Fantasy football waiver wire: Buffalo Bills receivers Isaiah McKenzie, Robert Foster fliers worth taking

The Buffalo Bills began the 2018 NFL season with a slew of terrible offensive performances. As a result, looking for fantasy football help from Bills players has been a futile endeavor. However, as Buffalo enters the home stretch of their schedule, the team has shown signs of life on the offensive side of the ball.

Three weeks ago, the Bills annihilated the New York Jets, winning a 41-10 rout that saw rookie wide receiver Robert Foster burst onto the scene. While he only caught three passes, they totaled 105 yards—good for 12 points in half-PPR leagues; if your fantasy league offers bonus points for 100-yard receiving games, then he was even more valuable. That game also saw the emergence of Isaiah McKenzie in Buffalo’s offensive attack, as the 5’8” speedster had one catch for 14 yards and three rushes for 35 yards. While that’s only 5.1 fantasy points, his usage indicated a player that the offensive staff in Buffalo trusts to contribute.

On Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars, both young players played prominent roles again. Although this victory was much closer, only 24-21, both Foster and McKenzie scored touchdowns in the win. McKenzie kicked off the scoring with a six-yard touchdown run. He finished with eight rushing yards, two receptions, and 11 yards receiving, good for 8.9 fantasy points. Foster once again showed his deep-ball chops, securing only two catches on the day, but totaling 94 yards—including a 75-yard touchdown grab in the first quarter. He scored 16.4 fantasy points on the afternoon.

Both players are trending upward in terms of fantasy scoring, but more importantly, they are tending upwards in terms of usage and snap counts. Foster and McKenzie have both surpassed Kelvin Benjamin in terms of usage, as the latter has seen his snaps decrease from 67 to 37 to 23 over the last three weeks. Foster, on the other hand, has played on 37 snaps against the Jets and 33 snaps against the Jags, while McKenzie played only seven snaps against the Jets before playing 33 against Jacksonville.

Not only are they playing more snaps, but it seems as if they have the trust of rookie quarterback Josh Allen. McKenzie was the target on a third-down pass late in the first half that was called back due to a penalty. Had the play stood, it would have put Buffalo in field-goal range. Foster is Buffalo’s big-play threat, and offensive coordinator Brian Daboll appears set on making sure that he has at least a few opportunities to showcase his blazing speed in each game.

Both players are available in 100% of Yahoo! leagues. The bust potential with both is obvious, but there’s definitely some boom potential as the Bills round out a fairly soft end-of-the-year schedule. The highest-ranked passing defense they’ll see to close out the year is the Detroit Lions, who are ranked 13th in the league. Their other games include two against the Miami Dolphins (21st), one against the New York Jets (16th, and they allowed Matt Barkley to throw for 232 yards and two touchdowns against them), and one against the New England Patriots (25th).

If you’re looking for help on the waiver wire as the fantasy football playoffs edge closer, consider Buffalo’s pair of young wideouts for a possible boom out of your flex spot.