When healthy, Will Fuller and Keke Coutee have each been real fantasy options, but they're injury prone and missed nine and 10 games, respectively, last season.

A continuation of those injury woes would open up a valuable role for Stills, who is a proven, 6'1" deep threat who averages 16 yards per reception on his career and would benefit from Deshaun Watson's talent and all of the attention paid by opposing secondaries to Hopkins.

Back in Miami, Parker and Wilson are the two most likely candidates to compete for the targets vacated by Stills (169 over the last two seasons). Parker has been injury prone himself, and disappointed after being drafted by the Dolphins in the first round of the 2015 draft, but, at 6'3" and having shown flashes of legitimate talent, he still has a chance to become the true X receiver he was scouted to be.

Wilson, meanwhile, is a smaller (5'9"), faster receiver who is expected to get the majority of the slot work for a Dolphins team that is probably going to throw the ball a lot as they spend most games coming from behind.