Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 3

If there was ever a time when you questioned why you ever liked fantasy football, week two was it. There were too many injuries to keep track of, so let’s go over all the guys who got hurt.

1) Adrian Peterson: torn meniscus, could miss anywhere from zero to 10 weeks as reported by USA Today.

2) Jonathan Stewart: Hamstring injury which should keep him out for 1-2 weeks according to head coach Ron Rivera.

3) Thomas Rawls: Got a bruise on his leg. Shouldn’t miss significant time.

4) Danny Woodhead: Torn ACL, out for the season.

5) Arian Foster: Groin injury, should be out at least a week.

6) Ameer Abdullah: Suffered a foot sprain and the MRI came back negative. He is getting a second opinion on the foot so we don’t know how much time will be missed just yet, but I wouldn’t expect it to be over four weeks.

7) Doug Martin: Suffered a hamstring injury and will have an MRI Tuesday.

8) Julio Jones: Was limping into the locker room after the game but it isn’t serious enough to keep him off the field.

9) Brandon Marshall: His knee injury hurt to watch, but he did return to the game afterwards. Don’t expect him to miss week 3 but he shouldn’t be a workhorse either.

10) Tyler Lockett: Another receiver who got banged up a bit but came back into the game.

11) Donte Moncrief: Will have an MRI on his shoulder.

12) Doug Baldwin: Hurt his knee but should be ready for week 3 against San Francisco.

13) Josh McCown: Two weeks in and the Browns have already seen two quarterbacks go down. Luckily, McCown is week-to-week instead of missing the entire season like RGIII.

14) Jimmy Garopollo: Should miss 3-4 weeks with a shoulder injury.

15) Andy Dalton: He hurt his ankle badly but he should still be playing this week.

With all that said, let’s take a look at the waiver options by each position, many of whom should benefit with all the injuries.

QB

Joe Flacco (29% owned): Many owners picked up Flacco just to play him against the Browns this past week, but before you drop him, you should strongly consider Flacco for his next matchup. He takes on Jacksonville, who just surrendered four touchdown passes to a weakened San Diego offense.

Ryan Tannehill (29% owned): He had a good week for fantasy purposes against the Patriots, but that can be attributed to the Arian Foster injury and the team falling behind early. Regardless, he gets a friendly matchup against Cleveland and Foster won’t be suiting up for this one.

Dak Prescott (45% owned): He was able to get Dez Bryant more involved in his last game and was able to rush for a touchdown as well. Unfortunately, he has yet to record any passing touchdowns in his first two games, but it’s only a matter of time before that happens. His next two contests are against the Bears and 49ers.

RB

Before we get into the true waiver wire targets, there are three guys who are owned in over 50% of leagues that should see that percentage go up higher.

Charles Simms (52% owned): Simms is the obvious next man up with the injury to Doug Martin. He plays in a very balanced offense and is startable if Martin does miss week 3 against the Rams.

Theo Riddick (61% owned): He was involved in week 1, and with a banged up Ameer Abdullah, he should get his opportunities.

Tevin Coleman (57% owned): He’s in a time share with Freeman in an offense that needs options outside of Julio Jones. He is also a part of the passing game, and this offense figures to pass a lot.

Now onto the guys who are owned in less than half of leagues.

Jerick McKinnon (24% owned): He is labeled as an athletic freak, so if Peterson misses a significant amount of time, he should be rostered in all formats. The only problem is the offense he plays for, which already lost their starting quarterback in Teddy Bridgewater. Also, Matt Asiata can steal goal line opportunities.

Matt Asiata (2% owned): Speaking of Asiata, he too is a viable option to be picked up. Don’t forget, when Peterson missed time in 2014, Asiata racked up 10 touchdowns. He doesn’t have the upside McKinnon has, but he could turn out to be a great value pick.

Jay Ajayi (27% owned): Foster’s timetable for return shouldn’t be too long, so Ajayi is more like a quality streaming options against the Browns defense in week 3. If he does well, he becomes a guy you can try to sell high on to the Foster owner.

Avoid:

Fozzy Whittaker (5% owned): Most writers will tell you to pick up Whittaker, but he comes with a ton of red flags. For starters, he’s never been touted as a physical freak or a between the tacklers type of runner like the aforementioned McKinnon and Asiata. Second, this is gonna be a time share with Cameron Artist-Payne and Mike Tolbert. Tolbert’s size and running style should give him the goal line carries as well. On top of that, Stewart isn’t expected to miss a significant amount of time, so you’d have to have a real depleted squad to consider him a start right now. With all the injuries that have occurred, that’s certainly possible, but hopefully you have better options to target. If not, don’t waste a ton of FAAB on him.

Other notable adds at running back are Terrance West, Cameron Artist-Payne, and Lions rookie Dwayne Washington.

WR

Tyrell Williams, San Diego Chargers (49%)

At 49%, Williams just makes the cut. With the loss of Keenan Allen in week one and Danny Woodhead in week two, both of whom are out for the year, Philip Rivers is desperate for passing options.

Jamison Crowder (6% owned)

He has seen a healthy amount of targets and snaps, and has even played more than fellow wide out Pierre Garcon. Keep in mind, he is 5’8" and will be limited because of Kirk Cousins. Crowder could of had two touchdowns in his last game had Cousins not overthrown him.

Quincy Enunwa (10% owned): The rookie has been an impressive third option in the pass game for the Jets who have both Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker listed as questionable. Even though they will both likely play, Enunwa is a good upside guy to stash on the bench.

Other notable adds at the receiver position include Victor Cruz, Torrey Smith, and Kenny Britt.

TE

Dennis Pitta (11% owned)

He is coming off a game where he saw a team high, 12 targets, and will benefit from a good schedule in the upcoming weeks, including Jacksonville in week 3.

Jesse James (25% owned)

James caught a touchdown pass in a tough matchup against the Bengals. He should be usable in an offense seeking options outside of Antonio Brown as long as Ladarius Green is out.

Jacob Tamme (6% owned)

He made the list after a team high in targets in week one, and he followed that up with another solid performance, going 5 for 8 on 75 yards and a touchdown. He faces New Orleans in week 3 in what should be a high scoring game.

Other notable tight end additions include Clive Walford, Kyle Rudolph, and Jordan Cameron.

Streaming Defenses

Miami Dolphins (7% owned) vs. Cleveland Browns

The Browns offense was subpar to begin with and now they are forced to start a rookie quarterback.

San Francisco 49ers (3% owned) vs. Seattle Seahawks

Seattle has guys who aren’t at full strength all over the offense, and they are coming off a three point performance against the Rams.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5% owned) vs. St. Louis Rams

The Bucs have done well against the run and teams have really keyed in on Todd Gurley to force the Rams into passing the ball, which they have not succeeded in doing.