Week 3 Waiver Wire Pickups
By Michael Visconti September 19th, 2016
We are only at the end of Week 2 and we already have a ton of injuries for fantasy relevant players. Adrian Peterson with a torn meniscus, Danny Woodhead and teammate Keenan Allen both with torn ACL’s, Arian Foster is hobbled with a groin injury, Jonathon Stewart is out for at least a week or two, Ameer Abdullah has a sprain in his foot, and Russell Wilson can’t run with a high ankle sprain. Jamal Charles and Sammy Watkins were never healthy to begin with. This is the NFL. That is what makes Draft Masters (Best Ball) formats so difficult and is also why the waiver wire is so important to win your league.
There will be plenty of owners that cut bait on guys that are starting off slow. It’s too early to give up on guys that you liked a month ago. Pay attention each week to whom is being dropped. Slow starts for Tyrod Taylor, John Brown, Tyler Lockette, Jay Ajayi and Derrick Henry are three names that come to mind. This is only the beginning, stay tuned for all of the hot pickups for your waiver wire run each week. Unless you do not want to win, if that’s the case then please ignore the remainder of this article.
Quarterbacks
Carson Wentz PHI – Carson has exceeded expectations thus far. I will note that he has played the Browns and Bears so far to start the season, but he faces the Steelers, Lions and Skins his next 3 games. He is an excellent spot start for example if you are looking for someone to play while Russell Wilson is getting healthy.
Marcus Mariota TEN – Mariota looked as though he is ready to take a step forward this year. He is showing confidence in his team. His newly found run-game support will help take some of the pressure off of him as well. He is not a weekly starter yet, but he could provide some upside as a streamer or an effective backup.
Ryan Tannehill MIA – Remember this kid was a top 10 ranked fantasy QB for the 2015 preseason. Then he had a hugely disappointing season. Here is to the possibility of better direction and righting the ship in 2016 under offensive minded Adam Gase. I will take him in a couple of leagues betting on the come.
Ryan Fitzpatrick NYJ – This offense is the real deal. There are so many weapons this year with the addition of Forte and Enunwa. I was not anticipating this offense to be this much greater than they were last year, but they are. In 2015 Fitzmagic was one of the most consistent QB’s week in and week out. I would bet that he will have the best season of his career in 2016.
Sam Bradford MIN – Stefon Diggs is a complete stud! The big storyline here IS Adrian Peterson going down with a knee injury. I believe this will actually increase Bradford’s value, that they will have 3-5 more pass attempts per game and McKinnon is good enough to keep the chains moving. Sam looked really good against divisional rivals the Green Bay Packers considering he only had two weeks to learn the offense. Ron Jaworski said Bradford is a professional QB and he played really well the last two years in dysfunctional offenses and he is a great fit for this system.
Watch List – Dak Prescott, Tony Romo, Carson Wentz, Alex Smith, Tyrod Taylor
Running Backs
Dwayne Washington DET – A very tricky foot injury to Ameer Abdullah opens the door for 7th round rookie to take some snaps. Theo Riddick will be the starting running back but Washington is a bigger more prototypical RB. He went 6 carries for 32 yards and a TD last week and if he continues to play well we like his chance of getting somewhere in the neighborhood of 12-15 carries.That is considering that Ameer’s injury keeps him out more than the projected 1-2 weeks, which is not so far-fetched considering a foot sprain can linger.
Fozzy Whitaker CAR – I am not a huge fan of Carolina RB’s because they rarely play outside of the 30 yard lines. Fozzy is also not the clear back while Stewart is down with an injury. Cameron Artis-Payne was a healthy scratch last week but that was because he does not play special teams. I would probably spend much less and take a flier on Artis-Payne rather than over spend for Fozzy. Great name though.
Kenneth Dixon BAL – It is clear that somebody will need to take over this backfield and Dixon is the most talented back here. He will be returning from a torn MCL at some point in October and should step into the #1 RB spot in Baltimore.
