Sunday morning can be a stressful time for fantasy managers. We are constantly checking our lineups to make sure we have the best players in there. What no one wants to see is someone suddenly marked as OUT right before the action starts. Now you’re scrambling to get someone to fill in for the spot, but if you’re a savvy owner you probably have someone ready on the bench. If you don’t go ahead and get that figured out first and foremost.

If you have a backup ready, and no one already in your IR spot, you now have a golden opportunity to get a step ahead of your league mates. Your injured player has just given you a free bench spot right before a day of football. Now you have a chance to stash a player that could be a huge waiver-wire add, a full week ahead of the competition. Here are a few names you may want to add to your roster if you have that extra spot open.

[Related: Fantasy Football Players I’m Scared to Play in Week 2]

Sunday Morning Stashes for Week 2

Calvin Austin, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers are looking to bounce back after a brutal start to their 2023 campaign, but are facing some rough sledding heading into Week 2. Diontae Johnson left the game against San Francisco with a hamstring injury, leaving him as day-to-day and questionable for their matchup against the Browns. If Johnson does miss time, Kenny Pickett may turn his attention towards rookie wide out Calvin Austin.

In his NFL debut Austin hauled all six of his targets for 37 yards. That’s not an overwhelmingly exciting stat line, but the big takeaway is that he was still targeted a bunch. For a rookie to get that kind of trust and focus from the QB it must mean these two are on the same page. When a wide out and a QB can sync up, they can both be great for fantasy. If the Browns end up putting their efforts into stopping TE Pat Friermuth, Austin could receive the bulk of targets.

Of course, this is all dependent on the health of Diontae Johnson. If Johnson does play, Austin will most likely be relegated back to his WR3 role on the team. But Calvin Austin is an explosive player and having him at the end of your bench could prove to be worth the early investment.

Sean Tucker, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Alright you caught me – this whole article is just another excuse to bring up Sean Tucker’s name.

Really though, if you watched Rachaad White take the lion’s share of the workload against the Vikings and said “yes, give me more of that!” then I don’t know what to tell you. Another poor performance from White may give way to more touches for Tucker, which only increases his chances at stealing away the starting job.

Tampa is playing against the Bears who just let Aaron Jones and Jordan Love run all over them. If White can’t get it done against this team, I’m not sure when he will. Sadly in the same vein, Tucker will need to prove he can be the lead back by making the most out of every play.

Demario Douglas, WR, New England Patriots

The Patriots offense looks to be a real thing this year, and now is the time to start thinking about what pieces you want from this roster. Obviously initial drafters scooped up Rhamondre Stevenson and potentially Ezekiel Elliot, but the wide receiver room is all over the place. While it looks like Kendrick Bourne will be the WR1 for this offense the hunt for the number two option is on. Looking at the box score from Week 1, it looks like the 6th round pick Demario Douglas might be in line for more work.

Douglas received a whole bunch of praise during training camp for his quickness and playmaking ability. When game time came around it looked as though his efforts had made an impact on Mac Jones as he received 7 targets throughout the game. He caught just four of those passes, but he was the focus of a few set plays to get the ball in his hands. Most importantly, he was on the field in the last two minutes of the game.

If there was a time for Douglas to show out, it would be against a weak Dolphins defense. Miami barely squeaked out a win over the Chargers after letting up 34 points. Heading into this game, I do want to pick up at least one player from the Pats to see if anyone does emerge as a potentially fantasy option.

Irv Smith Jr, TE, Cincinnati Bengals

Let’s just forget about that terrible game from the Bengals in the season opener, and start thinking about just how fun it could be to get an exciting TE catching passes from Joe Burrow. Irv Smith was one of those exciting tight ends coming out of college thanks to his athleticism and route running. He was a very exciting prospect for real football and fantasy when he joined the Vikings. He would be taking the old Kyle Rudolph role, where he would be highly targeted in the endzone – at least we thought.

Injuries kept Irv Smith on the sideline for back to back years, and fantasy managers never really got to see what he could do. Now on the Bengals in a high-octane offense, Smith could be making his way back into relevancy.

Burrow doesn’t throw it to the tight end a lot historically, but every year is a new year. If his injury is preventing him from being able to push the ball down the field, there could be more work for Smith as a check down option.

Marvin Mims, WR, Denver Broncos

I’ll be honest, Marvin Mims was more of a Week 1 stash with the absence of Jerry Jeudy. He was the number two option behind Courtland Sutton, but couldn’t quite get it done. He had just two targets and two receptions for nine yards. It’s tough to know if that is a Russell Wilson problem or a Mims problem, but it certainly isn’t looking good either way. The reason why we want to stash him this week is to simply see if it was a fluke or not. The Broncos selected Mims in the second round of the draft, suggesting he is definitely a player they want to get involved.

We could see a better game out of Mims with Jeudy returning to action. Wild things like that happen in fantasy. If Mims is on the third CB rather than the second, he could have a more favorable matchup and demand targets. Rookie wide outs, in general, do take some time to acclimate to the speed of the NFL. Mims could easily start producing this week, but we will have to wait and see.

This is all relying on Russell Wilson, which is recently not a great bet.

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• Source: https://thegamehaus.com/fantasy-football/5-sunday-morning-stashes-for-week-2/2023/09/17/