With three primetime games remaining, Week 3 has already been a wild one. Some offenses continue to be great for fantasy football while others have sputtered early on. Whether your fantasy team is rolling, struggling, or somewhere in the middle, there is plenty of help available on the waiver wire heading into Week 4.
The Broncos and Giants went on the road and got their first win of the season in surprising upsets. The Steelers and Vikings improved to 3-0 by beating other previously undefeated teams, and the Ravens were able to avoid a 0-3 start by crushing the Cowboys in Dallas.
Every season, key fantasy players emerge as the season goes on, and many of those players can be grabbed off the waiver wire in season-long leagues. Before we hit some of the top options at each position, let’s take a look at some of the injuries to watch coming out of Week 3.
Injuries to watch coming out of Week 3:
- QB Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers
- QB Sam Darnold, Minnesota Vikings
- QB Skylar Thompson, Miami Dolphins
- WR DeVonta Smith, Philadelphia Eagles
- WR Adam Thielen, Carolina Panthers
- TE Trey McBride, Arizona Cardinals
- TE Sam LaPorta, Detroit Lions
- TE George Kittle, San Francisco 49ers
With those injuries in mind, here are some of my top names to watch for on waiver wire Week 4:
WR Jauan Jennings, San Francisco 49ers
Jennings will be the hottest name on the waiver wire this week after his massive performance against the Rams in Week 3. On Saturday, I broke down Jennings’ potential for a breakthrough and included agreement from several of my DraftKings Network colleagues.
He delivered for us in a huge way on Sunday catching not one, not two, but three touchdowns:
He racked up an insane 11 catches on 12 targets for 175 receiving yards and 49.5 fantasy points. That production was the highest fantasy total of any player through the end of the afternoon on Sunday.
Jennings is still available in two-thirds of fantasy leagues, and he should stay very busy in the next few weeks while the 49ers deal with injuries to Deebo Samuel (calf), George Kittle (hamstring) and Christian McCaffrey (Achilles). While he can’t be counted on for three scores a week, he definitely will be a strong play in Week 4 vs. the Patriots.
If other people in your league grabbed Jennings on Saturday, there are still some other strong options at the position, including Quentin Johnston of the Chargers, Darnell Mooney and RayRay McCloud III of the Falcons, Calvin Austin III of the undefeated Steelers and DeMario Douglas of the Patriots. With DeVonta Smith’s injury, Jahan Dotson also deserves some attention since the Eagles will be thin at WR.
QB Sam Darnold, Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings are a surprising 3-0 after knocking off the Texans behind another big game from Sam Darnold. The former Jets’ washout has revitalized his career in the Vikings pass-heavy scheme and on Sunday, he threw four touchdowns in the Vikings’ statement 34-7 win.
He has racked up 657 passing yards and eight touchdowns on the season and ranked as the No. 10, No. 4 and No. 7 QB in the first three weeks.
Darnold has a great group of playmakers in skill positions with Justin Jefferson, Aaron Jones and Jalen Nailor continuing to make plays. Looking ahead, he’ll also get Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson back from injuries to give him even more options down the road.
Next week, Darnold’s Vikings travel to Lambeau Field to take on the Packers in a huge NFC North battle.
Darnold is available in over two-thirds of season-long leagues, but if you need an alternative, Andy Dalton is basically unowned and posted the second-highest fantasy point total at QB in his first start of the year for the Panthers. I trust Darnold more, but both veterans are serviceable starters moving forward.
TE Tyler Conklin, New York Jets
Tight end wasn’t an especially productive position overall in Week 3, but there are a few hot names on the waiver wire. If someone gave up on Dallas Goedert too early, he’s an amazing find with the injuries in Philly, while Cole Kmet is also a solid pickup in the half of leagues where he’s on the waiver wire.
My top widely available option at the position, though, is Conklin, who had a big game back on Thursday for the Jets. The seven-year pro has been very reliable over the last three years, hauling in 58-to-61 catches on exactly 87 targets while producing over 550 yards per season.
With Aaron Rodgers throwing him the ball, Conklin should be set up for a big season, but he got off to a slow start in the first two weeks. In Week 3, he hauled in 5-of-6 targets for 93 yards and was second on the team in targets. Rodgers has made his tight ends key fantasy contributors throughout his career, and Conklin looks to be next in line for the boost for a healthy A-Aron this season.
RB Tyler Badie, Denver Broncos
Week 3 didn’t have any major RB injuries on the main slate, but there was a new name that started to force his way into the fantasy discussion. Tyler Badie is owned in under 1% of leagues, but he broke free Sunday as the Broncos official account pointed out:
Badie was a non-factor in the first two weeks of the season, playing zero snaps in Week 1 and only three snaps in Week 2, but in Week 3, he looked like the most dynamic running back on Denver’s roster. The team wanted to go run-heavy to take pressure off Bo Nix, but both Javonte Williams and Jaleel McLaughlin didn’t get much going at all. They each got five carries but only managed 12 and seven yards, respectively.
With Williams and McLaughlin struggling, Badie ended up with a team-high 70 rushing yards on nine carries. He didn’t get a target and only played 19% of the team’s snaps, but he made a strong case to earn a larger role going forward.
He’s a high-risk add in such a muddled situation, but he showed enough potential to be a great snag if available since no obvious playing time opened up.
If you want to wait on Badie or need more short-term production, Cam Akers is still underowned for the Texans and Alexander Mattison continues to get work every week for the Raiders.
Cardinals DST
If you’re looking for a streaming DST in Week 4, check out the Cardinals, who are available in over 95% of waiver wires as they prepare for their Week 4 contest with the Commanders.
The Cardinals have forced a turnover in every game this season and racked up nine sacks. This week, they sacked Jared Goff twice and had this interception:
They held the Lions to 20 points this week and the Rams to just 10 in Week 2. While they struggled on the road in Buffalo back in Week 1, they’ll be playing their third-straight home game as they host the Commanders, who will be traveling across the country on a short week after playing on Monday against the Bengals.
The situation sets up well for the Cardinals, but if you need some other waiver wire options, check out the Dolphins (vs. TEN), the Rams (vs. the Bears), or the Texans (vs. JAX).
All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
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