After Week 1 is in the books some of the best fantasy football free agent pickups off the waiver wire that could be sleepers include Brandin Cooks, Allen Hurns, Bishop Sankey, Kelvin Benjamin, Terrance West, Chris Ivory, Markus Wheaton, Mike Evans, Darren Sproles, Ricardo Lockette, Steve Smith and Jeremy Maclin among many others after the scoring went down in week one and there were some major surprises.
Brandin Cooks showed off why he is considered to be one of the best sleepers for this season, as he had a great debut for the Saints against the Falcons, scoring his first touchdown. Terrance West also showed why may felt he would be a good pickup this year, as he came in and had 100-yard game in his first pro matchup and that could make him a surprise player going forward as well. Darren Sproles was excellent for the Eagles, while Bishop Sankey had a slow day but potentially will be getting more touches as the season goes on.
Kelvin Benjamin had a highlight reel TD catch, while Allen Hurns had a breakout game for the Jaguars with Cecil Shorts on the sidelines. Chris Ivory had a big game for the Jets against the Oakland Raiders, while Mike Evans was strong for the Buccaneers and Steve Smith performed well in his opening game for the Ravens. Wheaton is another solid pickup at WR along with Benjamin and Ricardo Lockette, who had a strong start with the Seahawks on Thursday night.
Cooks has speed and big play ability and he ended up with seven catches for 77 yards and a touchdown and he also added 18 yards rushing in the game. If the Saints end up using Cooks in the running game occasionally, he will be even more valuable for fantasy owners. Cooks has fantastic speed and after making over 120 catches at Oregon State, he could be perfectly suited for the Saints offense. Cooks has the ability to lineup all over the field and that makes him a very dangerous player.
Sankey had a quiet game for the Titans, but he is expected to get more touches as the season goes along and after going fox six carries for 25 yards, he should be more productive in the coming weeks. Sankey is a strong option in deeper leagues and after rushing for 1800 yards last season, he could end up knocking Shonn Greene off as the starter. Steve Smith came in for the Ravens and had a big game, including a touchdown on seven catches for 118 yards and now he could be a very solid pickup in leagues. The Ravens will be without wife beater and horrible person Ray Rice for another week, so they will need the offense to keep going.
Chris Ivory had a strong week and that should continue, as he had 102 yards on 10 carries to go along with a long run and a touchdown. The Jets are going to keep rushing the ball this season and he could end up as the top back if he plays better than Chris Johnson. The fantasy season is getting underway and now is the time to make some big pickups.
