Fantasy Football: 4 Deep Sleepers for NFL Week 2

If you're in a deep league or are playing some large-field NFL DFS tournaments on FanDuel this week, you'll probably need some deep sleepers on your squad.

Here are some players who are on the majority of waiver wires but need to be on your radar this week.

We'll reference our fantasy football projections. All NFL odds come from FanDuel Sportsbook, and lines may change after this article is published.

Fantasy Football Deep Sleepers for Week 2

Elic Ayomanor, WR, Titans

FanDuel Salary: $4,800 | Yahoo! Roster Percentage: 6%

Cameron Ward and the Tennessee Titans never really stood a chance against the Denver Broncos defense in Week 1. Denver's defense is elite and forced Ward into a 42.9% completion percentage. The Titans converted on only 2 of 14 third downs.

But rookie Elic Ayomanor's role was awesome in that game, even if he doesn't have the stats to show for it. Ayomanor ran 82.4% of the routes and earned a whopping 28.0% target share and 47.5% air yards share. He caught just two of his seven targets for 13 yards, but his usage should intrigue us -- especially since Calvin Ridley and Tyler Lockett are past vintage.

The Titans will host the Los Angeles Rams this week and show a not-so-awful 18.5-point implied team total.

If Ayomanor's Week 1 usage translates to this Sunday, he could be in for a fantasy-relevant showing.

JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR, Chiefs

FanDuel Salary: $5,300 | Yahoo! Roster Percentage: 3%

The Kansas City Chiefs lost Xavier Worthy to a dislocated shoulder in the opening drive of Friday's loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.

Thankfully, Worthy avoided the IR, but his status for this Sunday is still in jeopardy and marks yet another blow to Kansas City's receiving room, as they are already without Rashee Rice (suspension).

JuJu Smith-Schuster stepped into a big role in Week 1, running 63.8% of the routes and playing 79.3% of snaps -- good for the third-most behind Travis Kelce and Marquise Brown. He caught all five of his targets for 55 yards and could make a mark when the Chiefs host the Philadelphia Eagles this weekend.

Smith-Schuster popped for 130 receiving yards in Week 5 last season in a game where the Chiefs were missing both Rice and Brown. Kansas City then went on to acquire DeAndre Hopkins and essentially render JuJu useless, but Patrick Mahomes seems to take comfort in JuJu when the Chiefs have lacking resources otherwise.

Sunday's game is also showing a great environment for fantasy with a close spread (1.5) and high total (46.5).

Michael Mayer, TE, Raiders

FanDuel Salary: $5,300 | Yahoo! Roster Percentage: 2%

We saw several tight ends pop -- or enjoy a role that indicates they could pop -- in Week 1, including Hunter Henry, Juwan Johnson, and Harold Fannin Jr.

Those players have all seen an increase in roster rate, but if you're scrounging for a deep sleeper, Michael Mayer could be worth a shot.

Mayer had a nice role in the opening week, a role that included a 43.6% route rate and 62.9% snap rate. He caught all four of his targets for 38 yards.

Brock Bowers left that game in the second half due to a shoulder injury and is considered day-to-day. Mayer should get a bump if Bowers ends up being out or limited. But even if Bowers is good to go, Mayer will still see the field and get targets -- at least according to Week 1's results -- which could make him a worthy pickup at tight end if you got burnt by the George Kittle injury.

Kenneth Gainwell, RB, Steelers

FanDuel Salary: $4,800 | Yahoo! Roster Percentage: 4%

There aren't many worthy running backs to be claimed in fantasy for Week 2. In fact, there are only two backs that currently have between a 10% and 25% roster rate on Yahoo.

But if you're looking for a RB who can be obtained in the vast majority of leagues -- 96% to be exact -- Kenneth Gainwell is in play, even if we don't want him to be.

Gainwell played a position-high 51.9% of the snaps for the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 1 compared to Jaylen Warren (46.3%) and Kaleb Johnson (3.7%). Our Riley Thomas considers Gainwell one of the best fantasy football waiver wire adds while he deems the rookie Johnson one of the fantasy football players you can drop following Week 1.

Gainwell didn't do too much with his role on Sunday, turning 10 touches into just 23 yards. His fantasy-relevant gig might not last long, but we can still react accordingly to his decent Week 1 role. Plus, it didn't hurt to see that the Steelers were capable of putting 34 points on the board, and they enter as 3.0-point home favorites in their matchup against the Seattle Seahawks this weekend.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.