Fantasy Football Buy Low: Wide Receiver Breakout Candidates for Week 2

Whether you're deciding who to start in season-long, who to roster in NFL DFS, or which NFL prop bets to consider on FanDuel Sportsbook, there are still plenty of ways to buy low on players poised to bounce back from disappointing outings.

While looking ahead at the games across the NFL, which wide receivers should we buy low on ahead of this week?

All fantasy football projections via our numbers at FanDuel Research, and NFL odds references are to FanDuel Sportsbook.

Wide Receivers to Buy Low in Fantasy Football

Rome Odunze, Bears

Heading into Week 1, Rome Odunze was consistently circled as a potential breakout player for the Chicago Bears. In a transformed offense under coach Ben Johnson, Odunze carries true WR1 potential on this offense. He showed just that to open the 2025 season.

Odunze led Chicago's receiving corps with a 93.7% snap share and 26.5% target share. Furthermore, he was second with a 28.3% air yards share -- which was behind D.J. Moore's mark of 34.1% -- and tied Moore with a 36.4% downfield target share. His 50.0% red zone target share was exciting, too, as Odunze can excel in the red zone as a 6-foot-3 target.

Despite a healthy number of snaps and targets, Odunze finished with only six receptions for 37 receiving yards and one touchdown on nine targets. Finding the end zone saved his value for Week 1, for the second-year wideout still posted 12.7 fantasy points in half-PPR leagues (WR21). Odunze left some points on the table as seen by his -24.8 receiving yards over expectation (RecYOE) and -5.3% catch rate over expectation percentage (CROE%), per NFL Next Gen Stats.

Week 2's opponent is the Detroit Lions. The Lions gave up only 188 passing yards but allowed 8.5 yards per passing attempt. In a very small sample size of one game, Detroit's pass defense allows the ninth-most EPA, eighth-most yards per downfield target, and fifth-highest average depth of target (aDOT).

These vulnerable downfield marks are something I have circled due to Odunze's promising air yards and downfield market shares. According to Pro Football Focus, quarterback Caleb Williams posted his best passing grades on throws of 10 to 19 yards and 20 or more yards.

Odunze is still full of fantasy potential, meaning his $5,800 DFS salary could be worth a swing.

Calvin Austin III, Steelers

We knew D.K. Metcalf would be the leader in the clubhouse for the Pittsburgh Steelers' receiving room -- which came to fruition with Metcalf logging a 94.4% snap share and 24.1% target rate in Week 1. But who would emerge as this offense's WR2?

The answer was Calvin Austin III. He posted the second-highest snap share at 81.5%, and the next-best mark among pass catchers was 64.8% from Jonnu Smith. This led to immediate production with Austin racking up six targets, four catches, 70 receiving yards, one receiving touchdown, and 15.0 fantasy points (WR12).

His numbers in the red zone and downfield catch my eye. Alongside an 83.3% red zone snap share and 33.3% red zone target share, Austin posted an absurd 66.5% air yards share and 83.3% downfield target share. For comparison, Metcalf had only an 18.3% air yards share while failing to log one downfield target.

Pittsburgh immediately deployed Austin as the home run threat, proven by his 13.7 aDOT. Against secondaries that give up big plays, Austin could be a reliable fantasy piece.

The Seattle Seahawks ceded 7.9 yards per passing attempt and 265 passing yards in Week 1. Several of the San Francisco 49ers' targets came up with big-time plays, including a 45-yard reception from Ricky Pearsall. This led to the Seahawks allowing the ninth-most yards per downfield target.

Austin just posted an air yards share of 66.5%, yet his salary still offers a ton of value at $5,400. After Seattle struggled with big plays to open 2025, Austin could keep producing as the Steelers' WR2.

Keon Coleman, Bills

Hype surrounding Keon Coleman is nothing new. We heard the buzz prior to his rookie season in 2024, but he fell short in fantasy football by recording only 7.5 fantasy points per game. Ahead of 2025, the Buffalo Bills still had a clear path for Coleman to become the offense's WR1. He looked like the top target in Week 1, producing a career-high 21.2 fantasy points (WR4).

His 11 targets for eight receptions, 112 receiving yards, and one touchdown do enough talking, but we have even more numbers to drive the hype. Coleman led the receiving group by posting an 87.2% snap share, which was notably higher than Khalil Shakir's second-highest mark of 69.2%. He even enjoyed 12 red zone snaps compared to Shakir's 8.

Leading the receiving unit in snaps meant plenty of work for Coleman as he led Buffalo with a 24.4% target share and 34.0% air yards share. He was efficient, too, recording 3.8 RecYOE and a 6.8% CROE. Coleman certainly looked like a WR1 -- especially in the clutch of Sunday Night Football's comeback win over the Baltimore Ravens.

If Coleman continues to get a WR1 workload, he's going to end up on a ton of fantasy managers' wishlists. Getting exposure to the Bills offense is always a good idea as we saw from Josh Allen's 0.34 expected points added per dropback (EPA/db) in Week 1.

The New York Jets just allowed 34 points and 8.1 yards per passing attempt against the Steelers. After the Jets finished in the bottom half of EPA/db allowed in Week 1, Buffalo is more than capable of exposing this secondary. Putting Coleman in your DFS lineup could be another smashing success thanks to a $5,300 salary.

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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.