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Fantasy Football Week 3 Waiver Wire: Injuries adding up

Ray offers you his thoughts on who you should target on your league waiver wire if your team was hit by the injury bug in Week 2.

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Doug Pensinger

Well, Week 2 brought us all kinds of huge injury news and it started pretty early in the day with Robert Griffin III going down with a bad ankle injury. Then we got news that Bengals WR A.J. Green went down with a toe injury. A TOE injury??? These guys are professional athletes aren't they? Oh, yes, they are, and I am sure toe injuries are painful, but our fantasy teams are feeling the pain as well.

The early injury news reminds me of the beginning of the 2014 baseball season when it seemed like a few pitchers were going down with elbow injuries every week for awhile. Let's hope the injury news settles down going forward.

I won't go through all of the injuries that occurred on Sunday, but here is a list of players who missed significant time on Sunday and could miss Week 3 and beyond:

DeSean Jackson (shoulder)

Knowshon Moreno (elbow)

Mark Ingram (broken hand)

Jamaal Charles (high ankle strain)

Ryan Matthews (MCL)

Eric Decker (hamstring)

Allen Hurns (ankle)

Vernon Davis (ankle)

Roddy White (hamstring)

Here are some players you may want to consider adding in your league this week, along with their ownership percentage in ESPN and CBS leagues:

Running Backs

Knile Davis, Kansas City (ESPN  62.7%, CBS 35%)

Davis filled in for Jamaal Charles in the first half of the Chiefs game vs the Broncos in Denver on Sunday, and did a great job. Davis rushed for 79 yards on 22 carries with two touchdowns, and caught 6 of his 9 targets for 26 yards as well. Charles was diagnosed with a high ankle sprain and should miss

Donald Brown, San Diego (ESPN 89%, CBS 17%)

With RB Ryan Matthews out with a knee injury, Chargers beat writers are speculating that Brown will get the bulk of the carries going forward, with Danny Woodhead continuing to work in his passing down role.

Darren McFadden, Oakland (ESPN 96%, CBS 66%)

It appears Maurice Jones-Drew will sit out Week 3 recovering from hand surgery, so Darren McFadden should once again get the starting nod once again this week. With that said, McFadden is not one to stay off the sidelines either, so it could just be a matter of time before he gets injured.

Khiry Robinson, New Orleans (ESPN 97.9%, CBS 45%)

Starting running back Mark Ingram was diagnosed with a broken hand and will be sidelined at least a month. Enter Khiry Robinson who should take over the starting running back role with Ingram down. Pierre Thonas should also get more touches in the Saints explosive offense.

Damien Williams, Miami (ESPN 0%, CBS 0%)

With Knowshon Moreno out with an elbow injury, Lamar Miller takes over as the Dolphins starting running back, but that mean Williams should see more touches as well, and is a speculative waiver wire pick in Week 3.

Wide Receivers

Harry Douglas, Atlanta (ESPN 2.3%, CBS 42%)

Falcons WR Roddy White is dealing with a hamstring injury, and with the Falcons on a short week playing on Thursday night, Douglas is a solid waiver wire grab in the pass-happy Atlanta offense. With Julio Jones and White out last season, Douglas caught 85 balls for over 1,000 yards, so he isn't unfamilar with QB Matt Ryan.

Mohamed Sanu, Cincinnati (ESPN 2%, CBS 14%)

Sanu caught three passes for 84 yards and a touchdown on Sunday, and Sanu should see more snaps if WR A.J. Green can't dress due to the toe injury in Week 3.

James Jones, Oakland (ESPN 27.6%, CBS 35%)

Jones had a nice game in Week 2 vs the Texans secondary, and could become the go-to target in the Raiders offense for young QB Derek Carr. Jones caught 9 of his 14 targets for 112 yards and a touchdown on Sunday. The Raiders will struggle this season, and should be playing from behind quite a bit, so Jones could  be a sneaky WR play going forward.

Tight Ends

Delanie Walker, Tennessee (ESPN 70%, CBS 74%)

Walker had a huge game on Sunday, catching 10 of his 14 targets for 142 yards and a touchdown in the Titans loss to the Cowboys. I don't see him doing this every week, but he was targeted 14 times by QB Jake Locker, so there may be some chemistry forming between the two in the Titans offense.

Travis Kelce, Kansas City (ESPN 2.3%, CBS 45%)

Kelce saw more snaps in the Chiefs offense on Sunday, and he could become a bigger part of the Chiefs passing game as the season goes on. Kelce caught four of his six targets for 81 yards with no touchdowns in the Chiefs loss to the Broncos.

Niles Paul, Washington (ESPN 0.8%, CBS 10%)

I have to say I never heard of Paul before Sunday's big performance. With RGIII out with an ankle injury, Paul was a favorite target of back-up QB Kirk Cousins, as he caught 8 of his 11 targets for 99 yards and a touchdown in the Redskins blowout win over the Jaguars. RGIII will miss at least the next few months with the ankle injury, so it is possible Paul becomes a bigger part of the Redskins passing game with Cousins behind center.

Quarterbacks

Kirk Cousins, Washington (ESPN 6.3%, CBS 8%)

Cousins stepped in for Robert Griffin IIII, and completed 22 of 33 passes for 250 yards and 2 touchdowns in the Redskins thrashing of the hapless Jaguars.  Cousins could have a repeat performance in Week 3 vs the Eagles, who will have a short week coming off their Monday Night Football appearance.

Blake Bortles, Jacksonville (ESPN 1.3%, CBS 8%)

There is talk that Bortles may get the starting nod as early as Week 4, so if you think he can make a difference in the Jaguars offense, or are willing to speculate, grab him now before your league mates grab him.

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