2021 Fantasy Football: Week 2 Waiver Wire Running Back Pickups

Week 1 is in the books. After some preseason injuries and an opportunity to see how Week 1 played out, let’s take a moment to digest the information and pinpoint the top available waiver wire pickups at each position. Use FantasySP's Waiver Wire tool to gain an edge on your leaguematers. 

Running Backs:

Latavius Murray, Baltimore Ravens

If by chance someone in your league dropped Murray, go pick him up right now as he will end up in a 60-40 timeshare with Ty'Son Williams plus get goal-line carries.

Elijah Mitchell, San Francisco 49ers

Trey Sermon was a surprise inactive on Sunday, which shocked many fantasy football managers. Additionally, Raheem Mostert got injured early in the first quarter, and suddenly Mitchell became the lead running back for SF. He looked phenomenal, and now with Mostert out for eight weeks and Sermon in the doghouse, the opportunity presents itself for a lot of opportunity for Mitchell moving forward.

Tony Jones, New Orleans Saints

Jones will end up starting three or four games this season and being highly productive. At the very least, he should get somewhere between 8 to 10 touches a game as a backup. If he is on your league’s waiver wire, do yourself a favor and get him now before it's too late.

Mark Ingram, Houston Texans

Ingram was brought in by the Texans specifically because of his relationship with head coach David Culley. Ingram looked terrific in Week 1, but at the same time, I wouldn't count on him having so many big games this season. The Texans played with a lead, and that won't happen too often this season.

Kenneth Gainwell, Philadelphia Eagles

When many experts said that they were shocked to see Gainwell get as much opportunity as he did against Atlanta, I've been touting Gainwell all preseason as the Eagles’ primary backup. He's going to get better and better as the season moves forward. Go get him now.

Larry Roundtree, Los Angeles Chargers

I think it's clear that Roundtree is Austin Ekeler’s backup. If you have Ekeler already, handcuff him with Roundtree now to be safe.

Cordarrelle Patterson, Atlanta Falcons

The Eagles' front seven is very difficult to run against, and Patterson has way more speed to the outside than Mike Davis does, so it was not a surprise that Patterson had a good game. I think this is more of a one-off game than a regular thing. The guy I really like for Atlanta moving forward is Wayne Gallman. I think you want to pick him up in case there's a problem with Davis.

Carlos Hyde, Jacksonville Jaguars

Urban Meyer brought Hyde to Jacksonville because he was familiar with him from their days at Ohio State. Hyde had more carries than James Robinson, but I don't think this will be a weekly occurrence. That said, I do think Hyde has a role in this offense, and I wouldn't be shocked to see him get 5 to 10 carries per game.