You Drafted The Wrong Players (Add These 10 Before Week 2)

In the first week of the NFL season, Christian McCaffrey—the consensus top pick in fantasy football—played barely half of the 49ers' snaps, while his rookie backup, Calen Black, handled 14 carries and out-touched him. That single usage shift, combined with a wave of injuries to starting wide receivers, has reshaped the waiver wire into the most critical resource of the early season. This episode walks through the ten players worth adding before Week 2, the specific conditions that make each one a priority, and the traps to avoid.

The 49ers' backfield is a genuine concern

The most startling development of Week 1 was Christian McCaffrey's snap share. In a game the 49ers dominated, McCaffrey played 36 snaps to Calen Black's 28. Black carried 14 times for 65 yards, caught one pass, and looked explosive. The 49ers have a history of finding productive mid-round backs—Elijah Mitchell, Jordan Mason—and Black, a third-round rookie out of Indiana who ran for over 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2025, fits that mold. The host notes that McCaffrey dealt with "soreness" in camp, is an older back coming off 400 touches, and just traveled 24 hours to play in Australia. "Maybe they treat this like a preseason game," he says, and let Black handle work between the 20s. The recommendation: spend 15% of your FAAB on Black now, because if McCaffrey misses time, Black becomes a league-winning