10 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Targets Heading Into Week 2

James White, RB, New England Patriots

ESPN Ownership: 38.9%
Yahoo Ownership: 47%

James White probably deserves more fantasy football love. I say that because he occupies a special role in this game we love to play: that of the receiving back of the New England Patriots.

While usage for the player occupying this position in the Patriots' offense hasn't always been predictable, for White, there was actually a fairly solid floor in 2015 once Dion Lewis went down to an ACL tear. Looking at the Rotoviz Game Splits app, White averaged nearly 5.5 targets a game when Lewis didn't play, and he averaged over 12 PPR points per game in that time frame as well.

White also scored at least 14 PPR fantasy points in five out of the last seven weeks of the 2015 season. And his 0.70 Reception NEP per target was good for second in the NFL among running backs with at least 50 targets in 2015. For reference, wide receivers across the league averaged 0.67 Reception NEP per target in 2015, and running backs averaged 0.36 Reception NEP per target.

So White was essentially performing better through the air than over half of wide receivers in the league. That's pretty nuts.

With proven effectiveness on the field in his primary pass-catching role, White should be in line to clean up in PPR leagues once more this year, or at least until Lewis comes back in the latter half of the season. If you're in a PPR league and drafted receivers early and often in your draft, White is the perfect target to alleviate some of your woes at the running back position.