Tue Jul 1st 2025

Players I've Added Off Waivers Since Rookie Drafts

This week, I'm writing a short article about the players I've added to my dynasty rosters since my rookie drafts. It's just another way to discuss deep-dive players who are worth adding to the back-end of dynasty rosters, especially before training camp starts and hype builds around players. Most of these moves I made after hearing news from mini-camp. Others are players I thought I'd rather have on my roster than another player, given their situation or the makeup of my team. Odds are that I will drop most of these players when it comes time to cut rosters before the season starts, but a few of them will make the cut, and one or more could become a valuable dynasty asset in the future.

As a reminder, I play in leagues that roster between 300 and 448 players, so if you play in leagues with fewer players, these are not players worth adding to your roster. However, if you play in dynasty leagues that roster 300 or more players, these are the players I recommend adding. Check your waiver wire, look one more time at your rosters, and decide if these ten players are not more valuable than one or two players on the back end of your rosters. They were for me.

Tyrod Taylor

• I'll start here with a random player, Tyrod Taylor. I added him in two leagues after rookie drafts. In one superflex league, I traded for Justin Fields during the rookie draft. After the draft in that league, I added Taylor as a handcuff to Fields, securing the Jets' quarterback position. In my deepest superflex league, with 448 players on rosters, including 56 players on taxi squads, I added Taylor after the draft to provide a solid second-string quarterback. In a league this deep, I have six second-string quarterbacks on my roster. It's a 14-team superflex league, so quarterbacks are scarce, so rostering backups is essential. If a starter gets injured, I either have a new possible starting quarterback or a tradeable piece for quarterback-hurting teams. Taylor is the strangest player I added since rookie drafts, but for those two teams, he made sense to add. He's a solid veteran who can produce if he starts games this season. Consider adding him in deep supeflex leagues as I did.

Dont'e Thornton

• I'm humbled and embarrassed to say that I did not have Thornton ranked in my rookie rankings when drafting in May. I've since added him to my rankings, and he's moved all the way up to 36th in my rookie rankings after reporters at mini-camp reported that he was receiving first-team reps, even ahead of Jack Bech. I discounted Thornton based on his college production, as his career high in catches was 26 in his senior season, and he played his final two years with Tennessee, a team whose offense does not produce NFL starters, even when they are productive in college. I should have given more weight to his draft capital, considering he was drafted early in the fourth round. Additionally, his head coach, Pete Carroll, will always starts the best players, regardless of their draft capital. If he likes Thornton more than Bech, despite drafting Bech two rounds earlier, then he will start ahead of him. I never drafted Thornton, but I was able to add him off waivers in two leagues, and I traded Marvin Mims for him in another. He's the player I'd most recommend adding before training camp starts.

Jaylin Lane

• I drafted Lane in one league and added him to three more leagues immediately after the draft. My adding Lane had nothing to do with mini-camp reports. I just like him as a prospect more than two guys that were on the back of my rosters. The Commander's wide receiver room is aging, so someone young needs to establish a role and become a young target for Jayden Daniels. I put my bets on Lane ahead of Luke McCaffrey. Noah Brown was ahead of them both on the depth chart in mini-camp, but he had a non-contact injury that could be serious, opening a bigger opportunity for Lane to earn a role. Lane will undoubtedly make the roster in leagues with a taxi squad, and I anticipate holding him in leagues without a taxi squad as well. Add him before training camp if you can. 

Arian Smith

• I was lower on Smith than most dynasty managers during rookie drafts, drafting him only twice: once in a six-round rookie draft league and once for $1 in a rookie auction of the 14-team league I mentioned above. I've added him one more league since then based on a few positive reports from mini-camp. He reportedly made some nice plays in mini-camp, and Malachi Corley is reportedly on the trading block. Plus, the Jets have one of the weakest wide receiver depth charts in the league. The Jets drafted him in the fourth round, much earlier than expected, given his inconsistency and many drops in college. His draft capital and weak depth chart make him a player I'm not willing to take a chance on to see how he does in training camp and preseason games. Check out your rosters and consider doing the same. I dropped A.J. Dillon to pick him up and still feel good about that transaction.

Efton Chism

• Chism was only drafted in one of my dynasty leagues, the 14-team 448-player league. He went for $24 in that rookie auction, a draft that took place after news about him began to trickle out during mini-camp. I added him to one deeper league after reporters said he looked great in mini-camp. Since then, Coach Vrabel has spoken glowingly about him, and news broke that Ja'Lynn Polk may not make the team. Chism had a fantastic college career at Eastern Washington with 346 catches, 3842 yards, and 37 touchdowns. Naturally, he's been compared to Cooper Kupp. The difference is that Kupp was a third-round pick, while Chism was an undrafted free agent. He has a tough depth chart to climb, but he's got a chance with a new head coach who inherited all of the wide receivers on the team, except for Stefon Diggs and Kyle Williams, whom he traded for and drafted. He's a fun player to add and root for, especially if you have room on your roster. 

