Fantasy Football Week 2 QB Waiver Wire: Big Opening Performances and a Pair of Vikings

It feels good to be back in NFL mode. We waited nearly seven months from the Super Bowl to Week 1, but we are now back in the swing of things; it really is the best time of the year. The stress of fantasy football comes with it, though, and owners are already searching for the savior moves that will plug holes and take their rosters to the next level.

Let's look at five of the top quarterbacks to add from the waiver wire after one week of NFL football. Most stats are from NFL.com, and fantasy points/rankings are from FantasyPros.

Use FantasySP's waiver wire tool to find the players who are being added to fantasy rosters most often!

Kyler Murray and Carson Wentz, Minnesota Vikings

We'll start with a bit of an uncertain situation, as Murray left the Week 1 game against the Packers with a concussion in the first quarter. Wentz stepped in and played well in bringing the Vikings back from a fourth-quarter deficit to beat Green Bay 39-22, scoring 29 straight points. Wentz threw for 133 yards on a very average 7 per attempt with three touchdowns, putting him just outside the top 10 in fantasy scoring among QBs prior to Monday night.

Murray's status for Week 2 is unknown, but whoever starts for the Vikings has a good matchup coming against the Bears. Chicago made headlines by scoring 59 points, but they also gave up 37 to the Panthers, a team not expected to be an offensive juggernaut by any means. Bryce Young threw for 361 yards with three touchdowns and an interception while running for 10 yards and another score.

The Bears were vulnerable last season as well, allowing the fifth-most yards per pass attempt and the fifth-most fantasy points to quarterbacks. They are a team to target until they show any kind of defensive consistency (other than creating turnovers, which is how they found success last year). Murray isn't as available but can still be picked up in plenty of leagues, and Wentz is virtually unowned; either guy has a strong outlook this coming week if you have a player with a tough matchup.

Tyler Shough, New Orleans Saints

Shough took over the starting job for New Orleans in Week 9 last season after relieving Spencer Rattler in Week 8. From Week 9 to the end of the year, he was QB9, topping 17 fantasy points in each of the final seven games. There was a little buzz around him coming into 2026, but Shough is still available in about half of leagues, something that will change soon if he keeps scoring points.

He is QB6 in Week 1 prior to Monday night's game after throwing for 410 yards and three touchdowns. His efficiency was only average, as it took 56 pass attempts to reach those numbers, and two interceptions hurt his overall performance a bit. Owners are going to take notice of his fantasy scores, though, and he will get added in plenty of leagues.

Shough won't throw the ball over 50 times per game, but he has shown that he can have fantasy success and is worth being on your radar. He matches up against the Ravens in Week 2, a team that just held Daniel Jones to 166 yards on a paltry 5.4 yards per attempt. There will be better matchups in the future, but this could be a tough one against Baltimore.

If you are in a deeper league or short at quarterback, Shough is a player worth considering for your roster. Less volume will stop him from putting up such lofty numbers so often, but he can run a little bit also to help make up the difference; there will be more strong weeks.

Malik Willis, Miami Dolphins

Willis was one of my favorite late-round picks in fantasy drafts, especially for those who missed out on the top quarterbacks early. He doesn't have much experience on the field, and he is on one of the worst teams in the league, but Willis is going to have the ball in his hands, and he will run, one of the best assets a fantasy quarterback can possess.

In Week 1 against the Raiders, Willis threw for 220 yards on a very good 8.1 yards per attempt, though he didn't throw any touchdowns and had an interception. His running was a factor, as he added 39 yards and a score on the ground, adding almost 10 points to his fantasy total. That only has him near the middle among QBs for the week, but that's a decent result for a guy who went undrafted in many leagues.

I'm still intrigued by Willis because of his running ability, but he has a tough matchup against the 49ers in Week 2, so I won't be recommending him this upcoming week. Willis is still a player to consider picking up in deeper leagues or if you could use another quarterback, though, because he has the upside for some big weeks when he finds room to break free.

Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers

We talked about Young above and how he put up huge numbers against the Bears, making him a top-three QB prior to Monday's game. It's reasonable to be skeptical of similar numbers continuing, as Young hasn't found success often in his young career. I see this more as a strong performance against a weak pass defense in a game that necessitated throwing to try to keep up.

Week 2 brings Carolina to Atlanta to play the division rival Falcons, a team that held Aaron Rodgers to just 5.5 yards per attempt on Sunday. Atlanta seems to have a better pass defense than the Bears, and things will probably be tougher, though the Falcons are far from a top defense.

Young's big performance will bring plenty of interested fantasy owners calling, but I don't recommend Young as much as the others listed above and prefer one of those options instead. That said, he is likely improved from the past few years, and his supporting cast is as well, so there could be more decent performances ahead. It's worth keeping an eye on the former top overall pick in Carolina.