5 players to prioritize on the waiver wire for Week 4

It’s often easy to find yourself overwhelmed each week as you look at the waiver wire, wondering which player — or players, mind you — you should be adding to your fantasy football roster and spending your precious FAAB money on. All I hope with this article is that I can help you step away from the crippling panic you may find yourself in, and offer some clarity as to who deserves your FAAB money and attention this week on waivers.

Here are my top five waiver prioritize, in order, along with what percentage of your FAAB I think you should be directing towards them (percent rostered in Yahoo leagues, under 75% rostered).

1. Carlos Hyde (19% rostered, 20% FAAB budget)

Hyde and Jefferson are interchangeable for me this week but I’m putting Hyde officially at number one because of Chris Carson’s injury. Carson is out for one to two weeks which means Hyde now takes over more or less sole duties of the Seahawks backfield. That’s a nice gig to have and to be adding to your fantasy team right now, especially as the Hawks are set to face off against the Dolphins this week.

2. Justin Jefferson (32% rostered, 20% FAAB budget)

After his breakout performance in Week 3, I am ALL IN on Jefferson. The Vikings offense has been struggling to find their number two receiver and now finally that position seems to be locked down after how well Jefferson played against the Titans. Further more, the Vikings take on the Texans, Seahawks, and Falcons in their next three games, all teams that have explosive offenses who’ll put up a lot of points, but bad defenses that will allow the Vikings to pass all over them to stay in the game. Jefferson is at the very least a WR3 from this point on.

3. Jeff Wilson (23% rostered, 20% FAAB budget)

With Raheem Mostert and Tevin Coleman injured, it was the duo of Jerick McKinnon and Wilson that got it done Sunday against the Giants. Welp, guess who also got injured that game? McKinnon left with a rib injury and we’ll see how long that might keep him off the field. This leaves Jeff Wilson as the only healthy back in San Francisco and in Kyle Shanahan’s explosive run game, that is a position of power! Who knows what Wilson’s role will be when the backfield starts getting healthy again, but for now, Wilson is the clear number one guy in SF.

4. Allen Lazard (50% rostered, 15% FAAB budget)

Lazard had a huge Sunday night against the Saints, catching six of his eight targets for 146 yards and a touchdown. As crazy as it might sound, he’s currently the WR10 in PPR leagues. It’s not every day you get to add a WR1 to your fantasy team off waivers. Lazard will obviously take a slight hit when Davante Adams returns to the Packers lineup, but Adams was in the lineup in Week 1 for the Packers in which Lazard caught four balls for 63 yards and a touchdown. Lazard and Aaron Rodgers have a connection and he seems to have emerged and solidified the role as the Packers number two receiver next to Adams.

5. Brandon Aiyuk (28% rostered, 15% FAAB budget)

Aiyuk saw his first major action Sunday against the Giants and we all saw what role Kyle Shanahan has envisioned for the rookie. Aiyuk saw eight targets, catching five of them for 70 yards while also carrying the ball three times for 31 yards and a touchdown. With so many injuries to the 49ers offense, Aiyuk is set for a huge workload moving forward. Deebo Samuel is expected to return in Week 5 but it might take some time for him to get up to game speed which bodes well for Aiyuk.