Devaughn Vele

• Vele was rostered in all of my leagues except one, so I added him to that league. At least I have one share of him to watch as the wide receiver depth chart in Denver sorts itself out. Courtland Sutton is the WR-1. Other than that, the competition is open, and Vele was better than Marvin Mims and Troy Franklin last year. They drafted Pat Bryant this year, a sign that coach Payton prefers taller wide receivers like Vele. Like coach Carroll, Payton is not afraid to start a later-round draft pick ahead of a guy he drafted earlier. He did it last year, barely becoming the second-targeted wide receiver on the team. He could do it again. I'm willing to see if he can. Other managers are, too, since he was only available in one league.

Josh Palmer

• Khalil Shakir is the WR-1 in Buffalo. After that, the depth chart is up for grabs. Palmer and Keon Coleman are the leading candidates to start opposite Shakir, yet Palmer is unrostered in several of my leagues. Palmer and Elijah Moore were added in a few of my leagues after rookie drafts, and I took a chance adding Palmer in one. I've always liked Palmer and thought he'd produce more than he did after the Chargers drafted him. Maybe with his second chance in Buffalo, he can live up to his potential. Buffalo spreads the ball around more than most teams since trading Stefon Diggs, so I am not overly optimistic for Palmer's chances, but I thought he was worth an add in one deep league in case he can prove to be more reliable than Coleman after his not-so-productive rookie season. He'll likely not make the cut for my teams, but I'll be interested in following training camp reports and preseason games before I have to decide to keep or cut him.

Josh Reynolds

• I added Josh Reynolds in two leagues after reports indicated that he had secured a starting position with the Jets. As I already mentioned, this is one of the weakest depth charts. It's very unclear who will become the second-most targeted pass catcher for the Jets this year behind Garrett Wilson. They have rookie Mason Taylor at tight end and old man Allen Lazard at receiver. Reynolds is very capable of demanding more targets than them, especially after Lazard lost Aaron Rodgers. Justin Fields has yet to make more than one pass catcher very productive, so I do not expect Reynolds to have a late-career breakout. Still, I like his chances to become the WR-2 for the Jets this season, and I want to see what the new offense looks like with Justin Fields and his new coaches. I dropped Will Dissly in both leagues to add Reynolds. I'm willing to wait and see what he looks like in training camp and the preseason, as well.

Robert Woods

• Call me a sucker, but I added old-man Woods to one of my rosters after Aaron Rodgers signed with the Steelers. He was one of my most rostered players for years during his heyday with the Rams, so he's a sentimental favorite. I only added him in a league where my roster is one of the top four in the league. I'd only add Woods to a team where I am strong at wide receiver and have plenty of youth at the position, which is the case in this league. In this league, we do not have our rookie draft until late August, so I will have time to see if he has chemistry with Rodgers. I expect he will since Rodgers loves smart players who will be in the right place at the right time on each play. At his old age, Woods can do that. He may become a favorite of Rodgers's. Admittedly, he's doubtful to make my starting roster when we cut back our rosters. Given our late draft, with every rookie we draft, we must drop a player on our roster. I have all five of my picks this year, so I assume I will drop Woods during the rookie draft. At least I will get to see a few quarters of preseason games before I have to decide. I was willing to drop Parker Washington in that league for Woods since his dynasty value dropped after the Jaguars drafted Travis Hunter and added Dyami Brown, who received glowing reports from mini-camp. Washington would also be on the chopping block during the rookie draft. Until then, I'm glad to have one share of one of my longtime favorite players.

Theo Johnson

• I was surprised to see second-year player Johnson available on the waiver wire in one of my leagues. Granted, it is my most inactive league, a league where I added Trey McBride to the squad about this time of year after his unproductive rookie season. I'm not saying Johnson will become the next McBride, but he should in no way be dropped after an injury-plagued rookie year. Yet, in this league, he was. He's a starting tight end for a young and, hopefully, improving team with a new rookie quarterback to grow with in the years to come. I'm stacked at tight end in that league with McBride and Dallas Goedert as my other tight ends, so Johnson is a perfect young tight end to add to my depth chart. I have time for him to develop. I dropped Josh Palmer, who I already mentioned above, to pick up Johnson in this league. His dynasty value is far greater. I can't believe a manager let him go.

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