Working the Waiver Wire - Week 2

QBs
Kyle Orton (DEN QB)
Orton put up another big day with 300 yards, 2 TDs, and no picks. He is top 5 in QB Rating through 2 weeks. With Demaryius Thomas' possible emergence, plus Jabar Gaffney, Brandon Lloyd, and Eddie Royal, Orton will spread the ball around and could have a solid season with his many WR options. If you have Kolb, Flacco, Stafford, or Palmer, Orton makes for a quality pickup.


RBs
Darren Sproles / Mike Tolbert (SD RBs)
Ryan Mathews has injured his ankle, but we won't get an update on the severity until Wednesday. It doesn't sound too serious, but then again, Ryan Grant's injury didn't initially sound too serious either. It looks like Tolbert would be "the guy" should Mathews miss time. Like the Turner / Snelling situation, you would think Tolbert just earned himself a bigger role. But Coach Turner has emphasized that he still wants to get Mathews "30 carries per game." Tolbert would make for a solid starter if he gets to face Seattle in week 3, so he's worth an add. Sproles is not built as a featured back, but his role would certainly expand if Mathews misses time, so Sproles would also be a good flex start against Seattle.

John Kuhn (GB RB)
We thought Brandon Jackson would be Green Bay's new featured back, but Kuhn had 9 carries to Jackson's 11. Moreover, Kuhn actually had a higher yards-per-carry than Jackson (4.0 to 2.6). Kuhn is definitely worth an add as we figure out the situation in Green Bay. However, I'm not rushing to add Kuhn. Green Bay got up big early, so they relied on Kuhn, their fullback-turned-runningback. When Green Bay is in the game, or playing from behind, I think Jackson will be the man. Jackson is a great pass-catching 3rd down back, and didn't get to show that off while Green Bay ran out the clock.

Jason Snelling (ATL RB)
Do not rush to pickup Snelling. In spite of his incredible 38-point fantasy day, Michael Turner only left because he felt dinged up and the Falcons were already up by so much. It's hard to imagine a coach can watch that kind of performance and then continue to only give him a few touches per week to spell Turner. It's possible that Snelling earned himself a few more touches per week, but I still think he's not startable until Turner is injured.


WRs
Louis Murphy (OAK WR)
Murphy had 6 catches for 91 yards and a TD. He had a disappointing week 1 so may have been dropped, but he should be owned in a 12-team league. He will be the #1 target in Oakland going forward, if Gradkowski plays instead of Jason Campbell. There's less of a track record to judge for the Campbell-Murphy connection, but he's worth stashing.

Demaryius Thomas (DEN WR)
Jabar Gaffney was one of our preseason sleepers. Then Brandon Lloyd and Eddie Royal graced our Waiver Wire column last week. But this week, rookie Demaryius Thomas led all Broncos receivers with 8 catches for 97 yards and a TD. Thomas is the receiver to own at this point, so I'd drop any of the other 3 WRs for him. It's telling that with a full slate of healthy receivers, Orton made Thomas his go-to guy.

Kevin Walter (HOU WR)
Walter had 11 catches for 144 yards and a TD. Part of Walter's production came when Andre Johnson exited the game for a while with a minor injury. And Schaub won't throw for 497 yards too much. Walter had his ups and downs last year, but he never had an up this high. All the preseason hype was on Jacoby Jones and we still like Jones more in the longrun, but Walter is worth an add to see if that kind of production can keep up at all.

Tomorrow afternoon, we'll update you on TE Waiver Adds (Keller, Hernandez, Moeaki, and Lewis), and discuss last week's Waiver Wire Adds.