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The wait is officially over. Week 1 of the 2018 NFL season is here and has already kicked off with the Eagles and Falcons on Thursday night. That being said, this may be the last time you'll be able to grab some waiver wire pickups to stash at the end of your bench before the season starts.
Once Week 1 is here and gone, there may be some injuries that occur or some breakout players that your league-mates will be all over on the waiver wire, scrambling to grab the best one available. Grabbing some of these guys ahead of time can be extremely beneficial, and ultimately be the kind of moves that can win you your leagues. You need to be ahead of the curve. Find those breakout candidates or rookies that shine, and grab them before they're being talked about everywhere, and your league-mates are fighting over them.
As stated in the first installment of this series, many of the names on these lists are deep enough stashes, that there is definitely a chance that some of these picks end up being worthless. In my first piece, the rookie RB in Oakland, Chris Warren, was one of my favorite options to grab. Since then, he's been placed on IR. Many times these guys that may be on the fence for making the 53-man roster or may end up getting stuck on the practice squad. On the flipside, these are the picks that can sometimes give your dynasty teams a nice boost or advantage at a particular position.
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Players to Stash Now in Dynasty
Trenton Cannon (RB) New York Jets - Unranked (RotoBaller Dynasty Rankings)
With NFL teams cutting down to their 53-man rosters, the depth charts are beginning to take shape, and one of them to keep an eye on is in New York. The Jets waived former Seahawk Thomas Rawls and second-year back Elijah McGuire is on IR until further notice. This leaves two very mediocre names in Isaiah Crowell and Bilal Powell, and one rookie to keep an eye on. The sixth-round pick out of Virginia State, Trenton Cannon, has shown that he can legitimately be an NFL asset. It's sort of been the perfect type of situation for Cannon, as he more than likely wouldn't have made the final roster, but with cuts and injuries, he finds himself in a position where he could have the chance to make a name for himself. If you've followed my work over the past year or so, you'd know that McGuire was a guy I was fairly high on, and he is still a name that I'm not totally dumping. If you have an IR spot, that's where he should currently be. For now, taking a shot on Cannon is the direction I'm heading instead.
At 5'10" 185 pounds, Cannon is a fairly undersized back and isn't someone that I'm looking at as a guy that can handle a big workload in the NFL. I'm more interested in grabbing him as a PPR guy who offers big-play upside. His metrics are very nice and he shows some excellent explosion in his 40-yard time and his 10-yard split time. Cannon finished the pre-season with 27 carries for 92 yards (3.41 YPC) and added seven receptions for 35 yards, with no touchdowns. He is extremely athletic and offers the explosion that I have not seen in either Crowell or Powell, and with this opportunity, I expect him to show what he can do and make a name for himself sooner rather than later. I wouldn't be surprised if Cannon makes a few flashes early on in the season, and there is a chance that he ends up being a top waiver wire priority to grab early on this year. Get a jump on your league mates and stash him at the bottom of your roster.
Jordan Akins (TE) Houston Texans - TE30
In the 2018 NFL Draft, the Houston Texans selected the rookie tight end out of UCF, Jordan Akins. Stephen Anderson has been cut, which was one that was coming for some time. The only real competition that Akins has now is Ryan Griffin, who hasn't shown much fantasy-wise. With the potential upside of that Houston offense with Deshaun Watson and DeAndre Hopkins, with a coach in Bill O'Brien who we've seen utilize the tight end position fairly heavily in the past. Akins wasn't a prospect that was expected to go as high as a third-round pick, which shows me that they plan on getting him involved one way or another.
Akins is an intriguing prospect as a tight end, because he was actually a wide receiver previously, then converted to the tight end position. At 6'3" 249 pounds, he finished his college career at UCF with 81 catches for 1,149 yards and eight touchdowns. Being converted from a receiver, he is a natural pass-catcher. He isn't an oversized tight end, and with all of these factors, I'm confident the Texans intend on getting him involved in that offense. With the uncertainty of the tight end position this year, hitting on one of these late-round flyer types of tight ends can really make a difference for your dynasty teams. Outside of the top names like Rob Gronkowski, Travis Kelce, and Zach Ertz, there is a huge dropoff this year, and someone like Akins could realistically end up being a startable option for your dynasty teams this year, especially in deeper leagues.
Jaron Brown (WR, Seattle Seahawks) - WR127
Like many of you dynasty owners out there, I'm sure at some point in time, you owned Tyler Lockett or were at least intrigued with the idea of the number two wide receiver in Seattle. While many are still buying into the potential breakout of Lockett, I'm looking a different direction. The former Arizona Cardinal has made some noise in pre-season, as Doug Baldwin and Lockett have both been nursing injuries. When it comes to consistent production for fantasy, Brown isn't what I'm looking for. However, if you're looking for someone with some nice boom or bust potential, he's a nice one to take a chance on.
During his time in Arizona, Brown had his share of boom and bust games, yet so did the other Brown out there, John Brown. With two players with a similar skillset in Arizona, neither were the most reliable option for fantasy purposes, but I believe both are now in positions to have a chance to be valuable for your dynasty leagues, as the other Brown is now in Baltimore.
With the departure of Jimmy Graham and Paul Richardson, there are now 176 targets up for grabs for that offense. There is potential for Baldwin missing time with his injury and the same for Lockett, which means there is a chance that Brown makes a splash. He showed in the pre-season his same skillset from Arizona, hauling in several long grabs, including a 29-yard and a 45-yard reception on back to back series. While I like him as potentially a boom or bust type of flex option, there is also a good chance that he gets a fair amount of volume, given the targets available. Not to mention, the possibility of Baldwin and Lockett missing time with their prospective injuries. As the 127th wide receiver on RotoBaller's currently dynasty rankings, there is a chance that Brown is still available in your dynasty leagues. If he is available and you have the space to pick him up, grab him and hope for a few big games and either reap the benefits for fantasy production, or capitalize if his value spikes.
