Fantasy Football Early Waiver Wire: Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave emerge as rookie WR difference makers

When we talk about drafting rookie-wide receivers in Fantasy Football, we usually have to add a caveat: “You may have to be patient with them.” In the case of Jets rookie Garrett Wilson, that means you had to wait until week 2 to see him perform as an elite player.

Wilson, the No. 10 pick in this year’s NFL Draft, performed great in the Jets’ victory from behind on the Browns Sunday. He caught eight of the 14 passes he threw for 102 yards and two touchdowns, including the winner of the game with 22 seconds left. And he could have played an even bigger game – he had at least two other goals in the end zone, including one where he was open and Joe Flacco just knocked him over.

That comes after Wilson already had a solid debut, with four catches for 52 yards on eight goals. For what it’s worth, Wilson got off to a slow start in Week 1 — he only had one catch for 9 yards in his first NFL half. But once he got his feet wet, Wilson showed his speed of 4.38, open on the field and a viable target in the red zone early in his career.

Wilson has been included in 53% of CBS Fantasy leagues, a number that will rise to nearly triple digits after this kind of performance. Wilson is still a pretty mediocre offense in some numbers, with plenty of competition for targets from Corey Davis and especially sophomore wide receiver Elijah Moore. However, the Jets liked Wilson enough to make him a first-round pick despite Davis and Moore’s presence, and we see why.

Does that mean Wilson will be a must-start Fantasy option in the future? No of course not. Wilson has worked with Flacco, who probably only has one more start before Zach Wilson returns, and Wilson will have to prove that he has such a rapport with Wilson as well. However, he is a blue chip prospect who now has 22 goals in his first two games, with a 100-yard, two-touchdown performance to his name. This is an incredibly promising start and Wilson has already proven that he should be on your roster.

And he’s not the only rookie wide receiver you’ll want to add to waivers in Week 3. Saints rookie Chris Olave, Wilson’s Ohio State teammate who made one pick after Olave, also had a pretty impressive performance on Sunday. He led the Saints on 13 goals and caught five for 80 yards, including the Saints’ biggest game of the game, a 51-yard catch in the fourth quarter. It wasn’t ideal for him to fiddle with that long catch then, but Olave was a pretty big part of the Saints attack early on, playing 74% of the snaps in Week 1 and 72% this week.

Like Wilson, Olave is in what may be a mediocre offense, with plenty of competition from Michael Thomas and Jarvis Landry. However, when a young, first-round wide receiver shows these kinds of advantages, it’s worth making sure they’re on your team, even if that’s on the bench, rather than someone else’s.

Olave and Wilson look great so far. Jahan Dotson has three touchdowns in his first three games. Drake London is Atlanta’s No. 1 WR, and Treylon Burks showed flashes in Week 1 as well. This class of rookie wide receivers can be pretty special, and it’s worth making sure these guys are on your list, just in case they continue to build on these quick starts.

Here’s who else we’ll be chasing on the week 3 waiver.