The Los Angeles Chargers are coming off a tight 28-24 win at the Minnesota Vikings in Week 3. Unfortunately, starting wide receiver Mike Williams sustained and injury in that game, and he has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL.
Josh Palmer picked up some of the slack once Williams left on Sunday, and he’s an interesting waiver wire addition in the wake of this injury. Below, we’ll run down how much waiver wire budget you should use on him prior to Week 4.
Fantasy football waiver wire budget advice
Chargers WR Josh Palmer
How much budget to use: ~3% (FAAB: $0-3)
Palmer is a decent, but not 100% necessary waiver wire addition in Week 4. Frankly, there are plenty of waiver options that are a higher priority. You could argue that his teammate, rookie WR Quentin Johnston, is on that list ahead of him. We’ll need to see how this plays out, as Palmer and Johnston will compete for the WR2 role behind Keenan Allen.
There’s some incentive for the Chargers to put Johnston in Williams’ vacated role and leave Palmer’s role unchanged. Although it’s not confirmed that Los Angeles will do that, it would make plenty of sense.
The Chargers grabbed Johnston with their first-round pick in last year’s NFL Draft, and they have high hopes for the 6-foot-4 rookie. Because of this, it’s safe to say that he has more upside than Palmer in this situation.
Palmer did come through in the box score last week, recording four receptions on seven targets for 66 yards and a touchdown. However, half of that yardage and the score came from a tipped ball that essentially fell into his lap for the touchdown.
In larger leagues or those that start three receivers, consider adding Palmer if you have the roster space and need. He could serve as a potential WR3 or a stretch FLEX play. However, it’s important to manage expectations, as he’s not going to come in and soak up all of the production vacated by Williams.