Week 3 was pretty wild with some thrilling finishes, some surprising results, and a few high-scoring contests with special teams excitement. Whether you’re dominating at 3-0, sinking with a 0-3 fantasy team, or somewhere in between, staying on top of the waiver wire is critical to your future success. Each week new options emerge, so let’s take a look at some of the emerging options to watch for as you start looking at waiver wire pickups for Week 4.
Throughout the week, DK Network will have you covered with potential pickups and strong plays for Week 4 and moving forward the rest of the season. Be sure to stay tuned to the outstanding coverage from the whole team. This post is designed to be an early look at some of the names to keep an eye on coming out of Week 3
Another key factor to keep a close eye on every week is new injuries which occurred — here are some new situations to keep a close eye on moving forward:
Players with new injuries from Week 3 to watch:
- RB James Conner, Arizona Cardinals
- RB Najee Harris, Los Angeles Chargers
- WR CeeDee Lamb, Dallas Cowboys
- WR Mike Evans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- WR Terry McLaurin, Washington Commanders
- WR Dyami Brown, Jacksonville Jaguars
- WR Alec Pierce, Indianapolis Colts
- TE Ja’Tavion Sanders, Carolina Panthers
- TE Colston Loveland, Chicago Bears
- TE Michael Mayer, Las Vegas Raiders
With those injuries in mind, here are some of my early names to watch if you’re shopping on the Week 4 waiver wire.
WR Tre Tucker, Las Vegas Raiders
There are almost always lots of good options that emerge as receiver pickups each week, but it’s unusual that a player who is almost universally on waiver wires leads the entire week in scoring! Tre Tucker (43.9 FPTS) is owned in just 3% of Yahoo leagues but went off with a trio of touchdowns while hauling in eight of nine targets for 145 receiving yards.
It’s important not to overreact to just one big week, but Tucker’s production looks like it could be legitimate, since he has been very involved all season. He had a touchdown and 13.4 fantasy points in Week 1 and also drew eight targets in Week 2, even though he only had three catches for 12 yards and added seven rushing yards.
Tucker looks like he’s one of the Raiders’ top playmakers and will get plenty of targets to make plays going forward. He flashed upside when he was given opportunities in the past few seasons, but he hasn’t been able to stay involved with sketchy quarterback play until this season.
He and Geno Smith (26.1 FPTS) are both solid pickups since the Raiders look like they’ll open it up on offense this season under coach Pete Carroll. The Raiders have a great schedule coming up with top-10 matchups against the Bears, Titans and Chiefs in the next four weeks.
Tucker will surely be a hot pickup this week, but some other widely available producers at receiver include Luther Burden III (22.8 FPTS), Elic Ayomanor (13.8 FPTS) and Calvin Austin III (12.4 FPTS).
RB Woody Marks, Houston Texans
The Texans dropped a third straight game to start the season as they lost to the Jags, 17-10, on a late touchdown. While it didn’t necessarily show up in the box score yet, an important shift happened that could make Marks a key pickup on the waiver wire moving forward.
He only had 4.6 fantasy points, but he played a much larger snap share since they went from a three-man rotation to a two-man rotation. Marks was rotating with Nick Chubb (7.0 FPTS) and Dare Ogunbowale, but Ogunbowale was out of the rotation this week.
Chubb still played slightly more snaps (51%) and had nine carries, 17 routes, and four targets for 40 total yards. Marks played 49% of snaps and had six carries, 16 routes, two targets for 36 total yards.
While this week it didn’t pay off, the fact that he’s sharing snaps and work 50-50 with Chubb could make him a very valuable option going forward. The rookie from USC has plenty of ability as a third-down back, but he’s also showing some sizzle in the ground game too.
Next week, the Texans are home against the Titans before going on the road for games against the Ravens and Seahawks, sandwiched around their bye week. The Texans’ offense hasn’t been extremely productive under new offensive coordinator Nick Caley, but using Marks more could be part of the solution to jump-starting the attack.
Other running backs who are on many leagues’ waiver wires who had big Week 3 include Trey Benson (8.1 FPTS), Bhayshul Tuten (8.1 FPTS), Jeremy McNichols (13.8 FPTS), Kenneth Gainwell (9.6 FPTS), Rico Dowdle (10.8 FPTS), and Ollie Gordon II (9.8 FPTS).
QB Sam Darnold, Seattle Seahawks
Sam Darnold (16.7 FPTS) led the Seahawks to a rout of the Saints to improve to 2-1 after their close loss to the 49ers in Week 1. Like he did last year with the Vikings, Darnold has looked very sharp in the regular season, producing good numbers and spreading the ball to multiple receivers.
In Week 1, he had low production against San Francisco, but he looked much better in Week 2, throwing for 295 passing yards and two passing touchdowns in a road win over the Steelers. He was also sharp in Week 3, racking up 218 passing yards and two more passing scores.
Darnold and the Seahawks have a favorable schedule coming up with the Cardinals, Bucs, Jaguars, and Texans before their Week 8 bye week. If you need a fill-in, he brings a high floor and a solid ceiling, even though he doesn’t usually add a lot of rushing yards.
Geno Smith (26.1 FPTS) also had a huge week and makes sense to consider. Marcus Mariota (21.3 FPTS) and Tyrod Taylor (18.7 FPTS) each had strong fill-in games, and they could be worth a look if they start again next week.
TE Brenton Strange, Jacksonville Jaguars
Brenton Strange (12.5 FPTS) is only owned in about 25% of leagues but has been very involved in the Jaguars’ new offense under coach Liam Coen. He was the No. 3 TE from the Sunday afternoon slate behind only Hunter Henry (29 FPTS) and T.J. Hockenson (15.9 FPTS).
Strange has been very involved all year, with at least three catches in each matchup. He had four catches for 59 yards in Week 1, three catches for 17 yards in Week 2, and six catches for 61 yards in Week 3. He had a season-high with his 12.5 fantasy point this week and is dominating snaps and targets from the tight end spot.
The Jaguars traded Evan Engram this offseason to open up space for Strange, and the big third-year tight end from Penn State looks ready to be a weekly contributor. If he starts getting touchdowns, he could be a strong starter in most leagues.
In Week 4, the Jags take on the 49ers before three home games against the Chiefs and Seahawks before facing the Rams in London and getting a bye week in Week 8.
Henry is also a good pickup if he’s available, along with Chig Okonkwo (11.6 FPTS), Dalton Schultz (8.9 FPTS) and Cole Kmet (8 FPTS), especially if Colston Loveland is out.
Commanders DST
Since defense is the most streamable position in fantasy football, it’s important to jump ahead of favorable matchups by hitting the Week 4 waiver wire to grab defenses with good matchups.
One unit that makes sense to consider is the Commanders, who had five sacks in their win over the Raiders. They have multiple sacks in each of their three games this season, so even though they don’t have a takeaway they can be a solid streaming play next week against the Falcons.
The Panthers had massive production this week against the Falcons, shutting them out, forcing three turnovers and scoring a defensive touchdown. They head to New England to play the Patriots next week, after New England had turnover issues against the Steelers.
Another solid streaming option to consider could be the Jets, who take on the struggling Dolphins next week on Monday Night Football.