Shaun Draughn SF – We loved this guy in PPR formats as a startable flex in bye weeks from the get go with his receiving skills, but we love him if he is the lead back if Hyde suffers another injury. Hyde had another very unproductive week against a stingy Carolina defense, so we won’t over react, but I personally believe that Draugn will be the lead back one way or another in SF at some point this season.
Jerrick McKinnon MIN – McKinnon will be the hot pickup this week Well if you listened to my last podcast I was touting this guy. I also said a couple of episodes earlier that if he ever gets the fulltime opportunity he will produce, well he now has the opportunity. Let’s see what he can do.
Watch List – Dion Lewis NE, Shane Vereen NYG, Kenjon Barner PHI, Kenyan Drake MIA, Robert Turbin IND, Josh Ferguson IND, Matt Asiata MIN, Chris Johnson AZ, Alfred Morris DAL, Devontae Booker DEN, Kenneth Farrow SD, Andre Williams SD, Dexter McCluster SD, Ronnie Hillman MIN
Wide Receiver
Kenny Britt LA – It looks as though Kenny is carving out the WR1 role in Los Angeles. With the QB play there that might not be very exciting, but he did catch 6 balls for 94 yards on 10 targets against a good Seattle defense. I would rather have a WR1 on a bad team than a WR3 on a decent team any day.
Cole Beasley DAL– Cole has been targeted 18 times in his first two weeks. That’s on pace for 153 targets for the year and if he catches 70% of his targets (mostly shorter routes) he will have over 100 catches for the year. Now the extrapolation game doesn’t always work, but it is clear that Dak is looking for him. He is worth in add as a WR4.
Jamison Crowder WAS – Crowder might be the most talented WR on this team while he was being drafted as the 3rd Redskin wide receiver. He is a great fantasy WR3 in PPR formats. Look for him to catch around 80 passes this year in this offense and if DJax or Garcon get injured then that number could be low.
Quincy Enunwa NYJ – Enunwa proved that he is going to be a regular target despite being listed as the WR3 in this offense. He out targeted Marshall and Decker he is the 3rd wide out on the Jets behind Marshall and Decker, but when a WR catches 7 balls on 8 targets for 54 yards and a TD we pay attention.
Will Fuller HOU – I really don’t think he is still available in your league, but it’s time to pick him up in 8 and 10 team leagues also.
Tyrell Williams SD – I told you so. We looked him before the Keenan Allen injury. Grab him if he is still available.
Tyler Boyd CIN – Tyler went drafted in a ton of leagues, but he is worth a look in this offense. He caught 6 balls for 78 yards and should be a decent WR5 to own for the upcoming bye weeks.
Danny Amendola NE – While Chris Hogan was the sexy pick this offseason Amendola was again the forgotten man. Remember he was acquired as the Wes Welker replacement just a few seasons ago. If an injury occurs to Hogan or Edelman Amendola could be a top 15 fantasy wide out. Or he could be a spotty PPR WR4 as it is now. You could do worse in your flex spot in a 12 team PPR.
Watch List – Josh Doctson WAS, Dontrelle Inman SD, Quinton Patton SF, Robert Woods BUF, Nelson Agholor PHI, Chris Conley KC, Jeremy Kerley SF, Brandon LaFell CIN, Jermaine Kearse SEA
Tight End
Hunter Henry SD – Hunter is going to be on the field more now that Keenan and now Woodhead are on the IR, but he will not be a fantasy value unless Gates gets hurt which is likely to happen at some point this year. We do not usually fall for rookie tight ends, but they really like this kid in San Diego and so do we.
Dennis Pitta BAL – Pitta the fool! It’s like an old buddy came back to say hi. So pleased to see that Dennis is performing. Flacco always loved his tight end target and if he manages to stay healthy this year he will put up a number of big games. 9 catches for 102 yards on 12 targets. I am nervous that a lot of people will spend a ton of money adding him in high stakes formats only do be gone by week 4. Keep his injury risk in perspective when bidding on him.
Clive Walford OAK – He was definitely drafted in high stakes formats but he is available in most 12-team PPR leagues and is worth a speculative add as a TE #2, especially if you own Barnidge.
Watch List –Ladarius Green PIT, Jesse James PIT, Trey Burton PHI, Will Tye NYG